kannur l tuesday l may 20, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION A decade after Brexit, Britain and Europe agree to ‘reset’ relations The UK and EU have reached a new deal setting out post-Brexit relations, easing restrictions on travel and work for hundreds of millions of people uk may take part in EU military missions Third deal sealed by Britain this month The ‘reset’ comes nine years after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Britain, the second largest defence spender in Europe, will now take part in joint procurement projects and may also possibly join EU military missions. Both sides also agreed to make it easier for visitors and food from UK to reach the EU. A contentious fishing deal was also inked ■ ■ Controls imposed on UK exports to the 27-country bloc will be lifted in exchange for Britain extending EU fishing rights in British waters. European fishing boats will have access to UK waters until 2038 This is the third back-to-back strategic trade deal that Britain has struck this month, after landmark pacts with India and the US $167 billion Defence fund being set up by the European Union to rearm the bloc 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 No N-signalling by Pak during conflict: Misri global capability centres Kerala catches fancy of more int’l IT firms M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram Foreign secretary briefs parliamentary panel, says US had no role in brokering the ceasefire P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Maintaining that the recent conflict between India and Pakistan was always in the conventional domain, and there was no nuclear signalling by the neighbouring country For, eign Secretary Vikram Misri told a parliamentary committee on Monday that the United States had no role in the ceasefire between the two countries, sources said. The meeting came in the wake of Operation Sindoor to avenge the slaughter of 26 civilians in Pahalgam. According to sources, the three-and-a-half hour meeting saw several Opposition members questioning Misri on US President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion of his role in brokering a ceasefire between the two nations. Many members pointed out that the US is having a free run with its narrative of mediation and has succeeded in re-hyphenating India with Pakistan. “Misri replied that we have given sufficient response on this,” said a source. Another member pointedly questioned why India “allowed Trump to repeatedly seize the narrative”. Misri reiterated that India has been consistent with its stated position that the decision on ceasefire was taken at a bilateral level. “Misri emphatically told the panel that there was no US mediation in the ceasefire,” said a source. Some MPs asked if Pakistan used Chinese platforms in the TMC pulls out of all-party delegation The row over nomination of MPs to multi-party delegations continued on Monday, with the TMC’s Yusuf Pathan, named by the Centre in one of the delegations, opting out. The party said it was not boycotting the diplomatic exercise but wanted to assert its right to pick its representative | P7 conflict. Misri said it did not matter as India hammered Pakistani air bases. On reports that India lost fighter jets during the conflict, he said it was the defence ministry’s call and didn’t want to go into such details. “The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) informed his Pakistani counterpart that India struck nine terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and in Pakistan on May 7. Pakistan responded with an escalation, prompting India to retaliate. It was only after India’s retaliatory strikes, which included targeting key Pakistani air bases and disabling a runway at Nur Khan, that Pakistan requested a DGMO-level call,” he told the meeting. Sources said the panel unanimously condemned the trolling of Misri and praised his professional conduct. The meeting chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was attended by several parliamentarians. Special team to probe MP min’s ‘shameful’ remarks S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday castigated Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his scurrilous “sister of terrorists” remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and ordered setting up a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the FIR against him in the matter. “The entire nation was in shame due to the comments... We saw your videos, you were on the verge of using very filthy language but somehow better sense prevailed or you did not find suitable words. You should be shameful. Entire country is proud of our Army and you made this statement,” said a two-judge bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh. The court brushed aside his apology and wondered if “they were crocodile tears or an attempt to wriggle out of the legal proceedings”. “The kind of crass comments you made, completely thoughtlessly We don’t need this apology the court said. ... ,” It asked the Madhya Pradesh DGP to constitute the SIT by Tuesday “We are constituting a SIT with three IPS officers . and one should be the rank of IG or DGP rank.. We want the state to submit the SIT report to us,” the court said. Pre-monsoon paIn Residents being evacuated on a rubber boat from Bengaluru’s Sai Layout area following heavy rain on Monday. A 35-year-old woman died after a rain-soaked wall collapsed on her in the city | Shashidhar Byrappa SC junks telcos’ plea for waiver of dues RA K E S H K U M AR @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday rejected telecom companies’ pleas seeking waiver of the interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components of their pending adjusted gross reve n u e ( AG R ) d u e s , collectively amounting to over `80,000 crore. Terming the petitions by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices ‘misconceived’, a bench of justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said: “We are really shocked by these petitions which have come before us. Really disturbed. It is not expected of a multinational company. We will dismiss it.” Vodafone Idea, India’s third largest telecom service provider, had moved SC last week seeking a waiver of over `30,000 crore in it owes the government. Later, Bharti Airtel, along with its unit Bharti Hexacom, also filed a petition in the SC requesting a waiver of `34,745 crore in dues. Tata Malankara Church row Oriental Orthodox Churches intervene to resolve disputes A b h i l a s h C h a n d r a n @Kottayam In a major development in the efforts to resolve the disputes between Jacobite and Orthodox groups within the Malankara Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have stepped forward to facilitate peace negotiations. The 15th meeting of the heads of the three Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East, which concluded at St Bishoy’s Monastery in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, on Sunday, decided to invite Mor Baselios Jose ph, Catholicos of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, CatholiThe Jacobite cos of the Malankara Orthodox Church has Syrian Church, to Cairo for diswelcomed the cussions and help restore peace decision made a n d u n i t y i n M a l a n k a r a by the Oriental Church. Orthodox As per the decision, which was Churches and taken to strengthen the internal expressed unity and integrity of the Orienoptimism over tal Orthodox Family, Pope Taresolution of wadros II, Pope of Alexandria ongoing and Patriarch of the See of St disputes Mark, and Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Orthodox Church of the Great House of Cilicia will lead the discussions in the presence of Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The date and further details will be released in accordance with the responses from both fac● More on P5 tions.  moonlighting Young woman did 141 jobs in 7 years! U M A K ANNAN @ Bengaluru HOW many day jobs can one manage simultaneously? Not one, two, or three. In a startling revelation, background verification firm OnGrid said that a candidate was on the payrolls of 10 different companies at the same time, between 2018 and 2021, without a single day’s gap between roles. Not just that. The candidate, a woman in her early 30s, had 141 jobs in seven years. OnGrid said it found out this extreme case of moonlighting using its Employment History Check solution, powered by verified EPFO data. In 2020, while the world grappled with layoffs and employment uncertainty this in, dividual clocked 50 new jobs, switching between start-ups, large enterprises, and MNCs. OnGrid had earlier witnessed cases of candidates clocking jobs in doubledigits. But a moonlighting of this scale was a first. “As remote work, freelancing, and hybrid models become the norm, employment risks are also evolving. Traditional background checks are simply not enough anymore,” said Piyush Peshwani, co-founder & CEO, OnGrid. “This case is a wakeup call,” he added. A d i t ya N a r aya n Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR said people moonlight not just for extra income. It can be for pursuing a passion project, acquiring new skills, or giving back to the community through teaching, he said. Double lives Moonlighting means employees doing a second job or a side gig alongside their main job. During the pandemic, this practice had ignited debates with IT firms warning staff against living “double lives” Teleservices sought relief on `16,798 crore it owes the government. During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone Idea, sought an adjournment of the case to July saying the parties , were trying to approach the government for relief. However, the bench rejected it and proceeded to dismiss the case. Earlier, Vodafone Idea had claimed it was not in a position to pay AGR instalments, adding that it may be forced to shut down operations. What is GCC? Kerala is poised for its next big leap in the IT landscape with over 30 inter national firms showing interest to set up their Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in the state. Comply Gi, ant Eagle and Micropolis are among the IT and ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) companies eager to levera g e Kerala’s GCC ecosystem. The high-powered IT committee appointed by the government is holding discussions with potential investors, with the support of a consortium of global consulting firms formed specifically for the purpose. “The fir ms include new names and existing companies looking for an expansion. The idea of a consortium evolved at the Invest Kerala Global Summit held in February It really . worked,” said Sambasiva Rao, IT Secretary. The consortium comprises 12 leading global consulting firms, including Ev- A Global Capability Centre is an offshore centre set up by international firms in talent-rich regions. GCCs help the parent company explore global talent and benefit from technological advancements besides cost advantage. erest Group, Avasant and ANSR. “Several prominent companies have already established their GCCs in Kerala. Their presence validates the state’s potential in technology, innovation and human resources,” said said Sambasiva Rao. Technopark CEO Sanjeev Nair said Kerala is now a flourishing centre for GCCs, offering state of the art facilities at its IT parks. “Already several companies have their GCCs in Kerala — IBM, Allianz, Nissan Digital, EY, NOV Insight, H&R Block, , Equifax, Accenture, Guidehouse, Icon, Safran, RM Education etc. to name a few. The state is poised to accommodate more such centres,” he ● More on P5 said.  REPORT CARD: As the Pinarayi Vijayan government completes its fourth year in office, TNIE assessed the performance all ministers by engaging an independent panel of experts. P4