villupuram l friday l june 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Amazon CEO meets Modi; set to invest $13 bn more in cloud, aI Amazon will invest an additional $13 billion in India, taking its planned capital commitment to $48 billion between 2026 and 2030 india an important market for amazon Eyes $80 billion in ecommerce exports Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Amazon India’s business is seeing strong momentum, driven by robust customer demand across e-commerce and Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud-computing division. Jassy described India as one of their most important growth markets globally ■ ■ Amazon has invested heavily in India over the past decade, building out logistics networks, technology infrastructure and digital services as it seeks to deepen its presence in the country By 2030, Amazon plans to support 3.8 million jobs, enable $80 billion in e-commerce exports and bring AI’s benefits to 15 million businesses 100 last-mile delivery stations to be launched by amazon this year 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 Passport proof: Govt, Oppn spar Venezuela quake: 164 dead, 24K missing A g e n c i e s @ Caracas Can be issued to non-citizens as well under certain situations, says govt in its pushback E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The Centre on Thursday sought to defuse the controversy over whether an Indian passport can be treated as proof of citizenship, asserting that the position being cited in recent debates is neither new nor a policy shift. Government sources said there was no change in stance and rejected suggestions that the clarification issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) marked a fresh interpretation of law. “It was not decided yesterday that a passport is not proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. A passport has never been considered conclusive proof of citizenship,” a government source said. The clarification came after political criticism and an online debate over whether the government was diluting the evidentiary value of one of the country’s most trusted documents. In a post on X, Congress leader K C Venugopal said the government excels in creating panic and helplessness among ordinary citizens. “By declaring that even a Passport doesn’t certify one’s citizenship, they are laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians who they disagree with,” he wrote. Echoing the concern, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal sought to know which document qualifies for the proof of citizenship. “A passport is a travel document, and not a document of citizenship. Which document then is proof of citizenship? BLO can doubt my citizenship. Deprive me of my vote. Result, BJP wins the election. Over to the Supreme Court!,” wrote Sibal on X. However, officials pointed to the legal framework governing issuance of passports. “The Passports Act, 1967 clearly provides that passports may be issued to non-citizens under certain circumstances,” a source said. The government further cited judicial precedents to back its position. “Judgments of the Bombay High Court since 2013 have also made it clear that a passport, by itself, is not proof of citizenship,” the source said. VISA No change in position Govt sources said the interpretation was being misread, adding the position has remained unchanged for decades. “A passport is issued after due verification, but it is not, in law, a conclusive determination of citizenship,” a source said Pricey passport A fresh passport or its reissue for applicants aged 18 years and above will cost `2,500 under the normal category, up from `1,500. Corresponding Tatkal fee, inclusive of the normal fee is `5,000 | P9 Today's matches Group I (12.30 AM): Norway vs France; Senegal vs Iraq Group H (5.30 AM): Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia, Uruguay vs Spain brazil march on Vinicius Junior scored twice as five-time champions Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 to clinch first place in Group C and enter knockout stage on Wednesday | ap DVAC books ex-min Velu in graft case E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) late on Wednesday evening registered a cor ruption case against Tiruvannamalai DMK MLA and former Highways and Minor Ports minister EV Velu and 10 others over alleged irregularities in road works executed in Karur and other districts in 2022. The agency conducted searches at 20 places linked to the accused on Thursday across Chennai (4), Tiruvannamalai (4), Karur (7), Dindigul (2), Coimbatore (2) and Tiruppur (1), covering the residences and offices of Velu, highways department officials, and a contractor. While sources said around `40 lakh in cash and documents were seized, Velu said that not even a single rupee was seized from his house.  P7 Group G (8.30 AM): NZ vs Belgium; Egypt vs Iran Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (*IST Saturday) A heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Venezuela capital Caracas | AFP TN power debt at `2.5L crore; govt promises reform S GURUV A N M I K A N AT H A N @ Chennai Tamil Nadu’s state-owned power utilities have accumulated a cumulative debt of `2.47 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, up from `6,492 crore on April 1, 2001, with the highest borrowings in any five-year period of `87,399 crore (35.4% of the total debt) being recorded under the previous DMK government between 2021 and 2026, Electricity Minister C T R Nirmalkumar said on Thursday. Releasing a white paper on the state’s power sector at the TNEB headquarters in Chennai, the minister also outlined measures to strengthen infrastructure, bridge financial No tariff hike gaps, and recruit nearly this year: Min 20,000 personnel. The white paper provided a five-year Electricity block assessment of TNEB’s Minister CTR financial trajectory for 25 Nirmalkumar on Thursday said years from 2001 to 2026. Nir malkumar said the that there won’t Tamil Nadu Power Distribu- be power tariff tion Corporation Limited hike this year. (TNPDCL) accounted for the Though there is largest share of the debt at provision to hike `1.07 lakh crore, followed by tariff by 3.57%, the Tamil Nadu Power Gen- it will not be eration Corporation Limited hiked to protect (TNPGCL) at `1.03 lakh consumers’ crore. Tantransco had an interest, the outstanding debt of `30,965 minister said | P4 crore, while the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) owed `5,672 crore. The minister said the debt burden can’t be reduced overnight and would have to be addressed through phased financial reforms. The power utilities may earn revenue of `1.43 lakh crore during 2026-27, while expenditure is projected to be at `1.41 lakh crore. Net borrowings for the current year are estimated to be `11,893 crore, he said.  P7 CO of Rashtriya Rifles, other ranks booked for bashing cops faya z w a n i @ Srinagar JAMMU and Kashmir police on Thursday booked 40 army men from 17 Rashtriya Rifles, including its Commanding Officer, a Major and a Naib Subedar for allegedly “assaulting police officers and damaging public property” in a police station in the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. The FIR names Commanding Officer Colonel N Arun Gandhi, Major Vikas Sharma, Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe, Sepoys Raj Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Anoop Singh and Omkar Ingale, and other unidentified Army personnel of 17 RR. Sources said the trouble was caused after DC Kishtwar Pankaj Sharma’s convoy while passing through a road for a public outreach programme encountered a private car driven by a soldier of RR. When the DC’s escort asked the soldier, who was not in uniform, to stop his vehicle and let the convoy pass, an argument took place. Subsequently police impound, ed the car and towed it to the Atholi police station. The FIR states that a group of about 30 to 40 army men from 17 RR Camp Kijaiyee led by Major Vikas Sharma and Naib Subedar Shankar Gurkhe under the command of Commanding Officer N Arun Gandhi entered the police station by scaling the main gate and boundary walls and launched a “pre-planned attack”. “The army men armed with lathis, iron rods and weapons attacked policemen at the station. “Government property main gate of , the police station were damaged by the army men.” ‘Murderous intention’ SHO Inspector Amrit Kotach of Atholi police station, where the soldier’s car was taken after confiscating it, said the “intention of RR soldiers was to kill police personnel”. Matter being probed: Army Jammu-based Army PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said the matter is being probed. “Appropriate actions will be taken based on the outcome of a ninvestigation.” At least 164 people were killed and over 1,000 injured after two powerful earthquakes ripped through Venezuela in the wee hours on Thursday The quakes, . with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart on Wednesday around 6 pm local time (Thursday 3.30 am IST) with the second being the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900. “At the moment, the figure we have registered is 164 deaths, 971 injured,” El Nacional newspaper quoted Acting President Delcy Rodriguez as saying, who added there were at least 30 aftershocks. A website set up by leaders from the country’s opposition to track the missing showed more than 24,000 people as un- a c c o u n t e d f o r, R e u t e r s reported. Reports said frantic rescue efforts are on in the state of La Guaira, near capital Caracas and home to the city’s airport. Witnesses’ footage showed scenes of panic as ceilings came down in the airport and rubble from destroyed buildings along the seafront. “Dozens of buildings have collapsed, and we are currently carrying out very intense rescue efforts to save as many lives as God allows us to save,” Rodriguez said on state television. According to the US Geological Survey’s predictive modelling to estimate the death toll, the total casualties could run into thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000 fatalities.  P11 E x p r e s s Re a d Public-funded TN scheme to improve health infra on anvil ‘I’m in TN people’s heart’: Stalin’s response to CM Vijay Chennai: On the lines of “Namma School Namma Ooru Palli” launched by the DMK regime, Health Minister K G Arunraj on Thursday said the TVK government is planning to launch a “health foundation” scheme to improve infrastructure in government hospitals through the contribution of funds from private entities, corporates and members of the public. Chennai: Responding to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s ‘where is your father’ jibe in the Assembly, DMK president M K Stalin said that he is in the heart of the people of TN. Speaking at a wedding in Tiruvarur, Stalin said CM C Joseph Vijay could find him in the files of schemes like KMUT, Pudhumai Penn, and Tamil Pudhalvan in the secretariat | P4 FIR against 8 in Ram temple scam, 2 held N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow TWO days after the SIT submitted its preliminary probe report on alleged swindling of Ram temple donation funds and valuables, an FIR was lodged against eight persons on Thursday . The FIR names key a ccused Ramshankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Chandra Srivastava, and Karunesh Pandey The charges include theft, . criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy . The names of temple Trust general secretary Champat Rai, Trust member Anil Mishra, and temple construction incharge Gopal Rao do not figure in the FIR, which was lodged by Ayodhya based on a complaint by Krishna Mohan associated with Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Two of the accused in the FIR—Anukalp and Lav Kush, who were involved in counting the cash and valuables received as donations—have been reportedly arrested after money was recovered from them, while the others are being questioned. Officials indicated that further arrests would be made.