chennai l Thursday l June 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION colombia in Round of 32, england made to wait munoz, the hero for south americans Colombia beat stubborn DR Congo side to secure a 1-0 win. Victory in Guadalajara, courtesy of a 76th-minute goal from Daniel Munoz, took them top of Group K with six points. On the other hand, England were unable to find the invention needed to break through, creating hardly any chances that troubled the Black Stars | P15 Colombia became the latest side to secure knockout berth while England were held 0-0 by Ghana. A look... croatia win in modric’s landmark outing ■ ■ Croatia kept their hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Panama. Ante Budimir’s 54th-minute strike made the difference Croatia’s most celebrated player, Luka Modric, was making his 200th international appearance. Panama, meanwhile, were eliminated and are still in hunt for their first point Today's matches (1:30AM): Curacao vs Ivory Coast, Ecuador vs Germany. (4:30AM): Tunisia vs NED, Japan vs Sweden. (7.30AM) Turkiye vs USA, Paraguay vs Aus All IST Friday | Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 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 lakhs dejected Just 26 posts in Group-I job notification B A n b u s e lv a n @ Chennai A notification issued by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) announcing recruitment for just 26 Group-I posts — the lowest in 12 years — has triggered disappointment among aspirants across Tamil Nadu. Candidates said the sharp drop in vacancies has left lakhs of job seekers preparing for the competitive exam disheartened. Group-I services include posts such as deputy collector, DSP, deputy registrar of cooperatives, registrar, assistant director (panchayats) and other senior administrative positions. The number of vacancies notified by the commission in recent years stood at 139 in 2019, 69 in 2020, 92 in 2022, 90 in 2024, and 78 in 2025. According to sources, one of the key reasons for the low intake is the state government’s policy of filling Group-I posts on the basis of 90:10 ratio, with 90% posts filled inter nally through promotion and 10% through direct recruitment. It is also alleged that even this 10% direct recruitment quota has not been fully implemented in some years.  P7 5th gen stealth fighter jet hits air Passport travel pocket as GE triples engine price docu, not proof of Commercial negotiations with the US aerospace giant on hold; India mulls paring order size J AVA R IA R ANA @ New Delhi Negotiations to procure GE F414 engines that would power India’s fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) have hit a wall with the US aerospace giant seeking a whopping 300% increase in prices compared with earlier estimates. According to sources, the F414 engine was estimated to cost `70-80 crore per unit but GE is now quoting prices that are three times higher. Technical negotiations for F414 engines have already been completed but commercial discussions to fix engine price, technology transfer and manufacturing arrangements are now stuck, putting both costs and timelines of the flagship fighter programme at risk. The setback comes at a time when Pakistan is reportedly moving closer to inducting China’s J-35 stealth fighter, which could introduce 5th gen combat aircraft into the region before the AMCA enters service. The indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter is expected address the Indian Air Force’s Manufacturer’s leverage GE knows AMCA is built around the F414. Changing it at this stage would be difficult. That gives it leverage for negotiations F414 engine was initially estimated to cost around GE has now quoted prices almost 300% L 70-80 cr per unit squadron shortfall. The IAF currently operates 29 fighter squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42.5. The AMCA prototype programme requires 15 F414 engines. India has approved `15,000 crore for five flying prototypes. The F414 is also slated to power Tejas Mk-2 and Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF), taking the projected requirement to 200 engines. “The company knows the programme is built around the F414 and that changing engines now would be extremely difficult. That gives GE significant leverage during commercial negotiations,” a source said. Sources further said GE has sought around `6,000 crore for setting up a dedicated F414 assembly and manufacturing line in India, which would cater to future requirements of the Tejas Mk-2, initial AMCA production batches and the TEDBF. It is learnt that Indian negotiators are now considering the express read CPM claps back at DMK after Murasoli attack on state secy DMK leader files Pocso plaint against higher edu minister Iran prez invites Modi to Khamenei’s funeral Chennai: As DMK’s Murasoli continued attack on CPM secretary P Shanmugam for the second day on Wednesday. CPM retaliated with a post on X carrying a snake gourd image with BJP, DMK and AIADMK names on it. The caption, in a snide remark on DMK, said the CPM had never followed “policy-less politics” | P4 Chennai: DMK leaders have filed a Pocso complaint against Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan for rubbing the legs of young girls during an anti-drug awareness run in Madurai. The minister, however, claimed that he only offered first aid to students who fainted during the rally held on June 21 | P4 New Delhi: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state funeral of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The ceremony will be held between July 4 and 9. New Delhi is yet to decide the level of representation it will send for the event, sources said | P9 Sooryavanshi to have separate changing room Mandar Pardikar E x p r e ss N e w s s e r v i c e @ Bengaluru/Chennai VAIBHAV Sooryavanshi is ready to set quite a few precedents during India’s tour of Ireland and England. If handed his senior international debut, the explosive 15-year-old batter from Bihar will surpass the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to become India’s youngest international cricketer. He will get a separate changing room as part of safeguarding protocols of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Ireland. “The Indian team have been given three separate rooms in the pavilion and safeguarding laws have been advised,” a Cricket Ireland official told this daily “We’ll . check all obligations have been met, but the BCCI will manage things in accordance with UK law etc. Our procedures and policies are in line with best practice in the UK.” Sooryavanshi will be permitted in the away dressing room during the game and can attend team talks. The restriction, however, applies only when he is getting changed before and after each match. option of reducing the initial order quantity to ease the immediate financial burden. “The F414 has already been factored in to the design and development plans for the AMCA Mk-1 as well as the Tejas Mk-2. Any new engine would require fresh integration, software work, testing and certification,” a source said. “The AMCA design has been frozen. If another engine is eventually selected, it will have to be adapted to the aircraft’s existing configuration rather than the aircraft being redesigned around the engine.” The F414 was selected for the AMCA Mk-1 because it is a proven engine already powering several frontline fighter aircraft. Generating around 98 kN of thrust, the engine is seen as a critical component of India’s future combat aircraft plans. The AMCA Mk-2 is slated to be powered by a more powerful 110-120 kN class engine being developed through an international partnership. France’s Safran and Britain’s Rolls-Royce have emerged as the leading contenders for the programme. citizenship: MEA port if the applicant is not a citizen of India. It reads: “Subject to the other provisions of A passport is a travel document this Act, the passport authority and not proof of citizenship, shall refuse to issue a passport External Affairs Ministry offi- or travel document for visiting cials said on Wednesday . any foreign country under “The passport remains a clause (c) of sub-section (2) of travel document, and not a doc- section 5 on any one or more of ument of citizenship, as the following grounds, it attests the nationality and on no other ground, of Indians when they namely:-- (a) that the apare abroad,” the offiplicant is not a citizen The passport cials sought to explain. of India.” A passport is among remains a travel Officials said, “a passthe accepted documents document, and port is issued after a lot for the controversial not a document of due diligence, and it Special Intensive Revi- of citizenship, is based on documents as it attests the sion (SIR) of electoral nationality of from several governrolls. ment agencies.” A total Indians when The ministry’s state- they are abroad of 14.7 million e-passment triggered debate ports have been issued Senior MEA on social media over since the chip-based official what constitutes a condocuments were rolled clusive proof of citizenout last year as part of ship, an issue that remains a the revamped Passport Seva grey area as it has not been ex- Programme, according to the plicitly addressed by the Cen- officials. The e-passports, which tre. Some of them pointed out contain an embedded antenna that passports are not issued to and a radio frequency identifinon-citizens. cation (RFID) chip storing perSection 6(2)(a) of the Pass- sonal particulars and biometric port Act 1967 requires the issu- data, account for around 10% of ing authority to refuse a pass- all passports issued so far. E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi