hyderabad l monday l april 06, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai hotspots for abdominal obesity: Study The three metros have emerged as hotspots for abdominal obesity among both men and women, the study in the Nature Scientific journal reports Sedentary jobs, processed foods blamed The study by researchers from the Health Systems Transformation Platform found over half of women aged 15-49 (56.6%) and nearly half of men aged 15-54 (48.9%) in India have abdominal obesity. The researchers attributed this trend to long hours in sedentary jobs, increased reliance on motorised transport, and the widespread consumption of processed foods ■ NFHS-5 Higher prevalence among urban residents ■ Higher levels of abdominal obesity were seen among older adults, wealthier groups, and urban residents, the researchers noted “Metropolitan districts surrounding Delhi NCR, Kolkata, and Chennai demonstrated elevated prevalence among both sexes,” the study said. Abdominal obesity was measured using the waist-to-hip ratio | P7 data of over 7 lakh people from 707 districts were examined 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 US rescues airman in daring mission Proportional delimitation is a demographic coup: Pinarayi Aviator scales 7,000-ft ridge to avoid capture by Iran; Trump says Tehran will be hit on Tuesday if Strait remains closed 37 A G E N C I E S @ Washington, Tehran A wounded US Air Force colonel survived 36 gruelling hours in the rugged mountains of southern Iran, evading capture by Iranian forces before Navy SEAL commandos extracted him in a dramatic night-time operation, which President Donald Trump termed nothing short of “miraculous.” Armed with only a pistol and moving on injured legs, the colonel — a weapons systems officer who had ejected from an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet shot down over southern Iran on Friday — navigated treacherous terrain to stay ahead of enemy patrols. At one point, he scaled a 7,000-foot ridgeline while American aircraft bombed an approaching Iranian convoy to buy him time, The Mail reported Sunday . US aviators undergo SERE training in the event they have to eject over hostile territory -survival, evasion, resistance and escape. They wear a combat vest with a radio/GPS-coded beacon to transmit their po- The wreckage of a downed American jet and two helicopters involved in a rescue of a US Colonel, in Isfahan province | AP Whole region will burn: Iran Iran FM calls up Jaishankar Iran’s powerful parliament speaker warned US President Donald Trump on Sunday that his “reckless moves” would mean “our whole region is going to burn”. The “only real solution is respecting rights of Iranian people and ending this dangerous game,” Mohammad Ghalibaf said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Sunday, amid an escalating rhetoric from Washington. “Received a call from Foreign Minister Araghchi. Discussed present situation,” EAM said, marking the sixth conversation since the war began | P7 sition, while they also carry water, food, first-aid material and a pistol in order to survive. The airman was wounded after his ejection but could still walk, according to news outlet Axios, which cited a US official. Iran had placed a bounty on the officer’s head, setting off a race between Tehran and Washington to locate the missing aviator. “Everything is being thrown at finding the missing airman,” a source close to the President told The Mail on Sunday “The fear is he will be cap. tured and used as a pawn.” The pilot of the stricken jet had been recovered within 45 minutes of the crash. The extraction encountered serious complications. Two American transport aircraft became stranded at a remote staging location inside Iran and had to be destroyed by US forces to keep them out of Iranian hands, according to The New York Times and CBS News. Three additional planes were then deployed to ferry the rescued airman and his escort out of the country . A regional intelligence official, speaking anonymously, told Associated Press that “a technical malfunction — not enemy fire — had rendered the two planes unusable.” Iran’s version differed sharply Irani. an military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari declared that the US operation, staged from an abandoned airstrip in southern Isfahan province, had been “completely foiled.” He claimed two C-130 transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters had been destroyed. The CIA reportedly ran a parallel deception operation to help keep the aviator safe. Trump declared victory on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, saying: “WE GOT HIM!”  P9 e-waste in telangana surges five-fold in eight years, from 33,425 metric tonnes in 2017–18 to over 1.6 lakh metric tonnes in 2025–26 page 3 temple glory (Left) A model of the proposed Sri Gnana Saraswathi Temple at Basara in Nirmal district; (above) the existing temple. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will lay the foundation stone for renovation works on Monday | P4 New HC complex to be among finest: CJI Army seeks `250 cr T G N aidu @ Hyderabad Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday expressed confidence that the upcoming Telangana High Court complex would rank among the most impressive judicial campuses in the country . He made the remarks after reviewing design plans and scale models while laying the foundation stone for Zone II of the High Court project at Rajendranagar. The event was attended by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Supreme Court judges PS Narasimha, Ujjal Bhuyan, SV Bhatti, and Alok Aradhe, along with Telangana High Court Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh. Speaking on the occasion, Revanth said that the govern- Chief Justice of India Surya Kant with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the High Court complex ment aimed to complete the entire project by December 2027. The chief minister underscored that the legislature, executive, and judiciary operate within a framework of autono- my and mutual respect, which is essential for a healthy democracy . Justice Surya Kant emphasised that judicial independence was not limited to constitutional doctrine but was also closely linked to the availability of robust infrastructure. He described the project as a longterm institutional investment designed to serve the judiciary for the next hundred years. Reflecting on its origin, he noted that the initiative traced back to the 2009 fire incident at the existing High Court premises. He observed that the project represented nearly two decades of consistent effort, supported by successive governments despite political transitions — an example of rare coordination between the judiciary and executive.  continued on P5 toxic neglect Nalgonda dump yard chokes residents with smoke, stench A S E S H A C H A R Y U L U @ Nalgonda The Chandanapalli dump yard on the outskirts of Nalgonda town has turned into a festering environmental crisis, endangering the lives of nearby residents while municipal authorities remain unresponsive to repeated notices from the Pollution Control Board. The issue came into sharp focus after local resident N Madhu Kumar approached the Human Rights Commission (HRC), alleging severe pollution from the site. Acting on the HRC’s directive, officials from the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TGPCB) inspected the yard on January 7, 2026, uncovering alarming violations. Their findings revealed that the municipal corporation has been operating the dump yard without mandatory environmental clearances — namely, the Consent for Establishment Smoke billows from burning garbage at Chandanapalli in Nalgonda (CFE) and Consent for Operation (CFO). Air quality tests painted an equally grim picture: levels of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) soared to 154 µg/m³, far exceeding the permissible limit of 100 µg/m³.  continued on P5 fund to ease risk for defence startups J a v aria R ana @ New Delhi With defence startups often unable to move beyond the trial stage, the Army has proposed a `250 crore annual Field Exploitation and Capability Acceleration (FECA) fund per Service Headquarters. The proposal is under consideration by the defence ministry . The proposal, first outlined in February by Army Design Bureau Additional Director General Maj Gen C S Mann, has now been fleshed out. It aims to create a structured system to test and evaluate new technologies in real conditions, backed by small initial orders to assess performance. “The idea is to plug gaps by allowing improvements to systems over time, adapting civilian technologies for military use and covering costs during trials and field use, including damage and other expenses that startups currently have to bear on their own,” an Army official told this newspaper. A key element of the proposal is risk support, which addresses a major gap in the current system. At present, startups bear the full cost of equipment damaged or expended during trials, including transportation, repairs and modifications. “There have been many cases where graduates from top institutions invest all their savings to build systems, only to see them fail in high-altitude conditions. Equipment gets damaged, sometimes destroyed, effectively ending a startup’s journey,” the official said, adding, “Even a single failed trial can set a startup back significantly .” Under the proposed framework, startups and MSMEs will be given a three to four month window to demonstrate their systems. p R E E T H A n A I R @ New Delhi S TRESSING that the upcoming delimitation process requires scrutiny rather than blind acceptance, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday demanded a constitutional guarantee for states that have successfully stabilised their population. Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Vijayan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance that southern states will not lose their current press number of seats is a clever play clusive on words that masks injustice. “The core issue facing the Indian Republic is not merely the absolute number of seats a state holds, but its proportional representation and relative political weight within the Union,” Vijayan said, responding to Modi’s remarks. During an election rally in Kerala on Saturday, Modi had said that Lok Sabha seats would not be reduced in those Indian states that have successfully controlled population. The PM also said the total number of seats would increase to benefit states across the country . A decision of this Calling for consensus, Vijaymagnitude, which an said the inter-state seat ratio affects the very must be maintained at the 1971 foundation of our census level until all states Republic, cannot be achieve population stability . “Any increase in the total dictated by Union govt number of seats must be strucPinarayi Vijayan, Kerala CM tured so that it does not reduce the relative strength of states that have excelled in human development indicators. A decision of this magnitude cannot be dictated by the Union government. It requires a consensus reached through the InterState Council and Parliament, respecting the diversity and the sovereign rights of all constituent states. If the Union government proceeds with a delimitation exercise based solely on current population figures, it effectively punishes states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and others that have rigorously implemented national policies on population control and social development,” he said.  CONTINUED ON P5 PIC: Vincent pulikkal day Tribunal tells EC to add candidate’s name in voters list S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata in its first verdict, an appellate tribunal in West Bengal on Sunday directed the Election Commission to include the name of Congress candidate in Farakka, Mahtab Sheikh, in the supplementary voter list by the end of the day . The order of the tribunal headed by the former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam came a day before the April 6 deadline for submitting nomination for the first-phase polls in the state. continued on P7 Mahtab Sheikh | Express