tirupati l friday l september 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Armani, who built $10 billion global fashion empire, dies Italian designer Giorgio Armani, one of the most iconic names in the contemporary fashion, died at his home on Thursday at the age of 91 Giorgio Armani 11 July 1934 - 4 sept 2025 A favourite of many hollywood a-listers his designs Redefined elegance Armani’s fashion empire spanned clothing, accessories, perfumes, home furnishings, cosmetics, books, chocolates, and more. His designs graced over 200 films and became a red carpet staple, dressing stars like Anne Hathaway, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Jodie Foster. Recently, his health made headlines after he missed Milan Fashion Week in June ■ ■ In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold their car for $10,000 to launch their own menswear ready-to-wear label The first breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the creation of the liningless sports jacket, embodying his vision of relaxed, understated elegance. It was an immediate success in the West | P9 50 years since Armani founded his fashion empire 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 Cabinet meet Nod to universal health insurance scheme in hybrid model Peace deal done with Kuki-Zos After over 2 years, NH-2 to be opened for the free movement of commuters and essential goods E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State Cabinet meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the State Secretariat on Thursday, decided to implement the universal health insurance scheme in the hybrid model under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) and Dr NTR Vaidya Seva. Around 5 crore people in the State will be provided quality health services under the scheme. Except those covered under the Employees’ Health Scheme, all the remaining people, including working journalists, will be covered under the scheme for up to `25 lakh per year. Disclosing the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers to mediapersons, Minister for Housing and Information and Public Relations Kolusu Parthasarathy said the insurance companies will provide health insurance from `2.5 lakh to `5 lakh, and the NTR Vaidya Seva Trust will provide health coverage from `2.5 lakh to `25 lakh to BPL families. Under the scheme, 3,257 health services will be covered. As per the new proposal, the approvals will be given within six hours of admitting a patient in hospital, he said. The Cabinet also approved the proposal to develop 10 new medical colleges at Adoni, Madanapalli, Markapuram, Pulivendula, Penugonda, Palacole, Amalapuram, Narsipatn a m , B a p a t l a a n d P a rvathiuram in PPP mode.  P4 talks with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups to renegotiate the terms In a major breakthrough ahead and conditions of the SoO. of Prime Minister Narendra MoAs per the tripartite SoO agreedi’s proposed visit to Manipur, ment signed by the Centre, Mathe Union Ministry of Home Af- nipur government and Kuki-Zo fairs (MHA) on Thursday arrived groups on Thursday, the territoat an agreement with the Kuki-Zo rial integrity of Manipur will be insurgent groups to renew the maintained. “The parties under Suspension of Operations (SoO). the pact agree for relocation of 7 It also persuaded them to open designated camps of militants National Highway-2 that was away from areas vulnerable blocked for Meitei people for to conflict in Manipur and PM’s the last two years since the also agree for a negotiated ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur solution to bring lasting the state on May 3, 2023. peace, stability to Mavisit In an official statement, nipur,” the Union home the government said the deministry said. cisions came after a series of The Kuki-Zo Council decidmeetings between officials of the ed to open National Highway-2, MHA and a delegation of the Ku- which passes through Manipur, ki-Zo Council (KZC) over the past for free movement of commuters, few days here. Kuki National Or- essential goods, the statement ganisation (KNO) spokesperson said, adding the Council has comSeilen Haokip confirmed to me- mitted to cooperate with security dia persons that the agreement forces to maintain peace along had been signed. the National Highway . Over the last two years, the A Joint Monitoring Group will MHA had been regularly holding henceforth closely monitor enM U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Terms of agreement The Kuki National Organisation and United People’s Front agreed to 1 Relocate 7 designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict 2 3 4 Reduce the number of designated camps Relocate the weapons with nearest CRPF/BSF camps Stringent physical verification of cadres by security forces to de-list foreign nationals, if any Illegal FELLING OF TREES MAY HAVE LED TO FLOODS: SC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Taking serious note of the devastating landslides and flash floods in northern parts of the country, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought the stand of the Centre, National Disaster Management Authority and others, while noting that “illegal felling of trees led to the disasters”. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran also issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Highway Authorities of India as well as the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab. “We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. From the media reports it is noticed that in the flood a huge number of wood was flowing along. Prima facie it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees. Thus issue notice to respondents,” the CJI said, adding that a balance ought to be struck between development and environment. The SC was hearing a plea filed by environmentalist Anamika Rana seeking guidelines and an inquiry to prevent ecological disasters and to protect Himalayan states, particularly in view of recurring landslides and flashfloods. Only two AP varsities figure Putin raps Don’s colonial tactics against India in Overall NIRF top 100 U s ha Pe r i @ Visakhapatnam In the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025, Andhra Pradesh has secured a limited presence in the Overall category, with only two universities making it to the top 100. Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, ranked 41st with a score of 56.62, while Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation University (KL College of Engineering), Vijayawada, stood at 46th with a score of 55.99. In the Universities category, five institutions from Andhra Pradesh figured in the top 100. Andhra University led with 23rd rank, and a score of 59.20, followed by KL University at 26th with 58.87. Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Guntur, secured 70th rank with 50.06 score. Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, got 84th rank with 49.08 score. Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM), Visakhapatnam, was placed at 88th rank with 48.79 score. Four engineering institutions from Andhra Pradesh were listed in the top 100. KL University was ranked 35th P4 with a score of 58.95.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharply criticised US President Donald Trump for employing what he described as “colonial-era” pressure tactics against global powers like India and China. Speaking to the media in Beijing on Wednesday, where he was attending China’s Victory Day parade, Putin took aim at Trump’s aggressive economic policies, warning that such an approach undermines diplomacy with sovVladimir Putin ereign nations. “Powerful economies” like India and China, with heavy populations, have their domestic political mechanism and laws,” Putin said, stressing that these countries are not to be treated as subordinates. “The colonial era is over. They have to realise they cannot use this term when speaking with their partners,” he said. NIRF RANKING 2025 IIT Madras retains top slot for 10th year E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has retained the top slot in the overall category of rankings in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025 for the seventh straight year. At the second and third positions in the ‘overall’ rankings are IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay IIT Delhi has secured . the fourth position. The rankings, released by Union education minister Dhar mendra Pradhan on Thursday, ranked IIT Madras as the best in engineering, innovation, and the newly introduced sustainable development goals categories. This is the 10th consecutive year that IIT-M has been ranked the best in the country . Among universities, IISc Bengaluru has bagged the top spot, while the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Manipal Academy of Higher Education have secured the second and the third positions, respectively. Karnataka-based Manipal Academy of Higher Education is also the first private institution to feature in the top three of the NIRF rankings. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, has been ranked the best law college in India. The National Law University, Delhi, and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, have retained the second and third spots. In the management institution category, IIM Ahmedabad has come on top, while IIM Bangalore has been ranked the second best. The best institution for medical education, according to the ranking, is AIIMS Delhi. Delhi’s Hindu college No 1 In the colleges category, Delhi’s Hindu College secured the top position, followed by Miranda House, Hans Raj College, and Kirori Mal College in the national capital. St Stephen’s College, Delhi, is at the fifth position according to the NIRF rankings forcement of ground rules, the statement said, adding violations will be dealt with firmly, including review of the SoO pact. The Kuki-Zo council, an umbrella group of Kuki-Zo groups, is yet to issue a formal statement. Since May 3, 2023, after ethnic clashes broke out, the state has been divided on ethnic lines with Meiteis restricted to the valley districts and Kuki-Zo people in the hills. The first tripartite SoO agreement was signed in August 2008 and renewed every year till February 28, 2024, when the renewal was kept in abeyance following allegations that the insurgent group was indulging in ethnic clashes and providing training to village defence volunteers, a charge the groups denied. While former chief minister Biren Singh and his MLAs wanted the SoO agreement cancelled, Kuki-Zo groups and their legislators requested the Centre to renew the pact. Ballot paper for Karnataka local body polls The Congress govt in Karnataka decided to recommend to the State Election Commission to hold all future panchayat and urban local body polls using ballot papers instead of EVMs Another deal for GE engines soon M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi India intends to soon sign a contract with American giant General Electric to procure 113 F404 aero engines for the advanced version of the light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas M a rk 1 A . T h e deal is in addition to a previous one for F404s for which supplies are on, though there was a brief hiccup attributed to supply chain issues, when US President Donald Trump’s tariff terror first kicked in. Sources in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said that “negotiations with GE has been completed and the contract will be signed at the end of this month.” In August, the Cabinet Committee on Security gave its approval for 97 LCA Mk1A jets to be manufactured by HAL at a cost of around `67,000 crore. Meanwhile, a couple of LCA MK1s would be delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in October this year, another source in the HAL said. “Ten aircraft have already been built and are being tested. The first delivery will take place in October, with one aircraft from Nashik already ready for handover,” he said. The Mk1A has completed weapons integration trials, including the firing of Astra and ASRAM missiles. Besides the F404s, India has already procured 10 F414 engines from GE, sources said. As for Tejas Mk2, it is scheduled to be rolled out in 2027, while 83 Mk1A fighters are expected by 2029.