chennai l Saturday l June 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Govt panel to check fairness of entrance exams, need for coaching The Ministry of Education has set up a panel to suggest ways to reduce students’ dependency on coaching centres for transition to higher education To plug Gaps in current schooling system flags proliferation of ‘Dummy schools’ “The committee will examine the gaps in the current schooling system that contribute to students’ reliance on coaching centres, particularly the limited focus on critical thinking, logical reasoning, analytical skills and innovation and the prevalence of rote learning practices,” news agency PTI quoted a senior Ministry of Education official as saying on Friday ■ ■ Many students prefer to take admission in ‘dummy schools’ so that they can focus solely on their preparations for competitive exams. They don’t attend classes and directly appear in the board exams The panel will also study the effectiveness and fairness of competitive entrance examinations and their influence on the coaching industry 9-member Committee to be headed by Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi 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 Declined Trump’s invite to the US to be in the land of Mahaprabhu, says Modi E x p ress N e w s S ervi c e @ Bhubaneswar Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he declined US President Donald Trump’s invitation for a recent luncheon meeting in Washington since he did not want to miss being in Odisha, the sacred land of Mahaprabhu Jagannath. Addressing a massive gathering in Bhubaneswar to mark the first anniversary of the Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government in the state, the prime minister said it was more important for him to be leeds from front India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and capatin Shubman Gill score hundreds in the first Test against England at Leeds on Friday. Gill became the fifth Indian to score a hundred in the first Test as leader. India scored 359 for 3 on Day 1 | AP Iran eases curbs to fly out 1,000 stranded Indians Three flights operated by Iranian airline Mahan Air to evacuate Indian nationals 10,000 Indians are living in Iran and those wishing to return are IN a major diplomatic move, being evacuated. Iran has eased its airspace reThe evacuation comes amid strictions to facilitate the evac- mounting regional instability uation of Indian nationals. The as the conflict between Iran decision, described as a special and Israel entered the eighth gesture by Iranian authorities, day on Friday. Iran continued allows India to operate emer- to launch ballistic missiles at gency evacuation flights to Israel, hitting buildings in Haibring its citizens home safely . fa and injuring 31. Israel said it Three special flights operat- carried out air strikes targeted by Iran’s Mahan Air will ing Iran’s missile launchers. carry 1,000 Indians, Meanwhile, several including a large EU-Iran talks I n d i a n s r e m a i n in Geneva number of students, stranded in both Iran from Iran’s Mashhad and Israel. Journalist Iranian Foreign and Ashgabat to New Raavish Zaidi, a LucMinister Abbas Delhi, sources said. Araghchi on Friday know native, had a The first flight will held talks with his narrow escape when reach India on Friday an Israeli missile British, French, at 11.30 pm. The other struck his office inGerman, and two flights will land side the Islamic ReEuropean Union at 3.00 am and 4.30 pm public of Iran Broadcounterparts, in on Saturday . Geneva, marking a casting building in The evacuation ef- fresh bid by Europe Tehran. His father fort comes under Op- to revive dialogue Amir Abbas Zaidi e r a t i o n S i n d h u , on Tehran’s nuclear rued that Raavish which successfully could not attend teh programme brought back 110 Inlast rites of his mothdian students from Iran. The er, who passed away a few days students were first moved to ago in Lucknow. Armenia, flown to Doha, and Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abfinally arrived in Delhi on bas said he was approached by Thursday morning. several families whose relaIran’s deputy chief of mis- tives are stranded in Iran. He sion in New Delhi, Mohammad said many families travelled to Javad Hosseini, on Friday reit- Iran for pilgrimage. “Unfortuerated Tehran’s commitment to nately, war broke out. Thouthe safety of foreign nationals sands are stuck... and running and highlighted the coopera- out of essentials,” he said.  P9 tion between the two countries (With inputs from Namita in times of crisis. He said about Bajpai in Lucknow) J ayan t h J a c ob @ New Delhi in the land of Jagannath. “Just two days ago, I was in Canada attending the G7 Summit when I received a call from President Trump. He said since you are already in Canada, why don’t you come down to Washington? We will have lunch together and a conversation. He extended a very warm invitation. I thanked him for the invite but told him it was very important for me to visit the land of Lord Jagannath. With due respect, I declined his offer,” Modi said. AX-4 put off again, HC stays ED proceedings against ISRO to recall Gp producer, bizman in Tasmac case Capts Shukla, Nair R S I V A K U M A R @ Chennai B O S K Y K H A N N A @ New Delhi TWO days before the scheduled launch of the much-awaited Axiom-4 (Ax-4) Space Mission on June 22, Axiom Space on Friday announced its indefinite postponement. Axiom Space, which is spearheading the 14day Ax-4 Space Mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with four astronauts from the US, India, Poland and Hungary has not given the , next launch date. Following this, the Indian Space Research Organisation decided to recall Ax-4 mission pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and reserve crew member Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair. “NASA has made the decision to stand down from a launch on Sunday June 22, and will target , a new launch date in the coming days. The space agency (NASA) needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module. Because of the space station’s interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review the data,” an Axiom Space statement read. The $64 million space mission is a multi-agency collaboration, involving Axiom Space, ISRO, NASA and European Space Agency (ESA). “The (Indian) astronauts will be returning. There are many technical issues that need to be addressed before the mission is launched,” said a senior ISRO scientist. Shukla and Nair are among the four Indian astronauts selected for India’s first manned space mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled to be launched some time in 2027. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the Ax-4 mission delays will have no impact on the Gaganyaan mission, which, he said, is progressing as per schedule. leopard whisks four-year-old girl standing near her mother in Valparai on friday The victim, a native of Jharkhand, was attacked and taken away by a leopard on Friday when she was standing in front of her home at Valparai in Coimbatore. Forest, police and fire services personnel have launched a search operation to locate the girl inside the forest. There was no trace of the girl until 9.30 pm, an official said | P4 succession Dalai may name reincarnation on July 2 B a l a C h au h an @ Bengaluru The ageing Dalai Lama, Tibet’s highest spiritual leader, will make an important announcement, most likely on his reincarnation on July 2, four days before he turns 90. Speaking to this paper, Penpa Tsering, president of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) revealed that the Dalai will make an “important announcement on July 2. It is likely to be on his reincarnation.” The Dalai is scheduled to meet senior leaders of the four Buddhist sects - Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma and Gelug between July 2 and 4 at Dharamshala, the headquarters of the CTA. The identity of the Dalai’s reincarnation is keenly awaited not only by Tibetans but by people in the Himalayan region as well, from Lhasa to Arunachal Pradesh, as they look up to him as their spiritual guide. China, too, wants to know, as it sees the Dalai as a separatist leader and symbol of Tibetan resistance. Launching various projects worth over `18,600 crore and releasing the Odisha Vision Document @2036 and @2047, Modi congratulated Chief Minister Majhi for giving a fresh momentum to the development of the state. Modi said in recent years, the country has experienced the BJP’s development model. “You have seen the Congress model — delaying, obstructing and derailing projects. Now you have experienced the development model of the BJP government,” he said. In March 2011, the Dalai relinquished his role as the political head of the Tibetans in exile and handed it over to the CTA. He had said that his successor will be born in a free world, in a clear message to China on claim on having the sole right to choose the next Dalai Lama. “It is important to remember that the Dalai is not only the leader of all the Tibetans, but also of one million Indian Himalayans,” noted Tibetologist Claude Arpi said. It is not up to a Marxist govt in China to decide on the highly esoteric and spiritual issue of the Dalai Lama’s successor... But the succession has important implications for Beijing’s control over Tibet Claude Arpi, Tibetologist The Madras High Court on Friday stayed all further proceedings of the Enforcement Directorate against film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran regarding a money laundering probe connected to the alleged `1,000 crore scam in Tasmac. A bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan passed the interim order on the petitions filed by Bhaskaran and Ravindran after finding that the ED’s search operations were “wholly without jurisdiction” as the agency had no incriminating material against the petitioners. “Interim stay on all further proceedings (by the ED) against the petitioners pursuant to authorisation on 15.5.2025 pending disposal of the (main) writ petitions,” the court said. The bench also ordered the ED to return all the properties of the petitioners that were seized and sealed during the search held on May 16 until the main writ petitions were decided.  P5 express read Sun TV says Dayanidhi statement defamatory Chennai: A day after DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran slapped notice on brother Kalanithi alleging fraud in transfer of Sun TV shares, the firm said the statement is defamatory and not based on facts | P4 Contempt: HC summons chief secy, predecessor Chennai: HC has ordered Chief Secretary N Muruganandam and his predecessor Shiv Das Meena to appear before it on July 21 in a contempt of court case regarding government appointments | P4