Open to all suggestions, says govt amid outcry over draft IT rules THRISSUR l Wednesday l april 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Civilisational wipeout threat Donald Trump warns he will bomb Iran back to the Stone Age if it does not make a deal; Tehran defiant a g e n c i e s @ Washington/ Tehran IN an unprecedented escalation of his war of words, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that a “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran doesn’t make a deal with the US by the latest deadline set by him – Tuesday 8 pm EDT (Wednesday 3.30 am Tehran time). Iran rejected the threat, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying millions of Iranians, including himself, are ready to sacrifice their lives in the war. The Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other targets. Trump’s major demands are reopening the Strait of Hormuz and handing over the uraday nium stockpile. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen... We will find out tonight!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. In an equally threatening tone, US Vice President J D Vance said: “We’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use 39 Strong Indian advisory in Iran J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will Donald Trump, US president them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct.” Vance’s comment, made during a press meet in Budapest, led to speculation about use of nuclear weapons. However, the White House later clarified that Vance did not mean a nuclear strike against Tehran. The developments come a day when a UN Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz was shot down after Russia and China vetoed it. Even before the deadline, US-Israel airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, as well as the infrastructure on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iranian oil production. On Monday, Trump had threatened to blow up “every bridge and power plant” in Iran, an action the UN considers a war crime. The Indian Embassy in Iran on Tuesday issued a safety advisory for its nationals, urging them to stay indoors and avoid military installations or upper floors of multi-storey buildings for the next 48 hours amid escalating US-Israel attacks. “In continuation of previous advisories, Indian nationals who are still in Iran must stay where they are for the next 48 hours, avoiding all electric, military installations and upper floors of multi-storey buildings, remaining indoors, and coordinating any highway movement strictly with the Embassy,” the advisory said. It also urged hotel residents to be contact with embassy teams. “In view of the evolving situation in Iran, Indian nationals currently in Iran are advised to stay put where they are, shelter in place and avoid further movements,” MEA said. Any movement toward border crossings must be coordinated with the embassy. Emergency helplines have been provided: +98 912 810 9115, +98 912 810 9102, +98 912 810 9109, +98 993 217 9359. high-voltage finale Assembly elections ‘Po Mone’ vs ‘Dash Mone’ Kozhikode: In a sharp tit-for-tat, CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday chose to retort in the same vein to his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy’s unsavoury remarks. “Dash Mone Revanth, a reply is coming,” Pinarayi retaliated to Reddy’s ‘Nee Po Mone Vijayan’ jibe. P2 LDF, UDF confident of majority I P2 Wild lows in high ranges I P4 Candidates in Vattiyoorkavu constituency — K Muraleedharan (UDF), R Sreelekha (NDA) and V K Prasanth (LDF) — are seen atop cranes, addressing supporters during the culmination of open campaigning at Peroorkada in legacy shaped Thiruvananthapuram. Waving flags, showering confetti and raising slogans, workers and supporters of all three fronts hit by a congress the streets on Tuesday to mark the grand finale (kalashakottu) of the campaigning for the April 9 polls | B P Deepu crisis I P4 Entry into Sabarimala part of denominational autonomy: Union govt S U CHIT R A K A LYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi With hearing commencing on a batch of review petitions challenging the 2018 Sabarimala verdict, the Centre on Tuesday supported traditional restriction on the entry of women of menstruating age into the temple, telling the Supreme Court that the issue falls squarely within the domain of religious faith and denominational autonomy, adding it is beyond the scope of judicial review. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a nine-judge bench that if there is something unscientific, the remedy is with the legislature. Wondering why advocates for women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple invoke “patriarchy”, Mehta argued that the concept is not rooted in India’s societal framework. India has always placed women on a higher pedestal, he argued. “In Indian society, we worship ladies… we bow down before our women deities.... So let us not introduce those concepts of patriarchy and gender stereotypes,” he said. Mehta said he had strong ob- Limits of bodily freedom Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said not everything is related to dignity or bodily freedom. “If I go to a mazar or a gurdwara and if I have to cover my head, I can’t say my dignity, right or choice is taken away,” he added jection to an observation in the 2018 judgment that the exclusion of women from the temple was a form of ‘untouchability’, violating Article 17 of the Constitution. Justice Nagarathna interjected, saying a woman cannot be treated as ‘untouchable’ for three days in a month and then cease to be considered untouchable on the fourth day But Me. hta said he was not on the issue of menstruation. He added that the temple bar was not about menstruation but age group. 91 lakh names out, TMC’s minority base may take hit S U BHEN D U M AITI @ Kolkata A whopping 91 lakh names have been deleted from the West Bengal electoral rolls following the special intensive revision, which could impact the minority vote base of the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. Late on Monday night, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released a list categorising eligible and ineligible voters from the 60.06 lakh electors previously marked ‘under adjudication.’ Of this, 27,16,393 voters have been declared ineligible to vote in the upcoming Assembly polls, taking the total number of deletions to 91 lakh. Over 32.68 lakh voters have been marked as eligible in the final rolls. With this, the number of valid voters stands at 6,77,20,728. Earlier, on February 28, the ECI had published a list of 63.66 lakh deleted voters, including 58.25 lakh classified as absent, shifted, dead, or duplicate (ASDD). Following the latest revision, the number of valid voters stands at 6,77,20,728, including the 32.68 lakh newly confirmed eligible voters. EXPRESS READ 2 children killed in Manipur violence Imphal: Violence broke out in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Tuesday as two children were killed in a bomb attack on their home, while two others were shot dead when a mob stormed into a CRPF camp during a protest against the blast, police said. A group of people also torched two oil tankers and a truck, vandalised a police outpost and stopped the movement of vehicles on key roads to protest the bomb attack. Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) on Tuesday met intermediaries and civil society groups to hear their concerns over the proposed amendments Krishnan said the feedback received ranged from requests for more time to demands for outright withdrawal of the draft amendments Speaking to reporters after the meeting, IT Secretary S Krishnan said that the ministry is very “open-minded” and will examine all suggestions. Krishnan also indicated that the government may extend the April 14 deadline for receiving feedback on the proposed IT rules amendments and will consider industry and stakeholder views before finalising any changes 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 ■ ■