NAGAPATTINAM l saturday l april 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Bhagavad Gita, Natyashastra part of UNESCO’s World Register Manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita and Natyashastra are among 74 documentary collections added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register proud moment for every indian, says pm ‘central text of the indian tradition’ Entries on scientific revolution, women’s contribution to history and major milestones from 72 countries and four international organisations are included in the register. The development comes on World Heritage Day on April 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, on Friday described the inscriptions as “a proud moment for every Indian across the world”. ■ ■ The Natyashastra of Bharat Muni is “an epitome of the Natyaveda, a body of knowledge of performing art containing 36,000 verses known as the Gandharvaveda”, the UNESCO said in its citation Bhagavad Gita is a central text in the continuous, cumulative ancient intellectual Indian tradition, UNESCO’s citation read 570 total number of inscribed collections of unesco as of now 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 Oppn lights into N-missile V-P rant against judiciary Never seen any RS chairperson make such political comments: Sibal P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Passion of the Christ Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus as part of ‘Good Friday’ observation at Korattur in Chennai | P Jawahar Modi speaks to Musk on tech ties amid trade talks J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a phone conversation with Tesla and SpaceX CEO and a key advisor of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, discussing opportunities for collaboration in technology and innovation. The phone call comes amid ongoing trade negotiations and ahead of the upcoming visit of US Vice President J D Vance to India from April 21, as Muskled ventures Tesla and Starlink also look to expand their presence in the Indian market. Taking to X, Modi said: “Spoke to Elon Musk and talked about various issues, including the topics we covered during our meeting in Wa s h i n g t o n DC earlier this year. We discussed the immense potential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation. India remains committed to advancing our partnerships with the US in these domains.” In February, Modi had met Musk at DC during an official visit. Their discussions at the time covered key sectors including space, electric mobility , and technological innovation. Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal had on Wednesday met senior Starlink executives to explore the company’s interest in launching satellitebased internet services in India. Starlink is currently awaiting re gulatory approvals, including clarity on India’s upcoming spectrum policy and a pending security clearance. Despite these hurdles, the company remains keen to offer highspeed satellite internet across the country, especially in remote and underserved areas. Tesla is also making moves to enter the Indian market. Khalistani radical wanted for terror attacks held in US H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh GANGSTER-TURNED-TERRORIST Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia, wanted in connection with multiple terror attacks across Punjab and who is alleged to have collaborated with Pakistan’s Deep State and Khalistani group BKI, has been arrested in the US, officials said Friday . Passia alias Jora, who had illegally entered the US, was arrested by the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations in Sacramento, the US federal law enforcement agency said. Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said the arrest is a “major milestone in the success of war against terror”, adding the matter has been taken up with the Central government and efforts are on to extradite Passia. Yadav said between 2023 and 2025, Passia played a “central role in orchestrating targeted killings, grenade attacks on police establishments, and extortion across Punjab and various other states”. Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia had illegally entered the US | PTI In the last seven months, 16 grenade attacks took place in Punjab, mostly targeting police posts, religious places and residences of public figures including BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia. Passia’s name has cropped up during investigations into at least 14 such attacks. It is reliably learnt that Pasia is the key operative of the Khalistani militant outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) which has ties with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. Since 2023, Passia is associated with Khalistani militant Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda and they have been involved in setting up terror modules in Punjab, sources said. A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar used strong words against the judiciary, several leaders from across the Opposition spectrum lit into him on Thursday, asserting such interventions are part of a broader, dangerous strategy to erode judicial independence, weaken federalism and centralise executive power. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal hit out at the V-P for questioning the Supreme Court that set a timeline for the President to take decisions. Sibal said the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman remain equidistant between the Opposition and the ruling party adding he , had never seen any Rajya Sabha Chairman make “political statements” of this nature. “Independence of the judiciary is fundamental to democracy What is being done is un. constitutional,” he added. The Constitution — not the government — gave Article 142 powers to the Supreme Court. You said Article 142 is nuclear missile material. How can you say this? — Kapil Sibal, president, Supreme Court Bar Association The Vice President Mr Jagdeep Dhankar’s observations on this SC verdict is unethical! — Tiruchy Siva, DMK deputy general secretary The statement made by Dhankhar on SC judges borders on contempt — Kalyan Banerjee, TMC “I respect him a lot but you said Article 142 is nuclear missile material, how can you say this?” Sibal said. Echoing the view, Constitutional expert P D T Achary told this paper that the SC rightly used Article 142 and did not override any core Constitutional provision. “Article 142 empowers the highest judicial forum in this country to do complete justice in a particular case. Granting complete justice is the aim of the judiciary and THE Delhi High Court has dropped an adultery case filed by a man against another person who was allegedly in a relationship with his wife. The court said women cannot be treated as “property of their husbands”. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna referred to Draupadi from Mahabharat, and ruled, “She had no say in the matter, and what followed was a terrible war that caused the deaths of many.” The court said even though Draupadi’s tale is wellknown, the society took a long time to understand that treat- ing women as a chattel is wrong. It was only when the Supreme Court, in the Joseph Shine case in 2018, struck down Section 497 of the IPC (adultery) that the society reflected on this misogynistic view. The case was filed by a man who claimed his wife was having an affair with the petition- Ex p r ess N ews Serv i ce @ Chennai Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a belligerent attack on the BJP on Friday said the party’s “for, mula” of forming governments in states by breaking up political parties and intimidating politicians through “raids” will never work in Tamil Nadu and the “Dravidian model” government of the DMK will return to power in 2026. A s s e r t i n g t h at t h e Tamils have a distinct character and self-respect that never allowed domination, he said they will never bow to those in Delhi. “Our Tamil PMLA case The ED has attached movable and immovable assets worth `122 crore (market value `600 crore) of Neomax Properties and its group companies | P2 er. He claimed that the two had gone to Lucknow, stayed in a hotel room together pretending to be a married couple, and had sexual relations. When he confronted his wife, she told him to leave if he had a problem. Justice Krishna said that as per an old ruling, once a law is declared unconstitutional, it applies to all ongoing cases. The court said sharing a hotel room does not prove that two people had sex. “Just staying in the same room isn’t enough to assume anything happened,” the judge said, discharging the man and setting aside the complaint. Judge faults society The mindset of our society understood this only when the Supreme Court struck down Section 497 IPC that deals with the offence of adultery, the HC said C l i m a t e c a t a s t r op h e TN ships salt from Gujarat as local production dips S Godson Wisely Dass @ Thoothukudi Traders in Thoothukudi, which is Tamil Nadu’s crown jewel in the salt industry with an average yearly production of 25 lakh tonnes, have sourced 40,000 tonnes of edible salt from Gujarat for the first time in the industry’s history due to significant drop in production this year. Since there is a 60% fall in production, the quantum of salt brought from Gujarat may go up further. According to sources, salt production has dipped due to unseasonal rains and multiple weather systems off Thoothukudi coast which led to a drop in adequate sunny days. The consignments from Guj a r a t h av e r e a c h e d VO Chidambaranar Port last week, traders said. Thoothukudi has traditionally been a major sup- Salt brought from Gujarat being unloaded at Thoothukudi VOC Port | express Don blinks Tit-for-tat China levy over? “I don’t want to go higher. At a certain point... people don’t buy,” Trump said White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett says Trump and his team are studying whether to firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell express read Caste Hindus stay off Melpathi temple Villupuram: A day after Draupadi Amman temple at Melpathi in Villupuram district was opened for worship by members of all communities as per a Madras HC order, caste Hindus stayed away from the temple, saying the entry of Dalits on Thursday has polluted the shrine | P4 TN will always be ‘out of control’ for Delhi: CM Delhi HC Invokes Draupadi, says woman is not husband’s property S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi the Constitution has entrusted the SC with this job,” he said. Dhankhar had described Article 142, which grants plenary powers to the Supreme Court, as a “nuclear missile against democratic forces available to the judiciary 24x7”. Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the ruling is “timely accurate, cou, rageous, and a correction to the notion that those holding high office are above checks and balances... In our democracy only , the Constitution of India is supreme and most elevated. No office — be it that of the President, PM or governor — is above the fetters of Constitutional propriety he said. ,” DMK deputy general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva said, “The recent Supreme Court verdict on the role of Governors and President invoking Article 142 undoubtedly has established that no individual in the name of being a constitutional authority can sit over bills passed by a legislature indefinitely .” TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee accusing the V-P of “repeated disregard” for the judiciary . White House suggests broader US-Europe summit during Trump’s visit. Meloni is bridge between US-EU plier of the condiment to other parts of Tamil Nadu and southern states like Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. A salt manufacturer said that intermittent rains between February and June in 2024 have hit production. “If there is rainfall after the brine is left to evaporate in saltpans, rainwater will dilute the brine and salt yield will fall,” he said. P5 Rain pattern has changed due to climatic conditions. Prime salt season is in disarray Prabahar, Salt Exporter Nadu will forever be ‘out of control’ for Delhi,” he said, while speaking at a government function in Ponneri in Tiruvallur district on Friday Alleging that the . BJP has threatened some to forge an alliance in TN, he challenged the party for a fight in 2026 and asked it to bring its “parivar”. Contending that the BJP would intimidate with the central agencies at their disposal, Stalin said the Tamils are not slaves to submit to such threats. “Not (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah, but no Shah can rule Tamil Nadu because this is Tamil Nadu,” he said.  P5