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 ■ ■ COIMBATORE l sunday l july 26, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late CITY EDITION Past instances when Modi govt yielded to public pressure 2015: The first major retreat, when the government sought to amend land acquisition law to make it easier to acquire land for infrastructure and industrial projects. Triggered widespread opposition, govt forced to yield October 2018: Then MoS (External affairs) M J Akbar resigned during the ‘Me Too’ movement after several women accused him of sexual harassment during his days as an editor. Akbar denied the allegations but stepped down Union MoS Jitendra Singh, Minister J P Nadda and CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after the third round of talks held on Saturday evening | PTI November 2021: The biggest policy reversal when Modi announced repeal of the three farm laws. The laws triggered a yearlong agitation, with farmers camping at Delhi’s borders demanding their withdrawal. Law was repealed August 2024: Centre withdrew a UPSC advertisement for lateral recruitment to senior civil services after objections from opposition parties and NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) over the absence of reservation provisions April 2026: The Union government introduced the Delimitation bill 2026 in the Lok Sabha on 16 April 2026. Proposed delimitation based on 2011 Census. Increases Lok Sabha seats to 850. Was defeated on the floor of the House Mantri Pradhan out in Gen Z debut Humongous victory for satire party as govt accepted all demands; outgoing education minister says he did not want anti-national forces to exploit the situation rajesh kumar thakur Delhi @ New Delhi Pralhad Joshi gets addl charge of edu ministry Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has been appointed as Education Minister following Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation from the post on Saturday. Joshi has been given additional charge of the Education Ministry besides his role as Consumer Affairs Minister | P7 BJP heavyweight Dharmendra Pradhan, who held on as Union education minister for 1,845 days, was brought down in the end not by an election or a scandal probe, but by a satire party named after a cockroach, coupled with a paper leak he couldn’t wriggle away . The education minister resigned on Saturday citing moral responsibility, after over a month of nationwide protests spearheaded by the CJP and triggered by the alleged NEETUG paper leak and examination irregularities. In an open letter addressed to the youth, Pradhan said he was stepping down to protect the aspirations of India’s young people and prevent anti-national forces from exploiting the situation. “India’s Yuva-Shakti is the real power of the country ,” he said in his two-page resignation letter made public on X. He said the developments of the past 10 days had “saddened” him deeply and that the issue was “not a matter of personal prestige”. Noting that he did not want “anti-national forces” to exploit the situation, Pradhan said he wanted students to devote their time to studies and building their careers. Until late Friday evening, the government appeared to be in denial over his resignation. However, developments leading to his departure followed a reported meeting between home minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi. With the agitation gathering momentum and spreading across the country, the gover nment reportedly decided there was no option than to seek his resignation. According to sources, Pradhan submitted his resignation to PM Modi on Saturday morning, on his own and shared it on social media in the afternoon. No action will be taken against the organisers and protesters. Govt assured families of students who lost their lives of the highest possible compensation J P Nadda, Health minister Protest over after 36 days i f r a h m u f ti @ New Delhi AFTER 36 days of continuous protest at Jantar Mantar, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its protest “with immediate effect” and asked supporters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to return home. The announcement came in a joint Centre-CJP press conference in the evening, following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister. His resignation was the CJP’s central demand over the NEET paper leak. CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the agitation was being withdrawn in ‘good faith and understanding that the agreed upon terms will be executed within the agreed upon timelines’. With one demand already met, the group’s spokespersons said the government assured them that police cases filed against student-protesters would be withdrawn, no action would be taken against them in future, and maximum compen- hete r o spe c i f i c s o c i a l it y Nilgiris researchers document rare crow ‘anting’ behaviour S S e n t h il K u m a r @ Nilgiris A rare behavioural study by researchers in the Nilgiris has documented two crow species engaging in anting using the invasive yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), marking the first recorded instance of the species being used for the self-maintenance behaviour in South India. The study, Need Some Ants Too: Heterospecific and Conspecific Social Facilitation of Anting in Congeneric Crows from India, was carried out in January by researchers N Moinudheen, A Abinesh, G Gajal, K Rishi, E Vignesh, M Shahir, M Saran and A Samson. The team recorded the behaviour on video in Coonoor. The researchers observed a large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) actively anting on a cypress tree inhabited by a large colony of yellow crazy ants. Three house crows (Corvus splendens) later approached the site, with two eventually displaying the same behaviour after watching the large-billed crow, pointing to heterospecific social facilitation, where one species adopts a behaviour by observing another. Anting, though reported in more than 200 bird species worldwide, is seldom witnessed in the wild. During active anting, birds deliberately pick up ants and rub them onto their feathers, while in passive anting they position themselves over ant colonies, allowing ants to crawl through their plumage. The behaviour is believed to help control parasites, maintain feathers and harness the insects’ defensive chemicals. “We observed a large aggregation of yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes), one of the world’s 100 worst invasive alien species. Both largebilled crows and house crows engaged in anting in associa- Patna tion with the colony This is the . first documented record in India of Anoplolepis gracilipes being used for anting and a rare behavioural observation in these crow species,” said researcher A Abinesh. Researcher K Rishi said active anting accounted for nearly 42-45% of the large-billed crow’s observed activity. The bird repeatedly rubbed ants on its tail, wings and legs, while collecting and pecking at ants made up another 8-10% of the observation period, suggesting it retrieved the ants after anting. Researcher N Moinudheen said heterospecific sociality enables animals to acquire information by observing members of other species. “Three house crows arrived while the large-billed crow was anting. The first watched and collected ants but did not begin anting. Soon after, two more house crows arrived and started anting from a perch opposite the large-billed crow, suggesting they adopted the behaviour after observing it,” he said. A CJP protester celebrates after the Centre accepted their demands | PTI sation would be given to families of students who died by suicide over the NEET-UG paper leak. “We urge all protesters to go home as the government has accepted our demands,” Saurav Das said in the presence of the two Union ministers. Ashutosh Ranka added, “The government has accepted all our demands after 36 days of protest. We urge everyone to peacefully withdraw from the protest sites. Our demands were not radical but basic, and the government has now accepted them.” Policemen used loudspeakers to ask the protesters to vacate Jantar Mantar in central Delhi in the evening. The protest that had been going on for over a month had led to dwindling crowds at nearby markets that are popular with tourists and locals, as the impact of the protest went beyond traffic diversions and Metro station closures. On since June 20, the agitation galvanised lakhs of students in protests across the country with support by major opposition parties. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s first reaction after the resignation was, “Jhukti hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye (The world bends; we need someone to bend it).” Dipke however missed mentioning Sonam Wangchuk’s name in his victory speech. Juggling complexities of life, Jhandu lifts hope for better days I n d r a n e e l d a s @ Chennai Jhandu is not a common name. It has an uncanny resemblance with one of the most iconic pain-relief retro brands – Zandu balm and its popular ad run on DD years ago. Nor has it to do with Xanadu — considered the idyllic capital of Kubla Khan. There is a very interesting anecdote behind it, which Jhandu Kumar himself narrated from Glasgow. In fact, his story is a poignant reminder of India’s hinterland and its travails. Born in a vegetable vendor family, money was always considered a novelty, something extra-terrestrial. Earnings were meager and at the age of just five, Jhandu, who is 29 now, was afflicted with polio. Life went downhill as his family spent their entire fortune (however meager it was) on him. But Jhandu fondly recollected the days as a child and the hardship his family had to endure. “I was five years old when polio struck me,” he told this daily on Saturday a day after a glittering Friday when he won his first Commonwealth Games medal, a bronze. WITH THIS ISSUE Southern Storm PLUS 12 P AGES Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation is a huge step towards reshaping our education system. Well done to students across the country. Proud of all of you Celebrations break out across the nation after the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan with the CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke (left) saying “we have...done it.” However, violence broke out in Patna during the ‘Bihar Bandh’ called over the alleged NEET paper leak | PTI/ Kevin Nashon/ Martin Louis Bengaluru Rahul Gandhi, LoP This resignation is the evidence that if you don’t get scared, don’t bend before this government, you can get their resignation Abhijeet Dipke, CJP A victory of democracy, direct democracy from the streets ... congratulations CJP, Gen Z of the nation and thank you all citizens for shedding fear Sonam Wangchuk CHENNAI