World’s biggest sporting carnival gets underway With the largest ever FIFA World Cup — featuring 48 teams — beginning on Thursday, Mexico players train at Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR) in Mexico City on the eve of the opening game against South Africa | AFP Today's matches (IST) Group A: Mexico vs South Africa (June 12, 12.30 am) Group A: South Korea vs Czechia (June 12, 7.30 am) chennai l Thursday l June 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION CBC 01101/13/0006/2627 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 TMC suffers fresh NDA, Cabinet hail Modi for crossing longest-serving elected PM milestone blow in RS; more exits in LS likely R A J E S H K U M A R TH A K U R @ New Delhi P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The exodus in Trinamool Congress (TMC) continued with Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigning from the Upper House on Wednesday dealing another blow , to the embattled party Dev is the . second TMC Member of Parliament to step down within a week, following the resignation of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, a close aide of party chief Mamata Banerjee. Dev’s resignation has been accepted by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Adding to the uncertainty, names of Mamata’s loyalists including Saayoni Ghosh, Mala Roy, Mitali Bag, Yusuf Pathan and Shatrughan Sinha are being linked to the rebel bloc. Sources said Dev, who earlier quit the Congress 2021 to join the TMC, is likely to join the BJP as she met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after tendering her resignation. Dev joined the TMC in 2021 after leaving the Congress. A former Lok Sabha MP from Assam’s Silchar constituency, she quit the Congress following her defeat in the 2019 general elections. The TMC later appointed her as its national spokesperson and subsequently nominated her to the Rajya Sabha. While she declined to comment on Mamata or her future political plans, Dev said, “It’s my individual decision, what kind of politics I want to do and who should be my leader. I have my reasons and that’s why I have made my decision.” On reports of her joining the BJP, she said, “When I take a decision I will let you know.” The Union Cabinet passed a special resolution hailing Narendra Modi for becoming India’s longest-serving elected prime minister on Wednesday. Titled ‘Abhinandan Prastav’, the resolution described June 10 as a historic day in the country’s democratic journey. It was adopted hours before the ruling NDA met to celebrate 12 years of the gover nment under Modi’s leadership. The Cabinet meeting began Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the NDA Conclave, at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI with a standing ovation to the prime minister for having completed 4,399 consecutive days in office, surpassing the record of Jawaharlal Nehru, who served continuously for 4,398 days between 1952 and 1964. The resolution described the occasion as “a symbol of India’s democratic consciousness, public trust, and the power of public participation”. It said the milestone reflected the strong support of the people to a leader who is always guided by the ‘Nation First’ principle.  P9 Bharathiraja, master of rural realism, passes away at 83 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Tamil Nadu on Wednesday bid farewell to legendary filmmaker Bharathiraja, whose groundbreaking work transformed the visual language of Tamil cinema by moving it from indoor studios to the state’s hinterland. He was 83 and passed away at his In a career spanning Chennai residence folfive decades, he directlowing age-related ed over 40 films. The ailments. Padma Shri-awardee Widely hailed as Iyawas also a six-time Nakkunar Imayam (The Bharathiraja tional Award winner. Everest among direcGovernor RV Arlekar 1942 - 2026 tors), Bharathiraja reand CM C Joseph Vijay defined Tamil cinema with his paid rich tributes and hailed his debut film 16 Vayathinile (1977). role in bringing the culture, and realities of rural Tamil Nadu to the screen. DMK chief MK Stalin, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan also paid their respects. Bharathiraja is survived by his wife, Chandraleela, and daughter, Janani. His last rites would be held with state honours in Theni on Thursday .  FULL COVERAGE: P2, P3