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 ■ ■ 152 HYDERABAD l saturday l march 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late cITY EDITION dead & counting as 7.7 quake flattens myanmar, Thailand a g e n c i e s @ Bangkok A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, destroying scores of buildings, a bridge and a dam. At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage. At least eight died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction collapsed. The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicentre near Mandalay Myanmar’s second largest , city struck at midday and was , followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock. The full extent of deaths, injury and de- struction was not immediately clear — particularly in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries. It is embroiled in a civil war and information is tightly controlled. The head of Myanmar’s military gover nment said in the televised s p e e c h o n F r i d ay evening that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured. Photos from Naypyidaw showed multiple buildings used to house civil servants destroyed, and rescue crew All of a sudden the whole building began to move. A lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators , total chaos — Fraser Morton, tourist from Scotland in Bangkok Bench says CJI can order FIR after inquiry ‘Allahabad HC turned into dumping ground’ Allahabad High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari said they will boycott Justice Varma’s swearing-in. “I don’t know what compelled the government to issue this transfer notification. We have called an emergency meeting tonight with senior advocates to decide our next course of action. This is injustice, and the Allahabad High Court has been turned into a dumping ground.” ’91 order back in focus The SC rejecting a plea for FIR against Justice Varma has brought into focus its 1991 verdict virtually granting immunity to judges. A Constitution bench in the K Veeraswami case said no to criminal case against a judge unless the Chief Justice of India was consulted in the matter. @ New Delhi CALLING it “premature”, the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a PIL seeking Delhi Police to register an FIR against Delhi High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma over the alleged discovery of burnt wads of cash from his official residence on March 14. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said an in-house inquiry was in progress and there would be several options open to the Chief Justice of India after the probe’s conclusion. The bench, therefore, refused to examine the plea of advocate Mathews J Nedumpara and three others. “We have seen the prayers. After the in-house inquiry is over, several options are open. If the report indicates something is wrong, the chief justice (of India) can direct the register of the FIR or refer the M6,282.32 cr Cost Cost Cost Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves construction of 4-lane greenfield and brownfield Patna-ArrahSasaram corridor in Bihar on hybrid annuity mode for road infra. 2 M22,919 cr Electronics component manufacturing scheme approved for making India Atmanirbhar in the electronics supply chain. Projected to attract investment of `59,350 crore, result in production of `4,56,500 crore worth of goods. Scheme promises to generate additional direct employment for 91,600 people. 3 CCEA approves inclusion of Kosi Mechi Intra-State Link Project in Bihar under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. Cost includes `3,652.56 crore Central assistance. To be completed by 2029 rates for Kharif crops on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers. Budgetary requirement for Kharif season 2024: 37,216.15 crore Cabinet approves release of 2% additional instalment of Dearness Allowance to Central government employees and Dearness Relief to Pensioners from Jan 1, 2025 5 ashwini vaishnaw Yashwant Varma matter to the Parliament after examining the report,” the court said. Petitioners Mathews J Nedumpara, Hemali Suresh Kurne, Rajesh Vishnu Adrekar and Mansha Nimesh Mehta had submitted that their plea pertained to a larger public interest and sought a direction from the court for registration of an FIR. A fire at Justice Varma’s official residence on March 14 led to the alleged discovery of wads of burnt cash in an outhouse of the judge’s residence. Justice Varma was not in New Delhi at the time of the fire, and has denied all charges. A 17-year-old boy was hacked to death by a man in a suspected honour killing in Muppirithota, Eligedu mandal, Peddapalli district on Thursday . The deceased, identified as Purella Sai Kumar, is said to have been in a relationship with a girl from the same village. The girl’s father, Mutyam Sadaiah, reportedly warned the boy to stay away from her. While the deceased was a Goud, the girl is from the Mudiraj community . While Sai Kumar was celebrating his birthday with his friends on the outskirts of the village, Sadaiah attacked the boy with an axe. After being struck on the leg, he tried to flee, but Sadaiah chased and attacked the boy multiple times. His friends tried to catch hold of the assailant, but he managed to escape. His friends and relatives rushed Sai Kumar to the Sultanabad mandal headquarter hospital where he died while undergoing treatment. Follow- why are shallow quakes lethal? A videograb of onlookers near the 33-storey high-rise in Bangkok that collapsed on Friday after the earthquake | AP Subsequently, CJI Sanjiv Khanna formed a three-member in-house panel, consisting of Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Justice G S Sandhawalia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, and Anu Sivaraman, Judge of the High Court of Karnataka. The panel has been mandated with an inquiry into the allegations against Justice Varma, the second senior-most Judge of the HC of Delhi. In a related development, the Centre Friday notified the transfer of Justice Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court. The Law Ministry issued a notification announcing the transfer of the judge. Strongly opposing the transfer of Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court, its Bar Association president on Friday called it the “darkest day for India’s judiciary” and announced they will boycott his swearingin ceremony . E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chinese electronic vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD is likely to set up a production unit near Hyderabad with an investment of around $10 billion in phases. The proposal from BYD and Olectra Greentech, a subsidiary of the MEIL Group, was negotiated and agreed upon back in 2022-23. However, the proposal had been stalled due to security concerns at the Union government level. Speaking to TNIE, sources in the Telangana government said that they had “learnt unofficially that the Union Home ministry has no objection anymore”. “When this project was discussed two years ago, the Home ministry had some concerns related to security issues and objected to it. Now they have no objections to clearing the project,” they added. There is no official confirmation ing the incident, police deployed security to the village to prevent any untoward incidents. Peddapalli DCP P Karunakar said that a case was registered against Sadaiah based on a complaint lodged by the boy’s father Parushuramulu. The assailant was reportedly taken into custody . Meanwhile, Parushuramulu told media persons that he had earlier complained to the police that Sai Kumar was facing a life threat from the girl’s family “If . they had taken the complaint seriously, this would not have happened,” he lamented. The earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand on Friday was shallow, as per the US Geological Survey. Shallow earthquakes are more dangerous than deeper ones due to their greater energy release closer to the Earth’s surface, causing stronger impact that leads to ground shaking and increased damage to structures and casualties. Seismic waves from deeper quakes lose part of their energy by the time they reach the surface. Judiciary steps up to safeguard free speech SC junks FIR against HC grants interim Imran Pratapgarhi bail to Kunal Kamra S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi R S I V A K U M AR @ Chennai THE Supreme Court on Friday quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings initiated by Gujarat police against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi over a poem in a video clip uploaded by him on social media. The 46-second video clip showed the Rajya Sabha MP being showered with flower petals as he walks, with the poem playing in the background. The FIR alleged the poem contained provocative lyrics that pitted communities against one another aside from hurting religious Imran Pratapgarhi sentiments. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the poem had nothing to do with religion, caste, community or any particular group, adding that , the police must first understand the meaning of written or spoken words before lodging FIR in such cases. “The poem’s words do not promote disharmony or feelings of hatred or ill-will,” the bench said. THE Madras High Court on Friday granted interim anticipatory bail till April 7 to comedian Kunal Kamra in a case registered against him by Khar police in Mumbai over his jokes on Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. “The petitioner has satisfied this court as to why he is unable to approach the courts in Maharashtra for protection,” Justice Sunder Mohan said. Kamra said he has been a resident of Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district since 2021 and that he fears arrest Kunal Kamra and physical harm if he travels to Maharashtra in response to the summons by Khar police. While granting interim protection, the HC directed Kamra to execute a bail bond before the judicial magistrate. The comedian was booked by the Khar police on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for his alleged defamatory remarks against the deputy CM in his comedy show. BYD to set up unit near Hyd to manufacture electric cars Honour killing? Teen hacked to death E n s @ Peddapalli earthquakes have hit myanmar since 1950 till the present day Allahabad Bar Association protests transfer s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y Cabinet Polls in mind, Bihar gets 4 approves Based added Cabinet attention Nutrient(NBS) Subsidy 1 streets gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway shut down. While the area where the quake struck is prone to earthquakes, they are usually not so big and it is rare for them to be felt in the Thai capital, which sits on a river delta and is at moderate risk for quakes. The US Geological Survey and Germany’s centre for geosciences said it was a shallow earthquake that causes more damage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said, “Concerned by the situation in Myanmar and Thailand. India stands ready to offer all possible assistance.” P9 No FIR for now against Justice Varma, says SC Money matters M3,712.40 cr pulling victims from beneath the rubble. Myanmar has declared a state of emergency . Near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market, a 33-storey building under construction, with a crane on top, crumpled into a cloud of dust, with onlookers screaming and running in a video posted on social media. The sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles filled the streets, leaving some of the city’s already congested 1,500 from the Centre yet. Sources further clarified that BYD continues to collaborate with Olectra Greentech, which has been operating electric buses in Hyderabad for several years. Olectra Greentech manufactures these buses using BYD technology and supplies them across the country . If all goes as planned, Telangana will secure one of the largest private sector investments in the EV sector, and the facility will make the state the first in India to host a BYD factory. Moreover, the initiative could pave the way for the establishment of ancillary industries to manufacture EV components, thereby creating an automotive cluster around Hyderabad. It is to be recalled that the state government has reportedly suggested three potential sites for the facility all located near Hyderabad. , CONTINUED ON P5 e x p r e ss r e a d Missing boy found dead in N’bad Nizamabad: A boy, aged about one and a half years, was found dead here on Friday, a day after he was reported missing by his parents, Gangadhar and Kamala Bai, who live by begging. The body was shifted to hospital for a postmortem. Police officials, Clues teams, and a dog squad visited the spot and conducted a preliminary investigation. Mother behind killing of infant Hyderabad: A 14-day-old baby girl was allegedly drowned by her mother in a bucket filled with water. According to Mailardevpally police inspector P Narender, the woman confessed to killing her daughter on March 25 fearing that she would be left alone if anything happens to her husband, who is suffering from kidney ailments | P3