Familial bonding at Rashtrapati Bhavan Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi (second from left) and Navy Chief Adm Dinesh K Tripathi with their spouses during the Defence Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. At the ceremony, President Droupadi Murmu conferred six Kirti Chakras, including four posthumously, to personnel of the Army and J&K Police | PTI tiruchy l friday l may 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 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 Pakistan will pay a big price for any terror attack: PM Says no scope for bilateral talks, adds no water for the neighbour from Indian rivers R a j e sh A snani @ Jaipur PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday castigated Pakistan for using terrorism as a weapon against India and asserted that the hostile neighbour and its economy will have to pay a heavy price for every terrorist attack in future. Addressing his first public meeting in Rajasthan after Operation Sindoor, Modi spoke at length about the strikes carried out by India’s armed forces in Pakistan on May 7 following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22. Addressing a large gathering during the inauguration of various development projects in Bikaner, Modi declared that Pakistan will not get a drop of water from rivers over which India has rights and claimed there was no scope for further talks with Pakistan. At the meeting in Palana, about 20 km from Bikaner on the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan, Modi said: “Pakistan will from now onwards have to pay a heavy price for every terrorist attack... Pakistan’s army will pay it, Pakistan’s economy will pay it.” Operation Sindoor was the embodiment of a new India that will strike forcefully and fearlessly at the heart of terror, he said. The prime minister vowed a firm response to any hostile action from across the border. “Every drop of Indian blood will be avenged... Those who play with the lives of Indians will not be spared, India is no longer afraid of nuclear threats. Those who shed Indian blood will pay dearly for every drop,” he said. Modi arrived at the Nal Airbase in Bikaner and proceeded to the Karni Mata temple to offer prayers. From there, he reached Palana in Bikaner district to address the public gathering. Referring to the recent Pahalgam attack, Modi said, “On May 7, India eliminated nine major terrorist hideouts within 22 minutes. The world has now seen what happens when sindoor (vermilion) turns into gunpowder.” The prime minister’s fiery speech comes amid heightened national security concerns and rising tensions along the border. His message in Bikaner was loud and clear — India will not tolerate terrorism and will retaliate with full force. SC Stays ED probe against Tasmac ‘ED crossing all limits, violating federal structure’ `1K-cr liquor scam: ED S uchitra K alyan M ohanty @ New Delhi We won’t differentiate between terrorist organisations and govt that supports them — they’ll be treated as one UAE, Japan express solidarity The UAE and Japan have expressed solidarity with India as multi-party delegations started reaching out to world capitals to sensitise global leadership about terror from Pakistan 3-fold formula key for ties with China India on Thursday reminded China that mutual trust, respect and sensitivity are the basis of its bilateral ties, after it became clear that Pakistan used Chinese weapons in the recent clash India to Turkiye: Show sensitivity India on Thursday called on Turkiye to understand that bilateral ties must be built on mutual respect and sensitivity to each other’s core concerns | P7 In relief to the Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Enforcement Directorate’s probe and proceedings against the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) over an alleged `1,000 crore scam. The two-judge bench hearing Tamil Nadu’s petition orally criticised the probe agency . “Enforcement Directorate is crossing all limits. How can your office raid a corporation (Tasmac)? You are totally violating the federal structure of the country,” Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who led the bench, said. The bench also comprised Justice Augustine George Masih. Tn govt had moved the top court on May 20 challenging the raids conducted by ED on Tasmac premises 1 The apex court asked, “How can you raid the state-run Tasmac?’ 2 Advocate Kapil Sibal said TN has filed 41 FIRs against Tasmac staff The petition filed by the DMK-run state government and Tasmac challenged the April 23 order of the Madras High Court that upheld the ED’s actions, alleging grave violations of constitutional rights and the federal structure. “The present petition raises questions of law having wide ramifications including the issue of federalism laid bare by the respondent 1 (ED) exceeding its remit and attempting to usurp the 3 ED said TN distilleries gave unaccounted cash to secure supply orders 4 ASG SV Raju said the ED is not crossing limits ‘at least in this case’ state’s right to investigate offences occurring therein,” the state gover nment contended. The ED, however, claimed that there is a `1,000 crore liquor scam in Tamil Nadu. The central probe agency had conducted various raids in March, and during the raids allegations had surfaced that distillery companies had given unaccounted cash to secure liquor supply orders from Tasmac. Continued on p5 i n s i d e HC SEEKS STATUS REPORT ON FIRS OVER GRAFT IN TASMAC I P4 AVNL looks west to develop light tank platforms C S hi v akumar @ Chennai Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), a public sector defence company headquartered in Avadi, Chennai, is looking to develop a new generation of light tanks with the help of western defence players. AVNL sources told TNIE that they have not finalised any agreement with Russian companies. Instead, press they pointclusive ed to a broader evaluation process involving both Russian and western light tank platforms. AVNL is understood to be leaning toward designs that emphasise command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance integration. Sources said AVNL is in talks with defence players, including Belgium’s John Cockerill and Israel’s Elbit Systems.  P5 With this issue Supreme Court reserves order on Waqf law S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi After three days of arguments, the Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, reiterating observation on the presumption of constitutional- ity in favour of the law. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih that waqf managements misused monuments, giving rooms for shops and making unauthorised alterations. This was opposed by senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, saying: “There are other laws to deal with such issues. You can’t take my right over the waqf property because of these issues.” Defending the Act, Mehta said the fact that the SC has to hear the pleas seeking interim stay for three days shows there is nothing ex-facie unconstitutional with the law. Exclusive Supplement 8 PAGES