Skype to be history on may 5 as microsoft plans to shut it down Microsoft said Skype will be retired on May 5, 2025, and existing users will be able to log in to the Teams app without creating another account Launch, acquisition and downfall Skype was launched in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion. Microsoft tried to integrate Skype into Windows 10 in 2015, but the integration lasted only nine months. Despite efforts to revive Skype, the platform’s popularity declined thrissur l saturday l march 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 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 Congress issues gag Avalanche buries order on Kerala leaders BRO camp, 32 workers rescued P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Rescuers carry workers to safety on Friday. Search for the remaining 25 workers will continue on Saturday | PTI treatment, the sources said. Mana, three kilometres from Badrinath, is the last village on THIRTY-TWO of the 57 Border the India-Tibet border at an alRoads Organisation (BRO) titude of 3,200 metres. The avaworkers trapped under an ava- lanche hit around 7.15 am, burlanche in the high-altitude vil- ying the workers inside eight lage of Mana in Uttarakhand’s containers and one shed, the Chamoli district have been res- Army said. Swift response cued, with concern over the teams, comprising more than safety of the other 25 mounting 100 people from the Ibex Brias inclement weather gade, especially trained in forced a pause in reshigh altitude rescue opchamoli cue operations. erations, were immeThe avalanche, diately mobilised. which buried a BRO The teams included camp between Mana doctors and uttarakhand and Badrinath, ambulances. rolled down early on According to DisasFriday Multiple teams . ter Management and comprising the Army disRehabilitation Secretary aster response forces battled Vinod Kumar Suman, the situthrough tough terrain and ation is critical with the conheavy snow through the day to tainers buried under six to sevreach the men. They initially en feet of snow. The bad pulled out 10 workers and then weather continues. The trapped the others, sources said. Four workers were employed by a of those rescued are in a criti- company involved in highway cal condition, the Army PRO widening along a 50 km stretch said. All 32 have been taken to from Mana to Mana Pass. (With agency inputs) the ITBP camp in Mana for  n a r e n d ra s et h i & m aya n k s i n g h @ Dehradun/New Delhi Amid the row over Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s TNIE column hailing the achievements of the CPM-led government in Kerala, the Congress leadership on Friday said those who don’t toe the party line would face action. The party also ruled out a leadership change in the state unit. Speaking at the meeting of the Congress brass with Kerala leaders, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi cautioned the leaders “not to go against party line and disrespect the people of Kerala”. With Tharoor by her side, Congress’ Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi said all lead- Ramesh Chennithala, Shashi Tharoor and Kodikunnil Suresh during the meeting in New Delhi | pti ers have to work in coordination, discipline, and unity to win the upcoming local body and Assembly elections in the state. “We have got clear indication from the high command that people are looking for a change, so we should not do anything that disrespects the people. If anyone says anything personally... we will take strong action,” she said. According to Smart recovery: GDP growth bounces back to 6.2% in Q3 D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi The Indian economy showed resilience and made smart recovery in the third (OctoberDecember) quarter after posting an underwhelming growth rate in the second quarter. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the real GDP grew at 6.2% in Q3 compared to 5.6% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the gover nment’s second advanced estimate shows the economy might be growing at a slightly higher pace—at 6.5%—in FY25 against the previous estimate of 6.4%. In FY24, GDP grew at 9.2%, revised upwards from 8.6% as per earlier projections. The recovery in the third quarter was driven by better private and government consumption growth as well as by a heavy lifting in exports. Private consumption in real terms grew at 6.9% in the third quarter compared to 5.9% in the second. For the full year, private consumption is expected to grow at 7.6% compared to 5.6% a year ago. sources, Rahul said he is emotionally connected to the state and the people. “People are yearning for a change and we should be careful about our strategies. We should not do anything wrong against the party line,” sources quoted him as saying. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that no leaders have the right to make out-ofline statements in the media. At least three leaders, including M M Hassan, targeted Tharoor, saying his public comments damaged the party When . asked if the censure is directed at Tharoor, Dasmunshi said: “Why are you only pinpointing Tharoor? So many others made personal views. It has been told generally to everyone.” 2 deaths due to GBS in four days in state Two Guillain-Barré Syndrome deaths in 4 days at Kottayam MCH have raised concerns of an outbreak. Doctors, however, say there is no cause for worry | P5 2,567 local body wards identified as ‘water stress’ hotspots in state S h a i n u M o h a n @ T’Puram It’s just the beginning of summer and the state has already started feeling the heat, literally As Kerala braces . for yet another harsh season, a recent study has identified 2,567 local body wards across the state as waterstressed. The study sanctioned by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has revealed alarming levels of water scarcity in the state, with some districts experiencing severe drought conditions during summer months. Kasaragod experiences the highest level of water stress, with 24.74% of the district’s area severely affected by drought conditions. This is followed by Thiruvananthapuram (22.01%), Kozhikode (20.48%) and Pathanamthitta (20.72%). Nearly a quarter of the panchayats in these districts face severe water scarcity during summer. The survey was done in 21,472 local body wards across the state. The study — Identification of Water Stress Hotspots for Domestic Use Across Kerala — conducted by Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kerala Forest Research Institute and Institute of Climate Change Studies has identified stark regional disparities in water scarcity ● More on P4 levels.