41-member rescue team sent to Venezuela New Delhi: Two IAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft carrying humanitarian supplies and a 41-member rescue team departed on Friday for Venezuela to assist the relief and rescue efforts in the earthquake-hit country, where the death toll was close to 600 while thousands of others were missing | PTI | P9 chennai l saturday l june 27, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore 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 ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI VHP denies rumour on resignation of Champat Rai N a m ita B a j pa i @ Lucknow Amid intense speculation over the resignation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad vice president and Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra general secretary Champat Rai following the arrest of eight persons over donation theft, VHP spokesperson Vijay Shankar Tiwari on Friday emphatically denied it. Tiwari pointed out that Rai had fully cooperated with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the UP government to probe the matter, adding he did not figure in the police FIR that identified the eight accused persons. He also said the VHP hasn’t sought Rai’s a r re s t , s u ggesting it was a media creation. Those who hurt the Hindu faith must not be spared but the innocent should not be proceeded against either, he added. The eight accused — Ramashankar Yadav alias Tinnu, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Chandra Srivastava and Karunesh Pandey — were produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Nivedita Singh, who remanded them in judicial custody till Monday . Relief for lakhs as CBSE eases language policy Class 7-9 students can keep existing combo of two foreign languages till Class 10: CBSE E x p r e s s ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi in a major relief to lakhs of CBSE students currently studying in Classes 7-9 and have opted for two foreign languages under the three-language policy they will be allowed to continue with the , same language combination until Class 10, board officials said on Friday . The clarification comes a month after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced that Class 9 students would be required to study three languages, of which two must be native Indian languages, from July 1 as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020. The announcement had prompted concerns among students and parents, with several approaching the courts against the board’s order. Explaining the new position, a senior CBSE official said the requirement to study at least two Indian languages would be implemented prospectively from Class 6 and would not apply retrospectively to students already enrolled in Classes 7 to 9. “An official notification clarifying the same will be issued soon,” the official said. In a circular issued on May 15, the CBSE had stated that until dedicated R3 (third language) textbooks are available, Class 9 students should use the Class 6 R3 textbooks (2026-27 edition) for their chosen language. The language policy forms part of the board’s effort to align its scheme of studies with NEP 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. Under the May circular, students opting to study a foreign language may do so only as the third language after studying two native Indian languages or as an additional fourth language. New NCERT book hails judiciary Months after a Class 8 NCERT textbook courted controversy for allegedly maligning the judiciary, a new Class 9 book describes it as an ‘impartial & independent institution that safeguards citizens’ rights and upholds the spirit of the Constitution’. The new social science book talks about various functions of the judiciary, stating that it plays a vital role to protect democracy A year on, govt recognises 6 soldiers killed in Op Sindoor e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi MORE than a year after Operation Sindoor, the government has officially recorded the names of the six military personnel who made the supreme sacrifice during the four-day war by including them in the roll of honour at the National War Memorial. It marked the first official recognition of fatalities in the conflict. The names have been inscribed on the Tyag Chakra (Circle of Sacrifice) at the War Memorial in New Delhi. The monument comprises 16 concentric granite walls bearing the names, ranks and units of personnel who laid d ow n t h e i r l ive s s i n c e Independence. The martyrs are Subedar Major Pawan Kumar of HQ 10 Infantry Brigade, Rifleman The names of the six soldiers on Wall 3D under the 2025 Roll of Honour | PTI Sunil Kumar of 4 JAKLI, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar of 5 Field Regiment, Agniveer Mood Muralinaik of 851 Light Regiment, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh of 237 Field Workshop Company and Sergeant Surendra Kumar of No 39 Wing of the Indian Air Force. Two of the six were decorated with gallantry awards. Rifleman Sunil Kumar was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra, India’s third-highest wartime gallantry award, while Sergeant Surendra Kumar was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal. Mood Muralinaik is the only Agniveer to lose his life during Operation Sindoor. Naik was killed in Pakistani shelling in Poonch on May 9, 2025. His death has since become the subject of a legal tussle before the Bombay High Court, where his family has sought parity in pensionary and welfare benefits with the regular soldiers. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 last year, in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians. Indian armed forces struck nine terror-linked sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir associated with Jaish-e- Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. E x p r e s s Re a d PPP sanitation model in corpns: Tender cancelled Chennai: TNUIFSL has cancelled the tenders issued for appointing consultancy firms to prepare feasibility reports for handling municipal waste under the publicprivate partnership model in 12 TN corporations. The decision came after workers slammed it as a bid to privatise waste management | P4 Converts to Islam not entitled to quota: HC Madurai: The Madras HC has struck down a 2024 GO that allowed people from BC, MBC and SC communities to receive BC Muslim community certificates, ruling that conversion to Islam voids castebased reservation benefits. The court held that the state cannot undo judicial precedents regarding reservation through a GO | P2 After viral video, minister denies drug use charge Chennai: TVK Minister D Sarathkumar denied allegations of drug use after a viral video purportedly showed him crushing a white substance at a cricket stadium during an IPL match, two years ago. The minister and his wife said a tablet was crushed to mix with water for a sick child | P4 Victory for ages Ecuador stun Germany to squeeze into the last 32 of the World Cup on Thursday while Netherlands, Japan, Australia and Ivory Coast also advance. A look... National delight Ecuador pulled off a memorable show to beat Germany. So much so that Daniel Noboa, Ecuador President, declared Friday a national holiday, highlighting what this win meant for the country and its people. Gonzalo Plata was the hero of the tie as he netted the decisive goal 13 minutes from time, helping the team win 2-1 and advance to the knockouts. Despite the defeat, Germany finished as Group E winners. Today's matches Group L: Panama vs England; Croatia vs Ghana (both at 2:30 AM*). Group K: Colombia vs Portugal; DR Congo vs Uzbekistan (5 AM*). Group J: Algeria vs Austria; Jordan vs Argentina (7:30 AM*). LIVE on United8 Sports & Zee5 (*IST Sunday)