AFspa extended for six more months in parts of 3 states The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in specified areas of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur Four nagas killed in Manipur Nagas were killed in a cross-border attack allegedly by Myanmar-based alleged Kuki insurgents on Thursday afternoon at Pilong near the India-Myanmar border in Manipur’s Kamjong district ■ Four ■ The chennai l saturday l september 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION NDA allies’ turn to seek clarity from Gyanesh Pa r v e z S u lta n & R a m a s h a n k a r @ New Delhi/Patna HC fiat to meta platforms The Delhi HC on Friday directed Meta Platforms to remove a woman’s morphed picture with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ordered police to provide protection to the victim | P9 INSIDE PM to inaugurate Metro Phase II expansion on October 11 | P5 Month after flash floods struck Nepal, kin of 85 from TN still await updates on their whereabouts | P2 Amid mounting Opposition attacks on the Centre and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of arbitrary decisions in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, three BJP allies — the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) — on Friday sought clarity on the electoral process to “dispel misgivings” among voters. In a related development, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly made by the CEC without the concurrence of the two election commissioners, saying they violate the statutory requirement of collective decision-making. LJP-Ram Vilas chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan urged the Election Commission (EC) to publicly address concerns about the electoral process and dispel misgivings among voters, while RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha pressed for an immediate clarification. TDP’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu said transparency from the poll panel would boost confidence in the constitutional institution. “If questions are being raised about the Election Commission, which is an independent constitutional body the responsibility lies with the CEC to present his stance , clearly Paswan said. He added that the poll panel should clar,” ify its position before the public, rather than addressing the concerns only to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Devarayalu said that while the SIR was conducted transparently in Andhra Pradesh, a clarification from the EC would be beneficial. “From the perspective of Andhra Pradesh, having closely observed the SIR exercise, I can say that the process was conducted in a transparent manner. Adequate opportunities and sufficient time were provided to every voter to participate and raise concerns,” he said. Kushwaha said, “A great deal of confusion has arisen regarding the SIR exercise. To dispel the confusion, the Election Commission should immediately issue a clarification on the correct position.” As for the Congress, it held protests across states, with demonstrations tur ning violent at some places. There were reports of clashes between the protesters and the security personnel.  P9 Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long held the govt responsible and called for a 24-hour shutdown from 7 am Friday | P10 ■ Sec 3 of AFSPA empowers the centre to declare “disturbed areas” Vijay accuses DMK of trying to cover up Pocso case against granite bizman All-woman SIT formed EX P RE S S NE W S S ERVI C E @ Chennai Chief Minister and TVK president C Joseph Vijay on Friday broke his silence over the Pocso case against Gem Granites chairman R Veeramani, registered during the DMK regime, alleging that the then ruling party had attempted to cover it up during its tenure. He questioned if the DMK and the AIADMK were silent because they were in a state of shock after the TVK government’s action against Veeramani. Campaigning in the Madurantakam (SC) Assembly segment on Friday ahead of the upcoming bypoll, Vijay said that he felt compelled to bring Chennai: The Tamil Nadu police have constituted a four-member all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising senior officers, to probe the Pocso case against Gem Granites founder R Veeramani. The SIT will function under the supervision of Chennai Commissioner A Amalraj | P4 CM Vijay speaks about the Veeramani Pocso case in Madurantakam | Express up the issue considering its gravity He said young girls had . been sexually assaulted by one man [Veeramani] for all these years. “Despite [the issue] surfacing during the previous DMK government, that case, 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 ■ more to life than TRP ratings, says hc | P4 that chapter, that history itself was covered up. What was the deal that was happening inside? The whole of Tamil Nadu is questioning, sir. Open your mouth, Stalin sir,” he fumed in his public address. P4 Shooters make second chance count to grab gold IN D RANEEL D A S @ Nagoya It was a tale of redemption for Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet in the ongoing Asian Games on Friday . The pistol shooters had endured a nightmarish outing just a day ago, having failed to qualify for the finals in their respective individual events of 10m air pistol. However, the two joined forces to produce a record-breaking show in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. The duo captured the gold medal with a score of 484.6, posting the Asian Record in the process. The victory also ended India’s wait for gold in shooting.  P15 New model investment treaty coming P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi An updated model framework for bilateral investment treaties (BITs) is awaiting Cabinet approval, sources said. It is expected to incorporate changes negotiated with countries such as the UAE and Qatar, while Canada will also be covered. The Cabinet is likely to approve it soon, the sources said, adding India has already begun negotiations with several nations under the new framework. Several foreign companies have criticised India’s existing BIT framework, particularly the dispute resolution mechanism, which they say is time- consuming and creates a significant impediment to further investment. Under India’s current model, foreign investors are generally required to pursue remedies in Indian courts for five years before initiating international arbitration. India terminated BITs with more than 70 countries in 2016 and 2017 and adopted a more restrictive model treaty that narrowed the definition of investment, removed most-favoured-nation provisions and excluded protection against retrospective taxation and certain regulatory measures. Analysts identified the existing framework as one of the factors for stagnat- No tax component The new framework will not include tax concessions or provisions that could expose India’s sovereign taxation powers to international arbitration. “Tax will not go into the model BIT. It’s our sovereign right to tax, and that can’t be open to arbitration,” a source said ing foreign investment flows. The government is now seeking to update it based on its experience in negotiating treaties with the UAE and Qatar. “Four BITs will be finalised soon and people are already going to different countries for negotia- tions. We have negotiations with 20-25 countries as per the BIT framework of 2016. But later, during our negotiations with UAE and Qatar, we moved far away from the previous framework,” a finance ministry official said. However, the domestic judiciary will not be bypassed. The new framework will also maintain certain safeguards for India’s policy-making space. “The framework will be designed in a way to ensure some red lines will not be crossed,” the sources said, adding that tax-related provisions would be excluded from the model BIT. Gross FDI fell to less than 1% of GDP in 2025, compared with a peak of 3.6% in 2008.