Chennai l thursday l september 25, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Govt approves `70,000 Crore package to boost shipbuilding File Photo Push for atmanirbharta in shipping sector The Union cabinet on Wednesday cleared a `69,725 crore package to revitalise India’s shipbuilding sector and reduce dependence on foreign ships more medical seats at PG, UG levels The package will extend the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme, help launch a National Shipbuilding Mission, and set up a Maritime Development Fund. It is designed to boost domestic shipbuilding capacity and create substantial job and investment opportunities. It comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for Atmanirbharta in the shipping sector | P9 ■ ■ In other decisions, the cabinet approved the construction of a 4-lane highway and the doubling of a rail line in Bihar for `6,000 crore It also cleared proposals to strengthen and upgrade existing central and state government medical colleges and add 5,000 postgraduate medical seats and 5,023 MBBS seats at a cost of `15,034 crore `95,000 cr worth proposals approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday 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 5 KILLED in Leh riots Roll revision ‘dirty trick’ of BJP: CWC R a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that ‘mini-hydrogen, hydrogen, uranium and plutonium bombs’ were being readied for further exposing ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) by the ruling BJP in the next one month. He was speaking at the extended Congress Working Committ e e ( C WC ) m e e t i n g at Sadaqat Ashram, the party’s headquarters in Bihar. A political resolution adopted at the meeting dealt with several issues, including ‘vote theft’ and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of polls rolls in the electionbound Bihar. The CWC lauded Rahul for boldly exposing ‘vote theft’ and fighting ‘brazen attempts Rahul Gandhi t o s u bve r t democracy’. “This exposes the systematic and deliberate conspiracy used to manufacture an elected majority for the BJP . A government built on stolen mandates and rigged voter lists has no moral or political legitimacy .” It described the SIR in Bihar as another dirty trick from the BJP’s toolkit to manipulate electoral rolls and cling to power. “Their aim is clear: to disenfranchise the poor, workers, backward classes and minorities — the very people who are determined to oust the NDA from Bihar,” it alleged. P10 India mostly with Ukraine: Zelenskyy J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s claim that India along with China is a key funder of Russia’s war effort, asserting that New Delhi is “mostly with Ukraine” despite ongoing energ y trade with Moscow. In an interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy addressed recent criticism from President Trump, who told the United Nations General Assembly that India and China were the “primary funders” of Russia’s war due to their continued purchase of Russian oil. “I think India, mostly with us,” Zelenskyy said. , Zelenskyy acknowledged the challenges posed by India’s energy ties with Russia but voiced optimism, placing tr ust in President Trump’s ability to navigate the issue. “Yes, we have these questions with energy but I think , President Trump can manage them,” he said. Armstrong murder: HC transfers probe to CBI E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered transfer of the probe into the murder of BSP state president K Armstrong from the Tamil Nadu police to the CBI. Justice P Velmurugan passed the or- K Armstrong der while allowing the petitions filed by the slain leader’s brother, K Immanuvel, alias Keynos Armstrong, who had argued that the police had not investigated the case properly . The judge directed CBI to file the chargesheet within six months. Armstrong was hacked to death by a gang on July 5, 2024, at Perambur while he was inspecting a construction site. The Greater Chennai Police held investigations and arrested 27 persons. One of them, Thiruvengadam, was killed in a police encounter. P7 80 hurt as protesters seeking statehood for Ladakh clash with police; BJP office torched F AYA Z WANI @ Srinagar AT least five persons were killed and 80 others suffered injuries in Leh district of Ladakh Union Territory on Wednesday as protests demanding statehood and inclusion under Sixth Schedule turned violent. The angry young protesters pelted stones at policemen, torched the BJP office, and damaged public property Some of the . injured are in serious condition. Tension was brewing in Leh since Tuesday evening after two persons fell ill and had to be hospitalised during the ongoing hunger strike led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk demanding Sixth Schedule benefits and statehood for Ladakh. Following the violence, Wangchuk called off his hunger strike. On Wednesday, hundreds of youths took to the streets in Leh in response to a call by the Leh Apex Body Chanting slogans like “We . will not beg for our rights”, the protesters clashed with security personnel, who retaliated by firing tear smoke shells and resorting to baton charge. Intense clashes continued throughout the day , resulting in casualties and injuries. Speaking to this newspaper, LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjey said: “We have been agitating peacefully but it went out of control,” adding that the protesters were upset about the delay by the Centre in holding talks with them. In its pushback, the Union home ministry said the violence was engineered by “certain politically motivated individuals” not happy with the progress made in the talks between the Centre and Ladakhi groups. It alleged that Wangchuk misled people through “provocative mention of Arab Spring-style protest and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal”. HC rejects X’s plea against Centre Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition by X Corp challenging the authority of the government to issue content takedown orders under the Information Technology Act. No one can assume that they can treat the Indian marketplace as a mere playground where information can be disseminated in defiance of statutes or in disregard of legality, and later adopt a posture of detachment, the court said. The petitioner sought the court to declare that Sec- From top: BJP office set on fire; Council Secretariat building set ablaze by protesters; A burning vehicle | pti Violence will defeat our five years efforts and agitation for statehood and 6th Schedule status to Ladakh — Activist Sonam Wangchuk Helpful in Constipation and Gas Helpful in Acidity and Managing Piles It supports Digestion Helpful in managing Stomach problems tion 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 does not confer the authority on the Government of India to issue information-blocking orders under the Act. “The petitioner’s platform is subject to a regulatory regime in the USA... Under the Take It Down Act of the US, it chooses to follow the said Act as it criminalises the violation of orders of takedown, but the same petitioner refuses to follow the same on the shores of this nation (India),” said Justice M. Nagaprasanna. X Corp had prayed the court to restrain the Union government from taking coercive or prejudicial action against it for not joining the Censorship (Sahyog) Portal. The court, however, said the portal is an instrument of public good. The challenge is without merit, it said. “Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, right to free speech and expression, is hedged by restrictions under Article 19(2),” the court observed. “American jurisprudential thought cannot be transplanted into the soil of Indian constitutional law. This has been the clear law enunciated by the apex court. The judicial thought process has undergone a complete change in the realm of free speech, even in the US,” it said.