coimbatore l sunday l november 23, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION U.S. bankruptcy court orders Byju’s to pay $1 Bn to debtors A US court has ordered Byju Raveendran to pay back default amount of $1.16 billion to BYJU’s Alpha and US-based lender GLAS Trust LLC Byju Raveendran ‘owner failed to comply with orders’ ‘not allowed to present valid defence’ The Delaware Bankruptcy Court found that Raveendran failed to comply with its discovery order and continued to be evasive on several occasions. BYJU’s Alpha was incorporated when Raveendran was running the management of edtech firm Think and Learn Private Limited. The judgment follows a dispute between Byju’s and US based lenders ■ ■ The court said it found Raveendran’s behaviour had a strategic pattern of willful failure to comply with its orders Raveendran’s counsel said it is a default judgment, meaning the court issued it without Byju being permitted to present its defence, and instead deprived Byju of a valid defence $10K a day is penalty that raveendran pays to the u.s. court 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 Chennai’s bullet train dream inches closer to reality C S h i v a k u m a r @ Chennai The proposed 778-km Hyderabad-Chennai high-speed rail corridor, a project that will reshape inter-city travel, has moved a step closer to reality with the South Central Railway submitting the final alignment to be included in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Tamil Nadu government and seeking approvals to keep the survey work on track. WITH THIS ISSUE Divine Tragedy PLUS 12 P AGES CM urges Modi to reconsider metro projects E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday wrote a detailed letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing “disappointment and anguish” over the union government’s rejection of metro rail proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, while countering the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ (MoHUA) stated reasons for the rejection and urging reconsideration of the decision. In his letter, Chief Minister MK Stalin Stalin said that he has directed the Department of Special Initiatives to submit detailed justifications on MoHUA’s concerns. Urging the PM to instruct MoHUA to review its decision, he said, “If necessary, I am ready to meet you at New Delhi with my team to explain the issues in detail.” The rejection has created “deep resentment amongst the people of the two cities that their deserving needs have been rejected, as compared to similar projects sanctioned in other states,” the CM said. I Jayakumar, member secre- Tirupati, replacing the earlier tary of the Chennai Unified plan to pass through Gudur, Metropolitan Transport Au- Jayakumar added. thority (CUMTA), conThe corridor, designed for firmed to TNIE that the speeds that will slash the state is expected to grant current 12-hour journey Sunday to around 2 hours 20 its approval within days. “Once approved, Special minutes, will have two the Detailed Project Restations in Tamil Nadu port will be finalised — Chennai Central and a within a month,” Jayakunew station on the Chennai mar said. At Tamil Nadu’s re- Ring Road near Minjur. Furquest, the alignment has been ther, the railways has also rerevised to include a station at quested nearly 50 acres around PM Modi @G20: Let’s weaken the drug-terror link Proposes knowledge repository, Africa skills multiplier; global healthcare response team public-health emergencies. “We are stronger when we PRIME Minister Narendra work together in the face of Modi on Saturday called for a health emergencies and natural coordinated global push to dis- disasters,” he said. With Africa mantle the drug–terror nexus, hosting the G20 Summit for the strengthen health-emergency first time, Modi said “Now is the responses, creation of a Global right moment for us to revisit Traditional Knowledge Reposi- our development parameters tory and accelerate skills and focus on growth that development across Afis inclusive and sustainrica, in his address to able.” India also proposed world leaders at the 20th a G20-Africa Skills MultiG20 Summit in Johan- We’re stronger plier Initiative, aimed at when we work creating 1 million certinesburg on Saturday . In a warning on the together in the fied trainers in Africa rise of lethal synthetic face of health within the next decade. emergencies drugs, Modi said: “To and disasters The G20 leaders also overcome the challenge adopted a joint declaraof drug trafficking, espe- Narendra Modi, tion addressing terrorcially the spread of sub- On setting up of ism and climate change a global stances like fentanyl, Inand broader global chalhealthcare dia proposes a G20 lenges on the opening Initiative on Countering response team day of the summit. The the drug–terror nexus. document was finalised Let us weaken the wretched without the US. drug-terror economy .” Earlier, South African PresiThe proposed platform, he dent Cyril Ramaphosa welsaid would integrate finance, comed Modi at the Summit vengovernance and security tools ue with a ‘namaste’. Modi was to choke networks that channel seen interacting informally narcotics revenue into global with global leaders such as terrorism. Further, the PM UK Prime Minister Keir Starmcalled for creation of a G20 Glo- er, Italian Prime Minister Giorbal Healthcare Response Team, gia Meloni, and UN Secretary designed for rapid deployment General Antonio Guterres during natural disasters and among others. j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi SIR fallout Alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators wait to return home, following the special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal on Saturday | PTI The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) is evolving organisational guidelines for scientists after a recent controversy over data related to genome-edited (GE) rice varieties. These guidelines restrict scientists from sharing their research findings with the media and journals, this newspaper has learnt. They also direct scientists to avoid publishing any research papers in international journals until they are fully confident about their findings. It all began after the government on May 4 announced the release of two GE rice lines developed by ICAR — Pusa DST-1 and DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala), which it said “have the potential to bring about revolutionary changes in terms of higher production, climate adaptability, and water conservation”. Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hailed the effort. But a platform of scientists, farmer leaders, medical experts, consumer rights activists, and members of the Coalition for a GM-Free India rubbished the claim, citing data mined from ICAR’s own All India Coordinated Research Project on Rice for 2023 and 2024.The Coalition said ICAR’s own limited data didn’t support its published report. It alleged that ICAR’s guidelines for crop improvement trials were violated in several ways during the limited testing. However, ICAR pushed back with a pointby-point rebuttal. “Seeking research credits, scientists are always in a rush to get their works published, which sometimes are not backed by robust data,” said a scientist. “The new fiat will lead to fewer publication of research papers. But it will enhance credibility .” Representative photo High-speed rail footprint express news servi ce @ New Delhi The Chennai-Hyderabad corridor is one of the two high-speed routes planned as part of a longer-term national push to expand India’s high-speed rail footprint beyond the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line DELHI Police’s Crime Branch has busted an international arms trafficking module allegedly linked to ISI-backed arms network with the arrest of four people. They recovered high end Turkiye (PX- 5.7) and China (PX-3) made weapons smuggled from Pakistan through drones. Ten foreign made semi-automatic pistols along with 92 live cartridges were also seized. The seized weapon PX- 5.7 is only used by Special Forces. Police said they got a tip-off on November 19 that the module members would come to Rohini to deliver the ar ms consignment. A trap was laid in Rohini Sector-28 and four people were apprehended, DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. Those arrested are Mandeep Singh (38) Dalvinder Kumar (34), both residents of Punjab; Rohan Tomar (30) and Ajay (37). The module was involved in smuggling weapons using drones. Yadav said the consignment is dropped at locations n e a r t h e b o r d e r, w h e r e receivers on the Indian side retrieve them. of seeking solace and finding joy in football C h a n d r a P r a b h u @ Chennai ON Saturday evening, as the U17 Palestinian men’s football team held on to a 1-1 draw against India U17 in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers in Ahmedabad, they walked off the field with their heads held high. The result may not be ideal, but for them reaching Ahmedabad itself was a struggle. Amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine over the last two years e x p r ess read Heavy rain likely in TN till Nov 25 Chennai: With a low-pressure area likely to intensify into a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by November 24, heavy rain may lash isolated places in Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram till Tuesday DMK man shot dead in Salem Salem: A DMK branch secretary was shot dead by an unidentified man in Salem on Friday. The deceased, Rajendran (43), was travelling on a bike with his wife when the assailant opened fire at him | P4 ICAR gags scientists after GE rice data row J i t e n d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi each station for transit-oriented development to create new commercial and mobility hubs. In a letter to the state transport department earlier this week, the South Central Railway sought early finalisation of the alignment and station locations, in-principle approval for the acquisition of land, and incorporation of the corridor into Tamil Nadu’s long-term infrastructure master plan. These new crops will not only enhance production but also yield positive results in environmental terms. It will save irrigation water and reduce greenhouse gas — Shivraj Chauhan or so, sport had taken a backseat. For this team, the preparation had been far from ideal. They did not win any matches at the the West Asian Football Federation’s (WAFF) U17 Championship last month. Out of 23 total players selected, 18 were from West Bank, but only 11 from the region turned up. Several players had their lives uprooted and displaced because of the conflict, losing their documents in the process. Mohammed Joma Suleiman, the team Global arms trafficking module tied to ISI busted manager, claimed that bringing in the players with Palestinian roots from other countries to their homeland proved to be a big hindrance. “Because of the current situation, we could not bring players to train together, and our preparation was not that good,” Suleiman told this daily For the team, football is a . way of resistance and bringing joy to the kids back home. “Since the start, they know this is a mission and this way , they can share the happiness to Palestinian kids,” said Suleiman. P11