KOLLAM l friday l june 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 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 e-commerce 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, 24k missing A g e n c i e s @ Caracas Can be issued to non-citizens as well under certain situations, says govt in its pushback E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i ce @ 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 arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians who they disagree with,” he wrote. Echoing the concern, 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. VISA No change in position Govt sources said the interpretation was being misread, adding the position has remained unchanged for decades. “A passport is issued after due verification, but it is not, in law, a conclusive determination of citizenship,” a source said Pricey passport A fresh passport or its reissue for applicants aged 18 years and above will cost I2,500 under the normal category, up from I1,500. Corresponding Tatkal fee, inclusive of the normal fee is I5,000 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 top Group C and enter the knockout stage on Wednesday | ap Group G (8.30 AM): NZ vs Belgium; Egypt vs Iran Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (*IST Saturday) A heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Venezuela capital Caracas | AFP Rashtriya Rifles personnel booked for bashing cops f aya z w a n 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 uni- ‘Murderous intention’ dentified Army personnel of 17 RR. SHO Inspector Sources said the trouble Amrit Kotach of was caused after DC Kisht- Atholi police war Pankaj Sharma’s convoy station, where while passing through a road the soldier’s car for a public outreach pro- was taken after gramme encountered a pri- confiscating it, vate car driven by a soldier said the of RR. When the DC’s escort “intention of RR asked the soldier, who was soldiers was to not in uniform, to stop his kill police vehicle and let the convoy personnel”. pass, an argument took place. Subsequently, police impounded 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.” teen girl held captive, sexually abused by 2 gangs for over a month E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i ce @ Kozhikode Two Pocso cases A 16-year-old girl was allegedly abducted, held captive and sexually abused by two gangs in Ernakulam and Kannur for more than a month. The teenager’s harrowing experience came to light after the police rescued her from a building in Kolavallur, Kannur, where she was confined after being abducted a month ago. However, the culprits managed to flee just moments before the police reached the premises. The girl’s ordeal began on May 15 when she was allegedly abducted by a youth from her home within the Chevayur police station limits in Kozhikode. Detailing the sequence of events, investigating officials said an individual from Perambra in Kozhikode, whom the girl had befriended on social media, called her phone that night. Shortly after the call, the ‘friend’, accompanied by an accomplice, arrived in a car and abducted her from the road in front of her house around 10.30pm, the officials said. Fol- So far, three persons have been booked in two cases under the Pocso Act in connection with the abduction and sexual abuse of the girl. One case has been registered at Kolavallur station in Kannur, while the Chevayur police are probing the case related to the girl’s detention in a lodge in Ernakulam. lowing a frantic search, her parents approached the local authorities and lodged a police complaint. Chevayur police inspector T Mahesh said the girl’s 24-year-old male friend and his 25-year-old accomplice took the girl to Ernakulam and forced her to stay at a local lodge. “After a two-day stay there, they send the girl off on a bus to Kozhikode. However, she fell asleep, missed her stop, and ended up in Kannur bus station. Stranded, she sought help from a man there. Taking advantage of her situation, the man, a 28-year-old Kan- nur native with a criminal record, offered to drive her home. However, he forcibly took her to a rented house instead and illegally detained her for more than a month,” the inspector said. The girl had contacted her relatives when she boarded the bus from Ernakulam to Kozhikode. However, concerns mounted when she failed to reach Kozhikode. Based on inputs that she was spotted at Thrissur KSRTC stand, the police launched a search but in vain. As per the girl’s statement to the police, she was kept in confinement and subjected to sexual assault during her captivity The Chevayur police said so . far, three persons have been booked in two cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. “One case has been registered at Kolavallur station in Kannur, while the Chevayur police are investigating the case related to the girl’s detention in the Ernakulam lodge. The accused haven’t been arrested yet and a search is on,” said Mahesh. Police also suspect the involvement of more persons ● More on P4 in the Kannur case.  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 P9 10,000 fatalities.  E x p r e s s Re a d Rat fever cases increase threefold in 5 years in state Several injured as BJP, LDF councillors clash at Tvm corp T’Puram: Despite Kerala having a robust healthcare infrastructure, rat fever (leptospirosis) has emerged as the state’s most lethal infectious threat, with related deaths skyrocketing to 1,455 between 2021 and 2025. The disease saw a threefold jump in case volumes over five years, alongside a spike in its mortality rate to 6%. P5 T’Puram: A protest dharna staged by LDF councillors, against the manner in which BJP councillors took oath on Wednesday, in front of the mayor’s office in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation turned violent on Thursday leaving as many as 17 councillors from both LDF and BJP, including the mayor, injured during the clash. P4 FIR against 8 in Ram temple scam, 2 held NAMITA BA J PAI @ 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.