chennai l wednesday l july 29, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION FDA suspends food licences of Cricket Club of India, MIG CC Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food business licences of the CCI & MIG CC for violations. A look... File pic violation of food safety, hygiene an issue cockroaches, cobwebs at mig cricket club “The CCI’s kitchen lacked segregation between vegetarian and nonvegetarian food preparation areas, and FDA inspectors also found a large number of cockroaches and flies near food handling and waste disposal areas,” the FDA statement said. It also cited the absence of colour-coded chopping boards which increases the risk of cross-contamination ■ ■ The food licence of MIG Cricket Club was suspended as an unauthorised catering agency without a valid FSSAI licence was operating from the premises, the FDA said The inspection at MIG Cricket Club also found live cockroaches and cobwebs in the kitchen, it said Three other clubs, apart from cci and mig cc, were also suspended 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 High-voltage debate in Lok Vijay opposes Sabha on anti-paper leak bill Centre’s stand CM letter to pm Govt pushes reforms; Oppn flags systemic failures, calls for accountability P r e e t h a Na i r @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed an acrimonious debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 as the government defended the tougher law as necessary deterrent while the Opposition dismissed it as a belated attempt to salvage the Centre’s credibility after the NEET paper leak controversy . The nine-hour marathon debate mostly shifted beyond the provisions of the bill as Opposition members raised the alleged police action against protesting students and demanded that Union home minister Amit Shah order an SIT probe. However, the Treasury bench maintained that the government had acted swiftly to protect students’ interests by bringing in a tougher law. Opening the discussion, Union minister Jitendra Singh said incidents of question paper leaks and examination-related malpractices have occurred in different states over the years, highlighting the need for a comprehensive national legal framework. The government introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday days after student pro, tests over the NEET fiasco led to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union education minister, to provide for stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and a heftier fine of `50 lakh for paper leaks. The House witnessed noisy scenes after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made E X PRESS NEWS SER V ICE @ Chennai Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi speaking in the Lok Sabha | pti If the prime minister wants to win over the Gen Z, then he needs to change his ‘dil ka angle’, not the angle of cameras Priyanka Gandhi CJP warning The CJP on Tuesday warned of a fresh agitation, alleging the Centre was avoiding giving a promised written assurance on withdrawing FIRs against all protesters some strong remarks about new education minister Pralhad Joshi, prompting Treasury bench members to seek an apology The remarks were later ex. punged from records. In a strongly worded speech, Priyanka accused the government of betraying the trust of young Indians. She said Modi and Shah must answer as to who authorised the use of pellet guns and AK-47s on protesting students. Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, who opened the debate from the Opposition side, said the amendments exposed the government’s failure to prevent repeated paper leaks despite the existence of a law. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor argued that India must move away from a high-stress model of exam to a computer-based system, with multiple attempts throughout the year. “The National Testing Agency needs strong professional cadres and accountability must be established,” he said. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said the recurrence of paper leaks across the country underscored the need for a stronger legal framework. Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said the previous UPA government had failed to enact similar legislation despite having the opportunity. He also criticised the Congress’ education record, saying India continued with an outdated system for decades because no new education policy had been introduced during its tenure. Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde said the Centre had acted responsibly by ensuring accountability Pointing out . that Pradhan had resigned, he said the government conducted the NEET re-examination within 37 days and declared the results within 25 days. While DMK MPs argued for abolishing NEET, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav compared police action at Delhi protest to Emergency and said that Pradhan’s exit saved Modi. The Lok Sabha will continue the discussion on the bill on Wednesday . Panel coming to probe charges of police excesses, indicates SC MeitY summons Meta over PM post takedown The Centre on Tuesday summoned Meta’s public policy head after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post of July 23—addressing India’s youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks—was restricted by the social media giant. IT Secretary S Krishnan said while Meta has apologised for the mistake, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought more details. According to Meta, a glitch in its automated content filters restricted the prime minister’s post | P14 s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi Delhi and other states may proceed with investigation of FIRs; however, no coercive measures ... against the protesting students Supreme Court THE Supreme Court on Tuesday, while hearing a batch of petitions against police excesses, said prima facie a case is made out for an independent and transparent inquiry by a commission to probe police excesses on student protesters in several states and UTs. “Why should there not be an independent probe into these allegations? Whoever has committed excesses, committed atrocities on innocent people, law will take care of them. For that, there needs to be a completely independent and fair investigation. Probe is meaningless if no responsibility is fixed,” said a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant. The court called for framing a protocol to meet situations like the Delhi protests in the future. That apart, the bench restrained states from taking any coercive action against protesters and directed them to release those under 18 on the condition that none of them should have criminal antecedents. Observing that “agitations in a democracy are bound to happen,” the bench indicated it will order the constitution of a high-powered committee to probe incidents of violence in Delhi and elsewhere. It directed the preservation of all CCTV footage, drone footage, bodyworn camera recordings, wireless communication and PCR logs. It also told the states to ensure that personal information and digital data of protesters are not placed in the public domain for now. T i g h t e r n o r ms , b e t t e r m o n i t o r i n g Digital push to double TN mineral revenue B A NBUSELV A N @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government is planning a major overhaul of the Natural Resources Department through digitisation and online monitoring of operations to double the revenue generated by the department over the next few years. According to sources, the department generated approximately `4,500 crore in revenue during 2025-26. This included income from mining lease fees, major minerals, mineral-bearing land tax, royalties, and contributions to the green on Mekedatu exclusive 15% drop in movement TN’s ban on transportation of construction aggregates to neighbouring states for three months has halted movement of 15% of such materials | P2 Natural resources department has generated around `4,500 crore in revenue during 2025-26 | file picture fund and payments to the District Mineral Foundation Trust. “The state government expects that stricter regulation and improved monitoring mechanisms will help increase the revenue to around `6,500 crore in the first year. The target is to gradually increase this to about `9,000 crore over the next few years,” an official said. Sources said that a substantial quantity of rough stone and other minerals extracted from both leased and nonleased areas currently falls outside the ambit of the mineral-bearing land tax. As a result, the government is also unable to collect royalties on a significant portion of these minerals.  P7 Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi urging the immediate withdrawal of a parliamentary statement made by Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary regarding the Mekedatu dam project proposed by Karnataka. Give 4.5 tmcft On Monday (July 27), Choudof water to TN: hary, responding to a query CWRC to K’taka from PMK chief and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani RamaThe Cauvery doss, stated that the Supreme Water Regulation Court’s 2018 judgment on the Committee (CWRC) Cauvery issue did not expresson Tuesday directed ly require Karnataka to obtain the Karnataka govt the consent of lower riparian to release 3,500 states, including TN, before cusecs of Cauvery constructing any structure water, equivalent to across the river. Objecting to 4.536 tmcft, at Biligundlu from 8 am this stand, the CM stated that on Wednesday for 15 the minister’s reply ignores the final award of the Cauvery days to meet TN’s Water Disputes Tribunal and water needs | P4 settled legal position on the issue. The development comes a week ahead of Vijay’s proposed meeting with Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar on the release of Cauvery water. Referring to the SC’s ruling in the Almatti case, the CM, in his letter, said the court had held that an upper riparian state must secure the consent of downstream states before raising the height of a dam. P7 E x p r e ss R e a d 3rd place for Tamil Thaai Vazhthu sparks row Tirunelveli: A controversy erupted at the 33rd convocation of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University on Tuesday as Tamil Thaai Vazhthu was rendered third, after Vande Mataram and the National Anthem. Higher Education Minister P Vishwanathan and department secretary Dheeraj Kumar boycotted the event. Several leaders and political parties, including the ruling TVK, condemned the governor’s office for “undermining Tamil identity and tradition” | P2 Ease mineral transport curbs: KL CM to Vijay Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Tuesday urged his TN counterpart to reconsider the restrictions imposed by the state on transportation of construction materials to neighbouring states. The curbs were disrupting national highway construction works in Kerala and could delay several strategically important infrastructure projects, Satheesan said in a letter to CM C Joseph Vijay. ENS