chennai l saturday l February 28, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION pakistan says it is in ‘open war’ against neighbour afghanistan Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan on Friday, and said the neighbours are in “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes | P9 Pak army claims it killed 274 taliban men Mast Qalandar vs ‘reaching their collar’ Pakistan Army spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said his forces “killed 274 Taliban personnel, while 400 were injured”. Twelve Pakistani soldiers were killed, while 27 others injured, he added. AFP journalists heard shellfire and gunfire in Torkham, with Afghan soldiers heading towards the frontier after overnight bombardment by Pakistan ■ ■ “Our patience has run out. Now it will be Dama Dam Mast Qalandar,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in a post on X However, Taliban govt spokesman Mujahid said the recent strikes were intended to send a clear message that “our hand can reach their collar.” He claimed Taliban had seized 19 Pakistani military posts 55 pakistani soldiers killed in latest round of attacks, says taliban 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 Three-time AIADMK CM OPS joins DMK Kejri let off in excise scam P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u U D AYAN KISHOR E @ New Delhi Three-time Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who held top positions in the AIADMK before his expulsion from the party in 2022, joined the ruling DMK on Friday in the presence of party president and Chief Minister M K Stalin. He is likely to be appointed propaganda secretary of the DMK, sources said. After failing to find a place in the NDA bloc for three years primarily due to opposition from his archrival and current AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, the trusted confidant of late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa has moved over to her bitter rival’s camp. Party sources said the DMK leadership has promised OPS Assembly Speaker post if the party returns to power, be- A Delhi court on Friday discharged former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and 22 others, including deputy CM Manish Sisodia and ex-BRS leader K Kavitha in the alleged excise scam, finding it unworthy of trial as it junked the CBI chargesheet. Hours later, the CBI moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court order. Trial court special judge Jitendra Singh also pulled up the CBI for procedural lapses, violation of constitutional principles and relying on hearsay evidence. He also found the ‘South Group’ label for the excise policy accused particularly inappropriate, adding he will recomme n d a d e p ar t me n t al inquiry against the investigating officer of the case. “Prosecution case, as presented in the chargesheet, rests O Panneerselvam embracing CM Stalin at the DMK HQ in Chennai | Express sides offering him and some of his key supporters seats in and around Theni district in the forthcoming polls to consolidate anti-AIADMK votes. Speaking to reporters in Chennai after joining the DMK, Panneerselvam said he had accepted Thalapathy Stalin’s leadership.  P5 Arvind Kejriwal gets emotional as he addresses the media on Friday | PTI largely on surmises, conjectures, and inferential leaps unsupported by cogent material,” the judge said. Singh said that the policy was the outcome of a structured governmental process involving multiple departments, expert committees and cabinet-level approvals, and the decisions, even if later withdrawn or criti- Vijay’s wife alleges adultery, files for divorce P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u @ Chennai Sankgeetha Vijay, wife of actor-politician and Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay Chandrasekar, has filed a divorce petition before the Chengalpattu court alleging cruelty and adultery The fam. ily court has summoned Vijay to appear before it on April 20. Sankgeetha has accused her husband of having an extramarital relationship with an actress and that he has subjected her to “persistent mental cruelty neglect and desertion”. , If required, she said she would implead the actress as second Vijay Sankgeetha respondent. She has also urged the court to hold in-camera proceedings to protect the privacy and dignity of the parties and their children. On December 3, 2025, Sankgeetha has filed the petition before the Principal District Judge (PDJ) Court, Chengalpattu, under provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The petition was subsequently transferred to the family court on February 24. After the first hearing in the case on Thursday, the family court adjourned the matter to April 20 and directed Vijay to appear in person. In her petition, Sankgeetha said the marriage was first registered in the UK on July 10, 1998, and later solemnised according to Hindu rites in Chennai on August 25, 1999. The petition stated that the marriage was initially cordial and that she devoted herself to family life and raising their kids while supporting Vijay’s professional commitments.  P5 May implead actress Sankgeetha has accused Vijay of having an extramarital affair with an actress and that he has subjected her to “persistent mental cruelty, neglect and desertion”. If required, she said she would implead the actress as second respondent Express Re a d @ Chennai Judge raps CBI for procedural lapses, refuses to put accused on trial cised, “cannot by themselves give rise to criminal liability unless supported by clear evidence of quid pro quo, personal gain, or misuse of office”. Prosecution case does not disclose even the threshold of prima facie suspicion, far less the “grave suspicion” mandated by settled principles of criminal jurisprudence, the court said. Observing that the judicial task was not to secure a convenient outcome or to endorse a dominant narrative, but to uphold the rule of law, the judge refused to put the accused on trial. The judge rejected the charge that Kejriwal exercised overarching control over the conspiracy relating to the formulation of the excise policy saying , the only principal material relied upon to implicate him was the statement of approver, which was “without any independent corroboration”. GDP likely to grow 7.6% in FY26 on new series P USH P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi THE Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday released a new series of annual and quarterly National Accounts with 2022-23 as the Why revise base year, replacing the 2011-12 series, and base year raised India’s real GDP growth estimate for Base year revision FY26 to 7.6% from 7.4% projected earlier. aims to better Data showed that real GDP growth in Q3 capture structural of 2025-26 eased to 7.8% from 8.4% in the changes in the July-September quarter. Growth in the coreconomy, include responding year-ago quarter was 8%. new data sources, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha refine estimation Nageswaran said that given the revised methodologies, data, strong Q3 performance, and improvand enhance ing outlook for capital flows and trade coverage and frameworks, FY27 real GDP growth projecaccuracy tion was revised upward from 6.8-7.2% range to 7-7.4% with upward risk. The CEA added that with full-year growth estimated at 7.6% for FY26, the economy would need to expand by over 7.8% in Q4 to meet the projection. Today’s Match 7pm: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Pallekele) Collegium recommends Dharmadhikari for Madras HC CJ post New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of Kerala High Court Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari as the next Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. The incumbent CJ of the Madras HC, Manindra Mohan Srivastava, is set to retire on March 5. The Collegium has also resolved to recommend transfer of Justice Lisa Gill, Judge, HC of Punjab and Haryana, as Chief Justice of the HC of Andhra Pradesh | P5