villupuram l sunday l october 19, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION SC expresses alarm over 8.8l pending execution petitions The Supreme Court directed high courts to take action after observing that 8,82,578 execution petitions remain pending before district courts Extends compliance deadline by six months Maharashtra leads with 3.4l petitions The Supreme Court expressed concern over the large number of pending execution petitions, despite its earlier direction to high courts to ensure their disposal within six months. The court, in its order on October 16, directed all high courts to formulate a procedure and guide their district judiciary to ensure expeditious disposal of these petitions over the next six months petitions, with 3.4 lakh cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 86,000, Kerala with nearly 83,000 and Andhra Pradesh with 68,000 ■ An execution petition is a legal request to enforce a court order, ensuring that the winning party receives relief granted ■ Maharashtra has the highest number of pending execution April 10 When the supreme Court will hear the matter again CBC 15502/13/0036/2526 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 Full Pak in BrahMos range, says Rajnath Defence minister warns neighbour against misadventurism n a m i ta b a j pa i @ Lucknow EVERY inch of Pakistan’s territory lies within the range of BrahMos and Operation Sindoor was just a trailer, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday in a stern warning to Pakistan. The Union minister, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, flagged off the first batch of BrahMos missiles manufactured at the BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility Centre in Lucknow. Singh described the missile as a symbol of India’s rising strength and proof of India’s strategic confidence. “India’s defence capabilities now serve as a powerful deterrent,” the minister said. “Every inch of Pakistan’s territory lies within the range of BrahMos... Operation Sindoor ... made Pakistan realise that if India could create Pakistan, then if the time comes... I need not say more, you all are wise enough,” he said. “Maintaining this confidence is now our collective responsibility he said. ,” “The entire world now recog- e x press rea d ‘Guvs being used to create chaos’ Chennai: “What are you going to achieve by creating chaos via governors in opposition-ruled states,” CM Stalin asked the centre in an ‘X’ post on Saturday, adding to the 10 questions raised by the FM in the Assembly on Friday | P4 Baby bought for 3L from AP couple Chennai: In a suspected case of child trafficking, police complaint has been filed against a transgender woman in Tiruvallur after she claimed that she had bought a two-month-old baby girl from a couple in AP for `3 lakh | P4 Operation Sindoor is proof that victory has become a habit for us, and we must enhance our capabilities. It made Pakistan realise what might follow IN an escalation of rhetoric, Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has warned that Pakistan’s expanding military capabilities could “shatter the misconceived immunity of India’s geographical warspace.” His statement, delivered during a high-profile address at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, signifies yet another round of nuclear sabre-rattling by Islamabad. This time, it comes against the backdrop of ongoing Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan civilians near the border. Cricketers killed, Af board exits series in pak F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai nises India’s capability. BrahMos has strengthened our belief that India can turn its dreams into reality,” he said. The indigenously developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles were used by India to destroy Pakistan’s air bases during Operation Sindoor in May this year. Inaugurated on May 11, 2025, the state-of-the-art BrahMos Aerospace unit houses all modern facilities for missile integration, testing and final quality checks. After successful testing, the missiles are prepared for deployment by the Indian armed forces. The defence minister said that BrahMos has proved that Made-in-India is now a global brand even as India strengthens its security and has emerged as a credible partner in defence and technology . Contracts worth crores Rajnath Singh said in Lucknow that the BrahMos team has wrapped up contracts worth approximately `4,000 crore with two countries in the last one month Self-reiiance a reality: Yogi Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said a self-reliant India is now a reality. Adityanath made the remark while kicking off a programme at the BrahMos unit Can shatter the image of Indian immunity: Munir j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi From left: Kabeer Agha, Haroon and Sibghatullah Munir, addressing graduating cadets, asserted that even a “minor provocation” from India would invite a “decisive, beyond proportions” response from Pakistan. “Should a fresh wave of hostilities be triggered, Pakistan would respond much beyond the expectations of the initiators,” he said. Munir went on to warn of “deeply hurting retributive military and economic losses” and said the responsibility for any future escalation, potentially with “catastrophic consequences for the region and beyond” would rest solely with the neighbouring India. Asim Munir Not the first time from Munir This isn’t the first time Pakistan army chief Asim Munir has resorted to inflammatory language. Days before the dastardly Pahalgam attack last year that killed 26 civilians, Munir had referred to Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein.” After featuring in a domestic tournament in Sharana of Paktika province of Afghanistan, local cricketers were having a get together in their home district, Urgun when three of them were killed in air strikes reportedly carried out by Pakistan. Condemning the incident and terming it cowardly Afghanistan Crick, et Board (ACB) has withdrawn its team from the tri-series involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka to be held in Rawalpindi and Lahore from November 17 to 29. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Indian cricket board (BCCI) expressed solidarity with the ACB. The ICC in a statement said it is deeply saddened and appalled by the tragic deaths of three young and promising Afghan cricketers, Kabeer Agha, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, who lost their lives in a recent air strike. “It was a local event in Sharana, the capital of the Paktika province. One of the teams has come from far away district named Urgun. After the game, they returned to Urgun. The players were having a get together after when they were targetted by Pakistan state,” Sayed Naseem Sadaat, ACB spokesperson, told this daily “Not only . once, three times the same area was attacked. A number of our innocent civilians and three cricketers were martyred in this attack. The ACB management has decided to withdraw from the tri-series planned by the PCB,” he added. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan stood by ACB and posted on X: “It is absolutely immoral and barbaric to target civilian infrastructure... I welcome the ACB’s decision.” His teammate Mohammad Nabi termed it heinous. Paras to go after Chirag nominees in chacha-bhatija duel RAJE S H K UMAR THA K UR @ New Delhi Among the interesting contests brewing in the Bihar elections is the one between two different parties that share the same political legacy. While one of them is led by the chacha (uncle) and the other is run by the bhatija (nephew). The chacha is Pashupati Kumar Paras, brother of late Ram Vilas Paswan, whose son Chirag Paswan is the bhatija. Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party suffered a vertical split after his death, with Paras floating the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), while Chirag chose to name his faction as Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). With the NDA being extra generous this time in allotting 29 seats to Chirag’s party Par, as has threatened to play spoiler by fielding candidates against almost all of Chirag’s nominees, apart from entering the fray from other seats. Paras initially wanted to enter the fray as part of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. But since WITH THIS ISSUE Bling in the New PLUS 12 P AGES TVk vijay’s letter `20 lakh credited to karur stampede victims A purported letter signed by TVK’s Vijay on Saturday said that `20L each announced to the kin of victims in the Karur stampede has been credited through RTGS system of fund transfer. Vijay will visit the families after getting permission, the letter said | P4 Heavy rain in 40 places, new weather system may bring more showers in TN E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai Dhaka airport on fire A massive fire at the cargo complex of the international airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Saturday, forcing authorities to suspend flight operations for hours | AP/PTI | P11 The northeast monsoon remained vigorous over Tamil Nadu on Saturday bringing widespread rainfall to several districts and neighbouring Puducherry and Karaikal regions. As many as 40 locations recorded heavy rainfall, while very heavy rain was reported at five stations across Tamil Nadu. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, the widespread rainfall was because of a well-marked low-pressure area over the southeast Arabian Sea and the Lakshadweep region under the influence of an upper air cyclonic circulation. The system is expected to intensify into a depression within the next 36 hours and move west-northwest, continuing to feed moisture-laden winds into TN coast. Adding to this, a second cyclonic circulation over the South Andaman Sea is likely to give rise to a fresh low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal around October 21. The emerging system is also expected to intensify and track westnorthwestwards, potentially bringing active rain spell over southern India by the middle of next week.  P5 Despite rain, crowds throng T Nagar for Deepavali shopping | Ashwin Prasath Chirag Paswan, Pashupati Kumar Paras seat-sharing talks failed, he decided to go it alone. Chirag has fielded five candidates so far, and so has Paras from the same seats. The most interesting of the five contests is in Mahua in Vaishali district, where Paras fielded Shamsuzzama against Chirag’s Sanjay Kumar Singh. Others in the fray include RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, and RJD’s Mukesh Raushan. Shamsuzzama is expected to damage Sanjay Kumar Singh’s prospects, due to the division in Paswan and other Dalit votes. The Paswan vote bank constitutes 5.31% of the state’s population. During the 2020 polls, Chirag had fielded candidates ag ainst the ruling JD(U) and damaged its prospects of picking up more seats. ‘No-poop’ fiat, man makes bus firm pay `10K S i d d h a r t h P r a b h a k a r @ Chennai The ‘relief ’ was in sight but to no avail, as the passenger was told by the bus staff that the toilet inside the overnight private bus can be used only for urination and not defecation. And, five months down the line, on Thursday a consumer disputes , redressal forum slapped the bus operator a penalty of `10,000 for deficiency in service. The passenger, B Satishkumar (42), a resident of Perambur, told the forum that while on board the Chennai-Coimbatore overnight bus, he was told by the staff that the loo should be used only for passing urine. The signboard on the toilet door also said a `1,000 fine will be levied if the toilet is used for anything other than passing urine. In his complaint, Sathishkumar claimed he is prone to use the restroom frequently, and had selected the bus only because the operator mentioned the availability of the toilet facility inside the vehicle on the online site where he had booked the ticket that cost `1,182. In response to an email Satishkumar sent to the operator, Krish Travels, through their official mail id, had reiterated its ‘pee-only policy’ in the toilet facility inside the bus. The consumer forum comprising president D Gopinath and members Kavitha Kannan and V Ramamurthy took up Satish’s complaint filed under Section 35(1)(a)(ii) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.  P5