Kohli is Master of ceremony at Kotla Delirious fans screamed in excitement at the mere mention of his name as Virat Kohli’s unmatched aura dominated Ranji Trophy between Delhi & Railways. The DDCA opened the 6,000capacity ‘Gautam Gambhir Stand’ first but sensing that the crowd situation could go out of hand, they openned the 11,000-capacity ‘Bishan Singh Bedi Stand’ | P11 TIRUCHY l friday l january 31, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION 67 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 killed in copter-jet mid-air crash Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Black Hawk Intended route Potomac river American Eagle 5342 Rescuers look for survivors near the wreckage site in Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia on Thursday | AP Agencies ALL 64 people aboard an American Airlines aircraft that collided with an Army helicopter are feared dead in what appears to be the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2009, officials said Thursday . At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night when the helicopter, a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, flew in the path of the aircraft as it was preparing to land at the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. Rescuers said they did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years. “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly the fire chief in the , nation’s capital. “We don’t be- lieve there are any survivors.” The plane was found upside-down in three sections of the Potomac in waist-deep water. The chopper was carrying three army soldiers. There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the aircraft coming from Wichita, Kansas, with U.S. and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path. Passengers on Wednesday’s flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members returning from a camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. Two of those coaches were identified as Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships, and competed twice in the Olympics. P9 Pollution of Palar river: SC directs TN to compensate affected persons, set up panel S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday passed a slew of directions, including compensation to the aggrieved, to mitigate severe pollution in Palar river in Vellore district due to discharge of untreated effluents from local tanneries. “The tanneries, by discharging untreated or partially treated effluents (waste) into the Palar river and surrounding areas, have resulted in irreversible damage and envi- ronmental degradation to the water bodies, groundwater and agricultural lands. These have caused health hazards to people,” the SC said. The apex court directed the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a committee headed by a retired high court judge to assess and remediate the ecological damage in Vellore, known as the leather hub of India. A division bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan directed the state government, in consultation with the central government, to constitute the committee within four weeks, which will also have members comprising secretaries of state and central departments, besides environmental experts, representatives of the affected communities and any other person deemed fit for conducting an audit to create and maintain a healthy environment in Vellore.  P5 AD-HOC JUDGES TO CLEAR BACKLOG OF CASES Considering a backlog of over 18 lakh criminal cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the high courts to appoint retired judges on ad-hoc basis for 2-3 yrs | P7 Don’t rush ‘1 poll’ Irdai puts 10% cap on hike in plan, says JD(U) premiums for at all-party meet senior citizens Health insurance Stormy Parliament session to begin today P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi At an all-party meeting convened by the BJPled NDA government on the eve of the Budget session of Parliament, key ally Janata Dal (United) flagged its concerns over the Centre’s ambitious ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, saying it should not be ‘rushed through’ since it required wider consultations. The meeting was chaired by Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju, J P Nadda, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and L Murugan. Significantly, the JD(U) led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has always supported the idea of ‘one-nation-one-election’. In its memorandum submitted to the high-level committee last year, it said simultaneous elections are important to strengthen the architecture of good governance. The JD(U) added that it will reduce the financial burden associated with the frequent elections, as campaigning, logistics and security measures would be consolidated. The ‘One Nation, One Election Bill’ introduced during the Winter Session of Parliament, has been sent to a 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for scrutiny . Raising the issue at the meeting, JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said the gover nment shouldn’t be in a hurry to implement the bill, which proposes simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It must hold wider consultations, said Jha. Besides, NDA allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and JD (U) joined Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi in questioning the seating arrangement in the Lok Sabha. The allies claimed it was decided without consulting the MPs. During the last winter session of Parliament, TDP member Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy had openly expressed unhappiness over his seat allocation. raps new UGC rules Last week, the JD (U) had differed with the new UGC draft regulations saying it would limit the role of an elected state govt in the appointment of Vice Chancellors and also in the field of higher education Oppn’s demands The Opposition intends to corner the government on the proposed Waqf (Amend) Bill, the Maha Kumbh stampede, new UGC draft norms, the downward trend in the economy and other issues D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi IN a bid to protect senior citizens—the most vulnerable age group with limited income sources—from steep hikes in health insurance premiums, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on Thursday capped the annual increase on such premiums at 10%. In its order, the regulator said insurance firms must consult it before proposing any increase that goes above 10%, adding that IRDAI must be duly informed in case of withdrawal of individual health insurance products offered to senior citizens. IRDAI’s move comes in the wake of widespread complaints of arbitrary increase in premiums as well as rejection of claims by senior citizens. The regulator also took note of the fact that health insurance premium is dependent on claims outgo, which in turn depends on amount charged by hospitals for various treatments and procedures. It further noted that unlike in case of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), there are no centralised negotiations of charges with hospitals. In this context, it instructed health insurers to take necessary steps for common empanelment of hospitals and negotiate package rates in line with the PMJAY scheme.