COIMBATORE l thursday l april 17, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION soon, you could withdraw cash on trains using onboard atm The Central Railway has installed an automated teller machine (ATM) onboard the Panchavati Express on an experimental basis, officials said Machine inside cubicle at rear of Ac coach The ATM, provided by the Bank of Maharashtra, has been put up in a cubicle at the rear end of the air-conditioned chair car coach coach, a space earlier used as a makeshift pantry. Passengers can withdraw cash even when the train is moving. To ensure their safety, a shutter door has been provided. The train runs between Mumbai and Mammad in Nashik ■ April 10 Trial on panchavati Express went well ■ ■ The ATM performed well during the trial, except for short durations when the train passed through areas with no network coverage While the machine is set up in the air-conditioned chair car coach, it can be accessed by passengers travelling in all coaches of the train An official indicated ATMs could soon be installed in other trains when the railways conducted the first trial run of the atm 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 EPS refutes Shah, rules out AIADMK, BJP coalition govt T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Breaking his silence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks regarding AIADMK and BJP sharing power in the NDA coalition government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly polls, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday asserted that Shah had not said anything to that effect. Senior BJP leader Amit Shah, while announcing the finalisation of the party’s alliance with the AIADMK at a press meet held in Chennai on April 11, had said, “We will form a coalition government together and we will contest the elections under the leadership of Edappadi K Palaniswami.” Reacting sharply to a question on the alliance from a reporter outside the secretariat on Wednesday EPS said the un, ion home minister’s statement was misinterpreted by the media for sensationalism. “What Shah said was AIADMK-BJP coalition (pause) will form the government. This does not mean that a coalition will helm the government,” Palaniswami contended in what many Interim SC order curbing parts of Waqf Act likely 3-judge bench led by the CJI gives the govt additional day to present its case S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi saw as a play of semantics. “He (Shah) said that at the national level, the alliance will be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and in Tamil Nadu, it will be headed by me. Can’t you understand this,” EPS asked the reporters. “He (Shah) didn’t say that it would be a coalition government. You are trying to play tricks by misinterpreting it. Please stop it,” he told reporters. It can be recalled that Shah had answered in the affirmative when reporters asked him if it would be a coalition government in the state after the election. Although a tinge of disapproval seemed apparent on the face of Palaniswami, who was seated next to Shah at the event, this is the first time EPS has clarified the AIADMK’s position on the issue.  P5 245 % The WTO said the volume of trade in goods worldwide may decrease by 0.2% this year US tariffs will weaken credit conditions and raise defaults risks for low-rated, speculative grade corporates: Moody’s | More on P9 China faces tariffs of up to 245% due to its retaliatory actions, a White House fact sheet issued on Tuesday said express read 28 plastic items banned along Western Ghats Chennai: The Madras High Court, in a recent order, has imposed a blanket ban on 28 plastic items, including pet bottles, cups, tumblers, plates, carry bags and plastic films used for food wrapping, throughout the Western Ghats, from the Nilgiris to the Agathiyar Biosphere in Kanniyakumari district, including Ooty and Kodaikanal | P2 K’taka guv sends Muslim quota Bill to President Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Bill pertaining to 4% reservation to Muslims in government contract for the President’s assent, Raj Bhavan said. Gehlot had oppposed the Bill saying the Constitution does not permit reservation based on religion The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped short of passing interim orders restricting certain sections of the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act from coming into play, giving the gover nment a day more to present its case in detail. A three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said it will pass interim orders on Thursday on various aspects, including the contentious “waqf by user” issue. The court said normally it does not pass interim orders, but would make an exception in the present case. “Properties declared by courts as waqfs should not be de-notified, whether they are by waqf-by-user or deed waqf,” the bench said. The petitioners claimed that the amended law tram- ples several fundamental rights, including the right to equality and the right to pursue religious practices and other rights. The bench wanted to know on how ‘waqf by user’ can be disallowed as many will not have the requisite documents to get them registered. ‘Waqf by user’ refers to those properties that are deemed as waqf based solely on prolonged use for religious purposes. Referring to the provision under the new Act to de-notify properties declared as waqf long ago, the CJI pointed out that the government cannot rewrite the history through changes brought in by the amendments to the waqf law. “When a public trust is declared to be a waqf 100 or 200 years ago, suddenly you say it is being taken over by the Waqf Board and declared otherwise,” CJI Khanna said. The bench will also address CJI Khanna suggests Gavai as his successor S u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday sent a proposal to the Union law ministry recommending Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai as his successor. Khanna is set to retire on May 13. Gavai is presently the second-most senior judge of the court. He will become the 52nd CJI and will hold the post for six months before he retires on November 23. Justice Gavai joined the Bar in 1985. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003. He became a permanent judge in November 2005. He joined the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. He has been part of several important verdicts. In December 2023, a fivejudge Constitution bench comJustice B R Gavai prising Gavai unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He was also part of the Constitution bench, which annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding. Gavai will be the second Dalit judge to become the CJI after Justice K G Balakrishnan was elevated to the post in 2007. Shed caste tag from names of edu institutes: HC R s i v a k u m a r @ Chennai In a significant judgment, the Madras High Court has ordered removal of caste tags from school and college names within four weeks. Institutions must be derecognised if they fail to comply with the order, and authorities must complete the (verification) exercise within 202526 academic year, the HC said. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy pronounced the judgment on Wednesday while dis- posing of the writ petitions filed by Senguntha Mahajana Sangam in connection with its functions and elections. He directed the societies formed in the name of castes/ sub-castes to drop the caste tag and also remove caste appendages from the educational institutions run by them. “In case these societies run any private or aided schools, colleges or other educational institutions, it should be ensured that no board depicting the caste name either directly or indirectly in any manner be put up on the campus or mentioned in their records,” the judge said. If institutions fail to comply within four weeks, steps must be taken to derecognise them and transfer the students to other institutions, the court ruled. Justice Chakravarthy also directed the state to remove the caste names from schools such as Kallar Reclamation Schools and Adi-Dravidar Welfare Schools and from their hostel names and simply refer to them as “Government Schools.”  P5 Four-week deadline Institutions must be derecognised if they fail to comply with the order within four weeks, and the students must be transferred to other institutions. Authorities must complete the verification within 2025-26 academic year the issue of religious composition of the members of the Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council. The judges asked the law officer whether Muslims would be allowed to be part of Hindu religious trusts. “Are you saying that from now on, you will allow Muslims to be part of the Hindu endowment boards?” the court asked. The court said that under the Act, only eight out of 22 members of the Waqf Council would be Muslims. But Mehta said not more than two non-Muslim members, apart from ex-officio ones, would be included in the Waqf Council. He offered to state it in an affidavit. There was brief tension when Mehta appeared to question the neutrality of the all-Hindu judicial bench. “When we sit here, we shed our personal identities. For us, all parties are equal before the law. That comparison is entirely misplaced,” the bench said. Bench’s Key posers How can waqf-by-user properties, existing for many centuries, be asked to register? Will majority of the members of the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Boards be Muslims? Interim arrangement Choice of Acting head out of sync with the UGC ACt S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi A recent decision by the Union Ministry of Education to appoint the Secretary of Higher Education, Dr Vineet Joshi, as the acting Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), has stirred controversy, with legal experts and insiders flagging a potential violation of the UGC Act. The order, dated April 11, reads: “Dr Vineet Joshi, Secretary Department of Higher Education, , Ministry of Education is hereby entrusted the additional charge of the post of Chairman, UGC till the appointment of a regular Chairman, UGC or till he ceases to be Member, UGC or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.” However, the order isn’t aligned with provisions in Chapter II of the UGC Act. Section 5(2) of the UGC Act says Dr Vineet Joshi upfront, “The Chairman shall be chosen from among persons who are not officers of the Central Government or of any State Government.” Besides, as per Section 6 (3) of the same chapter, the UGC vice-chairman shall officiate as chairman in the event of a casual vacancy . However, informed sources in the government said, “It is purely an interim arrangement, which didn’t arise out of a casual vacancy Therefore, the . question of any other UGC official or vice-chairman taking charge doesn’t arise. The process of appointment of UGC chairman will follow in due course.”  Continued on: P7