villupuram l wednesday l october 29, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l 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 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 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 ED flags new cash-for-job scam, asks TN cops to initiate probe press clusive S i d d h a r t h P r a b h a k a r @ Chennai Citing evidence unearthed during a raid conducted earlier this year, the Enforcement Directorate has written a letter to the Tamil Nadu police on Monday alleging a cash-for-jobs scam in the selection of officers and staff to 2,538 posts in the state Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department. The appointment orders were handed over to the candidates by Chief Minister MK Stalin on August 6. In the communication sent under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to the Tamil Nadu Head of Police Force (HoPF), the ED has said that bribes of `25 lakh to `35 lakh were collected per post by powerful politicians and entities close to them for rigging the examination process in mid-2024 and awarding appointment orders in favour of at least 150 candidates in August 2025. The agency has also sought a probe against the officials of Anna University which con- ducted the exams. Along with the letter, the ED has also provided a 232-page dossier with the names of the suspected lynchpins of the alleged scam, detailing their role in it. The dossier also explains the modus operandi of the alleged exam rigging and details of 150 candidates in whose favour the process was manipulated and 8th pay panel announced Govt clears terms of reference; revised salaries, pensions likely wef Jan 1, 2026 M U KESH R AN J AN @ New Delhi 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. 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 from 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 . Mehli Mistry voted out of Tata Trusts Tejashwi’s stamp on INDIA bloc manifesto for Bihar B ENN K O C H U V EEDAN @ 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 corMehli Mistry nerstone entities hold 52% of Tata Sons, Tata Group’s holding company . Mistry was a contender for a seat on Tata Sons board. His exit signals a clear consolidation of control by Noel Tata, who now firmly asserts himself as chairman of Tata Trusts that owns 66.6% of Tata Sons. Sources said a bloc led by Noel, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, along with another trustee, voted against Mistry . 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 a Cong team on Saturday, said sources Justice Desai to head panel 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 Jammu and Kashmir R a m a s h a n k a r a n d P r e e t h a N a i r @ 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; all contractual and outsourced workers would be made permanent; and the old pension scheme would be restored. The manifesto also pledged to resist any “unconstitutional law” imposed by the Centre and to protect the constitutional rights of all minority communities. The alliance promised that the Waqf Amendment Act would be put on hold and the management of Waqf properties will be made more welfare-oriented 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. Rahul was also upset about the allies are fighting against each other in at least 11 seats. udise data Sharp rise in dropout rate in TN schools Sub a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai Tamil Nadu has recorded a sharp increase in school dropout rates across all levels — primary (Classes 1–5), upper primary (6–8) and secondary (9–10) — in 2024–25, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data re- leased by the Union Ministry of Education on Monday . In primary and upper primary levels, the dropout rate rose from 0% for both to 2.7% and 2.8% in 2024-25 respectively— the highest in the last five years since 2020–21. At the secondary level, it has increased from 7.7% in 2023– 24 to 8.5% in 2024–25. For a state that has long maintained some of the lowest dropout rates in the country, the latest figures have raised concerns and confusion among educators. The School Education Department is yet to provide an explanation for the rise in dropouts. When contacted, a senior official said they would respond after examining the UDISE+ data in detail.  P7 5-YR HIGH In primary and upper primary levels, dropout rate rose from 0% to 2.7% and 2.8% in 2024-25 respectively. At secondary level, it has increased from 7.7% to 8.5% ‘`35L for each post in recruitment for 2,538 posts’ Bribe of `25 lakh to `35 lakh collected for each post for rigging the recruitment process for selecting candidates for 2,538 posts in MAWS department, ED said. The agency said filing of case by TN police would enable it to start an independent investigation under PMLA the evidence for chain of collection and payment of bribes through middlemen. When contacted, MAWS secretary D Karthikeyan said he was not aware of the ED’s letter, and the recruitment was done “perfectly fine” without any irregularities. The alleged irregularities pertain to appointment of 2,538 assistant engineers, town plan- ning officers, junior engineers, and sanitary inspectors by MAWS department in August this year for which around 1.12 lakh had applied in early 2024. In the letter, ED said these details tumbled out when the agency was investigating the money laundering aspect of a bank fraud case related to True Value Homes (TVH) linked to MAWS Minister KN Nehru’s brother N Ravichandran.  P7 Deal with Russia to build passenger jet MAYANK SIN 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 MoU between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia’s Public Joint Stock Company-United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC-UAC) for production of civil 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 manufacturing of the SJ-100 aircraft will also be the first instance wherein a complete passenger aircraft will be produced in India.” 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, “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 tourist destinations.” stalin vows to fight Sir Urging ECI to drop SIR, CM Stalin said the DMK would “fight ECI’s anti-democratic move legally” | P4