Albanese first oz PM to get hitched while in office Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese married his partner Jodie Haydon in a secretive ceremony Saturday at his residence in Canberra. Albanese, 62, who is divorced with an adult son, had proposed to Haydon, 46, at Canberra’s The Lodge on Valentine’s Day last year. Albanese is the first prime minister to marry while in office in the 124-year history of the Australian federal government. kottayam l sunday l november 30, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION 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 Software update of A320s delays flights across India Four AI Express flights cancelled; all updates expected by midnight Uncommanded pitch-down event Ex p r ess N ews S e rv i c e @ New Delhi A residential area left inundated after heavy rain in Kaduwela on the outskirts of Colombo on Saturday | AFP National emergency in Sri Lanka as death toll rises to 153 m aya n k s i n g h @ New Delhi SRI Lanka was on Saturday picking up pieces after widespread destruction caused by cyclone Ditwah, with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declaring a state of emergency throughout the country as the death toll rose to 153. Disaster management authorities in Colombo told local newspapers about 191 people still remaining untraced as search and relief efforts continue across 25 districts. The cyclone brought landslides, flash floods, and heavy rains, affecting over 7,74,724 people from 2,17,263 families. More than 15,000 homes were destroyed, and nearly 78,000 people have been displaced to temporary shelters, marking one of Sri Lanka’s worst natural disasters in recent memory . Demonstrating its “neighbourhood first” spirit, India has rapidly escalated its humanitarian response under Operation Sagar Bandhu. The Indian Air Force deployed a C-130 and an IL-76 from Hindon Air Base on the night of November 28-29, delivering 21 tonnes of relief materials, including essential rations and disaster relief equipment, alongside over 80 National Dis- aster Response Force personnel to Colombo. “India stands firmly with Sri Lanka in this hour of need,” the IAF said in a message on X. The Indian Navy stepped in and dispatched dry and fresh rations and crucial supplies, including 4.5 tons of dry rations, 2 tons of fresh rations, and essential items, with the help of INS Vikrant and INS Udaygiri. Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar said two Chetak helicopters from aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, staffed with Sri Lankan Air Force personnel, undertook search and rescue operations. Global fears of massive travel chaos following a European Union Safety Agency advisory on Friday to fly about 6,400 Airbus A320s in service only after a flight control software update, were largely eased as airlines scrambled to implement it quickly While some flights were . delayed, only a few cancellations were reported. In India, where 338 A320 are operational, Air India, IndiGo and Air India Express fixed the problem in most of their fleet after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave them a Sunday morning (5.29 am) deadline to do so. It, however, led to flight delays, while Air India Express cancelled four of its flights on Saturday to facilitate compliance. Air India Express flights from Varanasi to Bengaluru, Bengaluru to Varanasi, Guwahati to Jaipur and Jaipur to Guwahati were cancelled while its @ Kozhikode Koyilandy MLA Kanathil Jameela passed away on Saturday at a private hospital in Kozhikode following illness. She was 59. The CPM leader had been conva- lescing at home for the last six months after undergoing treatment for cancer. Born in Kuttiadi, Jameela inherited her political fervour from her father, T K K Abdulla, a frontline communist leader during the Emergency era. flights were delayed across some sectors. IndiGo A320 aircraft across the country suffered a delay of up to 30 minutes, said a source. Air India flights too suffered delays. The problem is expected to be fixed in all A320s before midnight. As of 5.30 pm, Indigo upgraded the software in 184 out of its 200 A320s; Air India did likewise for 69 on 113 aircraft; and Air India Express did so for 17 on 25 aircraft. The issue was detected after a preliminary technical probe by Airbus on an accident in- volving a JetBlue flight in the US on October 30. Captain C S Randhawa, for mer Deputy Chief flight Inspector Operations, DGCA, told this newspaper, “A flight from Cancun in Mexico to Newark International Airport in the US lost altitude when flying and caused injuries to passengers. This happened when the auto-pilot mode was on, which is meant to take care of operations. It was later detected that the Elevated Aileron Computer in the cockpit had malfunctioned due to solar radiation,” he said. WITH THIS ISSUE Speaking Their Mind PLUS 12 P AGES ‘Cong had received several complaints against Rahul’ K S S r e e j i t h @ T’Puram In what may prove costly for the Congress in the run-up to the elections, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has admitted that the party acted against Rahul Mamkootathil after the then KPCC presi- Koyilandy MLA Kanathil Jameela no more Express News Service The problem was first noticed in an Jet Blue Airbus A320 last month after it experienced an “uncommanded and limited pitch-down event. The autopilot remained engaged throughout the event, with a brief and limited loss of altitude.” The rest of the flight was uneventful After marriage, her move to Thalakulathur placed her in a family of dedicated CPM workers. Jameela had a unique political ascent, achieving the rare feat of serving and winning elections across all three tiers of the panchayat system before being elected to the assembly ● More on P5 in 2021. 4 SC circulars specify oral mention rule, urgent matters u d aya n k i s h o r e @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court has barred litigants from orally mentioning matters for urgent listing before the Chief Justice of India as items requiring special attention will come up for hearing automatically within two working days. The court made these changes while restructuring the system of oral mentioning, urgent listing and adjournment of cases effective December 1. The changes also include barring senior advocates to mention matters before any bench, while encouraging junior counsel to make oral mentionings. A circular said bereavement in the family or medical emergencies of advocates or parties were the only grounds for adjournments, apart from other genuine reasons accepted by the court. Four circulars issued by the SC registry on Saturday said the changes were to reduce unnecessary mentioning before benches, and ensure faster listing of matters. For cases requiring advance listing due to urgent interim orders, parties must submit the mentioning proforma and a letter explaining the urgency to the Mentioning Officer by 3 pm on the previous working day or 11.30 am on a Saturday . dent and the Leader of Opposition received multiple complaints against the Palakkad MLA. This is the first time that any senior party leader has openly said so. The admission by Chennithala counters the party leadership’s public claims that it had not received any harassmentrelated complaints against the young leader. “The Leader of Opposition, the then KPCC president and party leaders received several complaints (against Rahul Mamkootathil). It was then that the party unanimously took such a decision,” he said, while addressing reporters in Kozhikode on Saturday . He was responding to questions on whether the party had taken disciplinary action against Rahul based on strong conviction or in the light of al● More on P5 legations.