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 ■ ■ tirunelveli l sunday l may 11, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION This is no ceasefire. The air defence units in the middle of Srinagar just opened up... explosions heard We welcome all efforts at de-escalation and hope ceasefire will be implemented Today’s ceasefire between India and Pakistan is hugely welcome. I urge them to sustain it 20K people join stalin’s unity rally PM should chair an allparty meet to take political parties into confidence on the US announcement Ceasefire —Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General —David Lammy, UK Foreign minister —Omar Abdullah —Jairam Ramesh, Congress Pak violates it with drones, intrusions Total breach Of understanding on truce arrived at by DGMOs on both sides, says Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India stresses any future act of terror will be an ‘act of war’ RAJ E S H KUMAR T HAKUR @ New Delhi JUST hours before the announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Modi government took an unprecedented step by deciding that any future act of terror on Indian soil would be treated as an “act of war” and will be responded accordingly . This decision, relayed by top government sources on Saturday afternoon, fuelled a speculation that the ongoing armed conflict between the two countries was nearing its end. Although there has been no official stand re g arding the decision to classify future terror attacks as acts of war, sources on condition of anonymity confirmed it. This marks the first time the government has made such a declaration in relation to terrorism, sending a clear and strong message to Pakistan, which India has long accused of harbouring and supporting terror outfits operating from its territory . The decision puts countries like Pakistan in a particularly difficult position. “India will act accordingly if henceforth any future act of terror is executed in India and no power in the world will come to rescue Pakistan which nurtures terrorism against uur country the source added. ,” WITH THIS ISSUE PAkistan Apocalypse Now PLUS 12 PAGES Hours after India and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to halt all firing and military action on land, air, and sea, effective from 5 pm, the latter violated the ceasefire with drone incursions and a series of blasts, making J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wonder what the truce was all about. Blackout sirens went off in parts of the western border, plunging them into darkness. In a late night briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said there were repeated violations of the ceasefire understanding arrived at earlier in the evening between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan. “This is a breach of the understanding arrived at earlier today The armed forces are giv. ing an adequate and appropriate response to these violations and we take very, very serious note of these violations,” Misri pointed out. He urged Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility The armed forc. es, he said, were maintaining a strong vigil. “They have been given instructions to deal strongly with any instances of Retaliation on By the armed forces. Adequate and appropriate response given. India takes the violations very seriously repetition of the violations of the border along the International Border as well as the Line of Control, Misri added. In Nagrota in J&K, the army noticed some suspicious movement near the perimeter of the military station there. “They issued a challenge, leading to a brief exchange of fire with the suspect. Sentry sustained a minor injury. Search operations are underway to track the intruder(s),” it said. Earlier in the day, the truce announcement came shortly after US President Donald DAY 4 Trump said his team had mediated a “full and immediate ceasefire” following a long night of talks. Shortly thereafter, Misri announced the cessation of military operations. “The Director General of Military Operations of Pakistan called the Director General of Military Operations of India at 1535 hours IST earlier today. It was agreed between them that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 1700 hours In- Indus waters treaty To remain in abeyance as announced by India in the wake of the terror attack at Pahalgam dian Standard Time today,” Misri announced. Instructions have been issued on both sides to implement the agreement, he said. Both DGMOs are scheduled to speak again at 12 pm on May 12. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so.” Sources later said the stoppage of firing and military action between India and Pakistan was “worked out directly between the two countries”. “The Pak DGMO initiated the call this afternoon after which discussions took place and understanding reached. There is no decision to hold talks on any other issue at any other place,” sources said. The cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan was triggered by a call from Pakistan’s DGMO, Major General Kashif Abdullah, to his Indian counterpart, Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, they said. Sources then said that the ceasefire was focused solely on halting military action. Measures previously announced by India, including keeping the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance would remain in effect. THE ceasefire between India and Pakistan took effect after both sides had already built up massive mobilisation. Earlier, India carried out precisionstrikes at 4 key air force bases — Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala and Rahimyar Khan — and two military installations in Sukkur and Chuniya of Pakistan. Indian missiles and drones ingressed deep inside Pakistan, upto 100 kilometres, sources confirmed. A total of 21 terrorist camps of Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were identified of which nine were selected as targets hit by missiles and artillery munitions. In the initial phase of the operations, five terrorists of JeM and LeT were killed namely Mudassar Khadian Khas, Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, Khalid alias Abu Akasha, and Mohammad Hassan Khan. The complete list of 21 locations where Indian forces attacked Pakistan and PoK are Sawai Nala, Syed Na Bilal , Maskar-E-Aqsa, Chelabandi, Abdullah Bin Masood, Dulai , Garhi Habibullah, Batrasi, Balakot, Oghi, Boi, Sensa, Gulpur, Kotli, Barali, Dungi, Barnala, Mehmoona Joya, Sarjal, Muridke and Bahawalpur. The terror camps destroyed in Pakistan and PoK in retaliation for Pahalgam attack are Sarjal/Tehra Kalan facility in Narowal, Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, Markaz Taiba in Muridke, Markaz Subhan Allah in Punjab, Sawai Nala Camp and Markaz Syedna Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Maskar Raheel Shahid in Kotli, Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala, Markaz Abbas in Kotli. Operation Sindoor was launched in the wake of the Pahalgam attack on April 22. Ten years have passed since 20 Tamil men were killed by AP police for allegedly trying to cut and smuggle red sanders in Seshachalam forest area. TNIE spotlights their families’ fight for justice page 2 A first-of-its-kind State-Level Achievement Survey that tested 9,80,341 students in Classes 3, 5 and 8 has found that the average mark scored by Class 8 students in Mathematics and Science barely crossed 40. The survey jointly conducted , by the State Planning Commission, Samagra Shiksha, SCERT, and the Directorates of School Education and Elementary Education, covered 66% of students enrolled in Classes 3,5 and 8 in all 45,924 gover nment and gover nment-aided schools across the state. The primary school s t u d e n t s o f Ta m i l Nadu, however, have shown improvement in Tamil language skills, the survey showed. Compared to the National People gather near a suspicious object resembling remains of a drone in Kangra district of HP | pti pakistan stepped up fake news during ops New Delhi: In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan intensified its propaganda efforts and launched a digital offensive aimed at spreading false narratives. Amid the tide of misinformation, the Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau (PIB) stepped up to counter the chaos | P10 border districts breathe easy as ceasefire kicks in New Delhi:The announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan on Saturday evening sent a huge wave of relief for people in the border districts of Rajasthan. The deep anxiety troubling most border residents has given way to a mood of relief and joy | P6 Achievement Survey (NAS) of 2011, the average scores of students in all subjects in these classes have gone up except in Mathematics in Class 3 where the score declined from 57% to 54%. As per the report’s district-wise performance data, Kanniyakumari, Cuddalore, Madurai, Tenkasi and Sivagangai were the top-performing districts. Continued on p5 500 TN fishers still in sea off Gujarat coast | P7 To continue, says govt and so will the scaling down of high commission strength on both sides Crediting American mediation for defusing a military escalation between India and Pakistan, President Donald Trump on Saturday announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it a “US-brokered” truce. He praised Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif for their “wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace”. However, sources in New Delhi emphasised that the understanding to halt military action was reached directly between the two militaries, not through any third-party mediation. They said the Pakistan DGMO initiated a call Saturday afternoon, leading to discussions and the ceasefire agreement. “After a long night of talks Class 8 kids caught in Maths, Science bind @ Chennai 15 students stranded in Punjab reach Chennai | P7 expulsion of diplomats J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi T N A c hie v e m ent S u r v e y S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r INSIDE President Trump claimed credit for truce that wasn’t Precision strikes, ingress remain big achievements m aya n k s i n g h @ New Delhi Chennai: Nearly 20,000 people joined the unity rally led by CM M K Stalin in Chennai on Saturday to show solidarity with the Indian Army engaged in a military conflict with Pakistan. Ministers, officials, and people from all walks of life joined the 3.7-km rally | P4 Students in Nilgiris, Erode, Chennai and Coimbatore performed poorly in the test State-Level Achievement Survey mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the diplomatic push, described it as a “US-brokered ceasefire”. “I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site,” Rubio said, adding that he and Vice President J D Vance had been in constant touch with key Indian and Pakistani leaders, including the two PMs, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir. Security personnel patrol near the Dal Lake Srinagar on Saturday before the ceasefire | PTI ‘Truce conditional, not lowering guard’ New Delhi: India’s ceasefire agreement announced with Pakistan is a conditional one and does not signal any change in New Delhi’s diplomatic posture, including its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a top goverment source said on Saturday ‘China’s response disappointing’ New Delhi: China’s response during the conflict between India and Pakistan was a disappointing one and it should have sent out a firm message to Pakistan, former union minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid told this newspaper on Saturday