India issues strong warning to Pakistan Speaking at the Kargil War Memorial on the occasion of the 27th Kargil Vijay Diwas, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday warned Pakistan against any misadeventure, saying India will respond a severity far “beyond their imagination.” He added that there will be no talks with Pakistan. “If there will be talks, it will be on PoK...” DHARMAPURI l monday l july 27, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY 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 Task force to reform exam system Nilekani-led panel to push technology-driven reforms to overhaul existing processes RA J E S H K U MAR T H A K U R @ New Delhi A day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union education minister and the protesting students called off their 36-day agitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a high-powered task force headed by former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani to carry out examination reforms. Making the announcement through a video message posted on his Instagram handle, Modi said the task force would explore technology-driven reforms aimed at creating a transparent examination system, adding that the government would act on its recommendations. Apart from Nilekani, a multidisciplinary group of domain experts will be part of the task force. The other members are IIT Chennai director V Kama- koti, former Isro chairman S Somanath, former IB director Tapan Deka, former education secretary Anita Karwal, and logistics exper t Amrit Lal Meena. Explaining the objective of the task force, Modi said it would focus on examination reforms. “And based on its report, steps will be taken to ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations at the earliest.” The task force will recommend immediate steps to secure upcoming tests and suggest ways to overhaul national examination and testing systems to make them leak-proof. In his latest outreach to students through Instagram, the PM noted that the government had established fast-track courts to ensure justice for students and was taking all necessary steps to make the examination system more transparent. Joshi takes charge After taking charge on Sunday, new education minister Pralhad Joshi held a review meeting. School education secretary TK Anil Kumar and outgoing higher education secretary Vineet Joshi briefed him Rahul writes to Amit Shah Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Home Minister Amit Shah demanding accountability for the “barbaric assault” on students during NEET protests Anti-paper leak bill in LS today p r eeth a n a i r @ New Delhi AS Parliament reconvenes on Monday after a washout of the first week of the Monsoon Session, the deadlock may ease slightly with Op, position sources saying INDIA bloc parties may be inclined to participate in the debate on the Bill seeking to strengthen the two-year-old anti-paper leak law. The government has listed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026 for the Lok Sabha on Monday . Speaking to this paper, an Opposition leader said parties did not want to be seen as blocking reforms given that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has quit. The Congress-led Opposition plans to keep up the pressure over the alleged police crackdown on protesting students. TMC’s Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose submitted a notice under Rule 267 seeking an immediate discussion on “use of excessive force on student protesters” in Jantar Mantar. MIRABAI ON TOP OF THE PODIUM India opens gold bank in Glasgow f i r o z m i r z a @ Chennai FOR more than a decade, Mirabai Chanu has been the country’s biggest medal hope in weightlifting. And it was no different at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CWG). Living up to her billing, the diminutive 31-yearold lifter from Manipur completed a hat-trick of the CWG gold at the SEC Armadillo auditorium on Sunday beat, ing her opponents by miles. The gold was also the country’s first at this edition of the Games. The 2017 World champion and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist’s superiority among her opponents can be gauged by the fact that her total lift was 22kg more than the nearest rival — Ruth Asuquo Nyong from Nigeria. En route to her top of the podium finish, she also set the CWG record four times E x p r e s s Re a d Blast at Sivakasi illegal cracker unit kills two Virudhunagar: Two persons were killed and two more were feared dead following an explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in Sengamalapatti near Sivakasi on Sunday. Hours after, another fire broke out at a cracker unit in Perunayakkanpatti. No casualties were reported | P4 Bars can be set up within 100m of Tasmac outlets An emotional Mirabai Chanu at the medal ceremony on Sunday | PTI (twice in snatch, once in clean and jerk and once in total lift) in the 48kg weight category. While lifting 85kg in the snatch section in her third attempt, she also set a Commonwealth record. Mirabai won a gold each in the 2018 and 2022 editions with the previous one coming in the 49kg weight division. In 2014, she won a silver medal (48kg). The next stop for Mirabai obviously would be the Asian Games. Chennai: The state government has amended liquor retail vending rules to allow bars to come up anywhere within the 100-metre radius of a Tasmac outlet, in order to draw more bidders into online tender process and make bar licences harder to monopolise | P4 Aavin Federation, seven unions post `143 cr loss Chennai: Aavin Federation and seven district milk producers’ unions together posted a loss of around `143 crore in 2025-26, their worst performance since the Covid-19 pandemic. In contrast, the remaining 20 district milk producers’ unions recorded a total profit of `53.2 crore | P2