1992-1997 When the Kuki-Naga conflict was at its peak, claiming over 1,000 lives Manipur bleeds again as fresh Kuki-Naga tension leaves 3 dead Three persons were killed in two separate incidents of firing between the armed groups of Manipur’s rival tribal communities Kukis and Nagas on Friday Houses set on fire, many suffer injuries Security forces recovered two bodies from Mullam village, hours after a fierce exchange of fire between militants. Some houses were set on fire and several persons were injured ■ In a separate incident, a youth was killed allegedly in an ambush by militants near Sinakeithei village in Ukhrul district on Friday morning ■ chennai l saturday l april 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 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 AAP-ration Lotus in RS as Paytm Payments Bank loses licence Chadha, 6 others join BJP B ENN K O C H U V EE D A N @ Mumbai Cross two-thirds mark to duck anti-defection law’s disqualification Anup Verma and Harpreet B a j w a @ New Delhi/ Chandigarh The AAP’s Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha imploded on Friday with seven of its 10 members, led by Raghav Chadha, breaking away and merging with the ruling BJP . It came days after the party axed Chadha as its parliamentary party chief. Ironically, Ashok Mittal, who replaced Chadha as the AAP’s head in the Upper House, too bolted. The others defectors were Sandeep Pathak, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh. They comfortably crossed the two-thirds criteria for defection, leaving the AAP shell-shocked. If Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan approves the merger, the BJP’s strength will go up from 106 to 113, which is 10 short of a simple majority in the 244-member House. As for the post-merger NDA, its strength of 146, including nominated members, is 17 short of two-thirds majority Two-thirds . majority is needed to pass Constitution amendment bills. AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and others arrive to meet BJP president Nitin Nabin, before their merger in New Delhi on Friday | Parveen Negi Justifying his defection, Chadha said, “The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life has stepped away from honest politics. I was the right man in the wrong party I am moving away . from the party and going close to people. Today, the AAP is corrupt and compromised.” A livid AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said, “People should remember the seven names.” Their exit will have far reaching ramifications for the ruling AAP in Punjab, where assembly election are due next year. The state government is already facing anti-incumbency . Political analyst Dr Jagrup AAP implosion Feb 2026: Early signs of AAP differences over parliamentary strategy, issue prioritisation April 2: Raghav Chadha axed as AAP’s deputy leader in RS; Ashok Mittal named replacement April 3-10: Chadha revolts, AAP friction deepens April 24: Chadha resigns from AAP, joins BJP along with six other RS MPs Singh Sekhon blamed it on AAP’s structural flaw. “Everything revolves around Kejriwal, which is not desirable in the political setup,” he said. P o s t m e r g e r , N DA 1 7 s h o r t o f t w o - t h i r d s m a j o r i t y NDA (post merger) 146 Simple majority 123 BJP (post merger) 113 Two-thirds majority 163 Opposition 75 Others 23 Actual RS strength : 244 The Reserve Bank of India on Friday directed Paytm Payments Bank to wind up operations and cancelled its licence with immediate effect. In a statement, RBI said it cancelled the banking licence as the entity consistently failed to meet regulatory requirements. The move comes two years after the regulator imposed business curbs on Paytm Payments Bank over violations, including lapses in customer due diligence. The order follows years of regulatory friction and persistent non-compliance. “The affairs of the bank were conducted in a manner detri- mental to the interest of its depositors, thereby not complying with regulatory norms. The general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also the public interest. No useful purpose or public interest would be served by allowing the bank to continue. The bank also failed to comply with the conditions stipulated in the licence,” RBI said in a statement. The central bank ordered its winding up and said it will make an application before the High Court. RBI said the licence cancellation is ordered under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Why RBI went after it The Reserve Bank of India initiated action against Paytm Payments Bank after a comprehensive system audit report and compliance validation report by external auditors flagged persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank. According to the FY25 annual report, Paytm Payments Bank has 30 million bank accounts RBI said the bank has enough liquidity to repay its deposit liability upon winding up. As of March 31, 2025, Paytm Payments Bank held customer Peace hopes amid war clouds over Gulf skies Araghchi in Pak, US team en route day 56 A g e n c i e s @ Islamabad/Tehran Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reached Pakistan late on Friday night, rekindling hopes of a peace deal to clear the war clouds over Gulf skies. While Iran’s official version for the visit is “bilateral consultations”, Araghchi is expected to discuss with Pakistani interlocutors US-Iran ceasefire and ways to de-escalate the conflict. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-inlaw Jared Kushner will leave for Pakistan on Saturday . It was not immediately known if Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the earlier delegation to Pakistan on April 11, also accompanied Araghchi to Islamabad. Araghchi will fly to Muscat and then Moscow after his engagements in Islamabad. Reports said Araghchi will hold talks with the Pakistani mediators, which will set the stage for talks with the US. This comes a day after the US issued shoot-to-kill orders on Iranian boats laying mines in Strait of Hormuz. On Friday the US military , said it has sent the third aircraft carrier to the Gulf. This is the first time since the 2003 Iraq war that three carriers are deployed in West Asia. deposits of `1,395 crore across wallet, and current and savings accounts. Payments banks can’t accept credit and can take deposits only up to `2 lakh. Backed by One 97 Communications, Paytm had obtained the licence in August 2015 that allowed it to take small deposits but not give out loans. RBI has been after the bank since March 2022 when it barred it from onboarding new customers. In January 2024, RBI had ordered the bank to stop accepting fresh deposits due to non-compliance of rules. Again in March 2024 it prohibited the bank from accepting new deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, Fastags and or NCMC cards. E x p r e s s Re a d Sexual assault: TN man gets 5 death sentences Sivaganga: The Special Court for Trial of Pocso Act Cases in Sivaganga on Friday awarded five death sentences, four life-terms and 22 years RI to a man for sexually assaulting five girls. The convict, M Chandran (45), had lured the girls and assaulted them for months at his house | P5 Jana Nayagan leak: SIFEA suspends film’s editor Chennai: The South Indian Film Editor’s Association (SIFEA) on Friday suspended Pradeep E Ragav, the editor of Vijay-starrer ‘Jana Nayagan’, for violating the bylaws of the association and allegedly failing to prevent the online leak of the film | P3