TIRUNELVELI 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 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 meetgion. “It is clear that ing between Ladakh the mob was incited leaders and Union by Sonam Wangchuk home ministry offithrough his provocacials in New Delhi to t ive s t at e m e n t s, ” September 29 so as to MHA said in a prepare the ground statement. Sonam Wangchuk for the October 6 The FCRA licence talks. Leh Apex Body of Wangchuk’s NGO, Mehbooba (LAB) co-chairman the Students’ Educaslams move Chering Dorjay told tional and Cultural this newspaper that Movement of Ladakh PDP president the that a seven-mem(SECMOL), was canMehbooba Mufti ber delegation of La- said the arrest of celled on Thursday . dakh leaders, includ- Sonam Wangchuk Wangchuk has deing three each from nied the allegations is “deeply LAB and Kargil Demand termed it “scapedisturbing”, ocratic Alliance and goating” and “witch terming him as a the Ladakh MP, will lifelong advocate hunting”. Immediparticipate in the Sepately after the arrest, of peace tember 29 talks. authorities suspendThe meeting will ed mobile internet discuss the agenda for the Oc- services in Leh district, where tober 6 talks between the La- curfew remained in force for dakh leaders and the Union the 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 link Chennai & Rameswaram B A n b u s e lv a n @ Chennai 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.  P7 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 confronted 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 “At no point has Prime MinUkraine because India is being ister Modi spoken with Presihit with tariffs,” Rutte alleged. dent Putin in the manner sugIn a sharply worded rebuttal, gested. No such conversation Exter nal Affairs Ministry has taken place.” Jaiswal added spokesperson Ranthat the Government dhir Jaiswal disof India expects better missed the comfrom a leader of such a ments as false and ke y i n t e r n a t i o n a l irresponsible. body . “We have seen the “We expect the leadstatement by NATO ership of an important Secretary-General institution like NATO Mr Mark Rutte reMark Rutte, NATO to exercise greater regarding a purported Secretary-General sponsibility and accuphone conversation racy in public statebetween Prime Minister Naren- ments. Speculative or careless dra Modi and President remarks that misrepresent the Vladimir Putin. The statement Prime Minister’s engagements is factually incorrect and entire- or suggest conversations that ly baseless,” said Jaiswal. never occurred are sparks fly in Bareilly amid ‘I Love Muhammad’ row (Left) Women hold placards reading ‘I Love Muhammad’ during a demonstration in Kanpur; (above) scurity personnel lathi-charge demonstrators in in Bareilly | PTI 2,500 minibuses India sees low impact of May ply on unserved routes in tn soon 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 100% tariff on branded pharma export to US 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 @ 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 unacceptable.” The controversy comes against the backdrop of rising trade tensions, with US President Donald Trump last month 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. 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. 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). The judge 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 investigation. 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.  P7 e x p r e ss r e a d Raaja’s music: Firm quizzed over revenue Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday directed Sony Music Entertainment India Private Limited to produce the accounts of revenue it earned through the “commercial exploitation” of maestro Ilaiyaraaja’s musical works ‘Bad road’ kills Kovai woman inspector Coimbatore: A woman police inspector riding pillion with her son on a scooter died on the spot after she fell on the road and came under the wheels of a van while her son tried to avoid a damaged road patch in Coimbatore on Friday