The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Schoolchildren participate in a Har Ghar Tiranga Rally in Hyderabad | Vinay Madapu hyderabad l saturday l august 15, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late 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 Expanded questionnaire includes Aadhaar, voter ID, bank a/cs, DL M U K E S H RA N J A N @ New Delhi THE Centre on Friday notified a 40 questions for the second phase of Census 2027, including for the first time an openended caste question for every respondent, in addition to the enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The notification, issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under the seal of Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, lists “Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste” as Question No. 10 in the population enumeration schedule. Officials said the caste column will remain open-ended, with enumerators recording the exact caste or sub-caste declared by the respondent. The format was retained after a pretest conducted from July 1 to 20 across 16 states and Union Territories, during which non-SC/ ST respondents were also asked to state their caste. turbulent time Second case of AI hydraulic fault in 10 days No drop-down list The questionnaire is unlikely to carry a list of castes, and responses will be recorded as shared by respondents. The decision to include caste enumeration was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30 last year The expanded questionnaire significantly widens the data net. Besides basic demographic and socio-economic particulars, enumerators will collect identification and service details, including Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, voter ID, passport and driving licence information where applicable. Enumeration will begin on August 17 in Ladakh and the snow-bound regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, ahead of the nationwide exercise scheduled for February 2027. S L a l i th a @ New Delhi IN the second instance of a hydraulics glitch on board an Air India flight within 10 days, pilots of an A320 flight from Bangkok to New Delhi were forced to abort takeoff on August 13 when they detected the malfunction while taxiing to the The 40 questions cover name, a g e, sex, marital status, spouse’s name, nationality, religion, caste or tribe and parents’ details. Education-related queries include literacy digital , literacy, institutional attendance and the highest level attained. Language data will record mother tongue and other languages known. Employment questions will capture work status in the preceding year, occupation, industry or service sector, class of worker, job-seeking status and travel to the workplace. Migration particulars will include place of birth, previous residence, reasons for migration, duration of stay and permanent address. Among the notable additions for population enumeration are questions on the place of Covid-19 vaccination, the total number of bank accounts and the availability of Aadhaar, mobile, digital literacy voter I, card, passport and driving licence details. runway at the Bangkok airport. An airline source conceded “a hydraulic malfunction” took place on Flight AI 2335 but added that the pilot was not supposed to announce it over the public address system. On August 4, an A320 PhuketDelhi flight suffered three hydraulic failures within two sec- express Illustration Caste to debut in Census as open-ended question Sat image shows drought stress on 64% of farmland J I T E N DRA C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi Enumerators will ask for birthplace of respondents, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay in a village/town, and permanent residential address Note from Registrar General Census: 2027 Phase II Questions Name of the person Relationship to family head Sex Date of birth and age (in completed years) Current marital status Age at marriage (in completed years) Spouse name Nationality as declared Religion Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste Father’s particulars Mother’s particulars Disability Mother tongue and other languages known Literacy and digital literacy status Highest educational level attained and Stream/Discipline Permanent residential address Total bank accounts Mobile number Aadhaar number Voter ID number Driving licence onds. It led to a steep descent resulting in injuries to 24 flyers, the initial analysis report of Airbus revealed. A hydraulic malfunction refers to a loss of pressurised fluid power used to move flight controls, landing gear, brakes, or in some cases, a total shutdown of the equipment. The latest satellite imagery from the ICARIndian Agricultural Research Institute’s CREAMS Lab indicates that as of August 12, as much as 64% of the country’s agricultural area is experiencing drought stress due to insufficient rainfall. India has completed 92% of its normal kharif sowing in the ongoing monsoon season, which means the standing crops are at risk as the rainfall deficiency increases. A significant portion of the country is experiencing mild drought, with regions also affected by moderate, severe, and extreme drought. The CREAMS Lab’s report highlights that the major food-producing states of Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu fall in the extreme drought category . The area affected is currently 38% more than it was in the same period last year, reflecting increased agricultural stress. Despite some improvement in rainfall during the month of August, the country has recorded a total rainfall deficiency of 13% since June 1, with South and East India facing the highest levels of deficiency . According to the report, rainfall deficits and soil-water shortages are major contributors to dryness, particularly across parts of Central, Western, and Peninsular India. Satellite imagery shows emerging vegetation and signs of evaporative stress, suggesting localised crop moisture deficiency . Currently mild drought is affecting 111.1 , million hectares (mha), which represents 56.6% of the total agricultural area. Moderate drought affects 12.6 mha, severe drought impacts 1.6 mha, and extreme drought covers 0.3 mha. Rainfall in August has improved conditions in some areas. East, NE worst off As of August 14, rainfall deficiency was 12.6%. Highest deficiencies are in East and Northeast regions (-27%), followed by Southern Peninsula (-20%), whereas the Northwest recorded -11% rain deficiency Most hit crops Deficient rains pulled down kharif area by 2.1 million hectares. The biggest fall in sowing was in ragi (-34%), followed by tur (-4.03%), rice (-3.65%), and soybean (-1.44%) Fee sop to be disbursed in advance: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state government will implement an advance fee reimbursement scheme from the next academic year, depositing `2,400 crore annually in a bank in advance to ensure students face no delays. Announcing this at a public meeting after inaugurating statues of Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule in the city on F r i d ay, C h i e f M i n i s t e r A Revanth Reddy said that the funds would be deposited in advance in a bank and disbursed directly to s t u d e n t s ’ a ccounts. He said `250 crore had already been set aside for this year’s fee reimbursement. Revanth said the reform was being introduced transparently, drawing on the experience of the previous BRS government. Under the new system, students can apply online after joining college and receive the reimbursement within a month, he said. “Students need not approach anyone for fee reimbursement,” he said, adding that colleges would no longer be able to withhold certificates over unpaid fees. The chief minister also announced a new programme to impart technical and vocational skills alongside academics to students from nursery to Class 12.