Fresh Kuki-Naga tension leaves 3 dead in Manipur Three persons were killed in two separate incidents of firing between the armed groups of Manipur’s rival tribal communities Kukis and Nagas on Friday. In one incident near Mullam village, security forces recovered two bodies, officials said. The deceased were found in camouflage outfits and had bullet injuries. In a separate incident, a man was killed in an ambush by militants near Sinakeithei village in Ukhrul district. kannur l saturday l april 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 AAP-ration Lotus in RS as Paytm Payments Bank loses licence Chadha, 6 others join BJP B ENN K O C H U V EED A N @ Mumbai Cross two-thirds mark to duck anti-defection law’s disqualification Anup Verma and Harpreet B a j w a @ New Delhi/ Chandigarh The AAP’s Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha imploded on Friday with seven of its 10 members, led by Raghav Chadha, breaking away and merging with the ruling BJP . It came days after the party axed Chadha as its parliamentary party chief. Ironically, Ashok Mittal, who replaced Chadha as the AAP’s head in the Upper House, too bolted. The others defectors were Sandeep Pathak, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh. They comfortably crossed the two-thirds criteria for defection, leaving the AAP shell-shocked. Assuming Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan approves the merger, the BJP’s strength will go up from 106 to 113, which is 10 short of a simple majority in the 244-member House. As for the post-merger NDA, its strength of 145, including nominated members, is 18 short of two-thirds majority Two-thirds majority is what . is needed to pass Constitution amendment bills. “Seven MPs have signed the document, which was submitted to the Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. I, along with two other MPs, personally handed over the signed documents,” Chadha said on X. Justifying his defection, AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and others arrive to meet BJP president Nitin Nabin before their merger in New Delhi on Friday | Parveen Negi AAP implosion Feb 2026: Early signs of AAP differences over parliamentary strategy, issue prioritisation April 2: Raghav Chadha axed as AAP’s deputy leader in RS; Ashok Mittal named replacement April 3-10: Chadha revolts, AAP friction deepens April 24: Chadha resigns from AAP, joins BJP along with six other RS MPs Chadha said, “The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life has stepped away from honest politics. I was the right man in the wrong party I am moving away . from the party and going close to people. Today, the AAP is corrupt and compromised.” A livid AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said, “The people of Punjab should remember the seven names.” Their exit will have far reaching ramifications for the ruling AAP in Punjab, especially since assembly election are due next year. The state government is already facing strong anti-incumbency due to perceived ‘non-performance’ and the poor law and order situation. Political analyst Dr Jagrup Singh Sekhon blamed it on the AAP’s structural flaw — the over-centralisation of Kejriwal. “The problem is everything revolves around Kejriwal, which is not desirable in the political setup.” Another analyst Kuldip Singh described the split as an existential threat for the party Social activist Anna . Hazare rubbed it in. “They (the rebels) must have faced some trouble in AAP, which is why they left,” he said. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday directed Paytm Payments Bank to wind up operations and cancelled its licence with immediate effect. In a statement, RBI said it cancelled the banking licence as the entity consistently failed to meet regulatory requirements. The move comes two years after the regulator imposed business curbs on Paytm Payments Bank over violations, including lapses in customer due diligence. The order follows years of regulatory friction and persistent non-compliance. “The affairs of the bank were conducted in a manner detrimental to the interest of its depositors, thereby not complying with regulatory norms. The general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also the public interest. No useful purpose or public interest would be served by allowing the bank to continue. The bank also failed to comply with the conditions stipulated in the licence,” RBI said in a statement. The central bank ordered its winding up and said it will make an application before the High Court. RBI said the licence cancellation is ordered under Section 22(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. RBI said the bank has enough liquidity to repay its deposit liability upon winding up. As of March 31, 2025, Paytm Payments Bank held customer deposits of `1,395 crore across wallet, and current and savings accounts. Payments banks can’t accept credit and can take de- posits only up to `2 lakh. Backed by One 97 Communications, Paytm had obtained the licence in August 2015 that allowed it to take small deposits but not give out loans. RBI has been after the bank since March 2022 when it barred it from onboarding new customers. In January 2024, RBI had ordered the bank to stop accepting fresh deposits due to non-compliance of rules. Again in March 2024 it prohibited the bank from accepting new deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, Fastags and or NCMC cards. Peace hopes emerge as Araghchi Monsoon onset likely in May in Pak, US team to fly in today Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the earlier delegation to Pakistan on April 11, also Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Aragh- accompanied Araghchi to Islamabad. chi reached Pakistan late on Friday According to Iran’s official IRNA night, rekindling hopes of a peace news agency, Araghchi will fly to deal to clear the war clouds over Muscat and then Moscow after Gulf skies. While Iran’s official his engagements in Islamabad. version for the purpose visit is A senior Pakistan official “bilateral consultations”, said Araghchi will hold talks Araghchi is expected to diswith the Pakistani mediators, cuss with Pakistani interlocuexpressing hope that this would tors the US-Iran ceasefire and set the stage for a second round Abbas Araghchi ways to de-escalate the conflict of peace talks between the US in the region. and Iran. White House Press SecThe development comes day retary Karoline Leavitt a day after the US issued confirmed that US Presishoot-to-kill orders on Iradent Donald Trump’s spenian boats found to be laycial envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law ing mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Jared Kushner will leave for Pakistan On Friday the US military said it now , on Saturday morning to continue talks has three aircraft carriers—the USS with the Iran team. Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R Ford It was not immediately known if and USS George H W Bush—in West Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Asia. A g e n c i e s @ Islamabad/Tehran 56 Sha i n u Moha n @ T’Puram Even as Kerala reels under scorching sun with heatwave warnings issued in various districts, several international weather models indicate an early arrival of the southwest monsoon in the state. According to the forecast from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the monsoon could arrive in south India by the end of May . Meanwhile, weather experts said Kerala may fare better despite below-normal southwest monsoon outlook by India Meteorological Department (IMD). M G Manoj, scientist at Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, Cusat, told TNIE that longrange forecasts have not yet specified the exact date of monsoon onset. “We can only comment on whether the monsoon will arrive early or late, usually by the first or sec● More on P4 ond week of May he said. ,”