Kerala Guv, opposition leader praise doctors who performed life-saving procedure on road
Kochi (PTI): The recent brave act of three doctors, who performed an emergency procedure on the roadside at Udayamperoor to save the life of a critically injured man in an accident, won the praise of Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on Tuesday.
In a statement issued by Lok Bhavan, the Governor praised the efforts of doctor couple- Thomas Peter and Didhiya K Thomas and B Manoop for their unique medical intervention which saved the life of Linu Dennis of Kollam.
The Governor personally spoke to the doctors and congratulated them, it said.
"Such humanitarian gesture embodies the highest marks of ethics in medical profession, which is to be emulated by all," the Governor said.
Arlekar also invited the doctors to Lok Bhavan, the statement added.
In a Facebook post, Satheesan also lavished praises on the doctor couple, belonging to Ernakulam Indira Gandhi Co-operative Hospital and Manoop, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Kottayam Medical College, for their gesture.
Satheesan said the doctors tried to save the life of the injured man in a cinematic manner.
"Saving a life... holding someone by the hand and bringing them back to life. That is an act bearing the imprint of God's own hand," he said in a FB post.
Detailing the incident, the LoP said the doctor couple were on their way to church when they noticed two people lying on the road, bleeding after a road accident at Udayamperoor. Dr Manoop also happened to be present at the spot at that time, he said. One of the injured persons was in a critical condition.
With no time to lose, the doctors carried out an emergency life-saving procedure on the spot, using the light from mobile phones, he further said in the FB post.
"Using the light from mobile phones, an emergency surgical procedure was performed right in the middle of the road. Local residents and the police extended assistance," he said.
Within four minutes, the doctors ensured that the person would survive, Satheesan said.
The Congress leader said he was amazed when he came to know about the incident, and so he called the doctors personally and conveyed his happiness and appreciation.
"They deserve every bit of praise. Dear ones, no amount of gratitude would ever be enough for you," Satheesan added in the social media post.
However, the injured man Linu Dennis, who had been under treatment at a private hospital here since Sunday night, succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday afternoon.
His body was shifted to the government general hospital here where the postmortem would be carried out on Wednesday, authorities said.
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Supreme Court strikes down Trump's sweeping tariffs, upending central plank of economic agenda
Washington (AP): The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.
The 6-3 decision centres on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
It's the first major piece of Trump's broad agenda to come squarely before the nation's highest court, which he helped shape with the appointments of three conservative jurists in his first term.
The majority found that the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
The majority did not address whether companies could get refunded for the billions they have collectively paid in tariffs. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up for refunds in court, and Kavanaugh noted the process could be complicated.
“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a mess,' as was acknowledged at oral argument,” he wrote.
The tariffs decision doesn't stop Trump from imposing duties under other laws. While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump's actions, top administration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities.
The Supreme Court ruling comes despite a series of short-term wins on the court's emergency docket that have allowed Trump to push ahead with extraordinary flexes of executive power on issues ranging from high-profile firings to major federal funding cuts.
The Republican president has been vocal about the case, calling it one of the most important in US history and saying a ruling against him would be an economic body blow to the country. But legal opposition crossed the political spectrum, including libertarian and pro-business groups that are typically aligned with the GOP. Polling has found tariffs aren't broadly popular with the public, amid wider voter concern about affordability.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argued that a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate importation during emergencies also allows him to set tariffs. Other presidents have used the law dozens of times, often to impose sanctions, but Trump was the first president to invoke it for import taxes.
Trump set what he called "reciprocal" tariffs on most countries in April 2025 to address trade deficits that he declared a national emergency. Those came after he imposed duties on Canada, China and Mexico, ostensibly to address a drug trafficking emergency.
A series of lawsuits followed, including a case from a dozen largely Democratic-leaning states and others from small businesses selling everything from plumbing supplies to educational toys to women's cycling apparel.
The challengers argued the emergency powers law doesn't even mention tariffs and Trump's use of it fails several legal tests, including one that doomed then-President Joe Biden's USD 500 billion student loan forgiveness program.
The economic impact of Trump's tariffs has been estimated at some USD 3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Treasury has collected more than USD 133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law, federal data from December shows.
