ai enhance image chennai l saturday l october 17, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION elon Musk unveils Tesla’s ‘flying’ car adept at barrel roll During a livestreamed event at SpaceX facility, Musk revealed his new Roadster car with cold gas thrusters and a multi-mode suction system 0-96 kmph in less than a second! production won’t begin till 2028 “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 (96.6 km) an hour in less than a second. The launch came after years of delays around the Roadster — and Tesla shares climbed up slightly in early trade ■ ■ Musk said production for consumers won’t begin until 2028. Tesla also didn’t immediately set a price tag on its latest electric vehicle There are ample regulatory hurdles for flying vehicles across the globe. The fine print of the Roadster’s “rocket” feature on Tesla’s website notes: “Not approved for public road use” $1.1 billion is net income of tesla in the second quarter of this financial year 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 No US levy seen on Russian buy P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi Student groups & CJP supporters with Tricolour as security forces look on, in Delhi on Friday | Parveen negi Pvt teachers can be roped in as Census enumerators e x press ne w s servi c e Flags of dissent amid Dipke, Bora detention Both were on their way to Tiranga rally at Connaught Place @ 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. It argued that the government lacked statutory authority under the Census Act, 1948, or the rules framed under it, to requisition teaching staff from private unaided schools for census work. The HC on October 8 stayed two Haryana government communications seeking details of available teachers. U D AYA N K I S H O R E & A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi 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. This 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 2025-26 EC filings Lottery firm gave `260 cr to DMK and AIADMK EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai A Kolkata-based lottery firm donated `260 crore to the DMK and the AIADMK in 2025-26, more than double its contributions to the parties the previous financial year, according to the disclosures submitted to the Election Commission (EC). The firm accounted for nearly 74% of the combined contributions of `352.55 crore reported by the two parties in 2025-26, highlighting the extent to which their political funding was concentrated in the hands of a single donor. Tiger Associates’ combined donations to the two parties rose from `110 crore in 2024-25 to `260 crore in 2025-26. Of the `260 crore Tiger Associates donated in 2025-26, `135 crore went to the AIADMK in six transfers and `125 crore to the DMK in 14 instalments. Tiger Associates’ donation to the AIADMK made up 83.7% of the total contributions of `161.36 crore reported in 2025-26. Its `125-crore contribution accounted for 65.4% of the DMK’s reported total contributions of `191.19 crore.  P7 the inner circle of CP, around the Central Park — which remained closed and protected by paramilitary forces. While the rally held a large Tricolour, several of its members carried 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 ‘Where are Abhijeet and Neha?’ CJP and AISA late Friday questioned the whereabouts of their leaders Abhijeet Dipke and Neha Bora, alleging the two were being denied access to lawyers after their detention TN challenges HC relief to accused in Kavin case S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Tamil Nadu government on Friday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Madras High Court’s September order quashing charge sheet against two accused in the case over the ‘honour killing’ of techie Kavin Selvaganesh in Tirunelveli in 2025. The appeal stated that the high court had failed to appreciate that ‘honour killings’ involve a collective family decision, and that charges cannot be quashed merely because weapons were not recovered from particular accused. The state has challenged the September 29 order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC, which quashed the charge sheet against K Saravanan and S Krishnakumari – suspended sub-inspectors and parents of the prime accused, S Surjith. The top court is likely to take up the matter soon. A source in the Registry told TNIE that the matter is very sensitive and therefore the court will take an urgent call on this. P7 IN a rare ruling on khula, a form of divorce initiated by a woman under the Muslim Personal Law, a family court in Kerala has ordered a woman to return 11 sovereigns (88 gm) of gold ornaments to her former husband, including the mahr and gifts received by her at the time of their marriage in 2008. The Ottapalam family court directed the woman to return five sovereigns of gold received as wedding gifts and six sover- Hameed P T, who appeared for the petitioner. The case began in 2021 after the woman, following a breakdown of the marital relationship in 2019, invoked her right to seek separation through khula and issued a notice dissolving the marriage with her husband. Though the husband accepted divorce through khula, the woman did not return the mahr. He subsequently approached the family court. 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. Youth under treatment at de-addiction centre killed Court tells woman to return gold, gift to ex eigns of jewellery (mahr) given by her husband, within 30 days of the judgment. It also ordered that the amount could be recovered from her property in the event of noncompliance. “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. The court has passed the verdict in the man’s favour,” said advocate Shahul External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on October 20 during the latter’s visit to Mumbai, MEA said. Jaishankar will also attend the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Independence of the US as a Guest of Honour “Even previously, there was a threat of US sanctions when India bought Russian weapons a few years ago, but we didn’t get sanctions for buying the S-400 Triumf missile system. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) doesn’t say that just because it has been signed by the President, the US government needs to apply it,” another official said. CAATSA is a US federal law that provides for sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea. Although India has longstanding commercial and defence ties with Russia, the application of sanctions depends on the relevant legal provisions and decisions by the US administration. The US House of Representatives passed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in September, giving Trump broad powers to impose sanctions on Russia and tariffs of up to 100% on countries purchasing Russian oil. E x p r e s s Re a d Rare ruling on ‘Khula’ S H YA M P V @ Palakkad 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 Talks with Rubio on Oct 20 Talaq vs Khula While talaq is a divorce initiated by the husband and takes effect by pronouncing the word talaq to his wife in the presence of witnesses, khula is a divorce initiated by the wife upon the return of mahr TVK man among 4 held for smuggling meth worth crores Female jumbo that died had anthrax infection Chennai: A 21-year-old man undergoing treatment for drug addiction at a private de-addiction centre in Sri Chakra Nagar was killed by two of its security guards on Thursday evening. Police said the man allegedly passed derogatory remarks about the staff persons and their families, which enraged them | P2 Nagapattinam: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence detained four men on Friday, including a TVK functionary from Nagapattinam, for allegedly smuggling meth from the district into Sri Lanka, sources said. Citing the incident allegedly involving several crores of rupees, TVK expelled the functionary from the party | P5 Coimbatore: The forest department on Friday confirmed that the female elephant, which was recently found dead in Periyanaickenpalayam Forest Range, had died due to anthrax infection. The carcass was earlier incinerated under the supervision of the Assistant Conservator of Forests’ (Coimbatore) | P2