Vanni Arasu, Shahjahan join Vijay’s cabinet Chennai: The VCK and the IUML joined the TVK’s council of ministers on Friday, with their MLAs Vanni Arasu and AM Shahjahan, respectively, inducted into CM Vijay’s government. While Minister Shahjahan has been assigned the Minorities Welfare portfolio and Wakf Board, Vanni Arasu will be Minister for Social Justice | P6 chennai l saturday l may 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 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 @ New Delhi B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai THE Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a bumper surplus —also known as dividend—payout of `2.87 lakh crore to the Centre for the year ended March 2026 (FY26). The surplus for FY26, which will be transferred in FY27, is nearly 7% higher than `2.68 lakh crore for FY25 and will help the government tide over the revenue constraints due to geopolitical tensions. The latest transfer was possible due to a 21% expansion in the central bank’s balance sheet, driven by large open market operations and dollar sales during the year. “Taking into consideration the current macroeconomic factors, financial performance of the Bank and maintenance of appropriate risk buffers, the Central Board decided to transfer `1,09,379.64 crore towards the contingent risk buffer (CRB) for FY26 as against `44,861.70 crore in the previous year, and maintain the CRB at 6.5% of the balance sheet. Accordingly , it decided to transfer `2,86,588.46 crore as surplus to the government for the accounting year 2025-26,” RBI said in a statement after its board meeting chaired by Gover nor Sanjay Malhotra. This is third year in a row that RBI has transferred over `2 lakh crore. The central bank said its gross income rose 26.42% year-on-year, while expenditure before risk provisions increased 27.6%. Net income before risk provisions and transfer to statutory funds stood at `3.96 lakh crore in FY26 against `3.13 lakh crore in FY25. RBI’s balance sheet expanded 20.61% yearon-year to `91.97 lakh crore. Under the revised Economic Capital Framework, RBI can maintain the CRB between 4.5% and 7.5% of the balance sheet. The central bank retained CRB at 6.5%. The balance sheet of the bank expanded by 20.61% to `91,97,121.08 crore (`91.97 lakh crore) as on March 31, 2026 Reserve Bank of India Surplus transfer (`crore) 2,10,874 2,68,590 2,86,588 The Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for blaming celebrated grappler Vinesh Phogat, who “suffered a heartbreak in the Olympics”, instead of fixing the responsibility on the sports managers. The court also said that Phogat, seeking return from a maternity break, should not be “denounced for becoming a mother”. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia described her as “a wrestler of international repute” and reprimanded the federation for its decision to declare Phogat “ineligible” to participate in domestic events. It said it would pass an order on whether she can join the upcoming Asian Games selection trials. The bench was appalled by the WFI’s notice to Phogat, which blamed her for causing “national embarrassment” by being disqualified from the Paris Olympics for being overweight ahead of her gold medal match. “Was it a national shame? She was in the finals. Is that how you are serving the cause of wrestling?” the bench asked. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y 57,128 99,122 30,307 87,416 U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi `2.87 lakh crore Umar Khalid case sent to larger bench RBI ‘gift’ amid economic stress 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 HC raps WFI for blaming Phogat over Oly setback Joining issue with a coordinate bench that criticised the denial of bail to Delhi riots accused Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, arrested under the harsh Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale referred the matter to a larger bench to resolve the perceived conflict in the higher judiciary . A three-judge bench had in the Union of India v KA Najeeb case, held that long incarceration can be a ground to grant bail in cases under the UAPA. Citing this verdict, a bench of Justices Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had said, “Judicial discipline and certainty demands that Benches of smaller strength are mindful of the decisions rendered by larger Benches and are bound to follow the same.” In its rebuttal, the Aravind Kumar-led bench observed that Najeeb was not a mathematical command to mechanically grant bail if there was a delay in trial. It pointed out that bail was granted to five accused on January 5 and denied to Khalid and Imam following an individualised assessment of their roles. ‘Law grew through reasoned differences’ “A coordinate bench cannot make strong observations and effectively unsettle the ratio of an earlier bench while sitting in equal strength. The law has often grown through reasoned differences,” the court said, adding a coordinate bench may, however, express doubt Spares crunch for Jaguar Mk 9 seat J avaria R ana @ New Delhi The Indian Air Force, the world’s last operator of the Jaguar strike aircraft, is facing a fresh sustainment challenge after Martin-Baker informed it that more than 250 categories of critical spares for the fleet’s ejection seats can no longer be supplied. Sources said the Mk 9 ejection seats fitted across the Jaguar fleet, including trainer variants, are facing growing obsolescence as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is unable to meet a substantial portion of the IAF’s spares requirement. “Repairs are being undertaken in-house using available resources but addressing the issue is critical if the ejection seats are to remain viable in the long run. Any substitute The seat lacks automatic ejection capability Mk9 seats Manufacturer Martin-Baker says it can no longer supply over 250 categories of spares for the Jaguar’s ejection seats parts must meet the exact design, material and performance specifications of the original components,” a source said. Mk 9’s seat lacks automatic ejection capability and requires the pilot to manually initiate escape by pulling the ejection handle. That poses challenges. Bird strikes, engine failures at low altitude or pilot incapacitation can leave little margin for a successful escape. The IAF is simultaneously pursuing foreign sourcing options and working with domestic industry on a long-term indigenous solution. “The industry has been tasked with developing an advanced ejection seat that can ensure safe pilot ejection at all speeds and altitudes. We are looking at a seat that can be integrated across multiple fighter platforms,” the source added. The order dictated in the open court said the issue concerns the proper constitutional approach to be adopted, where the prolonged incarceration and delay in conclusion of the trial are pressed as the grounds for bail, notwithstanding the statutory constraint contained in Section 43D(5) of UAPA. The bench was considering arguments made by the Delhi Police in the petitions filed by two other accused Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi seeking bail. It granted them interim bail for six months. E x p re s s R e a d A Raja’s remarks spark DMK-VCK war of words Chennai: A bitter war of words erupted after DMK MP A Raja posted controversial remarks about VCK and IUML joining the TVK govt. Raja deleted his first X post after backlash but posted another one comparing the parties to a crooked coconut tree. VCK retaliated, prompting DMK chief MK Stalin to call for restraint | P6 TN RS bypoll on June 18, TVK debut likely Chennai: By-election to the Rajya Sabha seat in TN, which fell vacant after AIADMK MP CVe Shanmugam’s resignation, will be held on June 18, ECI said on Friday. As a candidate will need the support of 117 MLAs to win, TVK, with the support of its allies, may make its Parliament debut by winning the seat | P6