DHARMAPURI l tuesday l july 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Core sector output growth at five-month high of 5% in jun Core sector output grew 5% year-on-year in June, driven by robust growth in iron ore, power and cement production, official data showed iron ore sector reports 44% growth ■ 3.2% 9 sectors now in index of Core Industries Among the nine sectors, iron ore recorded the sharpest growth of 43.9% in June, followed by electricity and cement at 9.8% each. Steel output rose 4.6%, while coal production increased 1.4%. On the other hand, natural gas (-7.4%), refinery products (-4.7%), crude oil (-4.2%) and fertilisers (-3.3%) contracted during the month, the data showed ■ The June data marks the first release of the revised Index of Core Industries with the base year updated to 2022-23 Also, under the revised series, iron ore has been included as a separate core industry owing to its extensive use in industrial production, increasing the number of core sectors to nine | P10 was the year-on-year core sector growth in May 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 Derogatory comments on Vijay: DMK MLA arrested E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Thoothukudi Vilathikulam DMK MLA GV Markandayan was arrested and remanded by the Thoothukudi District Crime Branch (DCB) police on Monday for making alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay during a thanksgiving meeting organised by the party in Kovilpatti, Thoothukudi, late on Saturday . Acting on the complaint lodged by Thoothukudi TVK district secretary Balasubramanian, the DCB registered an FIR against Markandayan on charges of criminal intimidation, intentional insult and promoting enmity under BNS Sections 352 (bailable), 351(3) and 353(2), which are non-bailable and carries punishment up to seven and three years of jail, respectively . Strongly condemning the arrest, DMK president MK Stalin accused the ruling government of political vendetta and said that former DMK ministers and party legislators were “continuously being hunted down” for pointing out the mistakes and misdeeds of the TVK regime. On Monday, despite opposition from DMK cadre, a police team, led by DCB inspector P Janaki, detained Markandayan from his residence and escorted him to SP office for inquiry “DSP Kan. nan questioned him for seven hours,” said sources, adding that the MLA will be produced before the IV Judicial Magistrate, following a health check.  P5 MLA Markandayan being taken to Thoothukudi hospital | V KARTHIK ALAGU Govt’s emissary J P Nadda meets CJP leaders as protest march to Parliament turns violent; several injured Centre blinks as CJP protest turns violent tripura shocker n i t i n r a w at @ New Delhi Security personnel use batons and tear gas on agitators during a protest march at Sansad Marg in New Delhi| PTI Union minister J P Nadda meets CJP’s Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka | Express Oppn stalls Parl over 1 NEET-UG paper leak Delhi High Court sought a comprehensive medical report from Safdarjung Hospital on Sonam Wangchuk’s health after his wife moved court alleging he was forcibly kept there P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi THE Monsoon Session of Parliament got off to a tumultuous start on Monday as protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak rocked both Houses and spilled onto the streets, setting the stage for a combative session. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments as Opposition MPs demanded discussion on the baton charge on protesting students and action against those responsible for the alleged leak of the medical entrance test paper. They also targeted the government over the alleged Ram temple donation row. In the Lok Sabha, proceedings were adjourned four times amid slogan shouting and placard displays by Opposition members. The protests began soon after the House assembled at 11 am for Question Hour, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn proceedings until noon. The protests followed a morning meeting of INDIA bloc floor leaders, where the Opposition decided to jointly raise issues concerning students. The DMK and AAP did not attend the meeting. The Rajya Sabha, too saw multiple adjournments after the Opposition members protested against the police action against protesters. 2 Key metro stations, such as Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House and Patel Chowk were shut. There was commotion and sloganeering at these stations 3 Education Minister Pradhan met Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s office in the Parliament House. However, it was not immediately known what transpired in the meeting 4 Amid the uproar in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced a Bill to replace an ordinance that increased the strength of the Supreme Court from 34 judges to 38 5 The bill to make insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha due to the protests IN one of the biggest mobilisations against the Union government in the last 12 years, the streets of Lutyens’ Delhi came to a halt on Monday when a massive crowd of protesters marched towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged question paper leaks. The scenes inside Parliament were equally tumultuous, but it was on the streets of New Delhi that the youth’s angst met the belligerence of police. The government snapped internet services. The protest venue, Jantar Mantar, was cleared by evening, but the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said that its founder Abhijeet Dipke and three others — Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo — are still continuing the sit-in protest in front of Kerala House. Wangchuk, whose hunger strike entered the 23rd day, wrote an open letter in the evening, saying he will continue his fast over police actions against the protesters. Police resorted to lathicharge and burst teargas shells to disperse protesters—who drew from across the country and all strata of life—on most roads leading to the Parliament complex. Paramilitary personnel, in riot gear, joined cops to prevent protesters from reaching Parliament. A video surfaced in the morning, showing workers erecting metal barricades to restrict the agitators. However, when the crowd swelled and tried to move ahead, police used force and fired teargas shells. Many protesters said they were brutally assaulted by police. According to the RML Hospital, 65 medico-legal cases were in till 7 pm. The scale of the protest prompted the government to approach the protesters for talks it had resisted since the protest started at Jantar Mantar on June 20. Union minister J P Nadda and CJP members Das and Ranka held a meeting, during which CJP members raised three demands: immediate release of Wangchuk, resignation of Pradhan and `1 crore compensation for all NEET aspirants who had committed suicide. Nadda assured them he will put across their message to the party’s top leadership. TN grandmother held TN trans students get exclusive hostel for female infanticide N D h a m o t h a r a n @ Coimbatore E X P R E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Erode In a suspected case of female infanticide, the Erode district police on Monday arrested a 47-year-old woman on murder charge for allegedly killing her newborn granddaughter. The infant was the second female child of her daughter. The accused has been identified as G Thangamani of Chettimankurichi in Edappadi, Salem district. According to police sources, Thangamani’s daughter S Priyadharshini (25), wife of Selvakumar (31), was admitted to a private hospital in Bhavani on July 17 after she developed labour pain. She delivered the baby girl through C-section around 4.40 am, the next day. The couple already has a four-year-old daughter. According to police sources, Selvakumar suffered a seizure and was admitted to the same hospital shortly after the birth. Thangamani and her son, Bhoopathi, then stayed at the hospital to care for the day-old infant. Around 8.15 pm on Saturday, the ward nurse noticed that the baby was unresponsive and spotted injuries and bloodstains on the infant’s neck, nose, and chin. The baby was immediately referred to a nearby private children’s hospital, where the doctors declared her dead, sources said. Based on suspicion, the hospital administration lodged a complaint at the Bhavani police station. Additionally, the body was sent to Government Medical College Hospital in Perundurai for postmortem.  P5 Don’t politicise Ayodhya donation theft case, says sc The Supreme Court on Monday warned the petitioners seeking a CBI probe into the Ram temple donation theft case against politicising the issue. “It’s a simple case of commission of crime,” a bench led by CJI Surya Kant said | P7 In a path-breaking move that could redefine inclusivity in higher education in the state, Bharathiar University (BU) has decided to build a dedicated hostel for transgender students to provide a safe, friendly and supportive learning environment for them. The university syndicate has given its approval for the plan at a meeting held last week. Bharathiar University registrar R Rajavel told TNIE that the university currently has 10 hostels for male and female students but no facility for transgender students. “Members of the transgender community have started entering higher education, and this has been welcomed. However, as there is no hostel facility in educational institutions and finding rental rooms is difficult, many give up their higher-education dream, which also affects their careers. Considering this, we passed a resolution to provide a dedicated hostel facility for transgender students on the university campus. The initiative will set an example for other educational institutions in caring for transgender students,” he said. Rajavel said the planned hostel will have around 20 rooms. Students can use the facility till they complete their courses. “At present, only a handful of transgender students are pursuing higher education, but if we ensure a hostel, enrolment may increase,” he said.  P5 DGP found hanging at police HQ chamber P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Dhankar was found hanging in the washroom of his official chamber at the Police Headquarters in Agartala on Monday and was declared dead minutes , later at a hospital in the city . “I am deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic demise of Anurag, IPS, Director General of Police, Tripura, who was found 1994 batch hanging in the washroom of his ofIPS officer   ficial chamber today Tripura Chief ,” The 1994 batch IPS Minister Manik Saha said. Saha added that Dhankar was im- officer was 60, and mediately rushed to Agartala Gov- is survived by his ernment Medical College & Govind wife and son. Ballabh Pant Hospital, where doc- Dhankar was due to retire in 11 months. tors declared him brought dead. Dr Pradip Bhowmik, Head of the He served Tripura Department of Medicine at the hos- for around 18 years pital, told media that the DGP was in various positions brought around 12 pm. “We could and was appointed not detect a pulse or blood pressure. the state’s DGP We immediately began administer- in May 2025 ing CPR. A team of doctors did everything possible, but as he could not be revived, we declared him dead at 12.48 pm,” Bhowmik said. “The cause of death will be known after post-mortem,” he said. Opposition parties demanded an impartial probe into the circumstances leading to the death. CPI(M) leader and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Tripura Assembly , Jitendra Chaudhury, said an officer like Dhankar, who had faced many challenges in his career and successfully navigated them, would not take his own life without major reasons. State BJP president Abhishek Debroy assured that there will be a magisterial-level probe and the truth surrounding Dhankar’s demise will be out shortly . E x p r e s s Re a d Spike in power bills: Statewide review planned Chennai: Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar on Monday said the TNEB will hold a statewide review meeting with officials from all its regions to address complaints of inflated power bills and ensure that billing errors are corrected quickly. Admitting that billing errors were reported in a few places, he said reassessment has been ordered wherever necessary | P4 Special status for three TN railway projects Chennai: The Ministry of Railways has granted Special Railway Project status for 77-km Arakkonam-Renigunta third and fourth line, 90-km Gummidipundi-Gudur third and fourth line, and 147-km Hosur-Omalur doubling project. The move is expected to boost freight movement by easing congestion, improving operational capacity and revenue generation | P2 football wins Messi ends World Cup in tears as La Roja say two cheers express news service There was no fairytale ending. There was no surreal comeback. Sunday evening stood still in time as the tears rolled down his face. On one end of the New York/New Jersey Stadium, Lionel Messi stood transfixed, wondering if this was the end of his Argentina journey after a mostly angelic month at the World Cup where he bent time and space like only he could. Next to him, amid a crestfallen bunch of colleagues, the Spanish were just getting started with the celebrations. A second star on the jersey The victorious Spanish team with the FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday. (Right) Lionel Messi sheds tears after match | AP a just reward for the side that had most played like a team throughout the 40 days in US, Mexico and Canada. There is a certain irony because in the land where stars are venerated and deified — it was no surprise that Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise, Vini Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland routinely made head- lines in the country of Hollywood — the nation with an ethos for the collective burnt the brightest when the competition got serious. The final itself went on predicted lines as the Europeans, whose only previous win came in 2010, suffocated Argentina before killing them slowly and softly In extra-time, they fi. nally put Argentina out of their misery Ferran Torres crashing , the ball into the roof of the net in the first-half of extra-time. In the end, it was no surprise that the South Americans had as many red cards as shots on goal after 120 minutes.  P11