power outage shuts heathrow airport London’s Heathrow Airport shuttered on Friday after a fire broke out at a substation serving the aviation hub, leading to the cancellation of at least 1,350 flights. The impact is likely to last several days. London’s Metropolitan Police force said there was no indication of foul play. The airline industry trade association said the shutdown was a planning failure | AP | P9 chennai l Saturday l march 22, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late 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 From Dec, all MHA missives in mother tongue of recipient Aims to stymie the ongoing language row rajesh kumar thakur @ New Delhi IN a fillip to linguistic diversity , Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said his office will begin official correspondence with Chief Ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), and citizens in their respective state languages starting December this year. The move aims to promote inclusivity and quell allegations of language imposition. Shah made this statement in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ functioning. He informed the House that a new department for Indian languages has been established under the Raajbhasha Vibhaag (Department of Official Language) in the home ministry . “I want to say this so that those who want to divide the country in the name of language do not get an agenda. The Modi government has established a department for Indian languages, which is working on promoting all Indian languages. Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi... every language has been included. There will be apps for translation too,” Shah said. Follow local regulations, MEA on US crackdown JAYANTH JACO B @ New Delhi INDIAN nationals going abroad must follow the laws of the host country the Min, istry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday in response to questions over an Indian student ‘self-deporting’ from the US and another being detained over their alleged pro-Palestine stance. “When it comes to visa and immigration policy, it lies within the sovereign function of a country We ex. pect the foreign nationals coming to India to abide by our laws and regulations and similarly, when Indian nationals are abroad, they must comply with local laws,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. Last week, Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student pursuing a doctoral degree at Columbia University self, deported after her visa was revoked for participating in pro-Palestine protests. The US Department of State cancelled her visa citing security threat due to her activities ‘supporting Hamas’. In the second incident, Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was detained over alleged ties with Hamas. A federal judge, however, has blocked his deportation. Responding to the case of Suri, the MEA spokesperson said the US government did not reach out to the Indian embassy . Home minister Amit Shah said the need of the hour is development, and not to rake up the language row | PTI In a broadside on the Tamil N a d u g ove r n m e n t , S h a h claimed TN was diverting attention from issues of corruption by raising the language pitch. “We will expose you... To those who use language as a shield for their scams, let me make it clear now that every language is important. How can we be opposed to Southern languages when we ourselves belong to different states? Nirmala Sitharaman comes from Tamil Nadu and I come from Gujarat,” Shah said. His statement comes amid the raging dispute between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the Centre over the implementation of the new National Education Policy and the three-language formula proposed under it. In-house inquiry against Delhi HC judge over ‘cash discovery’ S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court Collegium is considering a proposa l t o t r a n s f e r Ju s t i c e Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court following allegations of discovery of cash from his official residence. According to reports, a huge pile of cash was spotted by fire and rescue personnel who were called to douse a fire at the judge’s house on March 14. The judge was not in the house then. In a statement issued late on Friday the Supreme Court , said upon receiving information, Delhi High Court chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya had initiated an in-house enquiry and the report would be submitted to the Chief Justice of India. It also sought to clarify that the proposal seeking transfer of the judge was separate from the in-house inquiry procedure. “The report will be examined and processed for further and necessary action,” it said. Meanwhile, Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg claimed on Friday night that his department had not found any cash at the judge’s residence. According to the fire department’s report, some stationery and domestic articles caught fire and there were no casualties. “The call regarding the blaze at 30, Tughlak Road, also the Judge’s residence was received at 11.35 pm on March 14 and two fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot. The DFS team arrived at the spot at 11.43 pm,” said the report reviewed by this newspaper. The report added that the fire tenders left at 1.56 am on March 15 after dousing the flames. A Supreme Court official said the Collegium will take action “if and as required”, adding that judges are expected to be totally above board. Terming the matter very serious, former additional solicitor general Vikas Singh said the judge should be asked to resign. Collegium yet to recommend transfer: sc The Supreme Court said the Collegium has a proposal for transfer of Justice Varma from Delhi HC to Allahabad HC, but is yet to make a recommendation. A resolution will be passed after examining the responses of the two HC chief justices and Justice Verma, it said ipl turns 18 the 2025 edition of the biggest t20 league gets underway on saturday The ten-team franchise league has come a long way over the past 17 years. In the opening game of the 18th season, which will see 74 games played across 64 days, defending champs Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens | P15 Leaders troop in for DMK’s delimitation show of strength K e z h i l a r a s a n @ Chennai The ruling DMK is set to host its first meeting of states on the delimitation issue on Saturday in Chennai. Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting heralds a new movement that will shape the country’s future for fair delimitation (of Lok Sabha seats). Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his Telangana and Punjab counterparts, Revanth Reddy and Bhagwant Mann, have reached Chennai. Telangana state Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and opposition BRS leader K T Rama Rao have also arrived. According to sources, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar is expected to reach Chennai early Saturday. The meeting will be held at a five-star hotel in Guindy at 10 am on Saturday . Interestingly Uday Srinivas, an MP from , Pawan Kalyan’s Janasena Party a BJP ally , , is also expected to take part. West Bengal leaders will send letters to Stalin expressing solidarity During the three-hour meeting, a . presentation will be made on how the proposed 2026 delimitation will impact parliamentary seats in seven states. After the presentation, Stalin will deliver a speech. The leaders of the seven states would then share their opinion on the issue. .  P7 press Intake Kalaignar Kaivinai Thittam to replace Vishwakarma Scheme | P4 DMK warns AIADMK on dangers of BJP’s calculations | P4 18 Karnataka BJP MLAs suspended from Assembly for six months | P7 MEA says India, US working on trade pact ahead of April deadline | P9 Want CBI investigation, not Punjab probe: Col’s family | P10 US senator Steve Daines visits Beijing amid tariff woes | P13 Indian markets log biggest weekly gain in 4 years | P14