bengaluru l wednesday l april 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late 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 | P12 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 Invokes spl powers to declare 10 TN bills as passed; sets deadline for guvs Four timelines set for expedited action 1 2 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 S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi 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 governor withholds assent, he is obligated to follow the procedure prescribed in the first proviso of Article 200, which is on returning the bill to the House as soon as possible. It exercised its special power under Article 142 to make the bills re-present- DCM’s dream BBMP chooses Jnanabharathi campus for skydeck project B o s k y K h a nn a @ B e n g a l u r u After shuffling between multiple locations, the BBMP has decided to construct Deputy Chief Minister 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 multiple proposals to the department and the Bangalore University (BU) to choose from, to turn the dream of Shivakumar — who is also Bengaluru-incharge 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.  CONTINUED ON P2 4 If a bill is reiterated by the state assembly without change, the governor must grant assent within a month Justice J B Pardiwala ed to the governor, as deemed to which allows the governor to have been passed. not take action on the bills, The court pronounced the which are presented to him for verdict after hearing a plea filed assent and thereby delay and es, by the Tamil Nadu government sentially roadblock law-making against Governor Ravi for sit- machinery in the state,” it ting over bills — some for over said. three years — and later escalatFor the first time, the court ing them to the President. The set timelines for gubernatorial bills were sent to the President clearance of bills, adding failshortly after another bench in ure to adhere to them could inthe Punjab governor’s vite judicial scrutiny It . case ruled that the govgave governors just one ernor does not have month to decide if they pocket veto or absolute wanted to reserve a bill veto over bills by squatfor the President’s conting over them. sideration. If they “The governor cannot wanted to withhold assit on bills and exercise sent without the aid pocket veto over them. Governor R N Ravi and advice of the counArticle 200 gives the bills cil of ministers, they passed by the state assembly the have to return the bill within authority of an Act. Without three months. If the bill is reitthis Act, it is only a document erated after re-consideration by of aspiration of people which state assembly, the governor does not come into effect,” said will have to mandatorily give Justice Pardiwala, who au- his assent within a month. thored the judgment. Pocket The governor must perform veto is an indirect veto of a bill his role as a friend, philosopher by leaving it unsigned till it is and guide with dispassion and too late for it to be dealt with. not be guided by political conThe court said though there siderations, the verdict said. “In was no specific time limit under times of conflict, he must be the Article 200 for the governor to harbinger of consensus and take his call, it cannot lead to resolution, lubricating the funcinertia. “Despite there being no tioning of the state machinery prescribed time limits, Article by his sagacity wisdom, and not , 200 cannot be read in a manner run it into a standstill.”  P5,P9 At 73.45, second PU pass percentage dips 7.7 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru 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 Lit- toppers Guv sending reiterated bills to Prez illegal: SC Amoolya Kamath Deeksha R (Science); DK (Science);S’mogga eracy Madhu Bangarappa said. He attributed the dip in this year’s overall pass percentage to web streaming, which, he said, allowed for stricter monitoring during the exam. He said the real-time surveillance helped in Deepashree S (Commerce); DK LR Sanjana Bai (Arts); Ballari curbing unfair practices, leading to a more realistic reflection of students’ performance. In all, 2,08,794 students appeared for the exam in Kannada medium. Of them, 1,17,703 passed — a pass percentage of Cong resolution calls Waqf Act polarising, foreign policy weak P r ee t h a N a i r @ Ahmedabad 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 Tuespress Intake Ortho surgeon Dr Thomas Chandy passes away | P3 Centre files caveat in Waqf case; Act comes into effect | P10 day 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 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. 56.37. While in English medium, of the 4,29,011 students, 3,50,736 passed, registering a pass percentage of 81.75. 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. REPORT: P2 express read Soon, go on guided tour inside Vidhana Soudha Bengaluru: Tourists can soon get a peak into the power corridors of the state -- Vidhana Soudha. The government is planning to allow guided tours inside the imposing structure on the lines of Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan | P4 104% U.S. tariff on china Trump is set to impose a whopping 104% in levies across all Chinese imports, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said | P12