chennai l friday l september 18, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 38 l late city EDITION Centre tells SC it is ready to cut NEET-SS qualifying percentile The Centre’s plan to lower qualifying percentile for Super Speciality seats from 50% to 30% is due to 1,857 vacant seats after counselling 6,000 candidates will become eligible plea against diversion of tN’s seats In a note filed before the Supreme Court on Thursday, the Centre said many seats remain vacant in highly specialised medical and surgical disciplines. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, told the court that the lower percentile would make roughly 6,000 additional candidates eligible — nearly thrice the vacant seats ■ ■ Centre also cited the Supreme Court’s earlier orders on Tamil Nadu, saying 40 vacant in-service seats in the state would be reverted to the state government to let it conduct its stray vacancy round The govt’s submission was in response to a plea against “diversion” of 152 vacant SS seats — reserved for TN doctors — to all-India quota 2 weeks in which medical counselling committee has to fill vacant seats 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 Russia curbs bill could impact ties, India warns US in strong pushback Energy security of 1.4B citizens top priority while protecting trade, economic interests: MEA J aya n t h J a c o b a n d P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi E x p ress R e a d EC bar on TMC name, symbol for factions New Delhi: The Election Commission on Thursday temporarily barred both TMC factions from using the party’s symbol and name in the West Bengal Assembly bypolls | P9 Former union minister Nachiappan dies at 78 Sivaganga: Congress leader E M Sudarsana Nachiappan, who served as union minister of state for Commerce and Industry from 2013 to 2014, died at 78 on Thursday | P4 SC asks TN to rethink its stand on Navodaya New Delhi: The SC on Thursday asked TN to reconsider its stand on setting up Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, while refusing to recall its earlier order to identify land for the schools | P7 India on Thursday pushed back against the latest US sanctions legislation targeting buyers of Russian energy warning , that the measures could have implications for both bilateral ties and global energy markets. New Delhi said the immediate priority was to ensure energy security for its 1.4 billion citizens while protecting trade and economic interests. It further said that India would continue to pursue this objective through “diversified sourcing and on the basis of evolving market dynamics”. Responding to the passage of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in the US Congress, the External Affairs Ministry said India was monitoring the developments and had already raised its concerns with Washington at senior levels. The statement indicated that the issue has been discussed extensively between Indian and US officials in recent months. “Its potential implications for not just the bilateral relation- Monitoring the situation, says commerce ministry Officials from the Ministry of Commerce said that they are currently monitoring the situation, adding necessary steps will be taken accordingly. Currently, both the countries are involved in negotiations to conclude a Bilateral Trade Agreement ship but also the international energy market have been very clearly articulated by the Indian side,” the MEA said. The ministry also made clear that New Delhi was prepared to respond to any economic consequences arising from the new US measures. “The Indian side has also made clear its determination to take all necessary measures to protect its trade and economic interests,” it said, adding that the government would work with Indian trade and industry bodies to address the implications. Earlier in the day, the US House of Representatives passed a sweeping sanctions package aimed at increasing economic pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine. The legislation, which was approved by the House by a 262159 vote after clearing the Senate 86-11, has been sent to President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign it. Among other provisions, the legislation gives the US president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that continue significant purchases of Russian oil and gas. China and India, two major buyers of Russian energy could , potentially face such measures. India is the world’s third-largest oil importer and has significantly increased its purchases of Russian crude in recent years, making the issue particularly important for its energy policy and trade relations with Washington. However, opposition within the US Congress also remains. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described the bill as “deeply flawed”, arguing that its tariff provisions could give the White House broad authority over US import taxes. Police identify multiple survivors in Pocso case against granite bizman uled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, we are taking steps to provide financial asPolice investigating the Poc- sistance to the survivor,” the so case against GEM Group officer said. chairman R Veeramani (85) Meanwhile, an Egmore court have now identified multiple on Thursday granted the Greatsurvivors who were allegedly er Chennai Police three-day sexually assaulted by him. Sev- custody of Veeramani, who eral of them were minors at was arrested following allegathe time of the alleged offenc- tions that he sexually assaulted es. Their statements have also a minor girl in 2019. Citing his been recorded before a age and health condicourt, a senior city potion, the court directed lice of ficer said on the police to question Thursday . him on the court “Some of the survipremises and allowed vors in this case were him to meet his lawyer minors at the time of once a day during the the alleged sexual ascustody, which ends on sault, while some of Sunday evening. them are still under 18 R Veeramani Veeramani was aryears of age,” the officrested along with his er told TNIE. The investigation associate Shanthi (60) and her also revealed that almost all husband Mahendra Simhan the survivors are from impov- (63) on August 29. The trio were erished families, he said. subsequently remanded in juPolice have also invoked pro- dicial custody . visions of the Scheduled Castes The Anti-Trafficking Cell of and Scheduled Tribes (Preven- the Central Crime Branch tion of Atrocities) Act, 1989, (CCB) registered the case on after establishing that one of October 7, 2025, after receiving the survivors belongs to a a USB drive containing a video Scheduled Caste community. purportedly showing the sexu“Under the provisions of the al abuse of a minor girl at a Scheduled Castes and Sched- house in Teynampet.  P7 e x pr e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Divine renewal Priests perform the Maha Kumbabishekam at the golden vimanam of the main sanctum of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai on Thursday, marking the temple’s consecration after a 17-year gap | Express UPI fleecing won’t be allowed: Govt P USH P ITA DEY @ New Delhi AMID concerns that consumers will end up bearing the cost of the newly introduced Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions, finance ministry officials said a monitoring mechanism will be put in place to ensure that merchants do not pass on the MDR burden to customers. MDR on UPI payments will be effective from October 15. In a bid to allay the concerns, officials from the Department of Financial Services clarified Unnatural deaths report in Manipur relief camps shocking, says SC bench SUCHIT R A K A LYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi EXPRESSING shock and displeasure over the 25 alleged unnatural deaths in relief camps — set up for the victims and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the 2023 Manipur violence cases — the Supreme Court on Thursday directed Manipur Chief Secretary to file a status report. “We direct the Chief Secretary to submit report about all the 25 unnatural deaths reported in the newspapers...along with post-mortem report iden- Special report The order came after the bench perused reports of the Justice Mittal committee and an IAS officer about unnatural deaths in the relief camps in Manipur housing internally displaced persons from the 2023 Manipur riots tifying the cause and what preventive steps have been taken in (camps for IDPs),” said a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The court took note of a report by an IAS officer from Manipur stating that 25 deaths had occurred in relief camps, but post-mortems were conducted in only 20 cases. “The state is also obliged to explain as to why only `20,000`30,000 as compensation was paid to internally displaced persons who met with unnatural deaths while sheltered in relief camps,” the bench said. The bench also directed the Manipur State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) to file a separate status report on the issue of unnatural deaths. on Thursday that monitoring will be done on a regular basis to ensure the MDR is not passed on to the end-consumers. The officials clarified that if any challenges arise regarding GST on the MDR, it will be eventually taken up by the GST Council. MDR on UPI transac- tions will attract a GST of 18% as it is considered as a service. The officials claimed there will be no additional revenue for the government from the GST on MDR as businesses can set it off via input tax credit. However, only regular GST assessees can use this provision. Officials said the introduction of MDR will help small businesses that don’t have a credit history and thus no CIBIL score. “With more formalisation of UPI, we are trying to make an alternative of credit history they said. ,” Events begin amid chaos With just one day to go for the Games, excitement is ramping up. A few issues have dominated the buildup even as events have already started. A look... Accommodation issues continue Cricket takes centrestage For the first time, a senior Indian team will play Japan in an international cricket match on Friday. The Harmanpreet Kaurled team will take on Japan in the quarterfinal match. On Thursday, Bangladesh women advanced based on ranking after tie against China was abandoned while Pakistan beat Thailand As this daily reported, accommodation has been chaotic for athletes. It continued on Thursday with rooms meant for two being shared by three at the Costa Serena cruise ship. With no Games Village for this event, around 17,000 athletes and officials are being accommodated at various locations, including the cruise ship, shipping-container style wooden huts at the dock area & hotels across Aichi prefecture Doubles pair loses in Teqball Declan Gonsalves and Anas Baig were out of medal contention in the men’s doubles Teqball event on Thursday. The Indians first lost 10-12, 8-12 against Vietnam’s Truong Giang Ba and Anh Khoa Le before going down 4-12, 7-12 against South Korea’s Junsuk Lee and Taebeen Lee | P13 It’s Tata vs Tata over Chandra’s reappointment BENN K OCHUVEEDAN @ Mumbai THE boardroom war at Tata Sons deepened on Thursday with four directors of the group holding company voting to re-appoint N Chandrasekaran as executive chairman for five more years and clearing the proposal to list the company as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India. Both proposals were opposed by Noel N Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, the largest shareholder of Tata sons with 66% stake. Noel termed the two decisions illegal. Four Tata Sons board members—Venu Srinivasan, Harish Manwani, Saurabh Agrawal, and Anita George—approved the reappointment, while Noel Tata voted against it. Noel Tata said Chandrasekaran’s recent decision to not seek a third term as Tata Sons chairman had already been accepted and that the reappointment was a “legal nullity”. On listing of Tata Sons, he said the trusts and the board had unanimously decided against it. He alleged he was kept in the dark about Tata Sons’ communication with RBI on this, adding that Tata Trusts would file an RTI application to obtain the full details. Earlier, the Tata Sons board said a majority of its members voted to give another SP group’s term to Chandrasekaran, who had on Au- liquidity plan gust 12 said he was not seeking a third term Noel Tata tabled beyond February 2027, when his current a proposal to term ends. The board said Chandrasekaran provide `25,000 accepted the reappointment proposal after crore of liquidity the board requested him to continue. to the debt-laden Soon after the board meeting on Thursday Shapoorji Pallonji , Noel issued a detailed statement to clarify Group by buying his position. “Tata Trusts maintains that out a portion of Chandra’s decision not to offer himself for its holding in the reappointment at the end of his current ten- Tata Group’s ure had already been accepted and had at- holding company, tained finality as his decision was freely Tata Sons taken, clearly expressed and not the outcome of any process of review,” he said, adding Chandrasekaran had decided not to seek another term without prior intimation to or deliberations with Tata Trusts. “Once such a decision has been publicly communicated, it has consequences which cannot be afterwards undone, since the group’s employees, its lenders and counterparties, the market and the majority shareholder have all proceeded on it,” Noel Tata said, and asked the board to finalise the search panel to find Chandrasekaran’s successor at the earliest. WIT H T H I S ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 38 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) V e t t ri t o r a t i o n s h o p s Oils, spices and soaps at 20% below market price Products from across TN B ANBUSE LVAN @ Chennai Consumers will soon be able to buy essential commodities, including pulses, oils, spices, soaps and detergents, at 10-20% below market prices through fair price shops, cooperative supermarkets and other cooperative outlets under the new ‘Vettri’ brand. The cooperation department is tentatively planning to launch the brand in October, with products worth around `1,500 crore expected to be sold during 2026-27. The move comes after the department abolished the joint Mangalam turmeric powder from Erode, groundnut and gingelly oils from Tiruchengode, pepper from Kolli Hills and coconut oil from Pollachi will be made available via fair price shops, cooperative supermarkets and other cooperative outlets across TN procurement committees (JPCs), which had procured groceries and other essential commodities from registered traders for distribution through fair price shops and cooperative stores. The department has instead introduced an online procurement system that will allow cooperative marketing societies to source commodities directly from farmers and self-help groups (SHGs). Procurement will be carried out through the Tamil Nadu Consumer Cooperative Federation (TNCCF), according to an order issued by the registrar of cooperative societies on September 3. Training was conducted in Chennai on Tuesday for TNCCF officials and other stakeholders. Subsequently, Cooperation Minister V Gandhiraj held a review meeting at the secretariat on Thursday to facilitate its rollout. The system will enable consumers in Chennai and other parts of the state to access products that are currently sold mainly in their local markets.  P7