kalaburagi l wednesday l april 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION scientists believe they have resurrected the dire wolves Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas biotech company, has successfully “de-extincted” the dire wolf, a species that roamed America 12,500 years ago closely resembles its ancestor, gray wolf rare tooth and skull used in study By harnessing ancient DNA, cloning, and gene-editing technology, scientists have created three dire wolf pups, essentially a hybrid species that closely resembles its extinct ancestor, the gray wolf. The dire wolf, a formidable predator and inspiration for HBO series “Game of Thrones,” was characterised by its size, wider head, thicker fur, and stronger jaw ■ ■ The researchers studied a 13,000 year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000 year-old skull fragment found in Idaho They took blood cells from a gray wolf and genetically modified them before transferring the genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. Embryos were then transferred to surrogates | P11 62 days is the time it took for the new engineered pups to be born 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 Guv sending reiterated bills to Prez illegal: SC Apex court invokes special powers to declare 10 Tamil Nadu bills as passed; sets deadline for governors S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Sonia Gandhi during the CWC meeting | PTI Cong resolution calls Waqf Act polarising, foreign policy weak P r ee t h a N a i r @ Ahmedabad Nationalism pitch From opposing the Waqf Act to India’s foreign policy, One Nation, One Election bill and proposed delimitation to economic and education policy the , political resolution being discussed at the All India Congress Committee session in Ahmedabad vows to strengthen organisational capacity and competence to fight for Nyay (justice) for every Indian. While the Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday gave the draft resolution its final shape, it is expected to be passed at the AICC session on Wednesday . Reaffirming the party’s opposition to the contentious Waqf Act and anti-conversion laws, the resolution said the party is committed to fighting the politics of religious, linguistic, caste-based, and regional divisions. The resolut i o n s a i d t h e Wa q f a n d anti-conversion laws are part of BJP’s polarising strategy . “We will not allow India to be divided, nor will we allow those who seek to divide it to succeed in their diabolical designs. Our path is clear: Quit hate, Unite India,” it said. Terming the Centre’s foreign policy a weak-kneed one, the Terming the Congress party’s idea of nationalism as one that binds people together, the resolution said ‘the pseudo-nationalism of the BJP-RSS’ seeks to divide the nation over region, language, attire, and food habits resolution said the BJP government has compromised the country’s foreign policy at the altar of individual branding and serving vested interests. “Though Congress remains a strong votary of close ties with the US, it can never happen at the expense of India’s national interests,” said the resolution. “During the PM’s visit to Washington, D.C., we were publicly insulted and our country was labelled as a ‘Tariff Abuser’. Indian migrants were treated like animals and deported from the US in chains and handcuffs,” it said. On the border dispute, the resolution said China has illegally occupied 2,000 sq km of Indian territory in Eastern Ladakh. Yet, the BJP government has failed to restore the status quo ante, as it existed before April 2020, the Congress resolution noted. In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held the action of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi to reserve 10 bills for the President’s consideration despite their reiteration by the state assembly “illegal and arbitrary”. The governor has no option but to give assent to the bill that is presented to him after re-passage in the state assembly if it is unchanged, a two-judge bench comprising justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said. The court said the governor must act on the aid and advice of the state legislature. “Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor does not possess any discretion and has to mandatorily act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.” Ar ticle 200 of the Constitution deals with assent to bills. The bench said once the gov- 3 In the case of withholding of assent or reservation of the bills for the President upon the aid and advice of the state’S ministers, the governor has to act within a month If assent is to be withheld, contrary to the advice of the ministers, the governor must return the bills with a message within 3 months If bill is to be reserved for the President, contrary to the advice of ministers, guv must do so within 3 months ernor withholds assent, he is over three years — and later esobligated to follow the proce- calating them to the President. dure prescribed in the first pro- The bills were sent to the Presiviso of Article 200, which is on dent shortly after another returning the bill to bench in the Punjab the House as soon as governor’s case ruled possible. It exercised that the governor does its special power unnot have pocket veto or der Article 142 to make absolute veto over bills the bills re-presented by s q u a t t i n g ove r to the gover nor, as them. deemed to have been “The governor canpassed. not sit on bills and exerT h e c o u r t p r o - Governor R N Ravi cise pocket veto over nounced the verdict them. Article 200 gives after hearing a plea the bills passed by the filed by the Tamil Nadu govern- state assembly the authority of ment against Governor Ravi an Act. Without this Act, it is for sitting over bills — some for only a document of aspiration S ULA G N a S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata Food for thought Union Home Minister Amit Shah with J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during a meeting in Srinagar on Tuesday | pti Bitter infighting within West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) surfaced on Tuesday after a video showing an alleged verbal altercation between party MPs and screenshots of their exchanges from its official WhatsApp group went viral on social media. Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s IT cell, shared the screenshots, indicating a bitter argument between TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Kirti Azad and Mauha Moitra. The authenticity of the screenshots couldn’t be inde- Waqf Act comes into force, govt files caveat in Supreme Court E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi toppers E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) announced the results of PU II Exam-1 on Tuesday, with overall pass percentage of 73.45, a drop of 7.7 compared to last year’s 81.15. “Of the 6,37,805 students who appeared for the exam, 4,68,439 passed, with over one lakh of them with distinction. Once again, girls outperformed boys in the three streams,” Minister for Primary Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa said. The minister attributed the dip in this year’s overall pass percentage to web streaming, which, he said, allowed for stricter monitoring during the 2 Amoolya Kamath (Science); DK Deeksha R (Science); S’mogga exam. He said the real-time surveillance helped in curbing unfair practices, leading to a transparent evaluation process and more realistic reflection of students’ performance. As many as 2,08,794 students appeared for the exam in Kannada medium. Of them, 1,17,703 passed — a pass percentage of 56.37. While in English medium, of the 4,29,011 students, 3,50,736 passed, registering a pass percentage of 81.75. Deepashree S (Commerce); DK LR Sanjana Bai (Arts); Ballari The results will be available in respective colleges through the KSEAB PU Exam portal. Students may apply for the scanned copies of their answer scripts till April 13. The copies can be downloaded between April 12 and April 16. The application window for revaluation and retotalling will be open from April 12 to April 17 only for those students who had applied for the scanned copies. THE Supreme Court is likely to hear on April 15 a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. A final causelist is yet to be uploaded on the court website. The Centre on Tuesday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court and sought a hearing before any order was passed in the matter. A caveat is filed by a party in courts to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing it. Former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and senior Supreme Court lawyer, K C Kaushik, speaking to this newspaper, said the Centre wanted a representation before any order is passed by the SC. “No ex-parte order should be issued without prior notice and an opportunity to be heard. The government wants to be the prime respondent in the matter,” he said. In another development, the Waqf (Amendment) Act came into force on Tuesday with the government issuing a notification. BBMP chooses Jnanabharathi campus for skydeck project B o sk y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru After shuffling between multiple locations, the BBMP has decided to construct DCM DK Shivakumar’s pet project, the 250-metre-tall skydeck, on the Bangalore University campus in Jnanabharathi, near the Metro station, with an eye on improving tourism on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Road. This location was proposed in August 2024, but then dropped, citing students’ education being affected as a concern. However, now the BBMP has finalised and gone a step ahead. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girnath has written to the education department and held meetings to get 15 acres of land at the Jnanabharathi campus, giving 4 If a bill is reiterated by the state assembly without change, the governor must grant assent within a month Justice J B Pardiwala of people which does not come into effect,” said Justice Pardiwala, who authored the judgment. Pocket veto an indirect veto of a bill by leaving it unsigned till it is too late for it to be dealt with. The court said though there was no specific time limit under Article 200 for the governor to take his call, it cannot lead to inertia. “Despite there being no prescribed time limits, Article 200 cannot be read in a manner which allows the governor to not take action on the bills, which are presented to him for assent and thereby delay, and essentially roadblock law-mak- ing machinery in the state,” it said. For the first time, the court set timelines for gubernatorial clearance of bills, adding failure to adhere to them could invite judicial scrutiny It gave gover. nors just one month to decide if they wanted to reserve a bill for the President’s consideration. If they wanted to withhold assent without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, they have to return the bill within three months. If the bill is reiterated after re-consideration by state assembly the governor will , have to mandatorily give his assent within a month. The governor must perform his role as a friend, philosopher and guide with dispassion and not be guided by political considerations, the verdict said. “In times of conflict, he must be the harbinger of consensus and resolution, lubricating the functioning of the state machinery by his sagacity, wisdom, and not run it into a standstill.” Feud within TMC spills out into open At 73.45, second PU pass percentage dips by 7.7; girls outshine boys @ Bengaluru Four timelines set for expedited action 1 multiple proposals to the department and the Bangalore University (BU) to choose from, to turn the dream of Shivakumar — who is also Bengaluru-in-charge minister — into reality In the recently . approved BBMP budget, Rs 400 crore was earmarked for the skydeck project, of which Rs 50 crore is for initial works and preparation of detailed project report. Girinath said, “The skydeck will be constructed near the Metro station on the BU campus. A letter was written around 10 days ago, and again last Saturday We have . also communicated to the higher education secretary seeking land. , Some options have been suggested for execution, which include a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) model, or land to be given to the Palike, or they construct the skydeck and BBMP pays them in a revenuesharing model. We have also suggested that the skydeck be used by students for academic purposes.” However, BU V-C Dr Jayakara Shetty M said no written communication was received, but when the letter comes, it will be discussed in the Syndicate meeting and a decision taken, which will be commu- nicated to the state government. Meanwhile, sources in BU faculty however, said the university is , not keen on handing over the land to BBMP. “The university is already in court pertaining to the encroachment of 242 acres of its land. The area identified (for the skydeck project) was under litigation three years ago, and then it was earmarked for construction of a Yoga centre by the Union Government, which was also opposed and stopped to protect the green cover. Besides, this land also falls under the Vrishabhavathi Valley and Rajakaluve Buffer Zone, whereas per NGT directions, a 500-metre buffer zone must be maintained,” senior faculty member privy to the developments said. pendently verified. But this newspaper spoke to many senior leader of the TMC and none of them refuted the incident though they didn’t divulge any detail. Banerjee, speaking to reporters in Kolkata, acknowledged the altercation but blamed the ‘woman MP’ involved. “I’ve been in politics for 40 years. This woman MP asked the security at the EC office to arrest me. She hurled abuses at me. It’s me who fights in Parliament, not someone obsessed with a particular industrial house,” alleged Banerjee, the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha. He didn’t name the woman MP . “It was Kirti Azad who provoked me and lectured me on what to do. He’s the one who leaked the WhatsApp chats,” Banerjee claimed. Senior TMC leaders said the issue has been brought to the attention of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Malviya claimed that the WhatsApp duel was triggered by an earlier spat between two TMC parliamentarians at the Election Commission headquarters.