mangaluru l saturday l september 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION MiG-21, the iconic jet of Indian air force, makes its last flight Played key roles in wars with Pakistan MiG-21, inducted into the IAF in the 1960s, played crucial roles in the India-Pakistan wars of 1965, 1971, and 1999, as well as in the 2019 Balakot air strikes. Speaking at the decommissioning ceremony, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the “mighty machine” a symbol of India’s pride. The event featured aerial displays, including formation take-offs by MiG-21s MiG-21, for long the primary aircraft of the Indian Air Force, was decommissioned on Friday after serving the country for more than six decades A workhorse with troubled safety record ■ ■ The ceremonial switch-off of six MiG-21 aircraft in the presence of dignitaries marked the culmination of the aircraft’s operational service While it was hailed as a “workhorse” for its long years of service, the Soviet-era interceptor had a troubled safety record and was involved in multiple crashes, earning it the nickname “flying coffin” | P12 870 Mig-21 fighter aircraft procured by India since 1960s 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 Wangchuk held Govt nails NATO lie on oil diplomacy under the NSA, flown to Jodhpur to explain his strategy on “At no point has Prime MinUkraine because India is being ister Modi spoken with Presihit with tariffs,” Rutte alleged. dent Putin in the manner sugIn a sharply worded rebuttal, gested. No such conversation Exter nal Affairs Ministry has taken place.” Jaiswal added spokesperson Ranthat the Government dhir Jaiswal disof India expects better missed the comfrom a leader of such a ments as false and ke y i n t e r n a t i o n a l irresponsible. body . “We have seen the “We expect the leadstatement by NATO ership of an important Secretary-General institution like NATO Mr Mark Rutte reMark Rutte, NATO to exercise greater regarding a purported Secretary-General sponsibility and accuphone conversation racy in public statebetween Prime Minister Naren- ments. Speculative or careless dra Modi and President remarks that misrepresent the Vladimir Putin. The statement Prime Minister’s engagements is factually incorrect and entire- or suggest conversations that ly baseless,” said Jaiswal. never occurred are J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Friday strongly rejected remarks made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to clarify his stance on Ukraine and termed the statement as “factually incorrect and entirely baseless.” Speaking to CNN, Rutte claimed that India had been in contact with Moscow and Prime Minister Modi had confronted Putin over the Ukraine war, linking it to economic fallout from US tariffs. “Delhi is on the phone with Putin, and Narendra Modi is asking him Home Ministry says activist ‘incited mob that went on rampage’; Opposition cries foul noon. An FIR against Wangchuk has been filed under SIX years after he praised Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NSA in connection for granting Union Territory with incidents of rioting and status to Ladakh, Magsaysay arson on Wednesday . awardee climate activist SonUnder the NSA, a person can am Wangchuk, 59, was arrested be detained for 12 months withon Friday and booked under out a trial. Wangchuk, accordthe stringent National Security ing to sources, has been moved Act (NSA) for allegedly ‘insti- out from Ladakh and shifted to gating and inciting violence Jodhpur in Rajasthan. and unrest in Leh through proThe Ministry of Home Afvocative statements’. fairs blamed Wangchuk’s Parallelly, the govspeeches for instigaternment rescheduled ing unrest in the rea preparatory meetgion. “It is clear that ing between Ladakh the mob was incited leaders and Union by Sonam Wangchuk home ministry offithrough his provocacials in New Delhi to t ive s t at e m e n t s, ” September 29 so as to MHA said in a prepare the ground statement. Sonam Wangchuk for the October 6 The FCRA licence talks. Leh Apex Body of Wangchuk’s NGO, Mehbooba (LAB) co-chairman the Students’ Educaslams move Chering Dorjay told tional and Cultural this newspaper that Movement of Ladakh PDP president the that a seven-mem(SECMOL), was canMehbooba Mufti ber delegation of La- said the arrest of celled on Thursday . dakh leaders, includ- Sonam Wangchuk Wangchuk has deing three each from nied the allegations is “deeply LAB and Kargil Demand termed it “scapedisturbing”, ocratic Alliance and goating” and “witch terming him as a the Ladakh MP, will lifelong advocate hunting”. Immediparticipate in the Sepately after the arrest, of peace tember 29 talks. authorities suspendThe meeting will ed mobile internet discuss the agenda for the Oc- services in Leh district, where tober 6 talks between the La- curfew remained in force for dakh leaders and the Union the third consecutive day . home ministry in New Delhi. Opposition parties, including Wangchuk’s arrest comes the Congress and Trinamool two days after violent protests Congress slammed the Centre in Leh over demands for state- over the arrest, alleging that hood and Sixth Schedule status the move “clearly exposes the left four persons dead and 80 government’s witch-hunting injured on Wednesday . agenda” and its “abysmal failSources said Wangchuk was ure” to maintain law and order taken into custody by police in the Union Territory of from his residence in the after- Ladakh. F aya z w a n i @ Srinagar SL Bhyrappa cremated with full state honours E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mysuru Legendary novelist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr SL Bhyrappa was cremated with full state honours on Friday afternoon at the Rudrabhoomi crematorium, located at the foothills of Chamundi in Mysuru. The final rites, steeped in Hoysala-Brahmin tradition, were performed at 12:30 pm by his sons Ravishankar and Uday Shankar, as family members, friends, political leaders, literary luminaries, and thousands of admirers gathered to bid a tearful farewell to one of the country’s most celebrated writers. In accordance with his personal wish and a will, writer Sahana Vijaykumar, who had shared a close literary bond with the veteran author, was also present and joined the sons in lighting the pyre. unacceptable.” The controversy comes against the backdrop of rising trade tensions, with US President Donald Trump last month doubling tariffs on key Indian goods to 50%, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. Reiterating India’s energy policy, the MEA spokesperson stressed that its purchases are guided solely by national interest, market conditions and economic considerations. Answering a question on the European Union calling upon India to cut energy imports from Russia, Jaiswal pointed to President Trump statement that the EU, G7, NATO also needs to stop Russian energy imports. sparks fly in Bareilly amid ‘I Love Muhammad’ row (Left) Women hold placards reading ‘I Love Muhammad’ during a demonstration in Kanpur; (above) security personnel lathi-charge demonstrators in in Bareilly | PTI modi in bihar attacks RJD over past governance The PM stated that women in Bihar had suffered immensely under RJD rule, and urged them to ensure that the Lalu Prasad-led party never returns to power India sees low impact of 100% tariff on branded pharma export to US P u s h p i ta De y @ New Delhi voice against govt Big youth protest in Dharwad, demanding jobs M a l l i k a r j u n H i r em at h @ Dharwad A large number of job aspirants, students and youth hit the streets of Dharwad on Thursday, demanding that the government fill up vacancies in its various departments and relax the age limit for applying to these posts. The angry crowd of youngsters tore the images of political representatives, including that of CM Siddaramaiah, DCM DK Shivakumar, Home Minister G Parameshwara and others, sending out a strong message that the government cannot ignore this youth movement. The protest was led by the All-Karnataka State Students’ Association and others. Arun B, a student from Harihar who has completed his BSc and Youth protesters hold up a large banner with “Gen-Z” printed on it, in Dharwad on Friday | d hemanth who was taking part in the protest, said he is now 27 years old and has been attending coaching classes for the police sub-inspector recruitment exam for the last two years. But the government has not called for applications to fill up the posts. “By next year, I will cross the age limit. The government that had promised to relax the age bar for candidates, has kept quiet,” he lamented. “We are staying here spending nearly Rs 10,000 every month. Our poor parents keep sending us money with the hope that we will get a good job. We have reached a stage where we cannot go back home without a job. We are at the crossroads. The pressure from our family and others is becoming a big burden,” he said.  P7 Indian pharma exporters are expected to face minimal impact from the US decision to impose a 100% tariff on patented medicines, as the country’s $30 billion-plus pharmaceutical exports are largely driven by generics. India shipped $10.5 billion worth of drugs to the US in FY25, accounting for nearly 40% of America’s generic prescriptions. According to Aditya Jhaver, director at Crisil Ratings, the replacement risk for Indian generics in the US remains low, given the country’s limited local manufacturing capacity. “India delivers significant healthcare savings to the US, with manufacturing costs 3540% lower than those in the US,” he said. Mankind Pharma chairman Ramesh C Juneja noted that the tariff is likely to have less than a 0.5% impact on Indian exporters. “There are very few companies that send patented products to the US, and most of them already have manufacturing facilities in America,” he added. Still, exporters cautioned that India must remain alert in case complex generics, or even parts of the generic supply chain, come under tariffs or other restrictions in the future. The US Commerce Department is also probing under Section 232 whether phar maceutical imports—including finished drugs and APIs—pose a national security risk. US President Donald Trump announced that from October 1, he will impose a 100% tariff on all branded or patented drugs unless they are manufactured domestically. Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical and Natco Pharma fell over 3% each, while Laurus Labs, Biocon, and Zydus Lifesciences dropped 4-7%. The Nifty Pharma index ended the day down 2.14% and 5.2% lower for the week. ‘meet the date’ No extension of Oct 7 deadline; speed up survey: CM to officials E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday clarified that the State Government will not extend the October 7 deadline set for completing the ongoing Socio-Economic and Educational Survey also , known as the caste survey, and directed officials to speed up the process. After holding a video-conference with deputy commissioners, he directed the officials to monitor the progress daily and accelerate it to meet the d e a d l i n e. Technical glitches faced in the first four days of t h e survey have been resolved. Officials have been told to ensure daily progress of at least 10% to meet the target. It has been just around 3-4 % till now, he said. District-in-charge ministers too have been directed to coordinate and supervise the survey that started on September 22. So far, 2.76 lakh families have been covered, and the enumerators have to cover over 2 crore households by October 7, he added. “Every single family should be surveyed. We will follow all directions issued by the high court. The enumeration process should pick up pace in Bengaluru that has nearly 50 lakh households,” he said.  P6 CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar attend a meeting on the caste survey in Bengaluru on Friday | EXPRESS