mangaluru l friday l june 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION Amazon CEO meets Modi; set to invest $13 bn more in cloud, aI Amazon will invest an additional $13 billion in India, taking its planned capital commitment to $48 billion between 2026 and 2030 india an important market for amazon Eyes $80 billion in ecommerce exports Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Amazon India’s business is seeing strong momentum, driven by robust customer demand across e-commerce and Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud-computing division. Jassy described India as one of their most important growth markets globally ■ ■ Amazon has invested heavily in India over the past decade, building out logistics networks, technology infrastructure and digital services as it seeks to deepen its presence in the country By 2030, Amazon plans to support 3.8 million jobs, enable $80 billion in e-commerce exports and bring AI’s benefits to 15 million businesses 100 last-mile delivery stations to be launched by amazon this year 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 Passport proof: Govt, Oppn spar Venezuela quake: 164 dead, 24,000 missing A g en c i e s @ Caracas Can be issued to non-citizens in certain cases: Govt E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Centre on Thursday sought to defuse the controversy over whether an Indian passport can be treated as proof of citizenship, asserting that the position being cited in recent debates is neither new nor a policy shift. Government sources said there was no change in stance and rejected suggestions that the clarification issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) marked a fresh interpretation of law. “It was not decided yesterday that a passport is not proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. A passport has never been considered conclusive proof of citizenship,” a government source said. The clarification came after political criticism and an online debate over whether the government was diluting the evidentiary value of one of the country’s most trusted documents. In a post on X, Congress leader K C Venugopal said the government excels in creating panic and helplessness among ordinary citizens. “By declaring that even a Passport doesn’t certify one’s citizenship, they are laying the groundwork to Pricey passport A fresh passport or its reissue for applicants aged 18 years and above will cost `2,500 under the normal category, up from `1,500. Corresponding Tatkal fee, inclusive of the normal fee is `5,000 | P9 arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians who they disagree with,” he wrote. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal sought to know which document qualifies for the proof of citizenship. “A passport is a travel document, and not a document of citizenship. Which document then is proof of citizenship? BLO can doubt my citizenship. Deprive me of my vote. Result, BJP wins the election. Over to the Supreme Court!,” wrote Sibal on X. However, officials pointed to the legal framework governing issuance of passports. “The Passports Act, 1967 clearly provides that passports may be issued to non-citizens under certain circumstances,” a source said. The government further cited judicial precedents to back its position. “Judgments of the Bombay High Court since 2013 have also made it clear that a passport, by itself, is not proof of citizenship,” the source said. Today's matches Group I (12.30 AM): Norway vs France; Senegal vs Iraq Group H (5.30 AM): Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia, Uruguay vs Spain brazil march on Vinicius Junior scored twice as five-time champions Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 to clinch first place in Group C and enter knockout stage on Wednesday | ap | P15 Group G (8.30 AM): NZ vs Belgium; Egypt vs Iran Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (*IST Saturday) E x p r e s s Re a d Govt gives depts 6 months to fill 72k vacancies Bengaluru: The state government has directed all departments to complete recruitment to over 72,000 approved vacancies within six months. The departments have been asked to issue recruitment notifications within two months, complete examinations within four months and issue appointment orders within six months | P4 Teacher booked for murder after student’s death E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Karwar The Uttara Kannada police registered a murder case against a school teacher, who is also the in-charge hostel warden of a residential school in Siddapur taluk, in connection with the death of a tenth standard student, Gokul Krishna Gouda. After the student’s mother, Jayashri Krishna Gouda, filed a complaint, the police turned the earlier suicide case at the Indira Gandhi Residential School in Kansur of Siddapur taluk into a murder case. She stated in her complaint that her son witnessed the teacher, Abu Thala, misbehaving with a girl from the ninth standard. “When Abu Thala found out that our son had witnessed his misdemeanour, he squeezed Gokul’s neck and threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the indecent incident,” she stated.  P7 A heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Venezuela capital Caracas | AFP Most excise officers have liquor licences in kin’s name: ED dering and disproportionate assets case, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office (BZO) charged the State Excise department with rampant and organised corruption. Manjunath is the son of former Ballari MP Y Devendrappa and brother-in-law of Karnataka Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru A day after conducting searches on 14 premises of some state excise officers, in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Belagavi, including the Belagavi Additional Excise Commissioner YD Manjunath, in connection with an alleged money laun- Auto dealer found dead at Kannada actress’ flat in B’luru E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru A 45-year-old businessman was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the flat belonging to actress Krishi Thapanda on Wednesday night. The victim, Vaishak alias Vaishak Upadhyay, reportedly hanged himself at the actress’ flat in Elegant Terraces located in Rajarajeshwari Nagar around 8.30 pm. Vaishak and Krishi were close friends. The actress was not at the flat when the incident occurred. It came to light after the flat owner called the police control room around midnight. Before taking the extreme step, Vaishak had called and messaged Krishi to tell her about his decision. Krishi, who was in Nelamangala, tried to convince him not to take the extreme step and rushed back to her flat. But when she entered the flat, she found him hanging. She then informed the flat owner, who called the police, and the victim’s wife. The police did not find any death note at the flat. Both Vaishak and Krishi had separate keys to the flat.  P5 CO of Rashtriya Rifles, other ranks booked for bashing cops faya z w an i @ Srinagar JAMMU and Kashmir police on Thursday booked 40 army men from 17 Rashtriya Rifles, including its Commanding Officer, a Major and a Naib Subedar for allegedly “assaulting police officers and damaging public property” in a police station in the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. The FIR names Commanding Officer Colonel N Arun Gandhi, Major Vikas Sharma, Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe, Sepoys Raj Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Anoop Singh and Omkar Ingale, and other unidentified Army personnel of 17 RR. Sources said the trouble was caused after DC Kishtwar Pankaj Sharma’s convoy while passing through a road for a public outreach programme At least 164 people were killed and over 1,000 injured after two powerful earthquakes ripped through Venezuela in the wee hours on Thursday The quakes, . with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart on Wednesday around 6 pm local time (Thursday 3.30 am IST) with the second being the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900. “At the moment, the figure we have registered is 164 deaths, 971 injured,” El Nacional newspaper quoted Acting President Delcy Rodriguez as saying, who added there were at least 30 aftershocks. A website set up by leaders from the country’s opposition to track the missing showed more than 24,000 people as un- a c c o u n t e d f o r, R e u t e r s reported. Reports said frantic rescue efforts are on in the state of La Guaira, near capital Caracas and home to the city’s airport. Witnesses’ footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings along the seafront. “Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save,” Rodriguez said on state television. According to the US Geological Survey’s predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, the total casualties could run into thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000 fatalities.  P12 encountered a private car driven by a soldier of RR. When the DC’s escort asked the soldier, who was not in uniform, to stop his vehicle and let the convoy pass, an argument took place. Subsequently police impound, ed the car and towed it to the Atholi police station. The FIR states that a group of about 30 to 40 army men from 17 RR Camp Kijaiyee led by Major Vikas Sharma and Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe under the command of Commanding Officer N Arun Gandhi entered the police station by scaling the main gate and boundary walls and launched a “pre-planned attack”. “The army men armed with lathis, iron rods and weapons attacked policemen at the station. “Government property main gate of , the police station were damaged by the army men.” ‘Murderous intention’ SHO Inspector Amrit Kotach of Atholi police station, where the soldier’s car was taken after confiscating it, said the “intention of RR soldiers was to kill police personnel”. Matter being probed: Army Jammu-based Army PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said the matter is being probed. “Appropriate actions will be taken based on the outcome of a ninvestigation.” “The state excise department is running like an organised syndicate network of public officials, their associates and private individuals for collection of bribes. The network works like a well-oiled machine which runs on corruption money generated by various excise shops which pay a fixed monthly bribe to the field officers,” the ED stated in an official release on Thursday. The agency further claimed, “Most of the officers of the Excise department (in Karnataka) have obtained liquor licenses in the names of their family members/entities controlled by family members and are illegally running liquor business.”  CONTINUED ON: P7 FIR against 8 in Ram temple scam, 2 held N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow TWO days after the SIT submitted its preliminary probe report on alleged swindling of Ram temple donation funds and valuables, an FIR was lodged against eight persons on Thursday . The FIR names key a ccused Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Chandra Srivastava, and Karunesh Pandey The charges include theft, . criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy . The names of temple Trust general secretary Champat Rai, Trust member Anil Mishra, and temple construction incharge Gopal Rao do not figure in the FIR, which was lodged by Ayodhya based on a complaint by Krishna Mohan associated with Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Two of the accused in the FIR—Anukalp and Lav Kush, who were involved in counting the cash and valuables received as donations—have been reportedly arrested after money was recovered from them, while the others are being questioned. Officials indicated that further arrests would be made.