chennai l sunday l october 04, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION Neighbours’ 5th gen stealth jets a cause for concern: iaf chief IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh called the arrival of fifth-generation fighters in India’s neighbourhood a ‘cause for worry’ iaf may have to look at other options Singh’s concern comes amid a backdrop of China already flying J-20 and J-35 stealth fighters and Pakistani pilots reportedly training in China ahead of their air force inducting Chinese fifth-generation jets. Singh said the the Air Force may have to look at “other fighter platforms” if the indigenous AMCA (advanced medium combat aircraft) project slips ■ 29 no decision yet on importing stealth jets ■ The twin-engine AMCA, designed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Agency, is India’s only home-grown stealth fighter The IAF chief, however, made it clear that no decision had yet been taken on importing a stealth fighter as a stop-gap. “Russia has offered the Su-57, but no decision has been taken yet,” he said | P9 fighter squadrons in iaf against a sanctioned strength of 42.5 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 GOLDEN FINISH: INDIA END ON HIGH Indraneel Das Express @ asian games Nagoya Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with Captain Smit Machchhar at a UAE hospital | PTI Singeetham Srinivasa Rao dies at 95 Av i n as h Ra m ac h a n d ra n UAE confirms crash axe use for Flydubai terror attack Hammam al-Hammami reportedly the co-pilot, motive not clear yet @ Chennai Legendary filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, known for pushing the boundaries of craft and content in his films, passed away in Chennai on Saturday He . was 95. Singeetham, who started assisting veteran filmmaker K V Reddy in the 50s, made his directorial debut with Neethi Nijayithi in 1972 and continued making movies till 2026 with Sing Geetham, earning him recognition as the world’s oldest active filmmaker. The veteran, who diSingeetham rected films Srinivasa Rao in Telugu, (1931-2026) Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam, was famous for his collaborations with Kamal Haasan and Dr Rajkumar. He won the National Award for Best Feature Film for his debut Tamil film, Dikkatra Parvathi (1974). He added another National Award for Best Popular Film for his Kannada film Pushpaka Vimana (1987). P7 WITH THIS ISSUE The Great Everest Invasion PLUS 12 P AGES E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” with a crash axe while the aircraft was flying from Dubai to Israel, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday according to the state news agency WAM. UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said an investigation had found that the co-pilot “had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack”. He said the co-pilot attacked the pilot inside the cockpit with a crash axe in a bid to take control of the aircraft. The co-pilot was identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national. However, Emirati authorities and Flydubai have not publicly named him. Israeli officials had said the co-pilot was an Omani national, while Oman has When Oman not commented about it yet. A crash axe is normally kept in barred him an aircraft cockpit for emergency from flying purposes, including situations in- Al-Hammami volving a crash or forced landing was previously of the aircraft. The UAE prosecu- barred from tor general said the probe into the flying in Oman suspect’s motives, remained ongo- over concerns ing and that the findings would be about his radical released after the completion of ideological the “necessary procedures”. views, the Wall The incident took place last Street Journal Wednesday aboard the Dubai-Tel reported Aviv flight. Most of the passengers were Israeli nationals. A reserve Flydubai pilot who was travelling as a passenger took control of the aircraft after the cockpit terror attack and landed safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The injured pilot, Indian national, Captain Smit Machchhar, is recovering well and remained under medical care, the Indian Embassy said. Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum praised Machchhar after visiting him in hospital. He said the pilot had “embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility and care for human , life”. “From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise,” Hamdan said. “We are proud that he is part of our team, and part of what the UAE stands for a nation of compassion, of peace and a nation of life,” he said. I T was like the last day of a wedding. Barring an equestrian event on Sunday morning, the festivities are over; done and dusted for the next four years. The overlays are being peeled one after the other. The temporary structures are getting dismantled and weary volunteers are slowly leaving their stations. Only the Closing Ceremony remains. After a slightly iffy start, the sun has been shining from an Indian perspective. India won as many as five gold on Saturday It began with . women’s archery and golf in the morning. The men’s cricket team kept their date with destiny before the men’s hockey team booked their LA28 spot. The highlight, though, arrived in the form of an incomparable run to gold in the women’s individual recurve archery . It was enough to propel India to fourth place in the medals tally with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze. However, it has to be noted that Uzbekistan could take the fourth spot if they win gold in the equestrian event on Sunday. Even if Saturday saw two of India’s beloved sides winning gold, the day belonged to Kumkum Mohod, the 17-yearold archer whose unerring ac- India players celebrate after beating Malaysia in the men’s hockey final to win the gold medal on Saturday | PTI Bright future What is heartening is that almost all the medallists from India are young while some of them made their debut. A healthy sign with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics just two years away curacy with a bow and arrow dethroned the might of the South Koreans. If she was raging in faraway Okazaki sports park, wrestlers — Aman Sehrawat was the standout — scorched the mat. On top of that, there was a welcome gold in golf — Pranavi Urs became the first Indian woman to bag gold. India cricket team’s win over Pakistan was the icing on the cake. Though there were no handshakes, they had the gold medal dangling around their necks at least — unlike in the Asia Cup which is still lying in the Asian Cricket Council headquarters. India’s overall medals tally (85) and gold (21) was well below the high of Hangzhou (107 & 28). But, after a head-scratching first week, this was a fine comeback. Over to Doha.  P13 Amend anti-corruption Act to make attachment of assets must, says HC E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Madurai The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has suggested the state government amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by mandating attachment of properties which are believed to have been obtained by the accused through corrupt means. Justice B Pugalendhi observed other legislations like the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, etc, contain provisions that prohibit offenders from holding illegally acquired properties and also mandate the attachment of such properties. However, the Prevention of Corruption Act does not have any specific provision for confiscation, except Para 77 of the Vigilance Manual that permits attachment through invocation of Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 1944, the judge noted. “Only if such strong and deterrent measures are prescribed under the Act itself, the government can effectively undertake the attachment of properties and put fear in the minds of those officials who are enjoying the properties obtained using corrupt means. Otherwise, the provisions would merely remain on paper and without any deterrent effect,” he opined and suggested amending the Act. P5 f r ie n d l y tie Before Samba, Brazil team skips CM’s dinner s u b h e n d u m a i t i @ Kolkata THE much-awaited Brazil-India friendly at Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday evening was overshadowed by a last-minute snub on Friday night. The Brazilian side boycotted a dinner hosted at JW Marriott by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari after being made to wait for 10 minutes during a photo session. Senior leaders, ministers, bureaucrats and others jostled for selfies with the Samba stars, delaying the event. The visitors, clearly miffed, skipped both the dinner and the accompanying musical performance by a noted percussionist, sources present at the venue said. The CM, who was to attend after Vinicius Junior during the friendly with India in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI campaigning in Nandigram for the BJP’s Hasirani Rath, stayed away agter he learnt about the development. The episode, described by sources as a loss of face for the organisers due to mismanagement, went viral on social media. Sports minister Indranil Khan and AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey did not respond to queries from this paper. Meanwhile, security was ramped up for the high-profile fixture on Saturday billed as one of , the city’s biggest in recent years. More than 300 CCTV cameras monitored the area. Spectators were not be allowed to carry outside food or water bottles inside. The heightened focus on access control came against the backdrop of the chaos that unfolded during Argentine star Lionel Messi’s visit to the city in December. This time, officials took particular care to ensure the prescribed entry procedures were followed strictly . Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior led the visitors as the marquee name on the pitch. INSIDE TVK: Revoke Stalin’s star campaigner status | P4 2 TN men among 5 killed in AP boiler blast | P7 historic, says TNCC TVK attends its first INDIA bloc meeting EX P RESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai IN a first, the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) participated in a consultation meeting of the Tamil Nadu constituents of the INDIA bloc conducted in Chennai on Saturday with Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) , president Manickam Tagore describing the development as “historic”. TVK ministers Aadhav Arjuna and Marie Wilson joined the leaders of the alliance to discuss protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Speaking to reporters at the secretariat later in the day Public Works , Department Minister Aadhav Arjuna said, “On the advice of our chief minister, two ministers took part in today’s meeting. The fact that we participated in the meeting itself means that we are present in that bloc.” Manickam Tagore, while addressing reporters, said, “TVK has come forward to work with the INDIA bloc. Everyone who opposes the BJP should come to the INDIA bloc.” Tagore said that the INDIA bloc would hold a protest demanding the immediate removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Chennai on October 15, in which the leaders of its Tamil Nadu constituents are expected to participate. He said similar protests would be held at district headquarters on October 13 and 14 as part of the alliance’s ‘Save Democracy’ campaign. P7