Amazon CEO meets Modi; set to invest more New Delhi: Amazon will invest an additional $13 billion in India, taking its planned capital commitment to $48 billion between 2026 and 2030. Its Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Amazon India’s business is seeing strong momentum | P16 CHENNAI l friday l june 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 42 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 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. Sources said the trouble was caused after DC Kishtwar Pankaj Sharma’s convoy while passing through a road for a public outreach programme encountered a private car driven by a soldier of RR. When the DC’s escort asked the soldier to let the convoy pass, an argument took place. Subsequently po, lice towed the car to Atholi police station. A group of 40 army men from 17 RR Camp Kijaiyee armed with lathis, iron rods and weapons attacked policemen at the station and damaged property the FIR 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 Group G (8.30 AM): NZ vs Belgium; Egypt vs Iran. Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (IST Saturday) WITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 42 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Passport proof: Venezuela quake: 185 dead, 24K missing Govt, Oppn spar A g en 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 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 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. He cited judicial precedents to back its position. 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 reissue of passport for applicants aged 18 years and above will cost `2,500 under the normal category, up from `1,500 now | P11 A heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Venezuela capital Caracas | AFP At least 185 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 apar t 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 185 deaths, 1,520 injured,” El Nacional newspaper quoted Acting President Delcy Rodriguez as saying. TN power debt at `2.5L crore; govt promises to fix sector S G U R U V A N M I K A N AT H A N @ Chennai Tamil Nadu’s state-owned power utilities have accumulated a cumulative debt of `2.47 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, up from `6,492 crore on April 1, 2001, with the highest borrowings in any five-year period of `87,399 crore (35.4% of the total debt) being recorded under the previous DMK government between 2021 and 2026, Electricity Minister C T R Nirmalkumar said on Thursday. Releasing a white paper on the state’s power sector at the TNEB headquarters in Chennai, the minister also outlined measures to strengthen infrastructure, bridge financial gaps, and recruit nearly 20,000 personnel. The white paper provided a five-year block assessment of TNEB’s financial trajectory for 25 years from 2001 to 2026. Nirmalkumar said the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) accounted for the largest share of the debt at `1.07 lakh crore, followed by the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) at `1.03 lakh crore.  P7 No tariff hike this year: Min Electricity Minister CTR Nirmalkumar on Thursday said that there will not be a power tariff hike this year. Though there is provision to hike the power tariff by 3.57%, it will not be increased to protect consumers’ interests, the minister said | P4 A website set up by leaders from the country’s opposition to track the missing showed more than 24,000 people as unaccounted for, Reuters 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. We are carrying out rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save,” Rodriguez said  P15 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 accused Ram. shankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yad av, R a m a s h a n k a r 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 in-charge Gopal Rao do not figure in the FIR. Two of the accused, Anukalp and Lavkush, involved in the counting of donations, have been reportedly arrested.