During a livestreamed event at SpaceX facility, Musk revealed his new Roadster car with cold gas thrusters and a multimode suction system KOLLAM l saturday l October 17, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION elon Musk unveils Tesla’s ‘flying’ car adept at barrel roll Musk said production for consumers won’t begin until 2028. Tesla also didn’t immediately set a price tag on its latest electric vehicle “Turns out the future does have flying cars,” Musk, Tesla’s CEO, wrote on his social media platform X shortly after the launch. Beyond quick jumps and flips, Tesla also said the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles an hour in less than a second. 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 Sea of Tricolour as Dipke, Bora detained Both held on way to Tiranga rally amid heavy security cover U D AYA N K I S H O R E & A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi Pvt teachers can be roped in as Census enumerators e x press ne w s servi c e @ New Delhi THE Centre on Friday amended the Census Rules, 1990, permitting state governments and Union Territory administrators to appoint teachers from aided and unaided private institutions as enumerators. A gazette notification issued by Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said eligible personnel include teachers of government, local authority , and aided or unaided private institutions, as well as clerks and officials of central and state governments, public sector undertakings, banks, companies and trusts. The amendment follows a petition by the Haryana Progressive Schools Conference in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the state’s move to requisition teachers from private unaided schools. Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and AISA’s Neha Bora were detained on Friday even as thousands of people, holding Tricolours, banners and raising slogans, held a march to Connaught Place circling around the Central Park amid a thick security blanket. The was the latest in a series of protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities. Dipke and Bora were detained while on their way to join the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga (unfurl the Tricolour)’ gathering called by the CJP Dipke was de. tained from NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande’s house in Jhandewalan while Bora was at Mandi House. Dipke was taken to Jafarpur Kalan police station after being detained. Hundreds of CJP supporters and members of student organisations, including those from AISA, AISF (All India Students’ Federation), and SFI (Students’ Federation of India), held a series of flash protests in CP and Mandi House in the evening. At one such march at around 6 pm, the protesters walked through the inner circle of CP, around the Central Park — which remained closed and protected by paramilitary forces. While the rally held a large Tricolor, several of its members carried Student groups & CJP supporters with Tricolour as security forces look on in Delhi on Friday | Parveen negi smaller national flags, banners and placards as they raised slogans against Kumar. Security personnel cordoned off the park, forming a human chain along its metal railings. Just before the CJP protest at 5 pm, people gathered between Palika Market and the Central Park, as over 6,000 Delhi Police personnel, 220 companies of Central Armed Police Forces conducted flag marches and manned Metro station gates. Security ar rang ements around CP, Rajiv Chowk, Central Park, Jantar Mantar, Palika Bazaar, nearby Metro stations and other sensitive locations in Lutyens’ Delhi were tight, with additional personnel being mobilised from other districts to prevent any law and order situation. The forces also monitored the crowd through an expanded CCTV network. Teargas and Vajra vehicles were stationed outside the park, while Rapid Action Force personnel did the rounds. Traffic police were deployed to regulate movement along the inner and outer circles of CP . CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke (top) and AISA’s Neha Bora being detained on the way to the rally on Friday | PTI 6K police, 200 CAPF companies About 6,000 Delhi police personnel and 220 companies of CAPF were deployed in and around Lutyens’ Delhi while additional forces were mobilised from other districts No US levy seen on Russian buy P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi THE US is unlikely to penalise India under the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which authorises President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil and gas, official sources said on Thursday . Asserting that the government is confident that India will remain protected from US sanctions, sources pointed out that New Delhi has clearly communicated to Washington India’s position. “From what we sense, the US government will not put sanctions on India. We have been in touch with the US team and India’s standpoint has already been conveyed regarding the challenges that could arise because of that,” a government official said. The clarification came a day after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Trump would soon decide on the sanctions under the new law. He also indicated the Trump administration was likely to adopt a pragmatic approach towards India rather than demand an immediate halt to its purchases of Russian energy . Indian officials pointed out that the country had previously avoided US sanctions despite purchasing the S-400 Triumf missile defence system from Russia under a deal worth more than $5 billion. EXPRESS READ ED summons Pinarayi for questioning Kochi: The ED on Friday issued a summons to former CM Pinarayi Vijayan for interrogation in CMRL-Exalogic money laundering case, directing him to appear at the agency’s office in Kochi on October 23. Meanwhile, Pinarayi and his family members have moved petitions before the SC challenging the HC’s order directing registration of FIR against them. P4 Court ruling on ‘Khula’ Woman told to return gold to ex-husband S hyam P V @ Palakkad In a rare ruling concerning ‘khula’, a form of divorce initiated by a woman under the Muslim Personal Law, a family court in Palakkad has ordered a woman to return 11 sovereigns of gold ornaments to her former husband, including the mahar and gifts given to her at the time of their marriage in 2008. The Ottapalam Family Court directed the woman, a native of Thiru- vegappura, to return the five sovereigns of gold received as wedding gifts and six sovereigns of gold ornaments (mahr) given by her husband at the time of marriage within 30 days of the judgment. It also ordered that the amount could be recovered from her prope r t y i n t h e e ve n t o f n o n compliance. As per the Muslim Personal Law, while talaq is a divorce initiated by a man and takes effect by pronounc- ing the word ‘talaq’ to his wife in the presence of the witnesses, khula is a divorce initiated by the wife upon return of mahr or any other conditions as may be prescribed. “While khula is practised by women to get divorce from husband, this is a rare instance where a man approached the court to get back the mahr and other valuables gifted by him at the time of marriage,” said advocate Shahul Hameed P T, who appeared for petitioner.  ● More on P4