DHARMAPURI l thursday l june 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Qatar, U.S. CLAIM momentum in Gaza deal after Israel-Iran ceasefire Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said informal talks between Israel and Hamas could begin in the next two days Very close to reaching a deal: Trump US President Donald Trump claimed there has been “great progress” in efforts to end the Gaza conflict, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff has told him “Gaza is very close”. He linked his optimism about imminent “very good news” for the Gaza Strip to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between Israel and Hamas’s sponsor Iran to end their 12-day war | P9 Bibi may soften stand, call snap polls ■ However, neither Israel nor Hamas has confirmed any truce deal yet ■ Israel’s official position is it will eliminate Hamas and its leaders, while the outfit demands complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza ■ Reports said Netanyahu is ready to cut a deal with Hamas, call snap polls, and seek to retain power on the back of the victory over Iran Seven Israeli troops killed in one of the deadliest attacks against IDF in Gaza 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 CBSE to conduct Class 10 board exams twice a year from 2026 IFRAH MUFTI @ New Delhi STARTING next year, Class 10 students will be allowed to take CBSE board exams twice year – in February and again in May. The first attempt in February will be mandatory . Taking the second chance in May is optional and is mainly for those wishing to improve their scores. The move, recommended in the new National Education Policy (NEP), is expected to reduce stress among students over annual exams and give them an opportunity to score better marks. “The first phase will be conducted in February and second in May. The results for the two phases will be announced in April and June, respectivel y, ” s a i d S a n ya m Bhardwaj, Examination Controller, Censecond shot tral Board of Secondary Education. In the second In the second phase attempt in May, of examination in students can May, students will be improve their scores allowed to improve in any three subjects their performance in out of science, any three subjects out mathematics, social of science, mathematscience and ics, social science and languages languages, he added. Class 10 students from winter-bound schools will be allowed to appear for exams in any of the phases. Internal assessments will be conducted only once during the academic session. Exams under the first phase will begin on February 17, 2026 and the results will be declared in April. The second exam is scheduled to commence on May 5, 2026 and the results will be out in June. The Ministry of Education said the new system will reduce pressure on students, offer flexibility and promote stress-free learn, ing. “It is a landmark shift towards competency-based assessments that value understanding over rote learning. This reform empowers students with choice, confidence, and second chances,” it stated. express read Stalin appeals to PM, rly minister to not increase train ticket fare Chennai: CM M K Stalin on Wednesday urged PM Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw not to go ahead with the proposed train fare hike from July 1. In a post on X, he said, “I sincerely appeal to you not to add to people’s worries. The Indian Railways isn’t just a service — it’s a family,” he added | P4 Actor Krishna detained, grilled by Chennai police in cocaine use case Chennai: A day after actor Srikanth was sent to prison in a cocaine case, another Tamil actor, Krishna, was detained by the Greater Chennai Police for questioning on Wednesday. As per sources, Krishna appeared before police for questioning after special teams were formed by the Triplicane DCP to apprehend him | P2 What a ride! India re-enters Democracy placed space odyssey after 41 years under arrest by Cong govt 50 yrs ago: Modi Emergency anniversary Narendra Modi, prime minister Today marks 50 years since one of the darkest chapters in India’s democratic history, the imposition of the Emergency... No Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of our Constitution was violated Union home minister Amit Shah addresses an event on Emergency in Delhi | PTI Shah went ballistic against the Congress on the Emergency, saying it was imposed to Prime Minister Narendra preserve dynastic politics. As Modi on Wednesday set the for Bihar Chief Minister Nittone for the commemoration ish Kumar, he said Emergenthe 50th anniversary of Emer- cy symbolised Indira’s dictagency describing it as one of , torial streak, adding its the darkest chapters in India’s imposition marked a “black democratic history . day in history”. Attacking the then Con“The anti-Emergency movegress government led by In- ment was a learning experidira Gandhi, he said it was as ence for me. It reaffirmed the if it had placed devitality of preservmocracy under aring our democratic rest. All values enframework. At the shrined in the same time, I got to Constitution were learn so much from set aside, fundamenpeople across the potal rights were suslitical spectrum,” pended, press freeModi said in his post dom extinguished on X. In his foreword and several political to the book, former leaders, social workPM H D Gowda said ers, students and orpeople like Modi dinary citizens were built a strong netjailed, he pointed The cover of The work of communicaout in a post on X. Emergency Diaries tion and resistance. Later in the day, Modi urged others The Emergency Diaries — who still remember the tyrYears that Forged a Leader, a anny of Emergency, to share book that chronicles Modi’s their experiences on social journey during that time, media so as to enhance awarewhen he was a RSS prachar- ness of those dark days. ak, was released by Union In his reposte, Congress home minister Amit Shah. chief Mallikarjun Kharge Shah said Modi, then 25, used charged that there was an unto work underground at that declared emergency in India time against Emergency, since the last 11 years. He acsometimes as a saint, some- cused the BJP of staging a times as a Sardarji, sometimes ‘drama’ of observing Samvidas a hippie, sometimes as an han Hatya Diwas to mark the incense stick seller or some- proclamation of Emergency times as a newspaper seller. to hide governance failure. RAJE S H KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday said probe agencies cannot directly summon lawyers over matters involving their clients, calling such actions a direct threat to the administration of justice. A bench comprising justices K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh took suo motu cognizance of the matter while hearing a plea by a lawyer who had been summoned by the Gujarat police in connection with a case involving his client. “Permitting the investigation agencies/police to directly summon defence counsel or lawyers who advised parties in mallikarjun kharge, Cong president a given case would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and would even constitute a direct threat to the independence of the administration of justice,” the court said. The court framed two questions: When an individual is involved in a case solely as a lawyer advising a client, can the investigating agency, prosecution, or police directly summon the lawyer? And even if the agency believes the individual’s role goes beyond that of legal counsel, should such instances still require judicial oversight before any summons is issued? It sent the matter to the CJI for appropriate directions. Namaskar to all my countrymen. What a ride! After 41 years, we are back in space and what a ride it has been.” These were the first words of Axiom-4 mission pilot and the first Indian to travel to space in 41 years, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (nicknamed Shux), when the mission was launched at 12.01 pm Wednesday from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, after six postponements since May 29. The commercial space mission by Axiom Space was launched in collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft is now scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday 4.30 pm, 28-and-half, hours after launch. After acclimatising with the environment in space, the mission’s four-member crew comprising Shukla, mission commander Peggy Whitson from the US, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu will carry Shukla is the second Indian in space after Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, who was a crew member of the Soyuz T-11 in April 1984, and will be the first Indian to pilot a spacecraft. Shukla is carrying a ‘surprise’ for Sharma to the ISS, which will be known only later SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off | pti out 60 experiments; seven of them will be done by Shukla. As part of their 14-day mission, the astronauts will hold live classes and interactive sessions with students, experts and VIPs from the ISS, using Amaetur Radio on the ISS. Before heading to his designated seat inside the spacecraft attached at the top of the twostage Falcon 9 launcher, Shukla listened to his favourite song Vande Mataram from the movie Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone. Before heading to the spacecraft for takeoff, the astronauts 2-minute silence, resolution The Union Cabinet on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning the proclamation of Emergency 50 years ago and observed a twominute silence to pay tributes to those whose constitutionally guaranteed democratic rights were taken away and were then subjected to “unimaginable horrors” | P7 Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla (second from left) and the three others aboard the SpaceX Dragon bound for the ISS | pti 4 AP children rescued from leopard killing bonded labour in TN, 2 held Animal attacks are ‘day-to-day’ E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Tiruvarur The Mannargudi taluk police on Tuesday arrested a woman and her son, who belong to Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, on the charge of employing four children as bonded labourers to herd ducks at a village near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district. Two boys, aged 10 and 15, and two girls, aged 12 and 13 years, who were rescued, are also from Godavari district. They belong to three families, sources said. According to police, V Padma (45) and her son V Lawrence (24) had allegedly paid `1 lakh for each child as advance to their families and brought them to Tamil Nadu as bonded labourers to rear ducks in the fields six months ago. The children were not paid any salary for the work and were only provided food and a place to stay The . mom-son duo has been taking them from one place to another across the district to rear the flock of 500 to 600 ducks.  P5 vasippu iyakkam TN students’ dream to turn writer takes wings S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai A Dhanya Varshini, a precocious Class 2 child of the Panchayat Union Primary School of Kangayam union in Tiruppur district, has become a storyteller in her own right as her observations of a bird’s world has now become part of the books released under the state gover nment’s Vasippu Iyakkam (reading movement) this year. Her story Kuruvi Muttai (Sparrow’s Egg) will now be read by students across the state. The state gover nment are allowed to listen to their favourite music and say farewells to their dear ones. After lift-off, Peggy revealed the name of the Dragon Spacecraft: Grace. She also released a baby swan soft toy named Joy , which was seen bobbing up and down in zero-gravity . Ten minutes after the launch, when the pilots were in the designated low earth orbit, they changed their space suits and had their first meal in space. Before reaching the ISS, the Dragon will orbit the earth and the astronauts will have at least three interactive checks with the base stations. The four astronauts had been in a four-week quarantine since May 25, the longest in any modern space missions. The longest ever before was three-weeks-long, ahead of the Apollo Moon Mission. These people failed in governance. People are concerned over inflation. The govt has no answer to unemployment, corruption and economic failure. To hide their lies and failure they have staged this drama Kuldip Nayar’s caution the day before emergency I edit page Police summons to lawyers a threat to justice, says SC E x p r e ss N e w S S e r v i c e Second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma BO S KY KHANNA @ Bengaluru launched the programme two years ago to promote reading as a movement among schoolchildren. Under the initiative, students are encouraged to read books suited to their reading level during free time and library period in schools. T h e ‘ i ya k k a m ’ has taken a leap of faith in its third year, with 51 books, containing one story each written entirely by a student or a teacher, being released this year. More than 1.74 crore copies of these books are currently being distributed among students across the state, and Dhanya has now earned the pride of place of being the youngest story contributor. It all began when Dhanya spotted a sparrow building a Part of 51 releases this year Dhanya’s Kuruvi Muttai (Sparrow’s Egg) is part of the 51 books released under the Vasippu Iyakkam programme this year, featuring stories written entirely by a student or a teacher nest on the porch of her tiledroof house last year. She was thrilled to observe the bird’s routine and her father would gently lift her on his shoulders so that she could peek into the nest where she saw three eggs one day. She watched as the eggs hatched and the birds fed and cared for the babies, and the chicks eventually grew big to build a new nest of their own. Dhanya’s story also describes how her home turned into a lively space for the birds and the chicks. Dhanya’s excitement about the experience led her to narrate the story to several people, including her teacher G Maheswari.  P5 events, says TN forest minister S V KRI S HNA C HAITANYA @ Chennai Questioned by a reporter on the recent tragic killing of a four-year-old girl by a leopard in Valparai in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu Forest Minister R S Rajakannappan on Wednesday termed attacks by elephants and other animals as “usual” occurrences and asserted that government was not the cause of these “day-to-day” happenings. The minister was interacting with the media after an event organised by his de par tment at the Vandalur zoo near Chen- R S Rajakannappan, nai. The min- TN forest minister ister’s response indicated that he had perceived the question as being critical of the state government. Minister Rajakannappan went on to assert that what was important was whether the government was taking action or not. “Forest department is certainly taking action. Those bitten by insects come here. They come to us to catch (stray) dogs. Forest department is only handling everything,” he said.  P5