TIRUCHY l Monday l august 04, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION pm modi, Amit Shah meet President separately This was the first meeting of the PM with the President after his recent visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives meeting amid logjam in parliament on s.i.r. manipur president’s rule extension The meetings came against the backdrop of the logjam in Parliament over the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on the poll roll revision exercise in Bihar ahead of assembly elections. Except discussions in both Houses on Operation Sindoor, Parliament has seen no business since Monsoon session started on July 21 President’s rule extension in Manipur, which the Lok Sabha passed last week but the Rajya Sabha is yet to discuss it ■ Shah’s meeting with the President could also be related to the likely Cabinet reshuffle, sources said | P7 ■ Sources said Shah’s meeting could be regarding a resolution on July 21 The meetings come two weeks after jagdeep dhankar’s resignation 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 Airport rage Senior Army officer booked for assaulting SpiceJet staff F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar The Jammu and Kashmir police have booked a senior officer of the Indian Army for allegedly assaulting four SpiceJet staff at the Srinagar airport last week, causing a spinal fracture to an airline staff. The Army has pledged full cooperation in the investigation while the airline has started the process to place the army officer on the no-fly list. The incident took place on July 26 when Lt Colonel Ritesh Kumar Singh, posted at High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmargm, was trying to board SpiceJet flight SG-386 from Srinagar to Delhi allegedly with excess cabin baggage. “The passenger was carrying two pieces of cabin baggage weighing a total of 16 kg, more than double the permitted limit of 7 kg,” read a SpiceJet statement. It said the passenger became aggressive when the airline staff flagged the excess baggage and asked him to pay the applicable charges. The army officer refused and forcefully entered the aerobridge without completing the boarding process in violation of aviation security protocols. The officer was escorted back to the gate by a CISF official. “At the gate, the passenger grew aggressive and assaulted members of the SpiceJet ground staff,” SpiceJet said, adding the officer kicked, punched and beat its staff. An FIR was filed at Budgam police station under Sections 115(2), 126(2), 351(2), and 131 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Series on ice: Fitting final day awaits TNIE in England Firoz Mirza @london THE weather Gods didn’t want this series to end. Not yet anyway. And, so, this mind-bending, narrative-shattering, finger-nail chewing five-match Test series will go into a 25th bumsquelching day. And who would blame them? It’s been that kind of a series. A man with a broken finger came out to bowl. A man with a broken foot came out to bat. And, late on Sunday, a man with a dislocated shoulder, arm very much in a sling, Chris Woakes was prepared to come out and bat. In the middle, the Jamies, Smith and Overton, were involved in a dogfight against, really a trio of heroic pacers , who kept going and going and going. At least one of them had to take a painkilling injection. At least one of them wore a knee brace before discarding it. India go to bed needing four more wickets to ensure there is something tangible to show from Shubman Gill’s first assignment as captain. England go to bed needing 35 more runs. Harry Brook and Joe Root coruscating 195-run, thrill-aminute stand had seemingly sucked out all the oxygen from India. But after they fell, India roared back. It’s what has kept them alive going into the final day of a series that will be remembered irrespective of the result. EC issues notice to Tejashwi on voter card slur To RJD leader’s claims of fraud in poll roll, EC asks him to submit his EPIC card tion suggests that the EPIC number you mentioned at @ Patna/New Delhi the press conference on August 2 was not issued offiA day after leader of Opposi- cially. You are therefore retion in Bihar assembly Tejas- quested to hand over the hwi Prasad Yadav claimed EPIC card in original for dethat his name was missing tailed investigation.” The RJD leader, thereaffrom the draft electoral roll, ter, alleged that Election Commishis EPIC number sion of India (ECI) h a d b e e n on Sunday issued “changed”, but a notice to him District Magisasking him to trate Thiyagaraja ‘hand over for inS M repudiated his vestigation’ a votclaim.“The EPIC er ID card that he number in the claimed to be in electoral rolls is possession of dethe one that was spite the EC not isEC says PC’s submitted by the suing it officially . views false leader of the oppoTejashwi on SatFormer Union sition in his affidaurday had demonminister P vit in 2020 assemstrated an online query, with the Chidambaram on X bly polls. If he has said 6.5 lakh another EPIC card EPIC number, to migrants were with another cl a i m t h at h i s name was missing being registered as number as well, it voters in Tamil is a matter of inin the draft electoral rolls pub- Nadu after 65 lakh vestigation,” the were DM said. lished as part of In Patna, spokesspecial intensive disenfranchised in Bihar. The EC persons Ajay Alok revision (SIR) and, dismissed his (BJP), Neeraj Kuupon rebuttal from claims as false mar (JDU) and authorities conRajesh Bhatt (LJP) cer ned, alle ged that his voter ID card demanded that a case be registered against the RJD leadnumber was ‘changed’. In a letter addressed to the er. At a press conference in former deputy CM, the Sub New Delhi on Sunday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra Divisional Magistrate of Patna Sadar-cum-electoral asked,“If a senior party registration officer for Digha leader like Yadav carries assembly constituency said, two voter IDs, what will the “Our preliminary investiga- party workers be doing?” r a m as h an k a r & R A J E S H K U M A R TH A K U R S Korea firm to set up `1.7K-cr footwear unit in Nellai C S h i va k u m a r @ Chennai South Korea’s Hwaseung Enterprises is set to invest `1,720 crore in a large-scale non-leather footwear manufacturing facility at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli district, marking the company’s first production base in India and a major addition to the state’s export-oriented manufacturing portfolio. The proposed unit, expected to generate around 20,000 direct jobs, will be among the largest employment-generating footwear projects in the state. The company will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government in this regard on Monday at the inaugural edition of the state’s new regional investment initiative ‘TN Rising’ in TN’s Shift towards non-leather goods The state already contributes 38% of India’s footwear and leather goods output, and is now accelerating a shift towards non-leather segments such as synthetic and sports footwear, as per industry department officials Thoothukudi, sources said. Hwaseung, a key supplier to global brands such as Adidas, currently operates facilities in Vietnam, Indonesia, and China. Its expansion into Tamil Nadu reflects a shift towards diversified geographies and sustainable material use in manufacturing. The project is also seen as a key milestone in the state’s ef- fort to position itself as a global hub for non-leather footwear production. “This is a strategic win for TN and for India’s non-leather exports,” said a state government official, noting that Hwaseung’s presence could catalyse a clustering effect by attracting ancillary suppliers and contract manufacturers to the re- TN likely to approve fare hike for pvt bus operators B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government, after seven years, is expected to approve a bus fare hike for private operators soon based on a Madras High Court direction. However, in a first, the state, which operates nearly 80% of buses in TN, is unlikely to revise fares for its own fleet with Assembly polls just eight months away, press Intake Boy found dead inside well near Tirupattur aided school hostel | P2 ‘Honour killing’: Armed police protection given to Kavin’s family | P4 due to fears of a public backlash and the potential electoral fallout. The fare revision also includes plans to introduce an automatic fare adjustment mechanism, tied to operational variables such as fuel prices, employee wages, the wholesale price index, and other economic indicators. According to official sources, the expert committee headed by the Transport Commissioner, which was formed in response to the court directive, received over 2,500 suggestions from the public between January and June this year. “We held separate consultations with both private operators and officials from the eight state transport undertakings. Public feedback has been mixed, with some supporting and others opposing a fare hike,” a senior official said.  P5 gion. The announcement comes amid a broader investment push in southern Tamil Nadu, with the Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) major VinFast scheduled to inaugurate its integrated EV plant in Thoothukudi on August 4. Moreover, the TN Rising conclave is expected to attract a cross-section of investors, policymakers, sectoral experts and academia, with new MoU signings and announcements across key sectors like green energy, electronics manufacturing, and skilling. Designed to unlock industrial potential in Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations, the conclave series is part of the TN’s vision to become a USD 1 trillion economy by fostering balanced regional development and sustainable industrialisation.  P5 DEFICIT OF RAINFALL IN A THIRD OF DISTRICTS About a third of districts across India have reported weak monsoon, a cause for concern, with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and TN among them | P7