hyderabad l friday l september 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 38 l late city EDITION Armani, who built $10 billion global fashion empire, dies Giorgio Armani 11 July 1934 - 4 sept 2025 A favourite of many hollywood a-listers Armani’s fashion empire spanned clothing, accessories, perfumes, home furnishings, cosmetics, books, chocolates, and more. His designs graced over 200 films and became a red carpet staple, dressing stars like Anne Hathaway, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Jodie Foster. Recently, his health made headlines after he missed Milan Fashion Week in June Italian designer Giorgio Armani, one of the most iconic names in the contemporary fashion, died at his home on Thursday at the age of 91 ■ 50 his designs Redefined elegance ■ In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold their car for $10,000 to launch their own menswear ready-to-wear label The first breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the creation of the liningless sports jacket, embodying his vision of relaxed, understated elegance. It was an immediate success in the West | P11 years since Armani founded his fashion empire 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 NIRF RANKING 2025 IIT-Madras retains best tech college title for 10th yr Peace deal done with Kuki-Zos After over 2 years, NH-2 to be opened for the free movement of commuters and essential goods Express News Service @ New Delhi Terms of agreement The Kuki National Organisation and United People’s Front agreed to 1 Relocate 7 designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict 2 3 4 Reduce the number of designated camps Relocate the weapons with nearest CRPF/BSF camps Stringent physical verification of cadres by security forces to de-list foreign nationals, if any Bhatti seeks `5,018 crore flood relief for Telangana Express News Service @ Hyderabad Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the recent floods a national calamity, pointing out that the situation has affected not just Telangana but also neighbouring states. He requested a special flood relief grant for Telangana and sought the Union government’s Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to assess damages. Stating that the recent rains and floods had caused losses worth `5,018.72 crore in Telangana alone, the deputy chief minister who was accompanied by Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao, asked Amit Shah to visit the affected districts. During the meeting, Vikramarka said 22 deaths had been reported so far during the 2025 monsoon, while enumeration of losses to cattle, milch animals and houses was still under way. Largescale damage was reported in Kamareddy, Medak and Nirmal districts. Refer ring to last year’s floods in Khammam and adjoining areas, Vikramarka said the state had submitted detailed estimates of 11,713.49 crore but did not receive any allocation against this memorandum, except `700 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). He urged the Union government to release a total of `16,732.21 crore, which includes both last year’s pending request and this year’s assessment. Flood damages (initial estimates) IIT-H at 12th overall, NALSAR 3rd in law Hyderabad: IIT-Hyderabad secured the 12th rank overall and sixth in the ‘Innovation’ category in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, released by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi on Thursday. NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, ranked third in the Law category | P2 forcement of ground rules, the statement said, adding violations will be dealt with firmly, including review of the SoO pact. The Kuki-Zo council, an umbrella group of Kuki-Zo groups, is yet to issue a formal statement. Since May 3, 2023, after ethnic clashes broke out, the state has been divided on ethnic lines with Meiteis restricted to the valley districts and Kuki-Zo people in the hills. The first tripartite SoO agreement was signed in August 2008 and renewed every year till February 28, 2024, when the renewal was kept in abeyance following allegations that the insurgent group was indulging in ethnic clashes and providing training to village defence volunteers, a charge the groups denied. While former chief minister Biren Singh and his MLAs wanted the SoO agreement cancelled, Kuki-Zo groups and their legislators requested the Centre to renew the pact. Roads (R&B) Power installations Crop loss Irrigation (tanks) PR & Rural Devpt Medical & Health Animal Husbandry Municipal Administration Immediate repair funds sought Other departments/ public properties Housing Women & Child Welfare Total INSIDE `785.59 cr `40.75 cr `236 cr `655.7 cr `377.43 cr `14.84 cr `10 cr `1,025 cr `1,500 cr `300 cr `25 cr Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka with Union Home Minister Amit `23.43 cr `5,018.72 cr Shah in Delhi on Thursday Rice worth crores rots in godowns in state I P2 Talks with GE for 113 F404 aero engines over, pact to be signed by September-end CM hands over relief to flood-hit E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kamareddy Asserting that Kamareddy would be given priority on the lines of Kodangal, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said that Indiramma houses would be allotted to families that lost homes due to the record rainfall in the district. During his tour of flood-hit areas in Kamareddy and Yellareddy constituencies, the CM distributed compensation of `5 lakh each to the families of those who died in the floods. He also announced support for farmers who lost livestock and assistance to households that were submerged. He instructed that schoolbooks for students of private schools be replaced using district administration funds and asked officials to draw on CSR support from local industries.  Continued on P4 Senior citizen creates commotion in HC I P4 (EAGLE) for allegedly ‘glorifying’ narcotics. EAGLE says that the movie trailer is centred around the cultivation and consumption of ganja and does not even contain a disclaimer | P3 More power to Tejas 1 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy hands over compensation cheques to the families of flood victims in Kamareddy on Thursday. ‘ghaati’ anti-drugs unit makers on the radar of 2 They are for additional Tejas Mark1As. Govt approved procuring 97 Mk1As in August File Photo The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has retained the top slot in the overall category of rankings in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025 for the seventh straight year. At the second and third positions in the ‘overall’ rankings are IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay IIT Delhi has secured . the fourth position. The rankings, released by Union education minister Dhar mendra Pradhan on Thursday, ranked IIT Madras as the best in engineering, innovation, and the newly introduced sustainable development goals categories. This is the 10th consecutive year that IIT-M has been ranked the best engineering institute in the country . Among universities, IISc Bengaluru bagged the top spot, while the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Manipal Academy of Higher Education secured the second and the third positions, respectively Karna. taka-based Manipal Academy of Higher Education is also the first private institution to feature in the top three of the NIRF rankings. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, has been ranked the best law college in India. The National Law University, Delhi, and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, have retained the second and third spots, respectively . In the management institution category IIM Ahmedabad , has come on top, while IIM Bangalore has been ranked the second best. The best institution for medical education, according to the ranking, is AIIMS Delhi. talks with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups to renegotiate the terms In a major breakthrough ahead and conditions of the SoO. of Prime Minister Narendra MoAs per the tripartite SoO agreedi’s proposed visit to Manipur, ment signed by the Centre, Mathe Union Ministry of Home Af- nipur government and Kuki-Zo fairs (MHA) on Thursday arrived groups on Thursday, the territoat an agreement with the Kuki-Zo rial integrity of Manipur will be insurgent groups to renew the maintained. “The parties under Suspension of Operations (SoO). the pact agree for relocation of 7 It also persuaded them to open designated camps of militants National Highway-2 that was away from areas vulnerable blocked for Meitei people for to conflict in Manipur and PM’s the last two years since the also agree for a negotiated ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur solution to bring lasting the state on May 3, 2023. peace, stability to Mavisit In an official statement, nipur,” the Union home the government said the deministry said. cisions came after a series of The Kuki-Zo Council decidmeetings between officials of the ed to open National Highway-2, MHA and a delegation of the Ku- which passes through Manipur, ki-Zo Council (KZC) over the past for free movement of commuters, few days here. Kuki National Or- essential goods, the statement ganisation (KNO) spokesperson said, adding the Council has comSeilen Haokip confirmed to me- mitted to cooperate with security dia persons that the agreement forces to maintain peace along had been signed. the National Highway . Over the last two years, the A Joint Monitoring Group will MHA had been regularly holding henceforth closely monitor enMU K ESH R A N J A N @ New Delhi A couple of LCA MK1s would be delivered to the Indian Air Force in October this year 3 Another deal for GE engines soon M AYA N K SINGH @ New Delhi India intends to soon sign a contract with American giant General Electric to procure 113 F404 aero engines for the advanced version of the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark1A. The deal is in addition to a previous one for F404s for which supplies are on, though there was some hiccup attributed to supply chain issues. Sources in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said that “negotiations with GE has been completed and the contract will be signed at the end of this month.” In August, the Cabinet Committee on Security gave its approval for 97 LCA Mk1A jets to be manufactured by HAL at a cost of around `67,000 crore. Meanwhile, a couple of LCA MK1s would be delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in October this year, another source in the HAL said. “Ten aircraft have already been built and are being tested. The first delivery will take place in October, with one aircraft from Nashik already ready for handover,” he said. The Mk1A has completed weapons integration trials, including the firing of Astra and ASRAM missiles. Besides the F404s, India has already procured 10 F414 engines from GE, sources said. They will be used to develop prototypes of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighters (TEDBF) for the Navy . As for Tejas Mk2, it is scheduled to be rolled out in 2027, while 83 Mk1A fighters are expected by 2029. The Mk1A is expected to play an important role in mitigating the decrease in combat jets and the overall drop in the combat squadrons. This month, the MiG 21 squadron (23 Squadron) will be retired, bringing the current count of fighter squadrons below 30. The IAF has a sanctioned strength of 42 combat squadrons. A squadron comprises 16-18 aircraft. Putin raps Don’s colonial tactics against India Express News Service @ New Delhi Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharply criticised US President Donald Trump for employing what he described as “colonial-era” pressure tactics against global powers like India and China. Speaking to the media in Beijing on Wednesday, where he was attending China’s Victory Day parade, Putin took aim at Trump’s aggressive economic policies, warning that such an approach undermines diplomacy with sovereign nations. “Powerful economies” like India and China, with heavy populations, have their domestic political mechanism and laws,” Putin said, stressVladimir Putin ing that these countries are not to be treated as subordinates. “When somebody tells you, they are going to punish you, you have to think about the leadership of those countries, those big countries, which have difficult periods of their history too, will react.” “You have to understand that if one of them shows weakness, his political career will be over, so that influences his behaviour,” Putin added. “The colonial era is over. They have to realise they cannot use this term when speaking with their partners,” he said, criticising Trump’s approach and his apparent lack of understanding.