villupuram l saturday l september 27, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 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 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 870 A workhorse with troubled safety record ■ ■ 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 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 Vande Bharat to soon link Chennai with Rameswaram 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- With the completion of electrification on the 53-km Ramanathapuram-Rameswaram single broad gauge section, Southern Railway has decided to introduce a Vande Bharat Express between Chennai and Rameswaram, one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations located at the southern tip of the railway network. According to official sources, a proposal to operate the new daytime Vande Bharat Express from either Chennai Egmore or Tambaram has been submitted to the Railway Board. At present, there are no daytime services operated through the 600km-660km stretch via chord line and main line, and the proposed train is expected to ease congestion on the existing three overnight services. “The entire 53-km section has now been cleared for electric locomotive operations. But, there was a gap of around 220m without overhead cables near the Parundhu Naval Air Station close to Uchipuli railway station. While trains currently cross this stretch at their natural speeds, separate trials will be carried out before the Vande Bharat is introduced,” an official said. The official added the final route for the proposed train is yet to be decided. P7 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 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 reorted to stone pelting 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 2,500 minibuses India sees low impact of May ply on unserved routes in tn soon 100% tariff on branded pharma export to US Madras HC has rejected all the petitions filed by private bus operators against the scheme. Justice N Mala says initiative aims to provide last-mile connectivity to the rural public | P2 P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Asia Cup row Surya, Rauf fined; BCCI appeals against verdict Express News Service 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- sparks fly in Bareilly amid ‘I Love Muhammad’ row @ Chennai B A n b u s e lv a n @ Chennai 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 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. Four cops get 11-year jail for custodial death of boy JEGADEESWARI PANDIAN @ Madurai Six years after the brutal torture of 17-year-old M Muthu Karthick by SS Colony police in Madurai, which resulted in his death, the V Additional District Judge of Madurai on Friday sentenced four policemen to 11 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of `14,000 on them for the crime. Judge R Joseph Joy in his , order, convicted inspector S Alexraj (55), sub-inspector R Ravichandran (61), head constable S Ravichandran (55), and grade 1 constable C Satheesh Kumar (38), who are currently under suspension, under Sections 343 (Wrongful confinement) and 304(II) IPC (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder). He also directed the DGP to undertake disciplinary action against then SP S Rajeshwari (now Inspector General of Police), who initially investigated the case, for deliberately failing to conduct a proper probe. In his 216-page order, the judge observed that the four policemen wrongfully confined the boy without an iota of evidence for nearly three days and brutally tortured him to force a confession out of him to the point that the injuries were grave enough to result in his death. The convicts also tried to destroy the evidence and conceal the truth, the judge said. The judge also directed the CBCID to probe and file charge sheet against three other policemen for aiding the convicts in destroying the evidence.  P7 root of the matter TN technology helps mangrove seedlings survive salinity, tidal onslaught SV KRISHNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu forest department has pioneered a tidal nursery system that has been showing promising results for mangrove restoration. Developed by forest range officer B Iqbal in Cuddalore and imple- mented in the district’s Pichavaram, the innovation is already improving the survival and resilience of mangrove saplings in the region, one of the country’s most important coastal ecosystems. The Pichavaram forest is the world’s second-largest mangrove forest, and is home to di- verse flora and fauna. Traditionally, mang rove nurseries raise seedlings in polybags under controlled conditions, with a two to threemonth freshwater treatment before field planting. However, these seedlings often struggle to adapt once exposed to tidal waters, salinity fluctuations, Mangrove tidal nursery | express and strong winds, leading to high mortality . Iqbal’s method takes a different approach. Saplings are secured with wooden sticks and kept in tidal waters for six to eight months, where they gradually get acclimatised to natural coastal conditions such as variable salinity tidal rhythms, , and temperature changes. “The nursery mimics real field conditions. Seedlings harden naturally and are better prepared to withstand environmental stresses once transplanted,” Iqbal said during a field visit to Killai, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu’s first Climate Resilient Village.  P7