Fresh Kuki-Naga tension leaves 3 dead 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 SAMBALPUR 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 ■ WARANGAL ■ 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 146, including nominated members, is 17 short of two-thirds majority Two-thirds majority is what . is needed to pass Constitution amendment bills. AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and others arrive to meet BJP president Nitin Nabin, before their merger in New Delhi | 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 “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, 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. P o st m e r g e r , N DA 1 7 s h o r t o f t w o -t h i r d s m a j o r i t y NDA (post merger) 146 Simple majority 123 BJP (post merger) 113 Two-thirds majority 163 Opposition 75 Oth 23 Actual RS strength : 244 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 noncompliance. “The affairs of the bank were conducted in a manner detri- Why RBI went after it The Reserve Bank of India initiated action against Paytm Payments Bank after a comprehensive system audit report and compliance validation report by external auditors flagged persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank. According to the FY25 annual report, Paytm Payments Bank has 30 million bank accounts mental 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 West Asia crisis Peace hopes emerge as Araghchi in Pak, US team to fly in today A g e n c i e s @ Islamabad/Tehran Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reached Pakistan late on Friday night, rekindling hopes of a peace deal to clear the war clouds over Gulf skies. While Iran’s official version for the purpose visit is “bilateral consultations”, Araghchi is expected to discuss with Pakistani interlocutors the USIran ceasefire and ways to deescalate the conflict in the region. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will leave for Pakistan on Saturday morning to continue talks with the Iran team. It was not immediately known if Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who day led the earlier delegation to Pakistan on April 11, also accompanied Araghchi to Islamabad. According to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, Araghchi will fly to Muscat and then Moscow after his engagements in Islamabad. A senior Pakistan official said Araghchi will hold talks with the Pakistani mediators, expressing hope that this would set the stage for a second round of peace talks be- 56 tween the US and Iran. The development comes a day after the US issued shootto-kill orders on Iranian boats found to be laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, the US military said it now has three aircraft carriers—the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R Ford and USS George H W Bush—in West Asia. The three battle groups comprise over 200 aircraft and 15,000 sailors and marines, it added. This is the first time since the 2003 Iraq war that three aircraft carriers are deployed in the region. accept credit and can take deposits 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 topups in customer accounts, wallets, Fastags and or NCMC cards. e x pr e ss r e a d CM unveils `15K cr JV between JSW and JFE Sambalpur: CM Mohan Charan Majhi unveiled a `15,000 crore joint venture between JSW Steel Limited and Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation on Friday. The first and single-largest investment from Japan is expected to significantly boost Odisha’s transition from iron-ore producer to steel manufacturing hub | P4 Summer vacation from April 27 due to heatwave Bhubaneswar: With Odisha reeling under intense heatwave, the state government on Friday announced summer vacation in all schools from April 27. Taking into account the safety and wellbeing of students, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved the proposal | P2