hubballi l saturday l september 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION MiG-21, the iconic jet of Indian air force, makes its last flight MiG-21, for long the primary aircraft of the Indian Air Force, was decommissioned on Friday after serving the country for more than six decades Played key roles in wars with Pakistan A workhorse with troubled safety record MiG-21, inducted into the IAF in the 1960s, played crucial roles in the India-Pakistan wars of 1965, 1971, and 1999, as well as in the 2019 Balakot air strikes. Speaking at the decommissioning ceremony, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the “mighty machine” a symbol of India’s pride. The event featured aerial displays, including formation take-offs by MiG-21s ■ ■ The ceremonial switch-off of six MiG-21 aircraft in the presence of dignitaries marked the culmination of the aircraft’s operational service While it was hailed as a “workhorse” for its long years of service, the Soviet-era interceptor had a troubled safety record and was involved in multiple crashes, earning it the nickname “flying coffin” | P10 870 Mig-21 fighter aircraft procured by India since 1960s 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 Wangchuk held Govt nails NATO chief Rutte lie on oil diplomacy under the NSA, flown to Jodhpur J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Home Ministry says activist ‘incited mob that went on rampage’; Opposition cries foul noon. An FIR against Wangchuk has been filed under SIX years after he praised Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NSA in connection for granting Union Territory with incidents of rioting and status to Ladakh, Magsaysay arson on Wednesday . awardee climate activist SonUnder the NSA, a person can am Wangchuk, 59, was arrested be detained for 12 months withon Friday and booked under out a trial. Wangchuk, accordthe stringent National Security ing to sources, has been moved Act (NSA) for allegedly ‘insti- out from Ladakh and shifted to gating and inciting violence Jodhpur in Rajasthan. and unrest in Leh through proThe Ministry of Home Afvocative statements’. fairs blamed Wangchuk’s Parallelly, the govspeeches for instigaternment rescheduled ing unrest in the rea preparatory meeting gion. “It is clear that between Ladakh leadthe mob was incited by ers and Union home S o n a m Wa n g c h u k ministry officials in through his provocaNew Delhi to Septemtive statements,” MHA ber 29 so as to prepare said in a statement. the ground for the OcThe FCRA licence of Mehbooba tober 6 talks. Leh Apex slams move Wangchuk’s NGO, the Body (LAB) co-chairStudents’ Educational PDP president man Chering Dorjay and Cultural MoveMehbooba told this newspaper ment of Ladakh (SECMufti said the that the that a sevenMOL), was cancelled arrest of Sonam member delegation of on Thursday . Wangchuk is Ladakh leaders, inWangchuk has de“deeply cluding three each nied the allegations disturbing”, from LAB and Kargil and termed it “scapeterming him Democratic Alliance goating” and “witch as a lifelong and the Ladakh MP, hunting”. Immediateadvocate will participate in the ly after the arrest, auof peace September 29 talks. thorities suspended The meeting will mobile internet servdiscuss the agenda for the Oc- ices in Leh district, where curtober 6 talks between the La- few remained in force for the dakh leaders and the Union third consecutive day . home ministry in New Delhi. Opposition parties, including Wangchuk’s arrest comes the Congress and Trinamool two days after violent protests Congress slammed the Centre in Leh over demands for state- over the arrest, alleging that hood and Sixth Schedule status the move “clearly exposes the left four persons dead and 80 government’s witch-hunting injured on Wednesday . agenda” and its “abysmal failSources said Wangchuk was ure” to maintain law and order taken into custody by police in the Union Territory of from his residence in the after- Ladakh. F aya z w a n i @ Srinagar Bhyrappa cremated with full state honours E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mysuru Legendary novelist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr SL Bhyrappa was cremated with full state honours on Friday afternoon at the Rudrabhoomi crematorium, located at the foothills of Chamundi in Mysuru. The final rites, steeped in Hoysala-Brahmin tradition, were performed at 12:30 pm by his sons Ravishankar and Uday Shankar, as family members, friends, political leaders, literary luminaries, and thousands of admirers gathered to bid a tearful farewell to one of the country’s most celebrated writers. In accordance with his personal wish and a will, writer Sahana Vijaykumar, who had shared a close literary bond with the veteran author, was also present and joined the sons in lighting the pyre. India on Friday strongly rejected remarks made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to clarify his stance on Ukraine and termed the statement as “factually incorrect and entirely baseless.” Speaking to CNN, Rutte claimed that India had been in contact with Moscow and Prime Minister Modi had con- fronted Putin over the Ukraine war, linking it to economic fallout from US tariffs. “Delhi is on the phone with Putin, and Narendra Modi is asking him to explain his strategy on Ukraine because India is being hit with tariffs,” Rutte alleged. In a sharply worded rebuttal, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the comments as false and irresponsible. “We have seen the statement pects better from a leader of such a key international body . “We expect the leadership of an important institution like NATO to exercise greater responsibility and accuracy in public statements. Speculative or careless remarks that misrepresent the Prime Minister’s engagements or suggest conversations that never occurred are unacceptable.” The controversy comes against the backdrop of rising trade tensions, with US President Donald Trump last month sparks fly in Bareilly amid ‘I Love Muhammad’ row Demonstration called off Police, locals clash Shops vandalised Over two dozen held Clashes erupted in UP’s Bareilly after a demonstration in support of “I Love Muhammad” campaign was called off on Friday As a large crowd marched towards the Islamia Inter College ground, police tried to stop them, leading to clashes at Khalil Tiraha Police in anti-riot gear used force to disperse the crowd, which resorted to stone throwing and vandalism of shops and vehicles More than two dozen people have been detained. No official figures were available about the number of injured people modi in bihar attacks RJD over past governance The PM stated that women in Bihar had suffered immensely under RJD rule, and urged them to ensure that the Lalu Prasad-led party never returns to power India sees low impact of 100% tariff on branded pharma export to US P u s h p i ta De y @ New Delhi Asia Cup row Surya, Rauf fined; BCCI appeals against verdict E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Ahead of their first-ever Asia Cup final in 41 years of tournament history on Sunday India’s captain Suryaku, mar Yadav and Pakistan’s pacer Haris Rauf have reportedly been fined 30 per cent of their respective match fees by ICC match referee. Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan, however, escaped with a warning for his gunshot celebration after completing his fifty in the Super Fours match against India. It was also learnt that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has appealed against the ICC’s verdict. While the global body didn’t issue any statement in this regard, sources claimed by NATO Secretary-General Mr Mark Rutte regarding a purported phone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. The statement is factually incorrect and entirely baseless,” said Jaiswal. “At no point has Prime Minister Modi spoken with President Putin in the manner suggested. No such conversation has taken place.” Jaiswal added that the Government of India ex- India captain Suryakumar Yadav (L) and Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf | AFP that Suryakumar attended the hearing on Thursday while the hearing for the Pakistan duo was conducted at the team hotel on Friday . The Indian skipper dedicated his team’s win over Pakistan on September 14 to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian armed forces. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had lodged a complaint against him for making a political statement. It was also learnt that Suryakumar has been asked not to make any statement that could be construed as political during the remainder of the tournament. Meanwhile, Rauf was fined for allegedly engaging with the Indian fans during the Super Fours match on September 21. The pacer allegedly mimicked a jet going down. The BCCI had complained against the duo. It all started with the first match between the two archrivals on September 14 when Suryakumar didn’t shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha after the toss. The India team then refused the solidarity handshake with Pakistan players after the match, escalating the tension further. Indian pharma exporters are expected to face minimal impact from the US decision to impose a 100% tariff on patented medicines, as the country’s $30 billion-plus pharmaceutical exports are largely driven by generics. India shipped $10.5 billion worth of drugs to the US in FY25, accounting for nearly 40% of America’s generic prescriptions. According to Aditya Jhaver, director at Crisil Ratings, the replacement risk for Indian generics in the US remains low, given the country’s limited local manufacturing capacity. “India delivers significant healthcare savings to the US, with manufacturing costs 3540% lower than those in the US,” he said. Mankind Pharma chairman Ramesh C Juneja noted that the tariff is likely to have less than a 0.5% impact on Indian exporters. “There are very few companies that send patented products to the US, and most of them already have manufacturing facilities in America,” he added. Still, exporters cautioned that India must remain alert in case complex generics, or even parts of the generic supply chain, come under tariffs or other restrictions in the future. The US Commerce Department is also probing under Section 232 whether phar maceutical imports—including finished drugs and APIs—pose a national security risk. US President Donald Trump announced that from October 1, he will impose a 100% tariff on all branded or patented drugs unless they are manufactured domestically. Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical and Natco Pharma fell over 3% each, while Laurus Labs, Biocon, and Zydus Lifesciences dropped 4-7%. The Nifty Pharma index ended the day down 2.14% and 5.2% lower for the week. doubling tariffs on key Indian goods to 50%, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. Reiterating India’s energy policy, the MEA spokesperson stressed that its purchases are guided solely by national interest, market conditions and economic considerations. Answering a question on the European Union calling upon India to cut energy imports from Russia, Jaiswal pointed to President Trump statement that the EU, G7, NATO also needs to stop Russian energy imports. No extension of Oct 7 deadline; speed up survey: CM to officials E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday clarified that the State Government will not extend the October 7 deadline set for completing the ongoing Socio-Economic and Educational Survey also , known as the caste survey, and directed officials to speed up the process. After holding a video-conference with deputy commissioners, he directed the officials to monitor the progress daily and accelerate it to meet the d e a d l i n e. Te ch n i c a l glitches faced in the first four days of the survey have been resolved. Officials have been told to ensure daily progress of at least 10% to meet the target. It has been just around 3-4 % till now, he said. District-in-charge ministers too have been directed to coordinate and supervise the survey that started on September 22. So far, 2.76 lakh families have been covered, and the enumerators have to cover over 2 crore households by October 7, he added. “Every single family should be surveyed. We will follow all directions issued by the high court. The enumeration process should pick up pace in Bengaluru that has nearly 50 lakh households,” he said.  P6 Big youth protest in Dharwad, demanding jobs express read New ration cards from Oct, says minister M a l l i k a r j u n H i r em at h Udupi: Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs KH Muniyappa on Friday said people can start applying for ration cards from October. He said revision of BPL cards will be completed by then. During the recent survey of beneficiaries, 7.70 lakh ration cards were identified as ineligible. A large number of job aspirants, students and youth hit the streets of Dharwad on Thursday demanding that the govern, ment fill up vacancies in its various departments and relax the age limit for applying to these posts. The angry crowd of youngsters tore the images of @ Dharwad Youth protesters hold up a large banner with “Gen-Z” printed on it, in Dharwad on Friday | d hemanth political representatives, including that of CM Siddaramaiah, DCM DK Shivakumar, H o m e M i n i s t e r G Pa r a meshwara and others, sending out a strong message that the government cannot ignore this youth movement. The protest was led by the AllKarnataka State Students’ Association and others. Arun B, a student from Harihar who has completed his BSc and who was taking part in the protest, said he is now 27 years old and has been attending coaching classes for the police sub-inspector recruitment exam for the last two years. But the government has not called for applications to fill up the posts. “By next year, I will cross the age limit. The government that had promised to relax the age bar for candidates, has kept quiet,” he lamented. “We are staying here spending nearly Rs 10,000 every month. Our poor parents keep sending us money with the hope that we will get a good job. We have reached a stage where we cannot go back home without a job. We are at the crossroads. The pressure from our family and others is becoming a big burden,” he said.  P7 CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar attend a meeting on the caste survey in Bengaluru on Friday | EXPRESS