tadepalligudem l tuesday l december 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION IIP growth at 2-year high of 6.7% in Nov on robust manufacturing Factory output, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew at 6.7% in November, driven by the manufacturing and mining sectors strong growth on back of GST cuts Metals, Pharma boost manufacturing The Goods and Services Tax rates were cut on a host of consumer items to boost demand and consumption. This led to a piling up of manufacturing orders to take advantage of the GST rate reduction. The data showed that the manufacturing sector’s output grew by 8%, up from 5.5% in the yearago month. Mining production rose by 5.4%, against 1.9% a year earlier ■ ■ ■ “The growth is led by manufacture of basic metals, fabricated metal products, pharma and vehicles,” the National Statistics Office said In manufacturing sector, 20 of 23 industry groups recorded growth The data also showed that power production contracted by 1.5% in November 2025 compared to 4.4% expansion in the year-ago period 11.9% The highest iip growth recorded in recent times. It came in nov 2023 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 SC stays its Nov 20 fiat on Aravallis, SC stays Delhi HC to set up high-powered committee order suspending 2017 unnao rape case Bench says its previous order invited applications and pleas questioning the 100-metre rule s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y Interim win, say environmentalists @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday put its November 20 order that accepted an elevationlinked defintion of the Aravallis on hold after environmental groups raised serious concerns that the new definition could lead to unbridled mining in one of the world’s oldest mountain ranges. A vacation bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih said the court’s November 20 order had “critical ambiguities” that needed to be cleared up. The bench proposed forming a panel of experts to study the issue more carefully . “We direct that recommendations of the committee and findings of the Supreme Court shall remain in abeyance till then. The case to be taken up on January 21, 2026,” said the three-judge bench. The court had on November 20 accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges and banned fresh mining leases. The SC Security officials outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi Monday | Shekhar Yadav A committee of experts will be constituted to study environmental impact and assessment of the recommendations made by an earlier committee that comprised of bureaucrats — CJI-led SC bench had also accepted the recommendations of a committee of the Environment Ministry that had recommended that “Aravalli Hill” be defined as any landform with an elevation of 100 metres or more above its local relief, and an “Aravalli Range” as a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other. In its order on Monday, the court said, “It seems prima facie that both the committee’s report and the judgment of this court have omitted to expressly clarify certain critical issues.” The court said that the ministry’s definition might create a problem where protected areas become smaller while unprotected “non-Aravalli” areas become larger. The bench issued notice in Sengar’s life term e xp r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi Environmentalists objecting to the new definition of Aravallis welcomed the Supreme Court’s move on Monday. Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said, ”This judicial intervention was much needed... the committee which is going to be formed should have ecologists, environmentalists and not just bureaucrats.” Neelam Ahluwalia, founder member of the People for Aravallis collective, termed the directive of Monday as an “interim win”. the matter and requested the Attorney General R Venkataramani to assist the Court, including in the composition of the expert panel. The problem started because Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat each had their own definitions of what counts as Aravalli Hills and Ranges, leading to loopholes that allowed illegal mining. STRESSING that even the “finest judges are prone to errors” and judicial scrutiny is part of the system, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed a December 23 High Court order suspending the life sentence of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The top court said Sengar shall not be released from custody . A vacation bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices J K Maheshwari and Augustine George Masih, which was hearing the CBI’s plea challenging the high court order, said “substantial questions of law have arisen in the matter that require consideration”. The court issued notice to Sengar seeking his response in four weeks. The bench said it was conscious of the fact that ordinarily when a convict or an under, trial was released on bail after an order passed by a court, such order shall not be stayed by it without hearing that person. It noted that Sengar was also convicted and sentenced in a separate case and was still in custody in that matter. “In the peculiar circumstances of the case, we stay the operation of the impugned order dated December 23, 2025, passed by the high court,” it said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the CBI, urged the bench to stay the high court order, saying it was a “horrific rape” of a child. The Delhi HC had, in its December 23 order, held Sengar was convicted under Section 5 (C) (sexual assault by a public servant) of POCSO Act but an elected representative does not fit the definition of a “public servant” under the IPC. The bench observed it was worried that a constable or a ‘patwari’ will be a ‘public servant’ in such an offence but a MP or MLA may be exempted if this interpretation was construed to be correct. `79,000 cr Arms buy gets defence ministry nod M aya n k S i n g h @ New Delhi The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared the procurement of defence hardware worth `79,000 crore for the three services on Monday . “During the meeting, Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) was approved for the procurement of Loiter Munition System for Artillery Regiments, Low Level Light Weight Radars, Long Range Guided Rocket Ammunition for Pinaka Multiple Launch Rocket System, and Integrated Drone Detection & Interdiction System Mk-II for the Indian Army,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Loiter munition will be used for precision strikes on tactical targets, whereas LowLevel Light-Weight Radars will detect and track small, low-flying Unmanned Aerial Systems. Long-Range Guided Rockets will enhance the range and accuracy of Pinaka MRLS, enabling effective engagement of high-value targets. Integrated Drone De- New hardware to help tackle drone threat Low-Level Light-Weight Radars will detect and track small, low-flying Unmanned Aerial System. While Integrated Drone Detection & Interdiction System Mk-II with enhanced range will protect the vital assets of the Indian Army in the Tactical Battle Area and Hinterland tection & Interdiction System Mk-II with enhanced range will protect the vital assets of the Indian Army in the Tactical Battle Area and Hinterland. For the Navy, AoN was accorded for the procurement of Bollard Pull Tugs, High Frequency Software-Defined Radios Manpack and for leasing High Altitude Long Range Remotely Piloted Aircraft System. Induction of BP Tugs will assist Naval ships and submarines in berthing, unberthing and maneuvering in confined waters/harbor. The HF SDR will enhance longrange secured communication during boarding and landing operations. For the Indian Air Force, AoN was approved for the procurement of Automatic Take-off Landing Recording System, Astra Mk-II Missiles, Full Mission Simulator and SPICE-1000 Long Range Guidance Kits etc. Induction of the Automatic Take-off Landing Recording System will fill the gaps in the aerospace safety environment by providing high-definition, allweather automatic recording of landing and take-off. Astra Mk-II Missiles will boost the capability of the fighter aircraft to neutralise adversary aircraft from large standoff range. The Defence Acquisition Council serves as the highest decision-making body on defence policy and capital procurement. Vaikunta bliss Tirumala Lord Venkateswara temple gets a floral makeover ahead of the sacred Vaikunta Ekadasi festival | Express express read Tatanagar - E’kulam exp catches fire, one dead Task Force to curb infectious diseases CM pushes for temple volunteers Visakhapatnam: One passenger died after a fire broke out in the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express near Elamanchili. The fire engulfed two AC coaches, and despite evacuation efforts, the 70-year-old couldn’t escape | P3 Vijayawada: The State government forms a 24-member Task Force to tackle diseases like dengue, malaria, and TB. Chaired by Health Commissioner Veerapandian, it includes national experts and officials | P3 Vijayawada: CM Naidu has directed the Endowments Department to implement a volunteer-based service system across all temples in the state, modelled on the Srivari Sevakulu initiative at Tirumala | P4 2 new dists in AP, HQ status accorded to Madanapalle S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, took a key decision to form two new districts and to make Madanapalle the headquarters of Annamayya district. This move will increase the number of districts in Andhra Pradesh to 28 from the existing 26 with the formation of Markapuram and Polavaram as new districts. Rampachodavaram will be the headquarters of Polavaram district. The changes in districts, revenue divisions and mandals will come into effect from December 31. The government had issued a preliminary notification on November 27, inviting suggestions and objections from the public and took the decision to constitute two new districts based on the feedback received from the people. Disclosing the details of the Cabinet’s decision to the media, Ministers Anagani Satya Prasad (Revenue), Nadendla Manohar (Civil Supplies) and Satya Kumar Yadav (Medical and Health) said that a lengthy discussion was held on the reorganisation of districts. The Ministers stated that changes were made with regard to revenue divisions and mandals in 17 districts, while no changes were made in nine districts, including Vi z i a n a g a r a m , P a rvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Eluru, NTR, Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu and Anantapur. Besides merging Kota, Chilkur and Gudur mandals back into Nellore district, S a m a l ko t m a n d a l w a s merged into the Peddapuram revenue division. The name of Penukonda in West Godavari was changed to Vasavi Penukonda as per the aspirations of the people, the Revenue Minister said.  P4 ‘Crime rate drops 6%, but economic offences rise’ 2 B’deshis harassed at Bhubaneswar P h a n i n d r a Pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh police are building capacities to curb cybercrimes, said DGP Harish Kumar Gupta, adding the state saw 6.17% fewer crimes in 2025 with 1,03,397 cases vs 1,10,193 cases in the previous year, 2024. However, former DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, during his tenure in 2024, had revealed that the State reported as many as 92,904 cases, including those under IPC or BNS and Special Local Laws, compared to 97,760 cases in 2023. A difference of 17,289 cases was observed in the statistics provided by the police department for the year 2024. Addressing the media at the Police Headquarters in Man- galagiri on Monday, DGP Harish Gupta asserted that the Andhra Pradesh Police Department is focusing on providing more efficient services through the implementation of technology and artificial intelligence to combat the growing threat of cybercrime and has increased its focus on the refund process. Revealing the crime statistics, the DGP said the number of cybercrime incidents and the money lost to cybercrimi- nals had reduced slightly due to increased public awareness. A total of 62,414 complaints were generated, of which 2,332 FIRs were registered, prompting officials to freeze `98 crore. Of the total loss of `815 crore, only `3 crore was successfully refunded to victims, while another `98 crore was frozen,” DGP Harish said. He also expressed concern over the rise in economic offences, which increased by an average of 5 per cent across three categories—cheating, criminal breach of trust, and counterfeiting of coins, currency and gover nment stamps. Gupta further explained that bodily crimes, property offences, and crimes against women and children had declined and attributed this to visible polic- ing and continuous monitoring of offenders. “The State police have demonstrated commendable performance over the past year in discharging various duties and maintaining law and order effectively. Crime rates have shown a significant reduction, reflecting the department’s commitment to ensuring public safety Prompt responses to . emergencies have resulted in the timely apprehension of offenders, crime prevention, and effective law and order maintenance, earning wide appreciation and enhancing public trust,” the DGP said. Elaborating further, he said the State reported fewer incidents of bodily offences such as murders, attempted murders and hurt cases compared to the P4 previous year.  airport, refused treatment by hospital E X P RESS NEWS SER V ICE @ Bhubaneswar TWO Bangladeshi nationals travelling to Bhubaneswar for medical treatment were subjected to police verification on arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Air port on Sunday night after the locals raised suspicion on their identity . Furthermore, the hospital concerned also reportedly refused admission to the patient in apprehension trouble and both were forced to return to Mumbai from where they had flown to Bhubaneswar. According to police sources, the two brothers, aged 49 and 35, arrived from Mumbai after flying in from Dubai, where they were employed as a driver and a labourer, respectively. The elder sibling, who is suffering from a cardiac ailment, was scheduled to undergo treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. The hospital had arranged an ambulance to receive them at the airport. However, it failed to arrive due to some communication gap. As the ambulance did not turn up, the two attempted to hire a taxi. When the cab driver enquired about their nationality and learnt they were Bangladeshi citizens, he alerted others present at the airport. Lo- cals gathered and informed the police raising suspicion that they were illegal immigrants. The two were then taken to the Airport police station where their travel documents, including passports and visas, were checked and found to be valid. “After thorough verification, they were cleared,” inspector-in-charge Rabindranath Meher said. However, police sources said the private hospital later declined to admit the ailing man, citing concerns over possible backlash in the wake of recent tensions over killing of Hindus in Bangladesh. With no alter native, the brothers returned to Mumbai on Monday morning.