MADURAI l tuesday l november 12, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION Vistara makes its last flight ahead of merger with Air India The airline operated its last international and domestic flights as an independent airline on Monday night ahead of its merger with Air India Delhi-singapore flight was airline’s last Vistara’s ‘UK’ code gives way to ‘AI2’ Vistara’s last domestic flight departed Mumbai for Delhi around 11.15 pm on Monday. Almost half-an-hour later, its last international flight, bound for Singapore, took to the skies from the Delhi airport. Vistara commenced its flight operations in January 2015. The airline, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will merge with Air India on Tuesday ■ ■ Post the merger, the airline’s ‘UK’ code will be replaced with a special four-digit Air India code — ‘AI2XXX’. Vistara has a fleet of 70 airplanes The merger marks the second major consolidation wave in the country’s fast-growing civil aviation space after Indian Airlines merged with Air India and Air Sahara merged with Jet Airways in 2006-2007 208 The size of air india’s aircraft fleet post the merger with vistara 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 madras univ’s cash cow hit, 10% dip in distance edu enrolment b i n i ta j a i s w a l @ Chennai The Institute of Distance Education (IDE) of the University of Madras, one of the major sources of revenue for the cash-strapped state varsity, may register a 10% drop in enrolment this year as the number of admissions for the academic year 202425 — which closes on November 15 — stands at 25,421 compared to 28,209 in 2023-24. In 2022-23, the IDE had admitted 30,157 students, up from 29,811 in 2021-22. Prolonged delay in appointing a vice-chancellor to the university and lack of new courses seem to have affected the popularity of the IDE, sources said. “We are expecting the figure to go It is difficult to start new courses without a vice-chancellor. The convener committee only manages the day-to-day affairs University faculty member up marginally by the time the deadline closes, but it will definitely be lesser compared to last year,” a university official said. Given that the IDE had generated over `100 crore in course and examination fees last year, officials acknowledge the university’s heavy dependence on IDE’s revenue. In order to improve the income, the IDE has to attract more students by offering new, skill-oriented and emergent courses, however, the ab- sence of a vice-chancellor has thrown a wrench into the works. As is, the IDE is struggling to run even the existing courses, university officials added. “It is difficult to start new courses without a V-C. The convener committee only manages the day-to-day affairs, they do not get into the more complex issues,” said a faculty member. “We received NAAC A++ grade accreditation and Category I status recently It is the right time to cash in . on the opportunity as we could start new courses without UGC approval. Unfortunately, we are unable to utilise it,” said another faculty member of the university  . P5 Uddhav fumes as ECI officials inspect his bag S U DHIR S U R YAWANSHI @ Mumbai shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday trained his guns on the Election Commission of India (ECI) claiming its officials are selectively targeting opposition leaders. He said his bags and personal belongings were searched when he arrived in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal to campaign for the November 20 assembly elections. Thackeray asked if the ECI would inspect the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in a similar fashion. Disclosing this incident at a rally at Wani on Monday he asked his par, ty workers to check the identity cards of the searching ECI officials and inspect their pockets as well. According to a video footage of the incident shared by his party, when ECI officers approached him for search, Thackeray first asked them to introduce themselves and fired a volley of questions. “The way you inspected my bag, did you inspect the bags of Modi and Shah?” he asked. express read Heavy rain likely in Chennai, delta dists till Friday: RMC Chennai: Heavy rain may lash Chennai, surrounding areas and delta districts till Friday. A low pressure area has formed on Monday due to influence of upper air cyclonic circulation over southwest Bay of Bengal, the Met said | P2 SC stays CBI probe in Pocso case, orders SIT formation Chennai: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Madras HC order transferring a Pocso case involving a 10-year-old girl from Anna Nagar to the CBI, and also ordered the constitution of an SIT | P2 New CJI sworn in President Droupadi Murmu administers the oath of office to Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the 51st Chief Justice of India, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday | PTI Clean air a fundamental right, says SC bench Su c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme said on Monday that it is a fundamental right of every citizen to live in a pollution-free atmosphere, adding no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution. Pulling up the Delhi authorities over their failure to enforce firecracker ban during Diwali, a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said if firecrackers are burnt in this fashion, it will also affect the fundamental right to health of the citizens. “The right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere is a fundamental right of every citizen which is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Prima facie we are of the view that no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution or compromises with the health of the people,” explosion triggers fire at Indian Oil refinery in Gujarat the bench observed. The Delhi government issued an order banning the use of firecrackers on October 14. “We wonder why the Delhi government delayed the promulgation of order till October 14. It is quite possible users by that time must have acquired the stock of firecrackers.” Noting that the ban order has not been taken seriously by the police, the bench directed the commissioner of Delhi Police to form a special cell to ensure the effective implementation of the ban. “There is nothing filed in the affidavit that the order imposing ban was communicated to those who have been permitted to manufacture, store and sell crackers,” the bench noted. The court ordered the commissioner to file a personal affidavit by November 25 on the steps taken to enforce the ban. A 32-year-old worker was killed in the fire at the refinery in Vadodara. A benzene storage tank at the facility caught fire after the blast | P8 C O P 2 9 op e n s India must adopt more robust Met system SV Krishna Chaitanya EX P RESS I N B A K U I ndia has to enhance its meteorological infrastructure and adopt a more robust multi-hazard early warning system to avoid loss of lives and minimise the impact of climate change, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told this newspaper on Monday . The WMO State of the Climate 2024 was released during the United National Climate Conference (COP29), which began in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier in the day The report issued a . red alert as 2024 is on the track to be the warmest year on record. From January to September this year, the average global temperature was 1.54°C above pre-industrial level. However, seen from a long-term perspective, the average warming is below 1.5°C. Saulo said WMO works very closely with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), whose Director General of Meteorology Mrutyunjay Mohapatra is one of the three vicepresidents of WMO. “India is very active and making good investments to enhance meteorological services. But, India being such a large country , there is a lot of scope for improvement. Especially in bringing the Met , services into the value chain. Active engagement between the Met department and other ministries like agriculture, health and disaster manage- ment is vital,” she told this newspaper on the sidelines of the WMO presser. When asked about events like the Wayanad landslide disaster, which killed over 400 people, the WMO chief said this is where multi-hazard early warning system will come in handy . “There are many things happening at the same time. We need to analyse and react in a holistic way We need . the Met services as well as other agencies to work closely so as to understand the risks.” India is also facing a serious threat of sea level rise, given its its long coastline and dense population near the coasts. Saulo said, in March, the WMO will release a more detailed report, which would look at the regionwise impact due to sea level rise. Continued on: P9 Ten militants killed in Manipur gunfight Kuki-Zo Council says its ‘volunteers’ shot dead by CRPF PRASANTA MAZ U MDAR @ Guwahati TEN militants were killed and a CRPF jawan was injured in a gunfight in restive Manipur’s Jiribam district on Monday. Manipur police said in a statement that the incident occurred at around 3 pm when armed militants attacked the CRPF post located at the Jakuradhor and Borobekra Police Station, located nearby . “The security forces retaliated strongly. Due to the attack, one CRPF constable namely Sanjeev Kumar sustained bullet injury and has been evacuated to Silchar Medical College, Assam and is under treatment,” the statement said. It added that the CRPF and civil police personnel fiercely retaliated and the situation was brought under control after 40-45 minutes of heavy exchange of fire. Police said they searched the whole area after the firing ceased and found the bodies of 10 militants along with arms and ammunition. The weap- ons recovered included three AK series rifles, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, one RPG, one Pump Action Gun besides bullet-proof helmets and magazines. “Accordingly, a criminal case has been registered and is being investigated into. Operations in and around Jakuradhor, under Borobekra Police Station, Jiribam District continued to flush out armed militants. Reinforcement teams consisting of Assam Rifles, CRPF and Civil Police have been rushed there,” the Manipur Police statement added. Reacting to the gunfight, the Kuki-Zo Council said its ‘volunteers’ were killed and announced a total shutdown on Tuesday – from 5 am to 6 pm. It said the protest is “in honor of the victims and to express our collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead”. In its statement, the Council demanded an immediate and thorough investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice”. CURFEW IMPOSED IN Jiribam Following the incident, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were imposed. An order issued by the district magistrate said curfew was clamped due to “apprehension of widespread disturbance to peace and public tranquillity or a riot or any affray in the area” We condemn in the strongest terms the violence and call for thorough investigations bring perpetrators to justice Kuki-Zo Council three arrested Man, mom kill wife, chop body into eight pieces RA J ALAKSHMI SAMPATH @ Tiruvannamalai A 39-year-old auto driver, his mother and a friend were booked for murder and arrested by the Tiruvannamalai town police on Monday after they allegedly strangled his wife to death with her dupatta, dismembered the body into eight pieces, concealed it in a plastic bag, and dumped it near the Tiruvannamalai-Krishnagiri border. According to Tiruvannamalai town police, S Gopi and G Saranya (29) had been married for 12 years and have two children. The family, residing in T Gopuram Street in Tiruvannamalai town, faced financial troubles as Gopi had huge debt, sources said. Saranya, who was employed at a gift jewellery store, was facing pressure from Gopi due to his frequent demands for cash, which often led to arguments between them, sources added. According to police, Saranya had gone to her mother’s house at Arasudaiyanpattu in Tiruvannamalai district for Deepavali and returned home on October 31.  P5