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 chennai l saturday l march 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION dead & counting as 7.7 quake flattens myanmar, Thailand a g en 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, Speaker evicts AIADMK MLAs from TN House E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai 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 destruction was not immediately clear — particularly in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries. It is embroiled in a civil war and infor mation is tightly controlled. The head of Myanmar’s mil- itary government said in the televised speech on Friday 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 pulling victims from beneath the rubble. Myanmar has declared a state of emergency . Near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market, a 33-storey No FIR for now against Justice Varma, says SC s u c h i t r a kalyan mohanty @ New Delhi AIADMK MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, were evicted en masse from the Assembly on Friday after the legislators caused a commotion, insisting Speaker M Appavu to permit Palaniswami to raise an issue of “urgent public importance” during the zero hour at the House. Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly after being evicted, Palaniswami said he had wanted to draw the attention of the House to the murder of a police constable, B Muthukumar (34), near Usilampatti in Madurai district on Thursday. However, the Assembly Speaker refused him permission to do so, Palaniswami said. P5 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 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 is ready to offer all assistance.” P9 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 Yashwant Varma 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 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. Subsequently, CJI Sanjiv Khanna formed a three-member in-house panel. In a related development, the Union government 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. The Supreme Court on Friday said the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court was asked not to assign any judicial work to Justice Varma. 1,500 earthquakes have hit myanmar since 1950 till the present day 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 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 greater energy release closer to the Earth’s surface, causing stronger impact that increased damage. Courts step up to save free speech SC quashes FIR against Imran Pratapgarhi HC grants interim bail to comedian Kunal Kamra S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi R SIV A K U M A R @ Chennai THE Supreme Court on Friday quashed the FIR lodged 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 it contained provocative lyrics that pitted communities against one another aside from hurting religious sentiments. A bench of justices Abhay Imran S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the Pratapgarhi 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 court said it is important that people have the freedom to express through different forms of art including poetry drama, music, satire. , 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 CM Eknath Shinde. “The petitioner has satisfied this court as to why he is unable to approach the courts in Maharashtra immediately for protection,” Justice Sunder Mohan said in his order. In his petition, Kamra said he has been a resident of Tamil Kunal Kamra Nadu’s Villupuram district since 2021 and that he fears physical harm if he travels to Maharashtra in response to the summons by Khar police. While granting interim protection, Justice Sunder Mohan directed Kamra to execute a bail bond before the judicial magistrate. Justice Mohan also issued notice to Khar police and posted the matter to April 7.