FRIDAY ASTRONOMERS FIND SIGNS OF LIFE ON EXOPLANET OFF SOLAR SYSTEM 18 APRIL, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard HARVARD FOREIGN INTAKE ON CROSS HAIRS 8 TIMES MORE MASSIVE THAN THE SIZE OF EARTH — THE NEW EXOPLANET AN ENIGMA THAT’S 124 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY The Donald Trump administration has told the top university to submit records of the ‘illegal and violent activities’ of foreign students. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 Trump wants Fed Chair Jerome Powell sacked, hours after the latter issued a sharp warning on tariff war | P9 China in working-level communication with US on tariff, says person who ‘tied the bell’ should untie it | P9 0.25% Lending rate cut by the European Central Bank to 2.25%, down from 2.50%. This is its seventh cut so far DELHI MASTER PLAN PM bats for holistic plan to clean Yamuna A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the efforts to clean and rejuvenate the Yamuna river at a meeting attended by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. The Union Home Minister and the Jal Shakti Minister also participated in the meeting, discussing the proposal of an urban river management plan for a holistic management of the Yamuna waters aligned with the Delhi master plan. The meeting reviewed the agency-wise clean-up action plan, which was broken up into short-term (3 months), medium-term (3 months to 1.5 years), and longterm (1.5 to 3 years) activities. The discussions touched upon the management of drains, solid waste, sewage, septage, dairy waste, and industrial waste, gap identification of wastewater treatment infrastructure and monitoring measures, improving the flow in the Yamuna, flood plain protection, green riverfront development, and public outreach. The meeting emphasised the need to rehabilitate drinking water system to reduce leakages and non-revenue water. It was decided that Delhi would prepare an Urban River Management Plan and integrate it with the master plan. INDIA on Thursday firmly rejected Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir’s statement calling Kashmir the country’s “jugular vein”, dismissing it as baseless and asserting that Pakistan’s only connection to the region is its illegal occupation, which it must end. In a strong rebuttal to Munir’s remarks, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country .” NEW DELHI A Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor has been dismissed for alleged sexual harassment of Japanese embassy official, according to the university. The professor at the School of International Studies was “terminated without benefits” after the findings of a probe by the university’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) were presented at JNU’s Executive Council meeting on Wednesday . J8.00  PAGES 12 timeline for Prez Supreme Court sets May 5 for next hearing, possible interim order on the Act S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Centre on Thursday managed to buy more time from the Supreme Court — which wanted to issue interim orders — to explain its position on the genesis of the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. It agreed to file a preliminary response to the pleas challenging the validity of the Act within a week, adding no appointments would be made to the Central Waqf Council and the Waqf Boards till the next date of hearing, which is May 5. Also, no waqf, including waqf by user, shall be de-notified, nor will their character or status change till May 5, the government assured. “The government will not make any appointments to the Central Wakf Council as per the 2025 Wakf Amendment Act and that properties already declared wakf by user and registered under the original 1995 Act will not be disturbed,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khan- U-TURN APRIL SPENDING CAP ROLLED BACK The Delhi government on Thursday withdrew its earlier order that had capped departmental spending for April at 5% of the budget estimates with immediate effect. | P3 India maintains that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country, with a portion currently under illegal occupation by its neighbour. The Pakistan army chief made his comments earlier this week while addressing a group of overseas Pakistanis. He referenced the two-nation theory — the ideological basis for Pakistan’s formation — saying the country’s founders believed Muslims and Hindus differed in every aspect: religion, customs, traditions and aspirations. He urged the diaspora to pass this belief on to their children, calling them “cultural ambassadors” and encouraging pride in a “superior ideology and culture”. “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? India’s only relationship with Pak is the vacation of illegally occupied territories Randhir Jaiswal, MEA na and justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanthan, took the assurances on record and asked the petitioners to file their rejoinders five days after the government affidavit. “We clarify that the next hearing (May 5) will be for the preliminary objections and for an interim order,” it said. The CJI is set to retire on May 13. When the hearing began, Mehta urged the bench not to stay the provisions of Act, saying the law was enacted after taking into account many representations and suggestions. “The Union government is answerable to the people of India. The government received lakhs and lakhs of representations... Villages after villages Sacked WB teachers get an extension SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY @ NewDelhi IN a partial relief to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Thursday extended till this year-end the services of terminated teachers found untainted by the CBI in the recruitment scam. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of the state government’s submissions that teaching in various schools has been adversely impacted and fresh recruitment will take time. “We are inclined to accept the prayer in the present application in so far as it relates to the assistant teachers for classes 9-10 and 11-12 subject to certain conditions,” the CJI said keeping in view the larger issue that the future of students should not be affected. The court, however, did not extend the services of grade ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees of the state gover nment-run and aided schools. It directed the state government to start the recruitment process on or before May 31 and conclude it by December 31 this year. On April 3, the bench had upheld Calcutta HC’s fiat to cancel 25,753 teacher appointments in West Bengal schools. JNU professor sacked ‘without benefits’ for sexually harassing Japanese embassy official I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi  Govt promises status quo on ‘Nuclear missile’: waqfs, buys time from bench V-P swipe on SC INDIA RUBBISHES K-CLAIM BY PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEF J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi  By analysing data from NASA and the European Space Agency’s Webb Space Telescope, researchers led by scientists at the University of Cambridge detected evidence of dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide in the atmosphere of the planet known as K2-18b. The planet is 124 light-years away; one light-year is equivalent to nearly 6 trillion miles. Before deciding on the termination, the ICC had given the accused 90 days’ time to present his version in his defence. According to the ICC report, the professor sexually harassed the Japanese official who used to coordinate with faculty members for academic collaborations. The matter was brought to the attention of the Indian embassy through diplomatic channels and subsequently referred to the Ministry of External Affairs and the university “The ICC found the . sexual harassment charges to be credible,” an official said. JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said, “The decision reflects the zero tolerance policy of the administration against cases of sexual offences and corruption. Also for the first time students have been given representation in the ICC to preserve the democratic culture of JNU.” Apart from teaching courses on national security the profes, sor has supervised 45 PhDs and 54 MPhil degrees. Bungling of funds Another professor, two JNU officials and two nonteaching staff members have also been terminated for bungling of funds. The ICC withheld three increments of another prof for sexual misconduct. are taken as waqf... It is a considered piece of legislation,” said Mehta. He urged the court not to take the “harsh step” of staying the Act and sought a week to file a preliminary reply along with some documents. The CJI said the court has already observed that there were some positives in the Act, but also does not want the situation prevailing now to change. Hence, a stay on certain provisions would be warranted, Justice Khanna said. “There is a thumb rule that courts won’t stay legislations ordinarily But there is another . thumb rule: when the petition is pending before the court, the situation which is prevailing should not change so that the rights of persons are not affected,” CJI Khanna added. As Mehta persisted, the CJI gave his consent provided that non-Muslim members would not be nominated to the Waqf Boards and Central Waqf Council and that registered waqfs wouldn’t be changed. The court said only five writ petitions would be considered as lead cases. The rest would be as intervening applications. P7 RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR CENTRE’S WORD ON THE NEW LAW @ New Delhi Non-Muslims won’t be appointed to Central Waqf Councils and State Waqf Boards till the next date of hearing. The provision in the Act is contested Any such appointment made in any state in the interregnum will be treated as null and void All waqfs, including waqf by user, whether declared via notification or registration, will not be de-notified till May 5, the next date of hearing IN a stunning broadside on the judiciary, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday chided the Supreme Court for setting timelines for the President to decide on Bills referred by the Governor. Describing Article 142 (which grants plenary powers to the Supreme Court), Dhankhar said, “ Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to judiciary 24x7.” Dhankhar’s strong words came during his speech to Rajya Sabha interns. “So, we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament and absolutely have no accountability because the law of the land does not apply to them,” Dhankhar said. “There is a directive to the President by a recent judgment. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive. It is not a question of someone filing a review or not. We never bargained for democracy for this day. President Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar speaking to interns on Thursday | PTI being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law,” Dhankar said. Article 142 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to issue orders that ensure “complete justice” in any matter before it. “We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India and on what basis? The only right you have under the Constitution is to interpret it under Article 145(3). There, it has to be five judges or more... Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to judiciary 24x7”, he said, stressing the need to accept the principle of separation of powers. EXPRESS READ CBI books Pathak in AAP foreign donations case Russia lifts ban on Taliban to normalise Afganistan ties SIT formed to probe sexual assault case in Medanta The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at the premises of former AAP MLA and party’s Gujarat co-incharge Durgesh Pathak after registering an FIR against him for allegedly receiving foreign donations for his party in contravention of FCRA norms. The FIR was registered on a complaint from the MHA. | P4 Russia has lifted its ban on the Taliban, which it had designated a terrorist outfit in 2003. Despite the fact that no country officially recognises the Taliban rule, following their takeover in August 2021, Russia has been engaging with the group. President Vladimir Putin referred to the Taliban as an ally in the fight against terrorism last year. The Gurugram police on Thursday formed a SIT to probe the alleged sexual assault on a flight attendant who was on a ventilator in Medanta Hospital, officials said. Police Commissioner Vikas Kumar Arora constituted the seven-member SIT led by Dr Arpit Jain, DCP (headquarters), who is also an MBBS doctor. | P4