kollam l tuesday l september 22, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION key infra sectors’ growth slows to three-month low of 4.8% in Aug The output of nine sectors slowed to 4.8% in August amid fall in coal, natural gas, crude oil, and fertiliser production, official data showed Four sectors register negative growth Fertiliser output down for 6th mth in row Production of coal, natural gas, crude oil, and fertiliser contracted by 3.8%, 4.9%, 3.6% and 12.4% respectively, compared to the same period last year. Output in the refinery products, steel, and iron ore sectors grew, albeit at slower rates of 2.6%, 3.4% and 5.5% respectively, as against 3.4%, 15.3% and 7.9% in August 2025, the government data showed ■ ■ Cement and electricity production grew by 12.5% and 11.6%, respectively, in August. Fertiliser output contracted for the sixth consecutive month in August amid the West Asia crisis The deceleration was broad-based, with six of nine sectors reporting a deterioration in performance, Rahul Agrawal of ICRA Ltd said 5-6% Predicted drop in the Index of Industrial in August 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 Sonia’s poll roll entry case Keralam explores back under judiciary’s lens nuke plant option amid power crisis Special judge raps magistrate’s ruling, says it mustn’t flirt with facts u d aya n kish o re @ New Delhi E x p r e ss R e a d Min: Land acquisition holding up rly projects New Delhi: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, at a meeting with MPs from the Keralam on Monday, expressed concern over delays in acquiring land for railway projects in the state. P7 Zaheer appointed new Super Kings coach Chennai: Former India pacer Zaheer Khan will take over as new head coach of Chennai Super Kings, the Indian Premier League team announced on Monday. He will serve as head coach for the upcoming season with an option of extension. A Delhi court on Monday set aside a magistrate’s order that had declined to direct a probe into allegations that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s name was entered in the electoral roll three years before acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983, and sent back the matter for fresh consideration. Special Judge Vishal Gogne, while hearing a revision petition by advocate Vikas Tripathi, vice-president of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association at Rouse Avenue courts, held that the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) had passed a “non-speaking order” that “suffers from a manifest error in law”. Tripathi’s complaint alleges that Sonia’s name was unlawfully entered in the electoral roll of the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency in 1980, Casual dismissal The court said rather than finding if the allegations constituted a cognisable offence, the ACJM “casually dismissed the extract of the electoral roll as being a photocopy of the uncertified roll of 1980.” though she acquired citizenship only on April 30, 1983. The name was deleted in 1982 but re-entered in 1983, before she became a citizen, the complaint said. “An order of the court must maintain fidelity towards the law, and not flirt with facts,” the judge said. “The sanctity of the electoral roll is an article of faith for every citizen in a parliamentary democracy Gogne said any .” allegation of fraudulent inclusion of a non-citizen or use of false documents “merits a reasoned order”. The judge said the ACJM did not discuss the sequence of inclusion, deletion and re-inclusion of Sonia’s name in 1980, 1982 and 1983. He also found that the magistrate did not hear the police or call for a status report, as Section 175(3) of the BNSS requires before ordering an investigation. The magistrate also failed to weigh two options open in law: directing an FIR, or examining complainant and witnesses. The matter, posted for September 29, was sent back to ACJM court for a fresh hearing. K S S R E E J I T H @ T’Puram The acute power shortage has pushed Keralam to explore the politically sensitive option it has long kept at arm’s length — the scope of setting up a nuclear power plant in the state. The UDF government is planning to sound out the leaderships of political parties on the proposal as a first step towards building a political consensus before taking the nuclear option forward. “The government will move forward with the setting up of a nuclear power plant in Keralam provided the political leaderships come to a consensus,” said Power Minister Sunny Joseph told TNIE. The minister, who is also the Congress state president, said the government will take all stakeholders into confidence before taking a final decision. “Considering the escalating shortage of power and the obstacles in securing emergency electricity contracts, the state has to explore all options,” he said. Though such proposals for nuclear power projects had come up in the past, successive governments could not pursue the nuclear option due to political pressure and opposition from social and environmental groups. In ad- IIT Bombay apologises for cheating charge on Sahil S u d hir S u r ya w a nshi @ Mumbai Faculty forum backs professor IN the face of student protests, IIT Bombay on Monday apologised and withdrew its earlier statements on the death of Sahil Wakode. It also removed Suryanarayana Doolla, booked for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST Act, from the post of Dean of Administrative Affairs. The institute on Saturday claimed that Sahil, a secondyear engineering student, had been caught using ChatGPT by Doolla in an exam hours before he died by suicide. The Maharashtra government has handed the probe into the death to the IIT Bombay’s Faculty Forum on Monday issued a statement backing Doolla (pic), saying he was merely carrying out his duties under Senateapproved academic regulations. The IIT Madras Faculty Association too expressed solidarity with Doolla while condoling the death of Sahil Wakode Mumbai Crime Branch. In a statement posted on X on Monday the institute said, “We , apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil.” “In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or character- ised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process,” the institute said. IIT Bombay also clarified that its director, Shireesh Kedare, had not resigned. The institute has agreed to discuss and act on an 18-point charter of demands raised by student protestors, following a latenight meeting between Kedare and protesters on Sunday . The 18 demands include suspension of Doolla, who was invigilating the exam, an independent inquiry with student and external representation, greater administrative accountability, mental-health reforms, and assurances that no action will be taken against protesting students. Sahil’s is the fourth death by suicide at IIT Bombay in seven months. His father Ravindra Wakode has alleged that his son had been subjected to caste discrimination. ‘No change in position’: UDF govt draws curtain on Loka Kerala Sabha tion of Non-Resident Keralites across the globe. Over the years, The UDF’s long-running oppo- the LKS envisaged plans for disition to the Loka Kerala Sabha aspora integration in addition (LKS) has now become an offi- to coming up with projects for cial government decision: the channelising expatriate finandiaspora conclave will not re- cial capital to various infraturn in the format followed by structure and related projects the previous LDF government. in the state. The Chief Minister’s Office The latest government deci(CMO) on Monday said there sion comes against the backwas no change in the govdrop of the UDF’s sustained ernment’s decision not to opposition to the forum. continue the LKS in its The fifth edition, held in earlier form. The CMO January 2026, was boystatement clarified that cotted by the UDF, no funds have been alwhich described the located for the sixth Sabha as an extravaganedition. za. The fourth edition The statement came Loka Kerala in June 2024 too came amid reports over alSabha: amid the UDF’s conlocations for the LKS Expense tinuing criticism of Secretariat and initiathe forum. The LDF 2018 K2.03 crore tives linked to earlier government had sancSabha recommenda- 2020 K1.22 crore tioned `2 crore for the tions. The government event, including exsaid the LKS Secretar- 2022 K1.14 crore penditure on food, aciat continues to have 2024 K3 crore commodation, travel, an office and that publicity and logistics, funds provided are 2026 Not available besides funds for imlimited to administraplementing earlier tive expenses and recommendations. NORKA programmes, includThe third edition in 2022 was ing the Business Leadership also boycotted by the UDF. Meet. Ahead of the event, the then The government, however, leader of opposition V D Satheehas made it clear that expatri- san said the UDF would cooperate welfare and investment ini- ate only if unnecessary expendtiatives will continue. Welfare iture was avoided, progress on schemes for expatriate Keral- recommendations from the preites remain a priority it said. , vious editions was presented The LKS was established as a and Congress-affiliated expatriplatform for cultural, socio-po- ate organisations were given ● More on P6 litical and economic coopera- representation.  Nuclear power plant proposals over the yrs  In late 1970s, a proposal came up to set up a nuclear plant at Bhoothathankettu in Ernakulam district. Then Govt was forced to backtrack from it following fierce opposition. Nuclear plant at Peringome in Kasaragod in the mid-1980s. Though planning gained pace in 1990 under the K Karunakaran ministry, it faced resistance, and the project was later dropped. A few years ago, another proposal pitched a 440MW nuclear power project at Cheemeni in Kasaragod, and some preliminary studies were done. This faced stiff opposition from the local community. Recently, the power minister indicated that the govt will not go ahead with the project. dition to the limited scope for procuring power from other states and agencies, climate change and shortage in monsoon rainfall has also pushed the state to search for alternative sources of electricity . “The Union government is introducing schemes under which, if a state hosting a nuclear power plant demands more electricity generated by the plant, it has to be given to that state,” Sunny Joseph ● More on P6 said.  Flash five in malappuram flood toll rises to 3 more bodies of those reported missing in Kottapuzha river recovered on Monday. Search on for missing woman | P6 Article 22(1), (2) SC adds more safeguards for re-arrest s u c hitr a k a lya n m o h a nt y @ New Delhi IN a far-reaching order, the Supreme Court on Monday said if a person is not informed of the grounds of his arrest in writing and in a language understood by the accused, it would amount to a violation of his fundamental rights, rendering the arrest illegal. “An arrested person must be provided the grounds of arrest by the probe agency at the time of arrest and it must be in written from and in language understandable to the arrested person,” said a two-judge bench of justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul Chandurkar. The court, further, ruled disciplinary proceedings be initiated against any police officer who arrests a person without furnishing the grounds of arrest in writing. The court made these observations while holding as illegal the arrest of Jaskaranjit Singh, Shiromani Akali Dalaffiliated Mullanpur Dakha constituency in-charge, in a case of alleged sexual assault of a minor. The court said the grounds of arrest were not furnished to Singh, adding its orders have to be followed for offences even under PMLA and UAPA cases. It also held that police must seek a magistrate’s permission to re-arrest a person released by a court for not furnishing grounds of arrest in writing. Articles 22(1) and 22(2) of the Constitution, which say no person can be arrested without being provided grounds of arrest, and that every person arrested be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, can’t be tinkered with, the court said. Rowers cry foul, officials say ‘everything is fine’ I E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @T’Puram all smiles (From left) Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil and Parth Rakesh Mane after wiining silver medal in the 10 meter rifle men’s team event in the ongoing 20th Asian Games 2026, in Nagoya, Japan on Monday | pti f true, this is something unheard of during any Games, let alone something as big as the Asian Games. The athletes are confused and have threatened to stay away from practice if the need arises. According to sources, some of the rowers have been shifted from their pet events while another athlete, a reserve at first, is in line to feature. This seemingly happened after the morning practice on Monday . A small recap. Initially, the rowing events were scheduled to start on Monday However, with an im. pending weather system threatening to hit the city the , start was pushed back to Wednesday. Meanwhile, the team management shunted Indraneel Das Express @ asian games Nagoya athletes from one category to other, which according to some, is not possible because the rules do not allow it. Though there is a section that says changing team composition is a norm depending on the conditions. Officials close to the development said the case is not what it looks like. There is another section that says things might change on Tuesday as combinations have not been finalized yet. A top official explained that the change was made in consultation with the foreign coach Antony John Patterson. The logic is simple. The schedule got truncated because of the presence of a typhoon. In a late development here, officials are even saying that the number of combinations may reduce by Tuesday . One of the officials said that they made the changes to increase the chances of winning medals. “Because the tournament days have been reduced, it would be impossible for the rowers to compete multiple times since rowing is an exhausting sport,” said one official. “The change in combination was based on the truncated schedule and the weather conditions,” said an official who is P13 part of the team.  alternative route Not official entry, but ‘Angh’ enters Oscars race with Toronto win B H H a rsh @ Mumbai Had lost out to Marathi film Gondhal as official pick Nagaland film Angh, which was in the running for India’s official Oscar entry but lost to Gondhal, has now earned a direct qualification for the 99th Academy Awards after it won the Platform Prize at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The Platform jury, led by filmmaker Pablo Trapero, awarded the film the festival’s top prize in the section. Angh, directed by Naga filmmaker Theja Rio, had lost out to Marathi film Gondhal, directed by Santosh Davakhar, in the race to become India’s official entry for the Oscars 2027. Another film in the running was Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga. The 99th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles in March next year Under the new eligibility rules introduced by the Academy this year, any non-English language film can enter the International Feature Film Competition if it wins a designated award at any one of the six prominent international film festivals — the Golden Bear for Best Film at Berlin, the Busan Award for Best Film at Busan, the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, the Plat- form Award at Toronto and the Golden Lion at Venice. With its Platform Award at Toronto, Angh now stands eligible for a nomination in the International Feature Film category next year at the 99th Academy Awards that will be held in March 2027. Set in the early 1960s in Nagaland, Angh tells the story of a former village chief and his young son who are part of one of the last communities holding on to an ancient way of life. Their solitary and alienated existence is disrupted by the arrival of an American missionary compel, ling them to confront questions of faith, cultural identity and a changing world in their relationship.