TIRUNELVELI l saturday l november 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION After Massive global outage, microsoft restoring services Microsoft said on Friday it was working to get back its services amid an outage that disrupted public services and businesses globally elevated load caused it, says tech co The outage, which hit several Microsoft products, disrupted health care services, delayed corporate earnings reports and left schools struggling to communicate. A top UK trade union said the disruptions were having a “serious impact” on the country’s health care service. Microsoft attributed the disruption to “elevated load” on its technology infrastructure ■ 43 crore indigo, akasa air email services hit ■ In India, airline IndiGo said its email support services were impacted, while Akasa Air said its email services were experiencing delays. Air India said its flight operations remained unaffected Microsoft said it did not have any indication that the global outage was caused by any kind of malicious activity or threat actors people globally use services of microsoft on a daily basis 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 TN plans drone corridors to boost local production Bi n ita J a i s w a l @ Chennai Tamil Nadu plans to establish special commercial drone corridors in 10 districts where activities such as drone-based goods delivery, agricultural spraying, construction monitoring, and disaster management operations would be permitted without prior police clearance. The initiative, outlined in the Higher Education department’s vision document of the TVK government, aims to expand the commercial use of drones while creating a market for locally manufactured products. Higher Education Secretary Dheeraj Kumar said that the programme would be implemented with support from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco), which comes under the Industries department. Within the proposed corridors, drone operators will be able to freely undertake activities such as delivering goods, spraying fertilisers and pesticides on agricultural fields, monitoring construction projects, and carrying out disaster management operations. A key feature of the proposal is the mandatory use of locally manufactured drones for police surveillance and agricultural purposes. By setting up designated corridors and easing procedural requirements for specified commercial operations, the state aims to encourage the adoption of drone technology across sectors.  P5 Delhi corners Dhaka with water diplomacy India plans to let Ganga Water Sharing Treaty expire, but will release water as goodwill gesture 54 J I T E N D R A C HO U B E Y @ New Delhi the Centre plans to let the India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Sharing Treaty expire when the 30-year pact concludes next month. However, water sharing will continue for now as per existing terms, officials aware of the matter told this paper. India intends to demonstrate goodwill by maintaining the same volume of water allocation to Bangladesh as per the existing treaty even after its lapse. The water card is apparently a diplomatic tool to enhance bilateral relations. The treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 to govern the sharing of Ganga water between India and Bangladesh, particularly around the Farakka Barrage during the lean season. The agreement was scheduled to be renewed with mutual consent after 30 years. Sources said the Centre wants to renegotiate the terms to obtain additional water to meet India’s developmental initiatives. These include supporting operations at Kolkata’s Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, meeting the water requirements for NTPC’s thermal power plant, and addressing salinity issues in the Sundarbans and other regions. The current arrangement stipulates that each country receive 35,000 cusecs of water alternately for 10 days during the lean season, which runs from March 11 rivers flow into Bangladesh from India. A few of them are governed by bilateral treaties 35,000 cusecs for 10 days each during lean season is the current bilateral arrangement 5,000 cusecs additional water sought in lean season to maintain India’s port, NTPC to May 11. ty was hurting their states’ interIndia needs 40,000 cusecs of ests, also attended the meeting. water to keep its developmental “We need at least 5,000 cusecs work on at the Kolkata port. In extra water to flush out sedithis context, the Central Water ments at Kolkata Port in the lean Commission presented the tech- season and also to stop saline innical details to the Ministry of trusion in Sundarban deltas and External Affairs last month. adjoining agricultural suitable “ We were areas,” said the asked to give all official. press technical details Taking a dig at clusive Bangladesh’s poa n d p re s e n t ations associated litical confrontawith the Treaty tion with India, and how India can get more wa- an MEA official said: “On any ter during the lean season,” said treaty made in good faith, it is the an official. Officials of West Ben- duty of the lower riparian state gal and Bihar governments, to respect the upper riparian which complained that the trea- state to maintain that faith.” Earlier, India set up a panel to examine the restoration and future management of the Teesta Barrage Project in West Bengal. This move came amid growing Chinese involvement in Bangladesh’s plans for the Teesta river. An estimated 54 transboundary rivers flow into Bangladesh from India. Experts see the need for multiple treaties to govern these rivers. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina claims she wants to return home in December. New Delhi may use the water treaty as leverage to negotiate the proper handling of Hasina, who is known for a proIndia approach. AI-generated layout plans in applications US promises India trade will attract penalties, warns TNRERA tariff edge over rivals Vi v a n e s h Pa rt h i b a n @ Tiruchy Some library books had facts that existed only on paper. Some real estate layouts now have roads that exist only in pixels. Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) chairperson K Phanindra Reddy on Friday flagged instances of promoters and developers allegedly using AI-generated images to falsely portray infrastructure – such as roads, streetlights, underground drainage systems, and playgrounds – as completed in residential layouts. He raised the issue during an awareness session organised in association with the CREDAI Tiruchy chapter. Speaking to TNIE, Reddy said the authority had detected such express read Surgical needle left in woman for 12 yrs Chennai: The Madras High Court has ordered the TN Medical Council to conduct an inquiry into a woman’s complaint over a surgical needle left in her abdomen after a C-section and tubectomy for 12 years | P2 Parental job moves hit kids’ schooling Vellore: Many children from Kurumalai tribal hamlet lose out on five months of classes as parents migrate to Kerala for work. If there were local jobs or an extra hostel, parents say this could be prevented | P2 AI-generated pic malpractice in applications submitted through its online portal. “Nearly 5%-10% of the images uploaded in applications are found to be AI-generated,” Reddy said, adding that the malpractice was noticed particularly in layout applications across cities in Tamil Nadu. The authority had penalised a few applicants for such violations in the past month, he said. “Earlier, promoters resorted to photoshopping images to make their projects appear more developed, but the use of AI has taken such manipulation to another level, making it harder to distinguish genuine site conditions from fabricated visuals,” Reddy said. Reddy has warned that promoters and certified engineers involved could face penalties, with engineers risking losing their licences. the authority has deployed a team, including field-level staff, to verify infrastructure claims before granting project registration that allows the projects to be marketed and sold. P5 P U SHP I TA D E Y @ New Delhi THE US has promised to give India a comparative tariff advantage over its competitors under the proposed trade deal, a senior official said on Friday The legal . text of the agreement will include safeguards to ensure that the US cannot impose additional tariffs beyond its commitments once the deal is concluded, the official added. The US team visited India in the first week of November for discussions. India’s major competitors include Vietnam, Bangladesh and Brazil, with which the US is actively engaged in tariff discussions and trade negotiations. Vietnam currently faces 12.5% general duties on its exports to the US under Section 301, while Bangladesh faces a 10% duty. Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 grants the Office of the United States Trade Representative the authority to take retaliatory action against foreign gover nment policies or practices that violate US trade agreements. India and the US have been negotiating the trade deal since it was announced in February 2026. During the negotiations, the US imposed an additional 10% ad valorem import duty on Indian goods under Section 301, effective July 24, 2026. The final tariff framework will depend on the outcome of the ongoing Section 301 investigation. ‘Taxpayers fund stats body with little oversight’ Preet h a N a ir @ New Delhi Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, on Friday backed the Centre’s proposed overhaul of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Bill on grounds that the premier institution relies on taxpayer funding but its governance rests with a 1,200-member society with little public oversight. However, Opposition members, including Congress MP P Chidambaram and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy strongly opposed the overhaul at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, sources said. Introduced in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session, the bill was sent to the standing committee after objections from the Opposition and the academic community alleging it would undermine the ISI’s autonomy , . In his submission, according to sources, Sanyal told the panel only five of the institute’s 33 council members are from the govWhat is the ISI ernment, adding that the institute bill about? is audited by an approved auditor The Indian and had no direct oversight by the Statistical Institute Comptroller and Auditor General. Bill, 2026, seeks to “Two review committees have replace the ISI Act of pointed out that a Council with 33 1959 and convert members is too large. The second the Kolkata-based review committee (1983) proposed institute, founded in 12 and the fourth review committee 1931, from a (2021) proposed 19. Both asked for a registered society majority of external members in into a body order to avoid conflict of interest corporate, with the and ensure independent oversight. President as Visitor. Peer bodies like IITs have around The bill was brought nine members while IIMs and IISto the LS in the ERs have 11 members. A worrying Monsoon session sign is the recent drop in NIRF ranking,” sources quoted him as saying. Sanyal said leaving decisions on reform to a management elected by serving faculty or to the society’s general body risked a conflict of interest. Roy said repealing the ISI Act, 1959 and converting the institute into a statutory body corporate would concentrate power in the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Chidambaram and Roy also objected to replacement of the 33-member Council, which includes elected representatives of teaching and nonteaching staff, with an 11-member Board of Governors (BoG). Former NITI Aayog vice-chairperson Suman Bery told the panel the bill gives the proposed BoG excessive powers, which could make it harder for the ISI to attract and retain a top director. He said this could affect efforts to bring talent back to India from overseas. HC raps TN authorities for not clearing footpaths Tiger waste on human bodies angers activists Handling of cubs E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Chennai b o s k y k h a n n a @ Bengaluru The Madras High Court has criticised authorities across various government departments and agencies, including the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department and municipal corporations, for not taking effective measures to clear the encroachments on footpaths and pavements to ensure unobstructed movement for pedestrians and road users. A division bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and R Rajesh Vivekananthan made the remarks while hearing a petition, filed by Saju Alex of Chennai, seeking the removal of encroachments on the pavements at Ellaiyamman Colony in Teynampet. SOMEWHERE in a forest, a bureaucratic rulebook imagines a forester in a tiger mask and striped work robes, doused in big-cat urine and faeces, moving towards an orphaned cub. Conservationists say the picture is less wildlife science and more indignity . The instruction comes from the National Tiger Conservation Authority under the Union Min, istry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change. Its ‘standard operating procedure’ for handling orphaned or abandoned cubs and old, injured tigers in rewilding (rehabilitation) centres says handlers must wear a tiger mask and striped clothing “smeared with tiger urine and faeces” to mini- Encroachments on footpath | File pic “Though the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court and the high court has time and again reiterated the fundamental rights of citizens... the authorities have been turning a deaf ear to ensuring the rights and … redressing the grievance of pedestrians, road users, motorists, etc.,” the bench said in a recent order.  P5 Stiff opposition The Karnataka forest department had proposed to create one rewilding centre in Bhadra Tiger Reserve, but the plan was dropped following opposition from locals. The forest department is now scouting for another location mise human imprinting “to the extent possible”. Wildlife experts called the directive ‘inhuman’. The row has sharpened because Karnataka has approved its first rewilding centre. Critics say if the rule is in force at Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha Tiger Reserve, home to the first rewilding centre, it must stop. Some conservationists said they will approach courts if it is enforced. Fo r m e r s t at e wildlife board member S Girijashankar wrote to Karnataka Forest, Environment & Ecolog y Minister Ramalinga Reddy stating that , tigers rely on highly sophisticated olfactory au, ditory and cognitive cues and cannot be fooled by a human disguise. He said the inhuman process in the SOP must be stopped. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Bishwajit Mishra said the SOP contains many rules, and not all of it can be followed. The smearing rule is not followed at any rescue centre, he said.