NAGAPATTINAM l saturday l september 13, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION sc: firecracker ban can’t be applicable for delhi-ncr only The Supreme Court on Thursday said if clean air was a right for “elite” residents of the capital, the same must extend to citizens across the country same rule should be used for pan-india eye on air quality commission report A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing pleas on regulation of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. “If NCR is entitled for clean air, why not people of other cities?... I was in Amritsar last winter and pollution there was worse than in Delhi. If firecrackers are to be banned, they should be banned throughout India,” the CJI said ■ ■ The two-judge bench asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to get a detailed report on the issue from the Commission for Air Quality Management The bench remarked that there would be status quo with regard to the cancellation of firecrackers’ licences by the authorities Sept 22 is when the matter will be heard next by the supreme court 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 Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice’s demand to dissolve Nepal’s parliament accepted Gen Z pick Sushila Karki sworn in as interim PM N epal has made his- pose decades of corruption. tory once again. The Born on 7 June 1952 in Biratcountry’s first female nagar, Karki is no stranger to Chief Justice, Sushi- challenges. She became Nepal’s la Karki, has now be- first female Chief Justice in come its first female July 2016 and served until June Prime Minister. She 2017. During her tenure, she was sworn in by President Ram faced a no-confidence motion Chandra Poudyal at his office, from the Nepali Congress but Sheetal Niwas, on Friday It fol- remained steadfast in her com. lowed the dissolution of the m i t m e n t t o j u s t i c e a n d elected government headed by transparency . K P Sharma Oli. Throughout her career, she Karki and the Gen Z protest- refused to bow to political presers had made it clear sure or corruption — that she would step in a reputation that only after Parliament made her the natural was dissolved — a dechoice to lead the mand that has now country through this been fulfilled. Former transitional period. PM Baburam BhattaThe Gen Z protest, rai and a clutch of dipwhich began on Seplomats, including from Namrata Sharma tember 8, quickly esIndia, China and the calated into a nationSenior journalist and US, attended the swearwide uprising. Streets ing-in event. The first women rights advocate. across Nepal saw cabinet is expected to Sharma can be reached at widespread vandalnamrata1964@yahoo.com meet later in the day . ism, with both public @NamrataSharmaP September 12, the and private property fifth day of the Gen Z damaged. Daily life protest, will be remembered as came to a standstill, hitting daia defining moment in Nepal’s ly wage earners particularly political history — a day when hard. In the process, the hidden the youth, united and resolute, wealth of top political leaders toppled a government, dis- was exposed. Reports of sacks solved parliament, and helped of cash found in the homes of elevate a woman known for her Nepali Congress president anti-corruption crusade to the Sher Bahadur Deuba and Forhighest executive office. eign Minister Arzoo Rana DeuThis unprecedented move- ba have shocked the nation. Enment inspired young people raged citizens — not just Gen Z globally, proving that when protesters — vandalised the youth unite, they can disman- residences of several accused tle entrenched regimes and ex- leaders.  Continued on: P7 Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel administers the oath of office to Sushila Karki as prime minister on Friday; and people celebrate outside the president’s residence | PTI/AP Snap polls in six months President Ramchandra Paudel said the new caretaker government is mandated to hold fresh parliamentary elections within six months Stalin flays centre’s move exempting mineral mining from public consultation consultations, has gone for an i m p e r m i s s i bl e e xe c u t ive amendment of a statute and is Chief Minister M K Stalin has unsustainable,” he said. urged Prime Minister NarenStalin warned that dispensdra Modi to immediately with- ing with such consultations draw the recent Office Memo- would deprive the coastal comrandum (OM), issued by the munities of their right to raise Union Ministry of Enviconcerns over livelironment, Forest and hood, displacement and Climate Change ecological damage due (MoEFCC), which exto mining and weaken empts the requirement the overall democratic of public consultation process. for mining projects inStalin pointed out volving atomic and strathat TN’s coastal distegic minerals notified tricts are endowed with CM Stalin in the Mines and Minerrare earth deposits, but als (Development and Regula- they are also among the most tion) Act. ecologically fragile regions. The CM has also pointed out The sandy beaches along the that the OM also directs that all Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, such projects be henceforth be he said, are critical habitats for exclusively appraised at the endangered turtles, coral reefs, central level, irrespective of mangroves and sand dunes, the lease area. “The present and act as barriers against eroOM, by dispensing with public sion and cyclones. P5 Express News Service @ Chennai The crane crashed through several vehicles at Kanniyakumari | express Big crane runs amok, kills 2 in Kanniyakumari Express News Service @ Kanniyakumari A huge crane ran over a 19-year-old college student and a biker standing on the road, killing them on the spot, after the driver of the vehicle lost control of it due to a suspected brake failure in Kanniyakumari on Friday evening. The deceased, identified as A Sabari, a catering college first-year student, and N Mohamed Shan (37), a TVK functionary were mowed down by , the vehicle on the main road near the Kanniyakumari railway station around 5pm. According to sources, the crane was coming from the Vivekanandapuram-Kanniyakumari road when the driver lost control and it crashed through several vehicles and injured a few onlookers before crushing the two victims to death. It finally hit a compound wall and came to a halt. Crane driver C Ganapathy (49) of Pottayadi, who was also injured in the accident, has been arrested for negligence. His blood samples have been sent for test to find out if he was under the influence of alcohol, police said.  P5 Married a revolutionary Karki is the eldest of seven siblings She grew up in a simple farming family in Biratnagar Karki married Durga Prasad Subedi, an erstwhile popular leader of Nepali Congress. They had met during her days at the BHU Subedi was a youth revolutionary member of Nepali Congress during the 1970s * He was part of the group that hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines aircraft to get INR 3 million to fund the party’s armed revolution against King Birendra Shah in 1973 The hijacked plane carrying Nepal Rastra Bank’s money landed at Forbesganj in India After retirement, Karki wrote two books, including ‘Nyay’, her biography Modi in Manipur today Yearning for justice, political solution on eve of PM’s visit Manipur’s Imphal and Churachandpur have been decked up with the posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit on Saturday—the PM’s first trip to the state since ethnic violence broke out two years ago. One of the posters put up overnight by the state government, captioned Viksit Bharat Viksit Manipur, says the PM will lay the foundation stone for development projects worth over `7,300 crore in Churachandpur and inaugurate projects of `1,200 crore in Imphal. Officials said the `8,500 crore worth of projects are for the entire state. On the ground, though, not many seem bothered about any development package. They are interested in other pressing issues — peace, normalcy, security, and resettlement. Ask anyone in Churach`71,850 crore worth andpur and they will say the projects in 5 states Kukis expect the PM to offer a political solution to their Apart from Manipur, the problem — a separate adPM will also visit Mizoram, ministration in the form of Assam, Bengal, and Bihar a Union Territory . from Sept 13-15, and will “We don’t consider it (deunveil projects worth a velopment package) as sometotal of `71,850 crore thing important. Separate administration is the people’s voice. We hope that the PM delivers justice,” said Kenedy Haokip, a Churachandpur-based civil society leader. There is subdued excitement about the PM’s visit but it is more among Kukis than Meiteis. Reason: it’s after 4 decades that a PM is visiting the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur. “Our foremost expectation is peace and a clear roadmap for the restoration of normalcy,” said Sonny Chungkham, an Imphal-based independent policy analyst. Robert Singh, also an internally-displaced person, is relying on the PM for resettlement. “Modi ji, please take us to our village,” said Singh, who had a drinking water plant in Moreh. “My life’s savings have got exhausted,” he added. TN gives nod to set up scrapping facilities to discard old vehicles NUTS AND BOLTS A SpiceJet Q400 aircraft carrying 75 passengers made a safe emergency landing in Mumbai on Friday after losing a wheel shortly after takeoff from Kandla airport in Gujarat. The aircraft landed at Mumbai airport’s Runway 27 at 3.51 pm with all passengers and crew safe, Mumbai airport operator MIAL said. Operations at the airport were briefly impacted. The flight departed at 2.38 pm against the scheduled time of 1.25 pm from Kandla and landed in Mumbai at 3.51 pm, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. “On September 12, an outer wheel of a SpiceJet Q400 aircraft operating from Kandla to Mumbai was found at the runway after take-off. The aircraft continued its journey to Mumbai and landed safely the air,” line said in a statement. There were 75 passengers onboard the Bombardier Q400 plane, which is used for operating regional flights, officials said. One of the officials said that one rear right wheel of the aircraft was missing. Without naming the airline, MIAL said an aircraft from Kandla made an emergency landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after a technical issue. “A full emergency was declared as a precaution. The aircraft landed safely on Runway 27, and all passengers and crew are safe. Normal operations resumed shortly after,” MIAL said. Only two months ago in July, a window frame of a SpiceJet aircraft to Pune from Goa came off mid-air. express read As per new norms, FCs for heavy vehicles over 15 years must be issued only through ATS SL pirates attack 12 Nagai fishers mid-sea Vehicle owners must apply for junking only via Vahan portal B ANBUSELVAN @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government has approved the implementation of the centre’s vehicle scrapping policy, paving the way for the establishment of registered vehicle scrapping facilities (RVSF) across the state. The Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety has invited applications from companies and individuals to set up these centres, in line with the union government’s directive that mandates the deregistration and scrapping of government vehicles older than 15 years. The maximum age limit for private and commercial vehicles is yet to be determined, and vehicles with valid emission certificates will be allowed express news service @ Mumbai P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Imphal press clusive Major scare as plane loses rear wheel, lands safely Nagapattinam: 12 fishers who set sail from Seruthur in three separate groups were attacked by suspected Lankan pirates. The fishermen alleged that they were robbed of over 220 kg of catch, gold chains and other valuables at knifepoint on Thursday TN has six lakh trucks, 40,000 school and college buses, and 7,000 private buses, all HVs to operate. The state government’s decision assumes significance as the union governm e n t h a s m a d e RV S F s mandatory for implementing its 2022 directive. As per the policy fitness cer, tificates (FC) for heavy vehicles over 15 years old must be issued only through automated testing stations (ATS). Heavy vehicles that fail the FC test at ATS are required to be scrapped at RVSFs. However, this directive is yet to be implemented in Tamil Nadu and several other states. The scrapping centres will serve as collection hubs for vehicles without valid fitness certificates. Apart from ensuring eco-friendly disposal, this initiative will also prevent vehicles older than 15 years from remaining in use. Vehicle owners must apply for condemnation through the Vahan portal, following which an authorised scrapping centre will be assigned. P5 SC tells Seeman to apologise to actress New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday suggested former film director and NTK leader Seeman to tender an unconditional apology to an actress who lodged a case against him in 2011, alleging rape on the false promise of marriage | P5 asia cup cricket At `12 L per 10 secs, India-Pakistan match tops advertisers’ bill S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Bengaluru THE Indian cricketing economy continues to remain recession proof. Post the ban on real money gaming, it was looking at a hole but it’s on course to pass its first big test — ad rates for the group-stage encounter between India and Pakistan on Sunday as well as selling all available ad slots for the said game. Over the last few years, advertisements around live coverage of cricket’s marquee properties were fronted by real money gaming firms. But their exit hasn’t affected the market. Media planners have told this daily that the broadcaster, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), have sold ‘all ad inventory for the India - Pakistan match’. Ad inventory is basically the total space made available by the broadcaster to the advertisers to purchase. It’s expected that ad rates for the Sunday encounter has been sold for well over `12 lakh for a 10 second slot. With there being the potential of two more matches between the rivals, the interest may only rise. Tickets still available for Sunday contest While the ad inventory might have been sold off, ticket sales for the India vs Pakistan clash to be played on Sunday do not reflect the same. Per platinumlist, the Asia Cup’s ticketing partner, tickets can still be bought with less than 48 hours to go. Only two classes of tickets have been sold and the premium seats were available at the time of press India captain Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan skipper Salman Agha | file pic It also kind of paints a picture as there has been intermittent calls of boycotting the game (some Indian brands did actively become part of this post the Pahalgam tragedy in April). But that hasn’t translated into reality as some big companies have come on board. “It’s all a question of visibility,” says Prahlad Kakkar, an advertising guru, whose commercials came to dominate the cricketing ad space in the nineties and naughts. “It’s worth to pay `20 lakh for a 10 second slot for a game between India and Pakistan be- cause everybody is watching it,” he says. “Even your personal cabbie will take time off to watch it. People watch it because it becomes more than a game in their eyes.” Kakkar is of the opinion that this particular game has become bigger than the game because ‘of the sentiment involved’.