madurai l Monday l may 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION CJI Gavai flags protocol lapse during his Maharashtra visit The CJI expressed displeasure over the absence of Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary, Director General of Police or city police commissioner to receive him Top officials fail to turn up to receive cji ‘All three pillars of democracy equal’ “If the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police or Mumbai Police Commissioner does not want to come there, when the CJI, who is from Maharashtra, has arrived for the first time, it’s up to them to think about whether it is right or not,” Chief Justice of India B R Gavai said on Sunday during his first visit to the state after being elevated to the top post ■ ■ Gavai was in Mumbai for a felicitation programme by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. At the ceremony, Gavai said he did not want to pinpoint such small issues, but stressed that all three pillars of democracy are equal and must show and give respect to one another CJI said he felt the need to mention it so that people know about it May 14 When Justice B R Gavai was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India 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 8 kids among 17 of family Ashoka Univ prof held for social media post killed in Hyderabad blaze H a rpr e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Preliminary probe suggests short circuit may have triggered the fire 8 dead in fire in Solapur C H I T H A L U R I R E V AN T H @ Hyderabad A fire that broke out early Sunday morning at a house near Gulzar Houz, less than 100 metres from the historic Charminar monument in Hyderabad, left 17 people dead — among them eight children who were visiting their grandparents for the summer holidays. The fire occurred in the residence of Sri Krishna Pearls owner Prahlad Modi — a threestorey building that has the jewellery store on the ground floor and family living quarters above. Of the 21 people reportedly present in the house at the time, only four survived. Many of the deceased belonged to the same extended family, spanning three generations. Fire department officials said six victims died due to suffocation while 11 suffered fatal burn injuries. Preliminary reports suggested a short circuit at a power meter may have triggered the fire. Among the dead were 75-yearold Modi, his wife Munni, their children and grandchildren. Most victims were found unconscious when fire personnel reached them. They had reportedly retreated into rooms in a desperate attempt to escape the heat and smoke. Eyewitnesses described seeing smoke billowing from the building around 6.15 am. Locals attempted rescue efforts before fire personnel arrived. They also used private vehicles to rush the injured to hospitals as ambulances were delayed. express read 2 killed in blast at illegal cracker unit in Thanjai Thanjavur: A youth and an elderly man engaged in making crackers at an illegal firecracker unit in Neyveli Thenpathi near Tiruvonam were killed in a blast on the premises on Sunday. Samrath Begum(47), who runs the unit and whose son is among the deceased, has been arrested, said police. Fire and rescue services personnel recovered the bodies of A Mohammed Riaz (19), who was Begum’s son, and K Sundararajan (60) | P4 Gujarat Titans opener B Sai Sudharsan smashed 108 n.o as they beat Delhi Capitals by ten wickets. Earlier, KL Rahul hit a ton for DC | sportzpics Eight persons, including three women and a child, were killed in a massive fire at a textile factory in Maharashtra’s Solapur district on Sunday, officials said. Prima facie, a short in the circuit triggered the blaze around 3.45 am at Central Textile Mills situated on the Akkalkot Road in Solapur MIDC, around 400 km from Mumbai Video grab of fire fighters in action after a fire broke out in a building in the Old City area of Hyderabad on Sunday | Express Fire Services Director General Y Nagi Reddy said the building’s layout hampered evacuation efforts. A single staircase, less than a metre wide, served as the only access to upper floors. The absence of alternative exits or exterior ventilation complicated rescue efforts. Officials said the use of combustible wooden panelling in the house also contributed to the rapid spread of fire. Locals claimed electrical issues were frequent in the building, with short circuits report- ed on earlier occasions. The fire department said the first alert was received at 6.16 am and the first unit reached the scene within four minutes. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ordered an investigation into the incident. Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka visited the site and announced an ex gratia of `5 lakh for each victim’s family Prime . Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also conveyed their condolences. Prez Reference: Stalin writes to 8 CMs for unified action E x pr e s s N e w s S e rv i c e @ Chennai Charging that the BJP is attempting to unsettle the landmark judgment given by the Supreme Court on April 8, which could be invoked as a precedent by other states, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday called for unified legal resistance from the chief ministers of eight non-BJPruled states to protect the basic structure of the Constitution. In his letter to the CMs of the states — West Bengal, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir — Stalin urged them to oppose the May 13 Presidential Reference to the SC. “We must evolve a coordinated legal strategy before the court and present a united front to preserve and protect the basic structure of the Constitu- tion, as upheld by our Supreme Court in its historic judgement. I look forward to your immediate and personal intervention in this vital issue,” he said. The CM said that though the Presidential Reference did not specifically refer to any state or judgment, it intended to question the findings on law and interpretation of the Constitution given by the Supreme Court in the case of State of Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu. “This historic judgement obtained by my gover nment is not only for my state but for all states since it upholds the federal structure and distribution of powers between the states and union government, thus preventing the obstruction of legislations enacted by democratically-elected state legislatures by an appointee of the centre and an unelected figurehead — the governor,” Stalin pointed out. P5 Days after the Haryana State C o m m i s s i o n f o r Wo m e n (HSCW) issued a show-cause notice to Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad for his social media post on Operation Sindoor, the Haryana Police arrested him from Delhi on Sunday . The police were acting on two FIRs filed against him based on complaints by Yogesh Jatheri, a BJP Youth Morcha leader and Renu Bhatia, HSCW chairperson. Narender Kadyan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said Mahmudabad will be produced before a local court and the police will seek his remand for further investigation. As for Ashoka University, it said it “will cooperate with the police and local authorities in the investigation fully’’. On May 12, the HSCW took suo motu cognisance of the post and summoned him to appear before it. In a statement on May 14, Mahmudabad said, “My lawyers have submitted a detailed Over a year after multiple complaints of sexual harassment were made against the head of the department of Oral Pathology at the Tamil Nadu Government Dental College in Chennai, and two months after a two-member inquiry team submitted its report, no action has been initiated by the state Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DME). Although the main complainant, a senior assistant professor in the department, had died by suicide in January 2025, staff at the college told TNIE that the HoD’s alleged misconduct against female students continues unabated. Staff at the college and former female postgraduate students told TNIE sordid tales of the harassment meted out by the HoD that included verbal abuse, casteist and sexual comments, body shaming and incitement towards self-harm. In one instance, he even allegedly asked a student to spit on him. “Our HoD always speaks in a demeaning way and abuses us verbally using profanity stat,” ed the senior assistant professor’s complaint made with the college management on March 23, 2024. Apart from casually tossing off offensive remarks, the HoD would also record audios and videos of female students without their consent, according to the complaint. She recalled that the HoD had videoed her when she went to his cabin, making her ex- fia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh for a press conference, highlighting that the dream of our Republic’s founders — of an India united in its diversity — remains very much alive.” In its pushback, the Faculty Association of the university strongly condemned the arrest “on groundless and untenable charges”. After his arrest in Delhi, he was taken to Sonipat, not allowed access to necessary medication, and driven around for hours without any communication about his whereabouts, the association charged. IMF tightens Pak bailout terms DI PA K M O NDA L @ New Delhi Amid India’s assertions that Pakistan will divert a large part of the foreign aid it receives to fund terror infrastructure, the International Monetary Fund has imposed 11 new conditions for the release of the next tranche of its bailout package. According to Pakistan media, one of the conditions is approval by Pak Parliament of a new Rs 17.6 trillion budget – of which a significant part (Rs 1.07 trillion) should be for capex. The new conditions put forth after a staff level review of the bailout package spans from energy to governance reform, tax system overhaul, as well as removal of restriction on import of old cars as well as phasing out of incentives to industry parks and s p e c i a l t e ch n o l o g y zones. Earlier this month, the Washington DCheadquartered lending agency approved a $2.4 billion bailout package to Pakistan—$1 billion under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme and a new $1.3 billion under Resilience and Sustainability Facil- $ Rare setback for PSLV as it fails to place sat in orbit B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru An inexplicable fall in pressure in the motor case chamber of the third stage of the PSLV-C61 rocket prevented the 101st mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from successfully releasing an Earth Observation Satellite, EOS-09, in its intended orbit on Sunday This was rare . failure of the otherwise reliable PSLV . The four-stage PSLV-C61 lifted off at 5.59 am from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Till the second stage separation at 4.36 minutes after launch, everything was fine. Despite igniting perfectly “during the functioning , of the third stage we are seeing an observation and the mission could not be accomplished,” said ISRO chair man V Narayanan. Had there been no glich, EOS-09 would have separated from the rocket’s fourth stage at 17.654 minutes after launch and glided into a Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit at an altitude of about 534 km. It was the 63rd flight of the PSLV and the 27th using the PSLV-XL configuration. The third stage motor used a solid propellant, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), which serves as a binder of other oxidizers. Experts explained that pressure in a rocket motor’s combustion chamber could fall due to possible change in the burning rate and surface area of the propellant, or from issues within the nozzle, like decreased burning surface area or erosion of nozzle throat, which can lead to reduced thrust, and failure. ISRO will be probing these issues now, scientists said. Officials drag feet on abuse plaints against govt college HoD s i n d u j a j a n e @ Chennai reply to these summons and represented me before the Commission today May 14, 2025. The , screenshots attached to the notice make it clear that my remarks have been completely misunderstood and that the Commission has no jurisdiction whatsoever in the matter.” The summons fail to explain how the p o s t v i o l at e s a ny rights of women, he said. “Contrary to the allegations, my post appreciated the fact that the armed forces chose Colonel So- tremely uncomfortable. He also made a habit of shouting insults at students, humiliating them, she had alleged. Following her complaint, some former PG students also filed sexual harassment complaints against the HoD. One of them alleged that she had been subjected to verbal and emotional abuse as well as extreme bodyshaming. “He told me my lower body is larger than my torso and that my legs are crooked due to my excess weight,” the former PG student said. P5 He told me my lower body is larger than my torso and that my legs are crooked due to my excess weight Former student ity (RSF) lending programme— despite India’s protests. India pointed out that Pakistan has been using its resources to fund its terror project and doling out money to Islamabad will expose funding agencies and donors to reputational risks. One of IMF’s conditions requires Pakistan’s four provinces to overhaul agriculture taxes and establish systems for processing tax returns, taxpayer identification/registration, public awareness campaigns, and compliance strategies. The country has also been asked to remove the Rs 3.21/unit ceiling on electricity surcharges. Delegation Khurshid awaits cong nod; Akbar back in play Congress leader Salman Khurshid said his party will take a call on his participation in the diplomatic delegation to be sent to various countries to expose Pak terror. Former Union minister M J Akbar is part of the team that will brief European leaders | P7