KOCHI l wednesday l October 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION severe cyclonic storm Montha makes Landfall off Andhra coast The landfall process, which began off the Kakinada coast around 7 pm on Tuesday, crossing with wind speed of 90-100 kmph and gusting up to 110 kmph Photo: Prasant Madugula Standing crops on 38,000 hectares hit in AP Life out of gear in 15 districts in oDISHA Under the influence of the severe cyclonic storm, Nellore district in Andhra recorded the highest amount of rainfall on Tuesday. Standing crops spread over 38,000 hectares and horticulture crops in 1.38 lakh hectares were destroyed in the state, said a press release from the Andhra CM’s office. A woman died in Konaseema district after an uprooted tree fell on her ■ ■ The AP government has set up 488 control rooms at the mandal level. Nearly 76,000 people have been shifted to relief camps, and 219 medical camps have been set up at various locations Normal life was affected in 15 districts of neighbouring Odisha too with heavy rains causing landslides, damaging houses. P5 Montha Thailand gave the name, which means ‘fragrant flower’ in Thai language 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 8th Pay Commission announced Cabinet clears panel’s terms of reference; revised salaries, pensions likely wef Jan 1, 2026 M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi In a big boost to around 48 lakh central government employees and 67 lakh pensioners, the Centre on Tuesday announced the long-awaited 8th Central Pay Commission and approved its terms of reference (ToR). Briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the panel, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, has been given 18 months to submit its report. The revised pay structure is expected to come into force on January 1, 2026. The commission will examine existing salary slabs, allowances, grade pay structures, pension formulae and other financial components that shape government compensation. The review is expected to take into account macroeconomic realities, fiscal considerations and employment competitiveness. “The 8th Central Pay Commission will be a temporary body. The Commission will comprise one Chairperson; One Member (Part Time) and o n e M e m b e r- S e c r e t a r y, ” Vaishnaw said. IIM Bangalore Professor Pulak Ghosh has been named as the member of the panel and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain as the member-secretary . The government had in principle decided to constitute the panel in January Commenting . on the delay in the rollout of the process, Vaishnaw said: “The Narendra Modi government has taken the decision in a record time, as it required wider consultations before finalising the ToR and the panel with a whole range of stakeholders, including large ministries like Defence, Home and Railways, as well as state governments and unions.” The pay commission recommendations are important as it will affect not just central government staff but also influence the compensation frameworks across state governments, public sector units, autonomous institutions and even private sector pay-benchmarking in some segments. The announcement comes ahead of the Bihar elections, to be held on November 6 and 11. Tejashwi stamp on Oppn’s manifesto R amashankar and P reetha N air @ Patna/ New Delhi The Opposition INDIA bloc on Tuesday released its joint manifesto that had a large photograph of chief ministerial candidate and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on its cover, and spoke of his vows for total transformation, ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly election. It dwarfed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s thumbnail image on the top-left corner of cover page. The manifesto pledged to enact a law within 20 days of forming the new government to ensure one government job per family. The process of job distribution would begin within 20 months of assuming power, it assured. It said Jeevika Didis would be granted permanent status as government employees with a monthly salary of `30,000, and all contractual and outsourced workers would be made permanent. The manifesto also pledged to resist any “unconstitutional law” imposed by the Centre and to protect the constitutional rights of all minority communities. The grand alliance promised that the Waqf Amendment Act would be put on hold and the management of Waqf properties will be made more welfareoriented and beneficial by making them transparent, while the management of Buddhist temples in Bodh Gaya will be handed over to the people of the Buddhist community . Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s no-show at the event became a talking point. He apparently was cross because RJD boss Lalu Yadav declined to meet a party delegation, saying it could be done only after the Chhath festival. Miffed Rahul skips event Though the Oppn tried to showcase unity during the manifesto’s release, the absence of Congress’ Rahul Gandhi told a different story. Rahul was miffed that RJD boss Lalu Yadav declined to meet Cong leaders K C Venugopal, Ashok Gehlot and Ajay Maken on Saturday to discuss joint campaign and other issues, said sources Justice Ranjana Desai to head the commission The panel’s chair, former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, is also the chairman of the Press Council of India. She has headed major panels, including Delimitation Commission for UT of J&K ‘ToR cleared after consulting states’ Information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the ToR of the panel was finalised after consultation with various ministries, state governments and staff side of joint consultative machinery T’Puram champs With 1,825 points, hosts Thiruvananthapuram crowned champions of the state school sports meet | P4 CPI to boycott cabinet meeting over PM SHRI ever, the education department is of the view that the suggesIn a bid to keep its lead coali- tion is not practical. tion partner on tenterhooks, In his talks with Binoy Baby , the CPI has decided to boycott reportedly reiterated Chief Wednesday’s cabinet meeting Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s ofif the CPM failed to respond fer that the government would positively to the party’s deform a cabinet sub-commitmands on the PM SHRI tee to study and suggest scheme. ways to resolve the isThe CPI state secresue. The programme tariat, which met onwould not be impleline on Tuesday decid, mented in haste. At ed to wait for a positive any stage, if the govresponse from the ernment feels that the CPM till the cabinet Union government is meeting. If the CPM trying to impose safdecides to stick to fronisation through It is up to the CPM to make a their position of conany means, it would move now. We tinuing with the PM not implement it, or have conveyed SHRI scheme, the four even abandon the enCPI ministers will stay our position. The tire programme. Howissue was not away from the cabinet ever, Binoy asserted created by meeting. that the programme the CPI “It is up to the CPM should be scrapped at A CPI leader to make a move now. once. We have conveyed our The CPM has also position. The issue was not cre- decided to take a wait and ated by the CPI,” a party leader watch approach. The cabinet said. meeting, which was slated for As part of his efforts to ease the morning, has been reschedthe tension, CPM general sec- uled to the afternoon. “We have retary M A Baby rang up CPI told them what is practical. state secretary Binoy Viswam. The ball is now in CPI’s court,” Binoy told Baby that the state a CPM leader said. cabinet must ask the Union According to CPI insiders, government to freeze the pro- the leadership is also weighing gramme as the state did not in- the risks any hasty action ● More on P4 tend to continue with it. How- could trigger.  K S S R E E J I T H @ T’Puram Deal with Russia to manufacture passenger jet M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi In a first of its kind deal for India, Russia moved beyond joint defence manufacture to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on building a twin-engine narrow-body passenger aircraft for short-haul flights in the country The deal . comes ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled visit to India and US squeeze to end the Ukraine war. The MoU between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia’s Public Joint Stock Company-United Aircraft Corporation (PJSCUAC) for production of civil Prabhat Ranjan from HAL and Oleg Bogomolov from United Aircraft Corporation during an MoU signing at Moscow in Russia | PTI commuter aircraft Superjet (SJ)-100 was signed in Moscow on Monday . The HAL called it the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Indian aviation industry as, “The manufactur- ing of the SJ-100 aircraft will also be the first instance wherein a complete passenger aircraft will be produced in India.” The last such project was HAL’s production of AVRO HS-748, which started in 1961 and ended in 1988. As on date, more than 200 SJ-100s are under operation by more than 16 commercial airline operators. The aircraft can be a game changer for short-haul connectivity under the UDAN scheme in India. Under the agreement, HAL will have the rights to manufacture SJ-100s for domestic customers. As per HAL’s estimates, EXPRESS READ CM calls SIR a threat Police get four days’ to democratic process custody of Murari Babu T’Puram: Close on the heels of the ECI clearing the decks for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ lists in states including Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come out against the move, calling it a serious threat to the democratic process. P4 Pathanamthitta: The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Ranni, on Tuesday granted police four days’ custody of Murari Babu, a Travancore Devaswom Board employee accused in the alleged Sabarimala gold theft case, for detailed interrogation. P4 I n dia i n c r o ss - h airs Inside the Centre’s huddle on information warfare S umit K umar S ingh @ New Delhi Behind closed doors at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan last week, some of the country’s top bureaucrats gathered for what insiders described as a “crucial and unusually candid” discussion. The task before them: to draw up a coordinated strategy against ‘misinformation’ — the new battlefield where foreign entities are said to be targeting India. The day-long meeting on October 25 brought together all Union government secretaries. It was chaired by the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretaries, P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, along with Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan and Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju. The objective, according to officials, was to ensure that every ministry speaks in one voice and that communication reflects what they called a “whole-ofgovernment and whole-of-society” approach. A messaging rethink Sources said the meeting was part of a wider effort to align the government’s communication with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Reform, Perform, Transform and Inform.” Somanathan, they added, called this the “guiding principle” in the thrust towards a Viksit Bharat — a developed India. Beneath the polished phrasing, however, was a clear sense of concern. Officials acknowledged that ‘misinformation’ campaigns — es- pecially those believed to be orchestrated by foreign actors — are becoming more sophisticated and targeted. One example was of Operation Sindoor, cited as an instance of coordinated information warfare aimed at undermining India’s image abroad. From coordination to credibility The first part of the meeting dealt with tightening coordination among ministries to ensure a swift and unified response to false or misleading narratives. The second explored new digital tools and technologies that could help government tell its story better — and more directly to citizens. Officials stressed the importance of simplicity and authenticity in communication. “Policies must be explained in the language people understand,” one participant said. “It’s not just about visibility anymore — it’s about trust.” Reducing the middlemen The meet also turned inward, examining how the government itself handles outreach. Participants discussed cutting down on the use of private agencies for official publicity The Ministry of Information and . Broadcasting, they suggested, should take the lead in crafting and disseminating communication material across platforms. The underlying message, one senior official summed up, was that the age of oneway communication is over. “Public messaging has to be credible, consistent and connected,” he said. “over the next 10 years, the Indian aviation sector will require over 200 jets in this category for regional connectivity and an additional 350 aircraft for the Indian Ocean region to serve nearby international tourist destinations.” HAL saw it as a step towards fulfilling the dream of ‘ atmanirbhar A Bharat’ in the civil aviation sector. Manufacturing will also strengthen the private sector and create direct and indirect jobs in the aviation industry. HAL’s Prabhat Ranjan and PJSC-UAC’s Oleg Bogomolov signed the MoU. SJ100’s maiden flight was in 2008. Mehli Mistry voted out of Tata Trusts B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai IN a dramatic shake-up within Tata Trusts, Mehli Mistry—once known as Ratan Tata’s closest confidant—has been voted out of the board, marking an abrupt end to his rapid rise in the $180-billion Tata conglomerate’s power structure. A majority of trustees on Tuesday voted against Mistry’s reappointment, ending his first three-year term as trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Together, these two cornerstone entities hold 52% of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. M i s t r y, handpicked by Ratan Tata in October 2022, was a contender for a future seat on the Tata Sons board. His unceremonious exit signals a clear consolidation of control by Noel Tata, who now firmly asserts himself as the chairman of all Tata Trusts that owns 66.6% of Tata Sons. Sources said a bloc led by Noel, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, along with another unidentified trustee, voted against Mistry’s continuation. This follows the September 11 episode when trustees led by Mistry voted to oust Srinivasan and Singh from Tata Sons. For Noel, his authority over the dozen-odd Trusts is now undisputed, but he faces a likely legal challenge from Mistry . 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express