DHARMAPURI l tuesday l august 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION new u.s. visa rules: firms to pay a bomb for extending l-1s, h1bs Large employers now have to pay a fee of $4,000 for H-1B and $4,500 for L-1 applications for extension of visas of their employees takes effect from september 9 rocky road ahead for indian it firms Earlier, these fees were applicable only for initial H-1B and L-1 petitions or if the applicants changed jobs. The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee, applicable to employers with 50 or more employees in the US if more than 50 per cent are in H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrant status, takes effect from September 9, as per the Department of Homeland Security ■ ■ Organisations filing routine extension requests for same employee will now face additional filing costs. Amended petitions not needing an extension of status are exempt from the expanded fee For an IT services firm managing several thousand onshore Indian engineers on H-1B or L-1 status, the new rule hands a huge expense $157.3 mn is the annual revenue that the fee hike will generate for the u.s. 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 State song first, House adopts resolution P r a b h a k a r Ta mi l a r a s u @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a special resolution reaffirming that ‘Tamil Thai Vaazhthu’ must be sung first at all functions in the state, including government, educational or other institutional events. Moving the resolution during the second day of debate on the budget statement, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay said, “If a party has a problem in Tamil Nadu, that party alone fights it. But if it concerns Tamil, the whole of Tamil Batons, tear gas mark march of Ranchi students Parliament deadlock Shah ready to debate students’ stir; Cong adds temple theft to demand Police use water cannons on agitators, CM appeals to resolve issue with dialogue M u k e s h r a n j a n @ Ranchi AT LEAST four students and one policemen were injured during a clash near the Jharkhand Assembly on Monday, when police used water cannons, tear gas and batons to stop students protesting against alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations, officials said. The clash took place after the protesters breached multiple barricades near the Vidhan Sabha. This is for the first time in the history of Jharkhand that protesting students reached so close to the state assembly . Though the administration had erected multiple barricades and deployed a large police contingent to stop the protesters from reaching the Assembly, the students waded through the barriers. They dismantled seven to eight barricades near Jagannath Temple before resuming their march. Ranchi Rural SP, Gaurav Goswami, said they had to use batons after some protesters at- tempted to reach the final barricading, where prohibitory orders under Section 163 were already in force. The students are adamant on their demands of cancellation of the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) (Preliminary) Group 1 examination and a CBI inquiry into the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) examination. Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who has been on a hunger strike for nine days, reached the protest site in an ambulance and participated in the march on a stretcher. “The reverse of the word ‘yuva’ (youth) is ‘vayu’ (air), and no one can stop the air,” Mahto said. “The government is trying to suppress our voice by using water cannons and tear gas shells. This is reprehensible.” Mahto said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the use of force against students protesting in Jharkhand and called on the state government, of which Set up 2 spl courts for Manipur violence: SC Nadu fights for it.” He clari- written to the centre last fied that the move was “not month, specifically demanding against anyone” but an expres- that Tamil Thai Vaazhthu be sion of “unity in diversity”. sung first, and said its primacy The CM said that Tamil was “against no one”. He cited needed no introduction any- a July 9, 2026 communication where in the world. “There is from the Union Home Ministry no country without on which song ought to be Tamil speakers. Say sung first, as the trigger for the word ‘Tamil,’ the House to formally place and all of us turn the practice on record. around, that is our He traced the practice identity he said, add,” of rendering the song to a ing, “A name itself is a November 23, 1970 govhistory and that ernment order that is Tamil.” first mandated Vijay noted Tamil Thai CM Joseph Vijay that he had Va a z h t h u — Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto (above) during the march towards the Jharkhand assembly; and police personnel deploy water cannons (top) to disperse student protesters | PTI ED launches money laundering probe The Enforcement Directorate has initiated a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in JSSC CGL and other exams in Jharkhand. The ED is probing eight individuals, including TDPL, JPSC officials and an alleged key figure in the recruitment scam Congress is a part, to hear the protesters out and resolve their issues immediately . Meanwhile, the state CID on Monday arrested former JPSC Chairman L Khiangte in connection with alleged irregularities in 14th Combined Civil Services Examination. Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a late night post on X said, “I assure you (protesters) that action will be taken on your demands with utmost seriousness and sensitivity... let us resolve this issue together through dialogue.” P REE T HA NA I R @ New Delhi THE Parliament stand-off continued on Monday even after the government offered a debate and Home Minister Amit Shah’s reply on the student protests and police action, with the Congress insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to a discussion on the donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram temple. While Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded that Shah disclose who authorised the use of pellet guns against the protesters, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju hit back saying Shah will give a proper reply but the Opposition should not try to run away from discussion by disrupting House proceedings. Speaking to reporters after the Business Advisory Committee meeting, Rijiju said the government is ready for a full-fledged discussion in the Lok Sabha on the student protests and police action across the country and Shah will reply to the debate, provided the Opposition promises to listen peacefully . Congress is shifting goalposts: Nadda Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s charges, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the Congress is repeatedly shifting goalposts to disrupt Parliament. He said the Opposition party’s demand moved from a debate on NEET paper leak, a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the student protests, and then to the Ram temple trust issue Shah has not been seen in the House in the ongoing session even though he has been regularly coming to Parliament House complex. On a question whether the issue of alleged theft of donation will also be discussed, he said the Uttar Pradesh government’s probe through a special investigation team trail of trade Forest dept begins probe after Vikram’s Gibbon video U D AYAN K I SH O RE @ New Delhi S V KR I SHNA C HA I TAN YA @ Chennai THE Supreme Court on Monday asked authorities concerned to consider setting up two trial courts to exclusively deal with cases arising out of the 2023 Manipur violence. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said that one court will be for CBI cases, while another will try cases lodged by NIA. “Our concern is whether these courts are dealing exclusively with CBI and NIA cases arising out of the Manipur violence, or whether they are also dealing with other cases,” the bench said. It further took note of the security situation in Manipur and directed agencies to ensure probe agencies carry out investigations without interruption. “CBI and NIA shall be facilitated so that they carry out their investigation uninterruptedly said CJI Surya Kant. ,” The bench took note of the Centre’s submission that the CBI filed final reports in 27 of 31 Manipur violence cases, while NIA filed chargesheets in 15 of 30 cases. The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the issue after a video of two women being paraded without clothes went viral. Actor Vikram’s playful video with a Lar Gibbon, posted on Instagram and subsequently taken down, has spotlighted the illegal trade and transfer of exotic wild animals in Tamil Nadu, with state forest department officials launching an investigation into how the animal reached a private residence in Injambakkam, Chennai. Lar Gibbons are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I and cannot be acquired without the requisite CITES import and export permissions, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) documentation and permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state to which it is being imported. Officials told TNIE that the video was shot at the residence Meeting with UNC Manipur CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh Monday reviewed security situation along the National Highways, even as a state delegation met the United Naga Council to cajole it to lift “economic blockade” for resumption of bus services. and several other steps are going on. Responding to the government’s offer that Shah will speak in Parliament, Rahul said the question was never about whether Shah can give a speech on ‘general issues’. “The question was that Home Minister Shah has to make it clear who authorised the shooting of our children in Delhi. He is the home minister; pellet guns were fired,” Rahul said, adding he must come clean whether he gave the firing orders or not. Talking to the media alongside party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul said if Shah ordered pellet gun use, he is culpable; if he didn’t know, he is incompetent, adding Shah “should go” either way . Rahul added that Modi must apologise for the police action during the Janta Mantar protest. The third issue, he said, is the Ayodhya donation theft. Kharge said the Opposition wanted a discussion on these issues but the government did not say anything for 15 days, which shows they did not want a discussion. Screenshots of Vikram’s video with a Gibbon, which was later taken down from Instagram Forest department is examining the circumstances under which the Lar Gibbon reached Chennai city — Rakesh Kumar Dogra, Chief Wildlife Warden of Vikram’s relatives in Injambakkam. Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra said the department is examining the circumstances under which the animal reached the city and whether all statutory requirements governing possession and transfer of the ex- otic species were complied with. Documents accessed by TNIE show that the trail of the Lar Gibbon can be traced back to Erode and, before that, Manipur. Records indicate that a Manipur-based stockholder, Laikhuram Singh, declared eight Lar Gibbons (four males and four females) in 2020 under the declaration of stock of exotic live species through Parivesh 1. The document records their country of origin as Malaysia. A subsequent Form-I under the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, records the transfer of three Lar Gibbons (one male and two females) from Laikhuram Singh in Manipur to SK Keshavanathan in Perundurai, Erode. The transaction is dated June 5, 2026, and the document describes the transfer as being for adoption. The Form-1 is still pending approval of the Chief Wildlife Warden of TN. Another FormI records a further transfer of one male and one female Lar Gibbon from Keshavanathan to Chinni Krishna Ranganathan of Injambakkam, Chennai, on August 5, 2026.  P7 drawn from the prelude of Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai’s 1891 play ‘Manonmaniam’ — be sung at the start of government functions, and noted that the song was accorded official state recognition on December 17, 2021, with a further directive that all educational institutions, universities, government offices and public sector bodies in TN sing it before any event begins. Vijay said Tamil, one of the world’s oldest classical languages, and Tamil civilisational identity deserved to be recorded with pride by the House.  P7 CM announces hike in paddy and sugarcane incentives E X P RESS NE W S SER V I C E @ Chennai Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced a singleyear hike in incentives for paddy and sugarcane farmers, under which fine variety paddy will fetch `2,750 per quintal, common variety paddy `2,600 per quintal, and sugarcane `4,000 per tonne. Making the announcement under Rule 110 of the Assembly, ahead of the paddy procurement season starting September 1, the CM said the state incentive for fine variety paddy has been raised by `289 per quintal and that of common variety paddy by `159 per quintal, above the minimum support price. “Despite the state’s financial position not being favourable at present, we have decided to protect the welfare of paddy and sugarcane farmers by increasing the state incentive to a level never seen before in Tamil Nadu’s history,” the CM told the Assembly This is the first . time the paddy incentive is being raised by over `156 in a single year, he added. On sugarcane, Vijay said the centre had fixed `3,290.50 per metric tonne for the 2025-26 crushing season for farmers registered with sugar mills, to which the state will add a special incentive of `709.50 per tonne, taking the total to `4,000 per tonne. The CM noted that over the last five years, the special sugarcane incentive had gone up by only `156 cumulatively, whereas this year alone it has been raised by `360.50. “This is the first time the increase has crossed `134 per tonne in a single year. Our government will never abandon far mers,” he said.  P7 E x pr e s s R e a d Wife of expelled TVK man gets same party post Chennai: V Hemavathi, wife of former Mambakkam panchayat president N Veerasamy who was expelled from the TVK following allegations that he had demanded `1.3 lakh bribe, has been appointed as the joint secretary of the Chengalpattu East district, the same post previously held by her husband | P4