TIRUCHY  SUNDAY  AUGUST 23, 2026  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION HOCKEY WORLD CUP: MEN’S TEAM ON THE BRINK AFTER LOSS TO DUTCH Harmanpreet & Co. lose crucial Pool E encounter 1-3 against the Netherlands. They will be out of World Cup unless Argentina beat England BELOW-PAR OUTING ON SATURDAY The men’s team endured another frustrating afternoon at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen. In an almost must-win encounter, they began okay but just couldn’t find the forward thrust from open play. The Dutch scored twice after half-time before Harmanpreet reduced the deficit but the ask was too much and the side couldn’t muster a response. ■ SIX INDIA HAVEN’T WON WC MEDAL SINCE 1975 ■ India are still searching for their first medal at the World Cup since the 1975 edition. It’s likely that that run will continue. They round off their campaign with a game against Argentina on Monday On Sunday, the women’s team needs a win against Australia to have a chance of advancing to the semifinals NO OF GOALS HARMANPREET SINGH HAS SCORED AT THE WORLD CUP 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 13 DMK secys to lose posts in Stalin’s push for young faces PRAB HAKAR TAMI L ARASU @ Chennai PM Modi being greeted by BJP president Nitin Nabin | PTI Day after, Raj govt says 611 schools lack own building R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Jaipur AS many as 611 state-run schools in Rajasthan do not have own buildings, 2,047 schools lack toilets for students, and 1,049 do not have drinking water facilities, government data showed, amid a row over the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) inspection of schools in the state. The data was released a day after CJP workers were assaulted during a visit to a school in Jaipur. It came in response to an unstarred question by Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Julie. Of the 611 schools without buildings, 10 are girls’ schools. Jaipur has 38 such schools. Block-wise, Aklera in Jhalawar has the highest number of such schools at 23, followed Dipke by Khanpur booked with 16, and Jhalrapatan Police have and Phalodi registered a w i t h case against 11 each. Cockroach The data Janta Party is based on convenor Abhijeet Dipke 2025-26 UDISE figand others for ures under allegedly the Samaentering a gra Shiksha state-run framework. school in The governMaharashtra’s ment said Latur district arrangewithout ments were permission. being made for drinking water and alternative toilet facilities at schools lacking them. It has earmarked `550 crore for the repair and renovation of schools and another `450 crore for constructing buildings for schools without premises and those operating from dilapidated structures. The government also cited a Finance Department meeting held on March 13 and 14, where a roadmap was prepared to mobilise `2,500 crore annually for the construction, repair and maintenance of school buildings with a total outlay of over `12,500 crore over five years. WITH THIS ISSUE THE FEARLESS GENERATION PLUS 12 P AGES Rahul Gandhi at his rally in Pune on Saturday | EXPRESS Modi’s pep Break the talk to new cage, Rahul core team tells women R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the newly appointed office-bearers of the BJP’s central team to remain committed to the party’s ideology and the spirit of Nation First, with Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, which is at the core of good governance. In his first interaction with the new team, he shared insights and perspectives on strengthening organisational work and emphasised the importance of maintaining a deep connect with the people, particularly the youth, over the government’s policies and achievements. Modi reportedly advised the team not to be bothered or worried by the ‘surround sound’ outside, but to remain focused on the party’s ideological commitment. Prime Minister Later, in a post on ‘X’, Modi Narendra Modi said: “Organisational meet- shared insights and ings are all about new ideas perspectives to and perspectives aimed at further strengthen the party’s strengthening the party and organisation and deepening connect with the people. Great interaction deepen its connect with people with fellow party colleagues BJP statement and the new team!” Earlier in the day, a meeting of the party’s new core team adopted a resolution condemning the Congress decision to sing just two stanzas of Vande Mataram. Asserting that there would be no compromise on the honour and legacy of the National Song, the party resolved to oppose any attempt by the Congress to subject it to “communal pressure, political appeasement or vote-bank politics”. The BJP is also learnt to have constituted a dedicated team to spearhead its upcoming Gen Z outreach. It is expected to be rolled out shortly . Besides, the party will launch a month-long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan from September 17 to mark the completion of Modi’s 25 years in public life as the head of government and his dedication to P7 service at every moment. WOMEN are India’s “biggest strength,” but a stereotypical society rooted in the Manusmriti, , has systematically ensured they are never allowed to be independent, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday . Addressing his party’s youth outreach programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ here, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he would not deliver a political speech but would instead listen to young women’s concerns and ideas. “There is a deliberate plan to ensure women are never independent. No man has any right over women. Even after remarkable success in every field, they are still boxed into a category Rahul ,” said, urging women to “break the cage.” There is a Calling the Manusmriti deliberate plan to ensure that women “the RSS’s draconian book,” he said it worked against should never be women’s independence and independent. You are not bound to progress. “A woman belongs anyone except to herself first, and that is yourself her first identity; then other Rahul Gandhi, roles like sister, daughter, Congress leader wife, and mother come intoplay he said. ,” Citing data, Rahul said 4.5 lakh female foeticides occur every year, 80 per cent of women face harassment in some form, 29 per cent face physical violence, and at least six per cent are rape victims. He added that half of India’s women reject work opportunities over safety concerns, 60 per cent cannot step out alone, and girls’ education drops 45 per cent due to early marriage and domestic work. Only eight per cent of women own property, he said. The data presented by the Congress leader could not be independently verified by this paper. Rahul later interacted with students and working women, who spoke about education, career choices and workplace conduct. AS many as 13 district secretaries of the DMK — including for mer ministers, sitting MLAs and senior party functionaries — are set to lose their posts after party president MK Stalin unveiled a plan for the structural overhaul of the party during its executive committee meeting held on Saturday at Anna Arivalayam. The party has decided to fix strict age caps and limit the term for party posts to bring in younger faces and give new entrants greater responsibility in the party organisation. “We are specialists in making a comeback,” Stalin said, asserting that the party would continue to work for the people even while in the opposition. The changes would be “tough and bitter” for some, but are necessary to ensure that the party remained vibrant for the next 100 years, the former CM said. The restructuring will cover almost every level of the party organisation. Rural branch secretaries have an age cap of 45 years, while ward secretaries in corporations, munici- DMK chief MK Stalin addressing party executive committee meeting | EXPRESS ‘Comeback specialist’ “We are specialists in making a comeback,” Stalin said. The changes would be “tough and bitter” for some, but are necessary to ensure that the party remained vibrant for next 100 years, the former CM said palities and town panchayats will have an upper age limit of 50 years. In town panchayats, secretaries, area secretaries, branch secretaries and union secretaries will have an upper age limit of 60 years. All these positions will also have a twoterm cap. EOs cannot interfere with religious affairs of temples: HC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai HOUSE OF CARDS Rescue operations underway after a multi-storey under-construction building collapsed in Hyderabad on Saturday, killing at least two persons | PTI 4K TN water tanks completely dry, SC overturns NGT order farmers forced to deepen borewells against Art of Living DIRECTS REFUND OF `5 CR FINE S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Saturday set aside a 2017 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) holding Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation responsible for the damage caused to the Yamuna floodplain following its World Culture Festival held here in 2016. The court then directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to refund the `5 crore environmental compensation deposited by the foundation. A bench of justices Satish Chandra Shar ma and N K Singh passed the order on an appeal filed by Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), the Indian organisation associated with AoL Foundation, founded by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It is to be noted that the foundation is the broader international organisation, while VVKI is a separate Indian entity linked to it. The NGT had ruled on Dec 7, 2017 that the `5 crore interim compensation paid by the foundation would be used by S G U R U V A N M I K A N AT H A N & N R A M E S H @ Chennai/ Thanjavur Event on floodplain The event in question, World Cultural Festival, was held from March 11 to 13, 2016. The event was organised on the active floodplain of the Yamuna river in Delhi, over an area comprising 25 hectares upstream of the DND flyway DDA for restoration and excess cost, if any would be recovered , from it. It had also held DDA guilty of contributory negligence. The top court said NGT’s finding was based on an expert committee report prepared in “violation of natural justice” without giving AoL a chance to submit evidence. The Shashi Shekhar committee’s estimate — `42.02 crore first, then `13.29 crore — was arbitrary with no conclusive proof that floodplain was “completely destroyed”, the bench said. The court further said that the event was held after necessary and due permission from all authorities. TAMIL NADU is facing a severe water crisis as 4,208 of its 14,141 water tanks have completely dried up. Failure of southwest monsoon and record summer heat have depleted water resources across the state. The situation is particularly alarming in delta districts, considered the rice bowl of the state, where 95% of the 764 tanks hold nearly nil water as the Mettur Dam was not opened on the scheduled date of June 12 due to delay in release of Cauvery water by Karnataka. According to Water Resources Department (WRD) officials, as many as 5,814 tanks across the state have only 1% to 25% of Expanding the district units to 110, the resolutions adopted at the meeting chaired by Stalin, also provide for the reorganisation of the DMK’s district structure based on revenue districts, with one party organisational district for every two Assembly constituencies. If one more Assembly constituency remains unaccounted for after the restructuring of districts, it will be attached as the third constituency to a suitable organisational district within the same revenue district. The post of urban secretary will cease to exist under the new structure. Addressing the meeting, Stalin acknowledged that the functioning of party functionaries was among the reasons for the electoral defeat and said the party should first accept its mistakes openly. He also took a dig at the senior leaders, who failed to embrace the fellow functionaries inside the party. “My regret is that even those who are strong in ideology and principles, hard work, and in their fighting spirit, falter when it comes to embracing and nurturing party functionaries,” he said. P5 their storage, while the overall storage condition of over 10,000 tanks is extremely poor. Madurai has recorded the highest number of dry tanks in the state, as 1,123 out of the 1,340 tanks in the district have no water. The Cauvery delta districts — Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai and Pudukkottai — have a total of 737 system tanks maintained by the WRD, of which, 694 get water from Grand Anicut canal, 41 from Vennaru river and two from Cauvery. Thanjavur district has the highest number of such tanks (537), followed by Pudukkottai (170) and Tiruvarur (28). Besides, there are 27 nonsystem tanks in the region. Dry lakes in Thanjavur district have caused groundwater levels to plummet, disrupting Kuruvai crop irrigation. Farmers are facing severe additional financial strain because of the need to deepen the borewells to save their crops. Additionally, dried waterbodies force owners to herd their cattle to distant areas just to find drinking waP5 ter for their livestock. THE Madras High Court has held that the executive officers (EO) appointed under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act cannot interfere with the religious activities of a temple but can only administer the properties belonging to it. Referring to the question of an EO doubling up as the “Fit Person”, the court said that if both the functions are combined in a single person, the system of checks and balances would vanish and it would go against the statutory scheme, particularly Rule 4(a) of the HR&CE Rules. The EO can function as the “Fit Person” only for a certain period of time and the administration of the temple has to vest only with the Board of Trustees, said a bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan in a recently released order. While an EO is a regular, salaried administrative employee of the HR&CE department appointed to look after the routine operations of a temple, a ‘Fit Person’ exercises the legal powers and duties of the Board of Trustees as an interim arrangement in temples that do not have such trustee boards. “An area even slightly tinged with religious elements is a nogo zone for the executive officer. What is religious activity requires no delineation,” the court said. It explained, “Anything that has to do directly with worship falls within the P5 realm of religion.” EXPRESS READ Tiger that ‘killed’ 2 in Nilgiris is man-eater ‘CM will decide on action against chief secy’ Nilgiris: A male tiger, which allegedly killed two persons at Lauriston in O-Valley town panchayat in the Nilgiris, has been identified as a man-eater. The forest department has placed six cages with live bait, along possible routes of tiger movement, to capture the big cat. Two teams from Gudalur division are tracking the tiger on ground, while two others are monitoring its movements using drones | P4 Madurai: Amid protests by the TVK’s ally CPM demanding removal of Chief Secretary Dr M Sai Kumar from the post for allegedly ordering the release of a circular that instructed officials to monitor students taking part in protests organised by Left parties and Cockroach Janta Party, Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay would take a decision on the issue | P4