MADURAI l Thursday l June 18, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION Cyber criminals are parasites who dupe innocent investors: CJI Cyber criminals are parasites who take money from innocent investors and dupe them, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant observed we have to be very harsh, says justice Kant People across India are affected: SC “You people (cyber criminals) are parasites. We have to be very harsh. It is in the society’s interest that cyber criminals are kept behind the bars,” CJI Surya Kant said. Such strong language from the CJI comes weeks after he called the unemployed youth “cockroaches”. The court was hearing a plea filed by a cyber fraud accused seeking bail | P7 ■ ■ The CJI said victims of such crimes were always pan-India. “You cheat someone in Tamil Nadu, then you go to Jammu and Kashmir and then to the North-East,” the CJI said The court rejected the bail plea citing the gravity of allegations. The petitioner is accused of swindling over `3 crore from multiple people `22,495 cr lost to cyber fraud in 2025, as per government data 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 DMK appointees Two ex-DGPs quit key posts amid TVK govt’s rejig Modi urges max priority to seafarers’ safety in bilateral talks with Trump Stresses strategic importance of keeping Hormuz open; trade deal very close, says US President Indo prefix axed from name of US Pacific Command E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Two senior retired IPS officers, including former Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal, resigned from key positions in state gover nment bodies on Wednesday amid an ongoing administrative reshuffle by the TVK government. Jiwal stepped down as chairman of the Tamil Nadu Fire Commission, while retired IPS officer Sunil Kumar resigned as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB). Shankar Jiwal T hey were both appointed by the previous DMK government. Sources said three other memSunil Kumar bers of the fire commission – Vikraman, Sathyamurthy and Namachivayam – also resigned on Wednesday . Shankar Jiwal, a 1990-batch IPS officer who served as Commissioner of Greater Chennai Police and later as DGP and Head of Police Force (HoPF), was the first chairman of the Tamil Nadu Fire Commission, constituted by the DMK government to oversee policy regulation and re, forms relating to fire and rescue services in the state.  P5 J a v a r i a Rana @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump during a bilateral meet on the sidelines of the G7 Summit | AFP J ayan t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday placed the safety of Indian seafarers at the centre of discussions on restoring peace and stability in West Asia, saying he was confident the issue would receive the “highest priority” in implementing a new agreement between the US and Iran aimed at ending the recent conflict, during his first bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in 16 months on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. “You are aware that across the world, Indian seafarers and hundreds of thousands are working and performing their duties across global maritime trade routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, and their safety is of utmost importance to us,” Modi said. The PM linked the protection of seafarers directly to the implementation of the agreement between the US and Iran. “You made tremendous efforts to- Banned Telegram moves HC amid govt pushback U d ayan K i s h o r e & Rake s h K u m a r @ New Delhi The Centre on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that there are “shocking activities” happening on Telegram after the messaging platform moved the court seeking a stay on the government order temporarily restricting access to the messaging app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. Telegram argued that the government should order the blocking of specific channels or groups rather than banning the entire platform, which has around 150 million users in India. “Just because some things are bad, you cannot block the entire platform,” the counsel said, adding the company has been fully cooperative with the authorities. Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered Telegram’s argument, saying that simply blocking individual channels The Trump administration has renamed its largest unified military command from the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) back to the US Pacific Command (PACOM), reversing an eight-year-old designation that had come to symbolise India’s growing role in Washington’s strategic thinking. The US said on Tuesday that the command would revert to the name it carried from 1947, adding the change was limited to nomenclature. USPACOM’s area of responsibility, stretching from the US West Coast to India’s western border, remains unchanged, as does its stated mission of working with allies and partners to maintain a free and open regional order. The announcement came a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. The 2018 renaming had explicitly referred to the “increasing connectivity between the Indian and Pacific oceans.” It came as the first Trump administration was advancing its Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy amid growing competition with China. The change also coincided with the revival of the Quad. Questions over the future of the “IndoPacific” formulation had emerged last month during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth repeatedly referred to the “Pacific” while outlining Washington’s regional approach. India was described as a “critical anchor” in South Asia, a formulation that some observers noted differed from the broader language used by previous US administrations. is ineffective. “If the court posts the matter tomorrow, then there is something shocking I can show. One channel starts, it is prohibited, and then another is started. And with a QR code, you can make a payment. This is continuous,” he said. Mehta told the court that the government had repeatedly warned Telegram about “shocking activities” happening on the platform. “I have given examples and shared them. There are many channels. What is being projected and what is being circulated is that if you give me this much amount, I will give you 5 questions,” Mehta told the court, referring to the NEET-UG leak. The court listed the matter for hearing on Thursday . Meanwhile, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov alleged in a post on X that Reliance and WhatsApp were behind the lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India. express read Police cremate body of ‘custodial torture’ victim TNPCB drops action against Tata plant Madurai: The Madurai City Police on Wednesday conducted the last rites of R Aakash, who allegedly died due to custodial torture, as per the order of the Madras HC. His body had remained in the mortuary for 102 days after the family refused to receive it, demanding action against police personnel suspected to be responsible for his death | P2 Chennai: The TNPCB has dropped further action on a show-cause notice issued to Tata Electronics in Hosur over allegations of water contamination, confirmed Krishnagiri Collector C Dinesh Kumar. A press release from the firm said the pollution control board has confirmed that its operations are compliant with environmental norms | P2 Ties expanding on multiple fronts Trump said bilateral relations were expanding across multiple fronts, highlighting economic growth and investment flows between the two countries. “A lot of things are happening between the US and India. And the US is doing the best we’ve ever done.” wards reaching this understanding and this agreement,” he said. “I’m confident that the issue of seafarers will receive the highest priority during the implementation of this agreement,” Modi said in the backdrop of mounting concerns over the safety of Indian seafarers in West Asia, including the deaths of three Indian nationals in a US strike on a tanker off the Oman coast. Asked about the deaths of Indian sailors in US Navy strikes, Trump said: “It’s a rough pro- fession. This has been happening throughout time. I love all of those people,” Trump said. Modi also stressed the strategic importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. The waterway is among the world’s most critical energy and trade chokepoints, carrying 20% of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Trump praised Modi as a “very tough negotiator.” Responding to questions on how close are two countries in finalising a trade deal, Trump said, “Very close. We have been there for a little while. He is a very tough negotiator; one of the toughest.” He then added, “He is the most beautiful looking man, he looks so nice, he is like an angel. But actually he is just tough, he is a killer… He looks so good, he gets you by surprise.” Trump said the US would support India in the event of an attack, even without a formal mutual defence treaty, while describing bilateral defence ties as strong. Messi threeller Mbappe, Haaland join party Kylian Mbappe further enhanced his own legacy by scoring a brace of goals in the second half against Senegal. He moved to 14 goals, just two behind Messi and Klose. Erling Haaland, playing his first ever World Cup match, scored a brace against Iraq. 16 Messi equalled Miroslav Klose’s all-time goalscoring record in men’s World Cups Lionel Messi struck his first ever World Cup hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria. His wasn’t the only big performance from the big hitters on Tuesday. A look Long-ranger tops ’em all Lionel Messi was at his impervious best as he hit a hat-trick for Argentina. The attacker went through some of his biggest hits including a goal from outside the box Today’s Group A: Czechia vs South Africa 9.30 PM, Mexico vs South Korea 6.30 AM* matches Group B: Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina, 12.30 AM*, Canada vs Qatar 3.30 AM* * IST Friday LIVE on Unite8 Sports & Zee5 Uddhav Sena stares at split, issues whip Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs Anil Desai, Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant addressing a press meet in New Delhi on Wednesday | Parveen Negi Akhilesh rejects SP split buzz Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party remains united amid claims by Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar that a major split in SP is on the cards and several of its leaders are ready to join the BJP Abhishek to meet Om Birla Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday invited Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee for a meeting on June 19 to hear his case on the split in the Mamata Banerjee-led party, sources said | P8 PR E E TH A N A IR @ New Delhi in a rerun of the Trinamool Congress crisis, leaders of Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena (UBT) as well as the rebel faction met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla separately on Wednesday, each staking claim to legitimacy . While the UBT camp urged the Speaker to prevent unlawful defections, the rebel group is learnt to have claimed the support of six MPs. As crisis deepened amid rumours of six MPs having switched to the ruling Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a three-line whip was issued to all nine Sena (UBT) MPs, directing them to attend a meeting of its parliamentary party on Thursday . The party may initiate disqualification proceedings against those who fail to attend. The development came amid Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s allegation that MPs were being offered `50 crore to switch sides. Sources said a letter signed by the six rebel MPs has already been submitted to the Speaker and a formal announcement of the merger with the Shinde-led Sena will be made later. According to sources, the six MPs are Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar, and Sanjay Patil. MPs from the Uddhav camp who met Birla are Arvind Sawant, Sanjay Raut, and Anil Desai. Speaking to reporters, Anil Desai said: “Rebels can’t merge with a party even if they have the support of twothirds of MPs. Only the original party can merge.”  P8 90% owed by state Unreimbursed subsidy, cash gift leave TNCSC with `27K cr debt B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai Bank borrowings that funded the state’s Pongal cash gift and special Public Distribution System (PDS) — under which pulses and cooking oil are supplied at subsidised rates through ration shops — have saddled the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) with a `27,181 crore debt as of March this year. Successive state gover nments have failed to fully reim- burse the food subsidy and cash distribution expenditure to the TNCSC, the agency responsible for procuring commodities and raising loans to fund these schemes, revealed the White Paper on Tamil Nadu’s financial position released by the TVK government on Tuesday . According to the report, a total of `24,023 crore was spent on Pongal cash assistance and gift hampers between 2016 and 2026. Of the corporation’s total liabilities, more than 90% is A total of `24,023 crore was spent on Pongal cash aid in last 10 years | file pic owed by the state government and the rest by the union government. Sources said when the special PDS scheme was launched in 2007, tur dal was procured at `50/kg and cooking oil at `45/ litre. These commodities were supplied to beneficiaries at subsidised rates of `30 and `25, respectively At present, tur dal is . purchased at `109/kg and cooking oil at `143/litre. Despite the steep increase in costs, the selling prices have remained unchanged. As a result, the government’s subsidy burden on these two commodities alone has increased to nearly `4,800 crore annually Sources said the gov. ernment has not proportionately increased budgetary allocations and instead directed the TNCSC to bridge the funding gap through borrowings. The outstanding loans of TNCSC increased from `17,500 crore in 2021-22 to `27,181 crore as of March 2026.  P5