AI generated DHARMAPURI l saturday l june 20, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Gabbard outs Fauci’s funding of Wuhan lab, Covid-19 footprint The then US health czar funded research on bat coronaviruses at Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, from where Covid-19 virus possibly leaked suppressed lab-leak origin theory, lied Dr Anthony Fauci, who served as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, worked with the intel community to suppress the lab-leak origin theory of Covid-19, and lied to Congress under oath, said Tulsi Gabbard on her last day as US Director of National Intelligence, while releasing documents on Wuhan lab funding ■ 71L+ pushed lies, disinformation, censorship ■ Fauci funded risky corona research linked to big pharma in the pursuit of universal vaccines worth trillions of dollars; became pandemic pundit and pushed lies, disinformation, and censorship, she alleged He and his hand-picked experts pushed intel community to endorse a natural, animal origin to hide his dangerous research, Gabbard added Covid-19 induced deaths reported worldwide so far | P9 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 Right to walk on footpath a fundamental right, rules SC Walking is integral to life If a road exists, the authorities have a duty to ensure that there are demarcated and well-maintained footpaths for walkers. “Walking is integral to life,” the court said buzz-world on & off field S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court on Friday said the right to walk on a demarcated footpath is a fundamental right, and must take precedence over the movement of motorised vehicles. The right to walk is part of the right to movement guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (d) and @ New Delhi other fundamental rights including Article 21 (Right to life and liberty) of the Constitution, said a bench of justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar. T he fundamental right to walk will take within its sweep the right to demarcated footpaths, it added. The court was deciding an appeal in a motor accident Jio enters satellite Temporary Telegram race, to launch LEO ban legit: Delhi HC network for India Mexican delight It was euphoria for Mexico fans as their team became the first side to advance to the knockout stage. The co-hosts edged South Korea 1-0 at Guadalajara to send fans onto the streets acoss the country to celebrate. Luis Romo scored the only goal of the match while goalkeeper Raul Rangel stopped a header from close range to deny South Korea in the dying minutes. India’s largest telecom operator plans to set up sovereign constellation, take on Musk’s Starlink Portugal facing heat R akesh K umar @ New Delhi Portugal camp is under pressure. Midfielder Joao Neves faced massive backlash from fans on social media following his comments on star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Neves, after Portugal’s 1-1 draw against DR Congo, had said: “At this moment, he (Ronaldo) and we know that he is no different. He is just another player here to help.” Those comments have not gone down well with some of the fans. Neves and his family has been subjected to a barrage of abuses from fans on social media. The team, including Ronaldo, trained on Friday. IN a move that could put it in direct competition with Elon Musk-led Starlink and other global satellite internet providers, Reliance Jio on Friday announced plans to enter the satellite communications sector by developing a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for India. Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm and managing director of Jio Platforms, said the company is looking at developing its own LEO satellite constellation and may also partner with global satellite operators. The announcement is significant as Jio is India’s largest telecom operator and one of the world’s largest mobile service providers by subscriber base. “Jio connected India on the ground. Now, we must connect India from the skies. There are still remotest villages, island communities, and border outposts where the Jio network cannot reach. For them, satellite connectivity will be the bridge to the rest of India,” said Akash Ambani while speaking at Reliance Industries’ 49th annual general meeting. The company is also setting up its own ground stations in India, which will act as links between satellites in space and users on the ground. These stations will support both satellite networks operated by Jio’s global partners and any future satellites launched by Jio itself. LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites operate much closer to the Earth, usually between 160 km and 2,000 km above the surface. Because they are closer, they can provide faster internet speeds and lower delays than traditional communication satellites, making them ideal for broadband services. Reports said the firm has submitted plans to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre to set up 1,650 satellites. Starlink currently leads the global satellite broadband market with 10,634 active satellites serving 12 million customers. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has 367 satellites in orbit, while Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat OneWeb operates 654 satellites. Jio Platforms has already partnered with Luxembourg-based SES to offer satellite broadband services in India. However, SES operates Medium Earth Orbit satellites and does not have a LEO network. Today's matches Group F: Netherlands vs Sweden (10:30 pm); Tunisia vs Japan (9:30 AM*). Group E: Germany vs Ivory Coast (1:30 AM*); Ecuador vs Curacao (5:30 AM*). *IST Sunday E x p r e s s Re a d TN Assembly telecast disrupted Chennai: Barely a month after CM C Joseph Vijay declared that his govt would not restrict Assembly telecasts, the live broadcast of TN House proceedings was blacked out on Friday during the debate on the governor’s address, drawing criticism from opposition parties | P4 CB-CID names 6 in Aakash death Madurai: A day after the body of R Aakash (26), who died on March 8 due to alleged custodial torture, was cremated by Madurai police in compliance with the directions of HC, the CB-CID police filed a delayed charge sheet against six policemen on Thursday | P4 Act on retirement age plea, TN told Chennai: The Madras HC has directed the state govt to consider a representation, filed by TN Federation of Universities Faculty Association, seeking enhancement of the retirement age of faculty members in state universities from 60 to 65 years, within eight weeks | P2 There are still remotest villages... where Jio network can’t reach. For them, satellite connectivity will be the bridge to the rest of India Akash Ambani, MD, Jio Platforms Biggest ever IPO Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital services arm of Reliance Industries, on Friday filed draft papers for what could become India’s largest-ever IPO, seeking to raise `37,700 cr, valuing the firm at roughly `13 lakh crore No Iran-U.S. talks Israel FOR truce after pounding Lebanon Israel and Hezbollah reportedly agreed on a ceasefire hours after talks between the US and Iran were called off on Friday over renewed Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon | P9 grappling for space Vinesh turns to international events A few weeks after renowned wrestler Vinesh Phogat was not allowed to compete at the National Open Ranking Series, she has turned her attention to international competitions. The double world championship medallist, who had to seek court intervention to compete in the Asian Games trials last month, has written a mail to the Sports Authority of India requesting them to submit her name for international competitions in July and August. In her mail, which was also copied to the WFI, Vinesh re- Stressing the necessity to establish a regulatory body, the court said the regulator will develop and retain institutional memory so as to act on the basis of the experience, data and information it has gathered and processed. “The regulator will maintain institutional integrity by taking independent and objective decisions without governmental or industrial control,” the court added. Proportionality test satisfied Portugal camp is under spotlight after Joao Neves’ comments on Cristiano Ronaldo; Mexico become first team to enter knockouts of ongoing WC. A look... F iro z M ir z a @ Chennai claim, where a tanker mowed down a 5-year-old who was on his way to school along with his dad. While the father filed a compensation claim for `25 lakh, the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal awarded `7.82 lakh with 6% interest; a high court cut the compensation to `4.7 lakh; and the SC raised the payout to `11.4 lakh. quested to submit her entry in the 53kg for three upcoming events — Grand Prix of Spain (July 10-12), Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary (July 15-19) and Poland Open in Warsaw (August 26 to 30). She also said that she would bear the entire cost of all three competitions along with her support team comprising four individuals including her new-born son and husbandcum-coach Somvir Rathee. Interestingly the last date of sub, mission of entries for the first two tournaments already expired as WFI has not responded to Vinesh’s request. It was also learnt that the SAI to is silent on this. “We are not sending teams for the Spain and Poland events. As for Ranking Series, we have already sent entries of three wrestlers in the 53kg as a national federation can field three grapplers in one category,” said a top WFI officials. Entries can be sent by federation According to WFI, it’s the prerogative of the federation to send entries and the WFI sent entries of those wrestlers, who have been competing in various events including nationals for the past few months Message editing feature Telegram’s messageediting feature could be misused to falsely suggest that exam papers had been leaked before the exam, the court said EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the ban on Telegram messaging app ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG re-exam, observing that the order was not disproportionate in an emergency situation. A vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia said the Centre’s order was “least restrictive” option on the table. The platform’s architecture is conducive to amplification and mass dissemination of content. “Any unlawful con- tent, if circulated on Telegram, is capable of being amplified rapidly and likely to give rise to a public order situation,” the judge noted. Telegram also hosts an extensive bot ecosystem for automated dissemination of content. “As a result, illicit activity may resume within a short period notwithstanding takedown action against the original channel,” he added. Besides, the app permits messages and files to be edited at a later point in time, which could be exploited to mislead the public, he observed. House adopts CM’s resolution on Mekedatu unanimously EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay object, ing to the Karnataka government’s unilateral attempt to build a dam across the Cauvery River at Mekedatu. The House urged the union government not to grant technical or environmental clearances to the project and sought the Central Water Commission (CWC) not to consider Karnataka’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the construction of the dam. It also called for the constitution of a tribunal to adjudicate the Mekedatu dispute. The resolution was backed by the leaders of various parties, including the principal opposition DMK, as well as the AIADMK, Congress, VCK, PMK, DMDK and the Left parties. The Tamil Nadu Assembly previously passed unanimous resolutions against the Mekedatu dam during the AIADMK and the DMK governments in 2018 and 2022, respectively. P5