Sunita Williams retires from nasa Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who inspired generations to dream big and push boundaries, has retired from the space agency. During her time with NASA, she completed three missions aboard the International Space Station and logged 608 days in space. Williams was born in 1965 to Gujarati father Deepak Pandya and Slovenian mother Ursuline Bonnie Pandya in Ohio chennai l Thursday l January 22, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 TTV rejoins NDA, buries hatchet with Palaniswami The ripple effects ‘INt’l order upended’ T M uruganan d ham @ Chennai Five months after walking out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), AMMK (Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran — a bitter critic of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami — returned to the bloc on Wednesday The . reunion happened in the presence of BJP’s state election incharge Piyush Goyal and president of the BJP state unit, Nainar Nagenthran. Dhinakaran, after chairing a meeting with the AMMK officebearers, called on Goyal at a five-star hotel in Chennai and announced his decision. “With the broader objective of welfare of Tamil Nadu and AMMK, the party has decided to rejoin the NDA,” Dhinakaran said. Former CM O Panneerselvam, who is leading the ADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee, snapped ties with the NDA on July 31 last year. Dhinakaran followed suit a month later. Along with OPS and KA Sengottaiyan, who later joined Vijay’s TVK, Dhinakaran was fighting for rebuilding a unified AIADMK and had so far blamed EPS for blocking that effort. Palaniswami was conspicuous by his absence at the reunion on Wednesday and other AIADMK leaders, too, were missing. Palaniswami, however, later welcomed Dhinakaran through an X post.  P7 Don goes back foot on Greenland pitch A G E N C I E S @ Davos US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to tone down his aggressive pitch to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark as he ruled out using force. “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” he said at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. “I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have,” he said. Trump claimed his country is in the best position to control Greenland and wondered why most of Europe is opposing his “small ask”. In his 70-minute-long speech, he also lashed out at Denmark for being “ungrateful” for the US protection of the Arctic island during World War-2. “All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland where we already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it to Denmark after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians and others in World War II. We gave it back. We were a powerful force then, but we are a much more powerful force now,” Trump said. Training his guns on EU, Trump said the US is booming but Europe is “not heading in the right direction.” On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had called Trump’s tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland a “mistake” and questioned his trustworthiness. Trump claimed the US seeks control of Greenland purely for strategic reasons and that it is not interested in rare earth minerals. Responding to Trump’s speech at Davos, Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said: “In isolation it’s positive that the president says what he does regarding the military but that does not make , the problem go away It’s clear from ... this speech that the president’s ambition is intact.”  P13 UN chief Antonio Guterres warned world leaders against upending international order. “When a handful of individuals can bend global narratives or dictate the terms of public debate, we are facing inequality and the corruption of institutions.” ‘don speech not helping’ Trump’s assurance that he would not use force to take Greenland is a positive statement but it won’t resolve the issue, said Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen EU-U.S. trade pact on hold The European Parliament decided to suspend work on the European Union’s trade deal with the United States in protest against Trump’s threats Markets recover Markets steadied on Wednesday after Trump toned down his rhetoric, clarifying that he would not use force to acquire Greenland Centre weighs dual budget allocation for VB-G Ram G P reetha N air @ New Delhi As the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, which replaces the two-decadeold Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), is yet to be formally notified and brought into force, the Centre is considering a dual budgetary allocation in the upcoming Budget to ensure uninterrupted support to the scheme. Officials said since the rules under the new legislation are still being framed, the government may provide funding simultaneously for both MGNREGA and the VB-G RAM G scheme during a transitional phase. The new law will be operationalised only after the rules are notified. The move comes as the government plans to gradually phase out MGNREGA over the next six months while rolling out the new legislation. With the VB-G RAM G bill yet to come into force, the Centre is Framing the rules “After it is notified, states have to frame rules. It will take time. Even the BJPruled states are not going to come on board as the Act puts a huge financial burden,” said a oppn leader. SC on SIR of poll rolls: No power can be untrammelled S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India whether its powers to conduct SIR can be considered untrammelled and beyond judicial review. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said revision of poll rolls could lead to civil consequences. “So, if something which will affect civil rights of people, then why should not the process followed be in accordance with sub-sec- tion 2 (of the Representation of the People Act which provides for roll revision in a prescribed manner)?” CJI asked. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi cited clause (3) of Section 21 of RP Act to explain EC’s powers. The CJI asked if Section 21(2) enables ECI to go beyond the rules, can it then exempt itself from its own notified procedures when it undertakes SIR under Section 21(3). Justice Bagchi observed, “No power or jurisdiction can be untrammelled, no matter how high one is.” keen to avoid any disruption in wage employment for rural households. According to sources, during a recent meeting of a parliamentary panel, the government informed members it is considering additional budgetary support and dual allocation to ensure a smooth transition to VB-G RAM G. The government had earlier said `1,51,282 crore would be allocated for VB-G RAM G. MGNREGA was allotted an unchanged `86,000 crore in FY25 and FY26. Under the new Act, the estimated Central share of funding is `95,692.31 crore, with the states bearing the rest. express read Vaithilingam, OPS loyalist, joins DMK CHENNAI: Ex-AIADMK minister and staunch supporter of OPS R Vaithilingam joined the DMK on Wednesday. After meeting CM M K Stalin at the party headquaters, the Orathanadu MLA said, “Since OPS’s stance (on alliance) got delayed, I joined the DMK” | P4 Keezhadi report can’t be altered, says Amarnath Madurai: Speaking at a seminar in Madurai on Wednesday, archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna asserted that the Keezhadi excavation report cannot be altered. Some people are scared at the very mention of the word Keezhadi, he said | P2