Chennai l tuesday l july 08, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Tahawwur Rana was in Mumbai to oversee 26/11 carnage Tahawwur Rana, the 26/11 mastermind, has admitted he was present in Mumbai during the 2008 attacks as a trusted agent of Pakistan ‘conducted many surveillance missions’ Even as Rana remains under NIA custody in Tihar Jail, his statement was recorded by Mumbai Police Crime Branch. Rana told interrogators that he had conducted many reconnaissance missions of several areas in Mumbai ahead of the 2008 attacks and was present in the area when Lashkar-eTaiba-linked terrorists attacked the Taj Hotel and went on a rampage ■ 166 rana was involved in aiding the attack ■ The NIA has charged Rana for hatching a conspiracy to carry out the attacks along with friend David Headley, who is a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and another key conspirator in the gruesome 26/11 attacks Rana was involved in planning the attacks and helped Headley in getting a visa by creating a false identity to help him travel to India people were killed in the 26/11 attacks in mumbai 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 SC to hear pleas against Bihar EC fiat on Thursday Bench says timeline has no sanctity as polls for the state assembly are yet to be notified SUCHI T RA KALYAN M OHAN T Y @ New Delhi Why fresh exercise? “Bihar’s voter list was finalised in January 2025. The ECI itself acknowledged this. Revisions were made until June. Then, suddenly, it was discarded… Without any proof, without discrepancies, 70 million voters now have to prove citizenship again,” Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said This is mass scale rigging and mischief being carried out by the ECI, under instructions from the ruling regime... It has wreaked havoc across the villages and towns of Bihar K C Venugopal, Cong The Supreme Court on Monday decided to hear on July 10, Thursday a batch of pleas chal, lenging an order of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The batch of petitions included a joint Opposition plea filed on Monday Its signatories . are K C Venugopal of the Congress, Supriya Sule of NCP (Sharad Pawar), Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena (UBT), Harinder Malik of Samajwadi Party Sarfraz Ahmed of JMM, D Raja of , CPI and Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI (ML). Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the pleas filed before a two-judge bench comprising justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi. “We will have it on Thursday,” the bench said. Sibal urged the court to issue a notice to the ECI, adding it will be impossible for the people to meet the tight timeline for enumeration. Other lawyers who made their submissions were Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shadan Farasat and Gopal Shankarnarayanan. They argued that voters who fail to submit their forms with the specified documents will face the harsh consequence of being deleted from the electoral roll, even if they have voted in elections for the last 20 years. Singhvi said while the size of the electorate is 8 crore, as many as 4 crore will have to do the enumeration. “The timeline is so strict — by July 25 if you don’t give, you will be out,” Singhvi pointed out. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for another petitioner, said the poll panel was not accepting Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards as proof for the enumeration. The bench, however, contended that the timeline “doesn’t have sanctity as elections have not been notified as yet”. It asked the petitioners to give advance notice to the counsel for the ECI. Apart from the joint petition by Opposition leaders, at least five other pleas have been filed, including those by the Association For Democratic Reforms, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, and activist Yogendra Yadav. Countries aligning with BRICS policies will be charged an additional 10% tariff LETTERS FIRED US President Donald Trump on Monday signed letters addressed to the leaders of 14 countries, announcing higher tariffs from August 1. Trump shared screenshots of 7 signed letters mentioning the new tariff rates for Myanmar and Laos (40% each); South Africa (30%); Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan (25% each). White House said more letters will be sent | P10 Aug 1 Higher tariffs on 7 countries from Aug 1 Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on BRICS allies JAYAN T H JACOB @ New Delhi HOURS after the BRICS leaders criticised the unilateral trade actions and Israel’s military strikes in Iran, US President Donald Trump late on Sunday night threatened to slap an additional 10% tariff on countries that support the ‘anti-American policies’ of the bloc. “Any country aligning themselves with the AntiAmerican policies of BRICS will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. He did not specify which policies were “anti-American” or which countries would be targeted. Trump’s threat followed BRICS joint declaration at the summit in Brazil, where member states including India, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, and several new entrants criticised protectionist trade practices and foreign military interventions. Without naming the US, the statement voiced “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules.” The bloc reaffirmed its support for an inclusive trading system and rejected ‘punitive and discriminatory protectionist measures’. The declaration issued at Rio, Brazil on Sunday during the summit of BRICS leaders said the proliferation of traderestrictive actions “threatens to further reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities”. This is not the first time Trump has targeted BRICS. In June, he threatened to slap 100% tariffs on countries that move to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency . BRICS, originally formed to amplify the voice of major emerging economies, has since expanded beyond its core members to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Swiggy, Zomato left out in cold Restaurants in namakkal dial new delivery app Express News Service @ Namakkal Restaurant owners and hotel associations in Namakkal district have banded together and tied up with a new food delivery app ‘Zaaroz’, shunning popular food delivery majors like Swiggy and Zomato. The shift comes after local eateries and hotels in the region started facing massive loss due to the inconsistent commission charges, hidden fees, and unilateral discount policies set by the two platforms. On Monday the Namakkal , Town and Taluk Hotel Owners Association teamed up with Zaaroz, which only col- lects subscriptions from the eateries on a monthly-basis, unlike the other major platforms that allegedly also demand high commissions. The move comes after multiple restaurants and eateries reported over 40% loss due to the increasing tariff and hidden costs levied by popular food delivery apps. The association had stopped all food delivery services through Swiggy and Zomato from July 1, after its negotiations with the delivery majors over a set of demands, including standard commission cap at 18%, transparent breakdowns of all charges and the removal of hidden fees, failed to make headway  . P7 probe ORDERED AGAINST SENA MINISTER Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry against Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat and his son for buying a luxury hotel worth `110 crore much below its value for `67 crore in Sambhaji Nagar by rigging the entire tender process | P10 A file picture of damaged buildings in a residential area after heavy rainfall in Mandi district; (left) Relief material being sent by a helicopter to flood-ravaged residents on Monday | PTI AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami kick-started his campaign ‘Let’s Protect the People, Let’s Save TN’ in Coimbatore on Monday | S Senbagapandiyan EPS kicks off AIADMK campaign for 2026 polls roadshow on the Mettupalayam to Ooty road. Then he adAIADMK general secretary dressed a public meeting alongand leader of opposition Edap- side BJP state president Nainar padi K Palaniswami on Mon- Nagenthiran, Minister of State day kick-started his campaign for Information Broadcasting L for the 2026 Assembly election Murugan, and former AIADfrom Coimbatore by challeng- MK minister SP Velumani, at ing the DMK’s main critM e t t u p a l aya m bu s icism of his party’s allistand. ance with the BJP. “If you (DMK) make Pointing to the DMK’s an alliance with the BJP , BJP good past alliances with the then it would be considwhen it BJP (in 1999 and 2001), ered a good party. Howsuited the he asked how the nationever, DMK is accusing DMK, but al party was considered communal for the BJP of being a comgood when it suited the munal party after the AIAIADMK DMK and communal ADMK made an alliance. Edappadi K when AIADMK made an Except for this, CM MK Palaniswami alliance with it and said Stalin could not level the alliance was forged any other charge against to defeat the enemy . the AIADMK-BJP-led alliance. Beginning his campaign — DMK cadres were central min‘Let’s Protect the People, Let’s isters during the BJP-led cenSave Tamil Nadu’ — well ahead tral government for five years,” of his rivals after offering he said. prayers at the Vanabadrakali “Hereafter, Stalin cannot A m m a n t e m p l e a t M e t - cheat the people of Tamil tupalayam, he took part in a Nadu,” EPS said.  P7 S S e n t h i l K u m a r @ Coimbatore no to caste ‘Social Justice’ new name for 2.7K TN-run student hostels Express News Service @ Chennai Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday announced that the 2,739 student hostels run by various departments of the state government will be renamed as ‘Samooga Needhi’ (Social Justice) hostels by removing the caste and religious identifiers, presently part of their names depending on which departments they come under. The move is a continuation of various measures being implemented by the present government to eradicate caste and religion-based dif ferences among students, with an aim to build a future society that is egalitarian in nature, he said. Stalin, in a CM MK Stalin statement, said the gover nment’s decision followed careful consideration of the Justice K Chandru committee’s key recommendation that all caste identifiers in government and private schools be removed. The committee was constituted to recommend measures to eradicate caste-based differences among students in educational institutions. The statement said that in government-run student hostels named after eminent leaders, ‘social justice’ will be appended to their names. Stalin assured that the change of names would not have any impact on the existing infrastructural and monetary support offered to these hostels for school and college students.  P7 express read TN’s 1st block-level heat stress study raises alarm Chennai: Tamil Nadu released the state’s first-ever block-level spatial analysis of heat exposure on Monday. The study confirms that rising urbanisation and loss of natural land cover are driving a surge in local temperatures | P4 HC bins CBI case against Minister Nehru’s brother Chennai: The Madras High Court on Monday quashed a CBI case pending against N Ravichandran, brother of Minister KN Nehru, in connection with the allegations of diversion of funds he received through bank loans | P2 daily soap Rescue ops on to trace 30 missing Kyunki neta again abhineta, Smriti back as Tulsi people after cloudbursts in Himachal K a r t i k B h a r a d w a j @ Mumbai h a r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh SEARCH and rescue operations in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh were intensified on Monday with the use of drones and sniffer dogs to trace 30 people who went missing after cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides wreaked havoc in the Thunag, Gohar, and Karsog subdivisions last week. A team of 250 personnel from the National and State Disaster Response Forces, Army, IndoTibetan Border Police, and Home Guards, along with the administration and locals, are part of the rescue work. ‘Issue regular updates’ CM Sukhu has directed officials to issue regular weather updates and to counter misinformation circulating on social media The disaster resulted in the death of 52 people, with 78 reported deaths since the onset of the monsoon on June 20. Meanwhile, a 10-month-old infant, Nitika, was rescued from the debris of her home in Talwara village. Her father, Ramesh Kumar, was found dead, while her mother and grandmother are still untraced. The infant is currently being taken care of by her aunt. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressed concern over the rising incidents of cloudbursts across the state. The local weather office issued a yellow warning for heavy rain at isolated places in four districts of Una, Hamirpur, Solan and Sirmaur districts till Wednesday . As many as 235 roads are closed in the state, of which 176 were in Mandi district alone. Besides, 163 transformers were affected in the state. Actor-politician Smriti Irani will be returning to play the role of Tulsi Virani in the reboot of Ektaa Kapoor’s 2000s iconic daily soap, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. “Some journeys come full circle, not for nostalgia, but for purpose. Returning to Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is not just a step back into a role, but a return to a story that redefined Indian television and reshaped my own life,” Smriti said in a statement. “Today, I stand at a crossroads where experience meets emotion, and creativity meets conviction. I return not just as an actor, but as someone who Straddled two powerful platforms in 25 years Smriti said she straddled two powerful platforms — media and public policy — in the last 25 years, adding both have their own impact with “each demanding a different kind of commitment” believes in the power of storytelling to spark change, preserve culture, and build empathy she added. ,” The show will to return to its original platform, Star Plus, on July 28. Other than Smriti, the serial will also star Amar Upadhyay, who will return in the role of Mihir. Hiten Tejwani, and Gauri Pradhan will also be seen reprising their roles from Smriti’s first look as Tulsi in Kyunki the show’s original version. In a recent media interaction, Smriti revealed that there were talks about a reboot to the series in 2014, but she had to reject the offer because of her sojourn into politics. However, Ektaa took to social media to claim that such an idea wasn’t in the works at all. She later deleted the post. Smriti, who served as Union minister across multiple portfolios from 2014 to 2024, lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi to Sonia Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma by over 1.5 lakh votes, a constituency she had wrested from Rahul Gandhi in 2019. With her return to acting, does this mean a sabbatical from politics, or is it just a calm before the 2029 storm, Kyunki Actor Bhi Kabhi Politician Thi? ‘Kyunki’ aired from 2000 to 2008 and was the most successful serial of its time, with TRPs in double digits for many years.