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 ■ ■ (Top) Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martínez saves Spain’s Lamine Yamal; Lionel Messi warms up before kick-off | ap chennai l monday l july 20, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Express Read Anti-bribery boards must in TN govt offices Chennai: Days after launching a dedicated DVAC WhatsApp number (9498180936), TN has directed all local bodies, govt departments, PSUs, district administrations, and govt companies to display anti-bribery notice boards and DVAC contact details at their offices | P4 History-sheeter shot in leg after ‘attacking’ cop Chennai: A special police team shot an ‘A’ category historysheeter in the leg and arrested him after he allegedly attacked a head constable with a sickle and tried to flee the police near Thirumudivakkam on Saturday. The accused, Karuppu (26), has over 15 cases against him | P3 DMK backs 33% quota sans delimitation link Chennai: The DMK fully supports 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, but the quota should be provided based on the present strength of the Lower House without linking it to delimitation, said DMK MP Tiruchi Siva on Sunday I P4 UCCgets MP BILL draft Cabinet nod The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Sunday approved the draft Uniform Civil Code bill, paving the way for a common civil law that will criminalise triple talaq and prohibit polygamy | P8 8 bills listed for monsoon session beginning today Opposition likely to seek answers on Ram temple, NEET, ethanol RA J E S H K UMAR T H A K UR @ New Delhi THE monsoon session of Parliament commencing on Monday is expected to witness a turbulent start, with the Opposition preparing to corner the BJP-led NDA government on a host of contentious issues. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju informed journalists on Sunday that eight key Bills have been listed for consideration in this session, which will run till August 13. Topics expected to dominate proceedings from the outset include the alleged donation theft at Ram Temple, the NEET-UG examination paper leak, ethanol blending case and other issues. Among the major Bills scheduled for debate is the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which has been allocated four hours for discussion. The Income Tax (AmendBill on Vande ment) Bill, 2026, will Mataram be debated for three Union Home Minister hours in the Lok Amit Shah will introduce Sabha. the Prevention of Insults The other important to National Honour legislative proposals (Amendment) Bill, 2026, include the Supreme in the Rajya Sabha on Court (Number of Monday, which proposes Judges) Amendment a three-year jail term for Bill, 2026; the Registra- insulting the national song tion of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026; the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee, chaired by the Speaker, met on Sunday to finalise the allocation of time for debates on the Bills listed for the session. The Speaker appealed to all parties to cooperate for a smooth and orderly session so that issues concerning people can be discussed. Oppn walks out of all-party meeting RA J E S H K UMAR T H A K UR @ New Delhi OPPOSITION leaders staged a symbolic walkout from the government’s all-party meeting on Sunday, a day before the monsoon session begins, protesting the invitation to rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The Opposition later returned for the meet, pressing for discussions on the donation theft at Ayodhya, the NEET paper leak, and ethanol-petrol blending — the principal issues raised, as per Congress leader Pramod Tiwari. The protest also centred on Speaker Om TMC rebels Birla’s decisions to alattend meet lot separate seats to TMC rebel MP Sudip the rebel TMC MPs Bandyopadhyay said he attended the meeting with and approve the Shiv Sena (UBT) merger Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar with Eknath Shinde’s as they were invited to faction. TMC MP Marepresent the “new party hua Moitra said the with 20 MPs.” “MPs want “so-called NCPI” was their constituencies to be developed,” Ghosh said unrecognised, with twenty disqualification petitions still pending. “On what grounds did the Parliamentary Affairs Minister extend an invitation to these 20 rebel MPs and how are they attending this meeting? We have registered our symbolic protest and walked out,” Moitra said. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant cited the same reason for walkout. AAP’s N D Gupta alleged seven Rajya Sabha MPs were “hijacked” by BJP. Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi demanded that Parliament discuss the Ayodhya donation theft, questioning the government’s silence. The biggest of them all Argentina and Spain go up against each other for one last time in the most important match of their lives. With the teams fighting it out in the final, a look... T he list of celebrities attending the biggest standalone sporting event in the world spanned 11 pages. Forget all the roads leading to East Rutherford, it seemed that in the hours before the beginning of the final, it seemed like the entirety of the planet had made a beeline for New York/ New Jersey. After a short Opening Ceremony, Lionel Messi’s Argentina, defending champions and aiming to win it for a fourth time, had led his side past the paint and onto the field of play. Likewise Rodri and his Spanish colleagues aim to win their second trophy. At the time of going to press, the scoreline read 0-0 England’s best in 60 years England’s third-place finish is their best ever showing at the WC since they won in 1966. After four goals in first half, Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick and Jude Bellingham’s late strike took scoreline to 6-4 vs France HC rejects plea to move Wangchuk to private hosp U D AYAN K I S H OR E @ New Delhi The Delhi High Court on Sunday held that the government’s decision to shift Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar to Safdarjung Hospital was not arbitrary and refused to intervene. The court was hearing an urgent plea from Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo, seeking permission to transfer him to a private facility. Justice Mini Pushkarna refused to pass an interim order. The judge held that since Wangchuk had not voluntarily admitted himself to a hospital despite his condition, “the government was within its rights to intervene” and the government action could not be called arbitrary . japan open Sindhu lifts long-awaited title a n m o l g u r u n g @ Chennai BADMINTON great PV Sindhu has created many miracles in her decorated career but not so long ago, it seemed her old magical form deserted the shuttler. For someone used to dictating terms, she was in danger of being reduced to obscurity for a considerable period. Small niggles would constantly frustrate her as her results on the court turned ordinary. Forget titles, getting a victory itself had become a challenge. Despite all the negative ener- gy Sindhu continued to dig deep , into her available resources behind the scenes. It was a step-by-step process for her. It was a painful watch but as has been the case throughout her career, she never gave up. O n S u n d ay, t h e 31-year-old finally let out a beaming smile. That was after a vint a g e d i s p l ay against Akane Ya m a g u c h i , whom she beat 21-17, 21-17, at the Japan Open final. For India, it was a first in the tournament’s chequered history. “You hear a lot of things happening but more than giving a reply, I would just want to say that I believed in myself. Yes, it had been a long time. This title was very impor tant. It was long-awaited. This gives me a lot of confidence and belief that I can do it and it’s not over yet,” Sindhu said.