DHARMAPURI l tuesday l december 30, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 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 boost for forces `79,000 cr Arms buy gets defence ministry seal 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 MkII for the Indian Army,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Loiter Munition will be used for precision strikes on tactical targets, whereas Low-Level 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. For the Navy AoN was ac, corded for the procurement of Bollard Pull Tugs, High Frequency Software-Defined Radios Manpack and for leasing High Altitude Long Range Remotely Piloted Aircraft System. 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. 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 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. Blow to TN govt as Prez returns Madras Univ Bill B i n i ta J a i s w a l @ Chennai President Droupadi Murmu has returned the University of Madras (Amendment) Bill to the Tamil Nadu government, dealing a fresh blow to the DMK gover nment’s efforts to assert greater control over the administration of state-run universities. The decision brings back into focus the long-running tussle between the state government and Governor RN Ravi President over the appointment of vice- Droupadi Murmu chancellors in TN universities. The Bill, passed by the state Assembly in April 2022, sought to amend the University of Madras Act by transferring the power to appoint and remove the vice-chancellor, from the governor — who serves as the ex-officio chancellor of the university — to the state government. By replacing the term “chancellor” with “government” in the Act, the state aimed to make the elected government the final authority in matters of academic leadership.  P7 DMK 2.0 ‘rule for Tamil Nadu women’ Describing women’s progress as society’s success, CM MK Stalin said DMK’s second term will be for the state’s women | P2 t r ac k u p g r a d e s Faster travel from ’26 as SR speeds up 65 trains B ANBUSELVAN @ Chennai The long-pending completion of doubling of 300-km railway lines in southern Tamil Nadu, electrification of single lines, and upgradation of tracks enabling train speeds of up to 110 kmph will deliver tangible benefits in the form of speedier train travel in 2026. The Southern Railway has increased the speed of 65 trains in its new timetable which will be effective from January 1. According to the official order issued by Southern Railway to six divisions on Monday , among express trains, the Nagercoil-Tambaram Express train will run 50 minutes faster, while the Kollam-Tambaram Permissible speed up to 110 kmph Express will save 85 minutes. The Coimbatore-Rameswaram Weekly Express and Cuddalore Port-Mysuru Express will reach their destinations 55 minutes and 50 minutes earlier, respectively and the tri-weekly , Rameswaram-Tirupati Express will reduce travel time by 25 minutes. While the travel time on the Thoothukudi-Chennai Egmore Pearl City Express will be shorter by 30 minutes, its return journey will be faster by 15 minutes.  P7 Railway officials have attributed the reduced travel times to extensive infrastructure upgrades carried out over the past few years, including increasing permissible speeds from 80/90 kmph to 110 kmph, and from 110 kmph to 130 kmph Sengar’s life term express news service @ New Delhi 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. B’deshis harassed, denied treatment in Bhubaneswar EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar TWO Bangladeshi nationals travelling to Bhubaneswar for medical treatment were subjected to police verification on arrival at the airport on Sunday night after the locals raised suspicion on their identity Furthermore, . the hospital concerned also reportedly refused admission fearing trouble and both were forced to return to Mumbai from where they had flown in. According to police sources, the two brothers, aged 49 and 35, arrived from Mumbai after flying in from Dubai. The elder sibling was scheduled to undergo treatment at a private hospital.