Sw monsoon rainfall to be below normal tadepalligudem l tuesday l april 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Ramanathi Dam in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi, which has a storage capacity of 84 feet, has completely dried up, exposing large areas of cracked land | V KARTHIKALAGU This year’s southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to be below normal, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday. India is expected to receive 80 cm of rainfall during the season - the long period average (1971-2020) of the seasonal rainfall over India is 87 cm. “Quantitatively, the seasonal rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 92 per cent of LPA,” Dr M Mohapatra, DG of Meteorology, at IMD, said | P7 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 Shocking charges of conversion at TCS Nashik PA D M INI DH R U V A R A J @ Bengaluru WITH the sexual harassment case at the Nashik office of Tata Consultancy Services taking a religious turn with allegation of forced conversion, the company said the matter would be probed by Chief Operating Officer Aarthi Subramanian. Calling the alle g ations “gravely concerning and anguishing”, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the matter was being treated with the utmost seriousness. In a statement, Chandrasekaran said action had already been initiated against the accused staff and the company was extending full cooperation to the ongoing investigation. “Appropriate and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty. Any necessary process improvements or corrective measures will be promptly implemented and strictly enforced,” he added. Last week, police formed a special investigation team to probe the complaints lodged by eight employees, who said senior colleagues mentally and sexually harassed them, and the HR department ignored their complaints. Police have arrested seven persons, including the HR manager. NITES, an employees’ body representing IT sector workers, approached the Ministry of Labour and Employment seeking an audit of POSH at TCS. Tehran warns of attacks as US block of ports begins, oil goes past $100 Iran warns it will hit all ports in Gulf; France-UK set to hold meet to get Strait of Hormuz opened A g e n c i e s @ Dubai, Washington THE US on Monday walked the talk on blocking all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports from 7.30 pm IST, the deadline it had set for the exercise. President Donald Trump warned that any Iranian attack boats that approach the naval blockade will be “eliminated”. The US Central Command said US forces would not impede vessels transiting the Strait to and from non-Iranian ports. Trump’s warnings set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that poses serious risks for the global economy and raises the spectre that the ceasefire could collapse and the war could resume. Talks aimed at ending the conflict, which began February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, failed to reach an agreement this past weekend in Pakistan. Top-ranking Iranian officials day threatened retaliation. Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed US warnings as bluster while warning that “Tehran was prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily. Iranian parliament 45 speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, addressed Trump in a statement: “If you fight, we will fight... Tehran will not bow to any threats.” Meanwhile, Russia said it stands ready to take in Iran’s highly enriched uranium as part of a future peace deal with the US, the Kremlin said on Monday . Globally, leaders urged restraint. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a ceasefire between the United States and Iran was “holding”. Qatar’s foreign minister and Premier No relief for Bengal voter losers S U CHIT R A K A LYA N M O H A NT Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court said on Monday that it cannot hear people whose appeals against exclusion from the voter list are pending before the appellate tribunals to vote in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. The court noted that about 34 lakh appeals filed by people challenging their non-inclusion in the voter list are pending before the tribunals. “We cannot create a situation where we burden the appellate tri- bunal judges,” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said. “We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities,” Justice Bagchi said. The bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by those whose appeals against their exclusions from the voter roll are pending before the appellate tribunals. The petitioners sought an order from the court directing the ECI to extend the date of freezing of electoral rolls. The electoral rolls are frozen as on April 9. Justice Bagchi clarified that those whose appeals were allowed by April 9 would be included in the voter list. Justice Bagchi also raised concerns about the ongoing SIR process in West Bengal and emphasised that there is a need to have a “robust appellate mechanism” to consider the appeals filed by persons whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls. He noted that when it came to West Bengal, the ECI deviated from the process in other states and introduced a new category called ‘Logical Discrepancy’. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told his Iranian counterpart that Iran and US should engage positively . France and Britain will co-host a conference this week involving more than 40 nations to discuss a multinational mission to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. China, which is reliant on energ y supplies coming through the strait, called for “unimpeded” navigation through the waterway Oil prices, meanwhile, . are back above $100 per barrel. Pope Leo XIV said the Vatican’s appeals for peace are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration. e x p r e ss r e a d Adi Godrej’s son Pirojsha to take over as group chief Mumbai: TWO years after the Godrej group split between Adi Godrej-led Godrej Industries Group and Jamshyd Godrej-led Godrej Enterprises Group, Godrej Industries Group on Monday announced a leadership transition. Adi Godrej’s younger brother Nadir Godrej will step down as chairman in August upon turning 75 and Adi’s son Pirojsha will take over. Pirojsha will take over as chairperson of Godrej Industries Group and Godrej Industries on August 14. He will continue to serve as chairperson of Godrej Properties, Godrej Capital, and Godrej Ventures CM to launch Amaravati quantum facilities today S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is all set to launch the much-publicised Quantum Computer at the SRM University in Amaravati on Tuesday The Chief Minister will . also inaugurate India’s first openaccess quantum characterisation facility at the Medha Towers at Gannavaram through virtual mode marking World Quantum Day . During the separate programmes held at SRM University and at Medha Towers on Monday officials and , technological experts asserted that the launch of Amaravati IS and IQ will mark the start of the Amaravati quantum valley initiative to establish a domestic, open-access Prasant Madugula quantum research ecosystem. India will open sovereign quantum infrastructure with the setting up of AQRF. Amaravati will be the anchor node of a national quantum hardware network positioning India to design, test, certify and manufacture quanP4 tum systems for the world.