chennai l saturday l july 18, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION india’s First Hydrogen-Powered Train flagged off in haryana Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated India’s first hydrogen-powered train from Jind railway station to Sonepat in Haryana PM Narendra Modi inspects the engine room of the train in Jind Friday | PTI zero emission, yet massive power success of make in india, says PM Modi The indigenously designed train features 10 coaches and a 3,200 hp propulsion system, making it one of the most powerful and largest hydrogen-powered trains in the world. Most hydrogen trains currently operate with only 2-4 coaches. The new train runs on hydrogen fuel cell tech, produces zero emission and can accommodate 2,600 passengers ■ ■ At the inauguration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has joined an elite group of nations — Germany, Japan, China, and the US — actively developing hydrogen-based rail transport The PM said the train is a shining example of ‘Make in India’, designed by Indian engineers and built solely by domestic companies 75 kmph maximum speed that the train can attain on jind-sonepat route 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 India raps Japan leader’s charges on bullet train Consolation match In the rebranded ‘Bronze match’ at the World Cup’s penultimate game, England face France. A look at the game.  j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday squarely rejected claims by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara that New Delhi was responsible for delays in the MumbaiAhmedabad high-speed rail project, describing his remarks as a personal opinion that was “at considerable variance with facts” and asserting that the flagship India-Japan venture is progressing as planned. Makihara had alleged in a social media post that India’s handling of the Shinkansen project was marked by broken commitments and poor negotiations. “The Shinkansen project in India is something I was involved with myself, but what stood out in international meetings and negotiations was the sheer recklessness of the Indian side, repeated over and over. They j u s t d o n’ t k e e p promises.” He went on to criticise the Indian leaders h i p overseeing Hideki Makihara the project, saying, “They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful— if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.” Responding to the remarks, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed them as unrepresentative of the bilateral engagement. “It is an individual opinion and at considerable variance with facts,” he said. Japan, he added, will supply the next-generation E10 series Shinkansen trains in the early 2030s, as the rolling stock is still under development. “First section will be opened in 2027 itself. Both sides agreed to start the operations with Indian high speed train. The signalling equipment has been ordered accordingly No Japanese offer ... was received in this context,” Jaiswal said. Today’s match: 3rd place play-off: France vs England 2.30 AM* (*IST Sunday) Mbappe, Kane, Jude and the golden boot This match has historically seen coaches play fringe players. This one could see the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham start because of what's at stake: the Golden Boot. Both Mbappe and Lionel Messi have the same goals but the latter is the leader on account of him more assists. Suggests key changes in draft, curbs on govt’s sweeping powers P REE T HA NAIR @ New Delhi Trump to attend final US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the White House said -- his first appearance at event NCP merger bid Big buzz on Pawar party joining NDA sudhir surywanshi & Rajesh kumar t h a k u r @ Mumbai/New Delhi SPECULATION that Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) is set to join the BJP-led NDA and merge with the Ajit Pawar faction intensified after senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil held key meetings with BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat claimed the picture would become clear within the next eight days. Highly placed sources said Sharad Pawar has personally entrusted Patil, his confidant, with negotiating the terms of NCP(SP)’s entry into the NDA and the merger of the two NCP factions. Sources said Patil and Jitendra Ahwad could be inducted as cabinet ministers in Maharashtra, while Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel could be inducted as cabinet ministers at the Centre. However, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar and NCP national president, has opposed the move fearing it would end her family’s control over the party and jeopardise the political future of her sons, Parth and Jay . The BJP, however, is not inclined to accommodate NCP (SP) separately in the Maharashtra government. Instead, it is pushing for a merger of the two NCP factions, a BJP source said. TN custodial death: Prisons step up med screening for inmates v i g n e s h v @ Madurai IN the wake of the custodial death of remand prisoner S Sabari Varman in Nagercoil, the prison department has intensified its efforts to identify inmates showing withdrawal symptoms and other illnesses in prisons across the state. According to the directions issued by Inspector General of Prisons (IGP) Kanagaraj to DIGs and SPs, such inmates should be shifted to a nearby central prison, if they are lodged in sub-jails or district jails. According to a police source, Sabari Varman’s death may have been caused by breathing complications after he was forcefully restrained by prison staff to stop him from creating a ruckus due to a possible withdrawal from substances. As per the prison department’s internal assessment, if Sabari had been treated on time, his death could have been avoided. Against this backdrop, the IG has directed the prison authorities to identify not only remand prisoners exhibiting withdrawal symptoms but also those suffering from other illnesses. Staff have been advised to organise mass medical camps in central prisons at least once a month. “The central prisons have medical teams that can identify such prisoners and provide appropriate medication,” a senior official said.  P5 E x p r e s s Re a d Sub-registrar gets bail in Palani land case Madurai: The Madras HC on Friday granted anticipatory bail to suspended sub-registrar S Justin Manikandan, who was booked on charges of registering the alleged fraudulent sale of 1.4-acre of Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy Mutt land to two private individuals | P4 JPC seeks to temper higher education bill Sharad Pawar The BJP has given the green light (to the merger), but NCP national president Sunetra Pawar has raised the red flag, saying it will end their career Top BJP leader Finance remains thorn A key factor delaying consensus within the NCP (Pawar) faction is its reported demand for the finance portfolio in the Maharashtra government, a department previously held by Ajit Pawar before it was taken over by Fadnavis following Pawar’s death as the Centre is set to move the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has sought safeguards against excessive centralisation and recommended stronger consultation with states, and protection of institutional autonomy . According to the draft report circulated among members, the panel has recommended changes to key clauses that drew sharp criticism from multiple quarters, including NDA allies, for granting the Centre sweeping powers to override policy disagreements, supersede regulatory bodies, and control funding. The Bill proposes an overhaul of the higher education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, and the National Council for Teacher Education to create a single, unified regulatory commission. While Clause 47 allows the Centre to supersede the Commission or any Council with JPC defers report on bill to sack PM, CMs The JPC examining the bill on removal of the PM and CMs detained on serious charges, on Friday decided to defer the adoption of a draft report when voting was underway on the panel’s recommendations. AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule had submitted their dissent notes but withdrew them after the panel decided to defer the adoption Presidential approval, the panel recommended that ‘supersession’ should be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances, for a limited duration and as a last resort. NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh, several universities, opposi- tion and other stakeholders have characterised the provision as “critical vulnerability” as it allows the Centre to dissolve the regulator entirely without adequate safeguards. In its recommendation, the panel said, “Clause 47 be comprehensively reviewed and the expressions 290 “unable to discharge functions” and “persistently made default” shall be defined through objective, measurable, and verifiable criteria in the Act or the rules, to eliminate ambiguity, ensure transparency, and prevent arbitrary invocation of the power of supersession.” While Clause 45 empowers the Centre to issue binding directions on questions of policy, the panel called for objective thresholds, procedural safeguards and transparency requirements governing the Centre’s power. It proposed adding the words “for the purposes of this Act” to the provision allowing the government to assign additional functions, to restrict its scope. The JPC also recommended raising the number of state government nominees on the three councils to three. Re-test trouble: 15,000 fewer TN candidates clear NEET S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai The number of candidates from Tamil Nadu who cleared the NEET-UG exam dropped by nearly 15,000 this year, according to data released by the National Testing Ag ency (NTA) on Thursday night. Only 61,306 students passed the exam in 2026, compared to 76,181 in 2025. The drop was mainly due to low turnout for the re-examination. While over 95% of the 1,42,494 registered candidates took the original May 3 test, only 1,08,601 candidates showed up for the re-test. This caused the attendance rate to drop to 76.2%. The May 3 examination was cancelled following allegations of a question paper leak, leading to the nationwide re-test on June 21. While registrations in Tamil Nadu this year increased marginally by 2,336, from 1,40,158 last year, the number of candidates who took the test fell by more than 27,000 and the number of qualified candidates dropped by nearly 15,000. Among the southern states, Kerala recorded the sharpest decline. The number of candidates who appeared fell by over 30%, while qualifiers dropped from 73,328 to 51,782.  P5 a memoir For me, Bradman and Sobers are the same madan lal Legends always seem to live with you whether you play against them or not. I remember meeting Sir Garfield Sobers at Bishan (Singh Bedi) paaji’s home. He was in India and went to meet Bishan paaji. We were just listening to them. The two legends talking about the sport and for us it gave us a good insight into the game. I also met him and played a few benefit games with him when I was featuring in league cricket in England. He was one of the best human beings I have ever met. It would not be an exa g g eration if I say that the word allrounder was coined only after he graced the Sir Garfield game. Sobers The way people 28.7.1936 —17.7.2026 still remember Don Bradman, for me Sobers is also the same. The world still remembers the duo whenever they talk about cricket. I had toured West Indies twice and met Sobers as well. He was always ready to help India players. In fact, he has special liking for us. Wearing those big smiles, he will be ever ready to give us tips. More than anything, just listening to his talks benefitted me a lot. He was altogether on a different level. It was West Indies cricketers, who made the game popular and Sobers was one of their rockstars. The game has lost one of its finest gems today . Madan Lal, former India all-rounder and 1983 World Cup-winner  (As told to Firoz Mirza)