nagapattinam l sunday l october 04, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l 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 | P7 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 Amend PC Act to attach assets of corrupt: HC E xpress N ews S ervice UAE confirms crash axe use for Flydubai terror attack Hammam al-Hammami reportedly the co-pilot, motive not clear yet @ Madurai The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has suggested the state government amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by mandating the attachment of properties that are allegedly 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 Act, 1957, contain provisions that prohibit offenders from holding illegally acquired properties and also mandate the attachment of such properties. But the Prevention of Corruption Act does not have any specific provision for confiscation, except Para 77 of the Vigilance Manual which permits attachment through invocation of Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 1944, the judge noted. “Only if such measures are prescribed under the Act itself, the government can effectively undertake the attachment of properties and put a fear in the minds of officials who are enjoying the properties obtained using corrupt means,” he said. P5 WITH THIS ISSUE The Great Everest Invasion PLUS 12 P AGES E xpress N ews S ervice @ 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. barred him A crash axe is normally kept in from flying an aircraft cockpit for emergency Al-Hammami purposes, including situations inwas previously volving a crash or forced landing barred from of the aircraft. The UAE prosecuflying in Oman tor general said the probe into the over concerns suspect’s motives, remained ongoabout his radical ing and that the findings would be ideological released after the completion of views, the Wall the “necessary procedures”. Street Journal The incident took place last reported Wednesday aboard the Dubai-Tel 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.  P11 E x p r ess Rea d Revoke Stalin’s star campaigner status: TVK Chennai: TVK has approached the ECI seeking the cancellation of M K Stalin’s star campaigner status and directions to the Tiruppur District Election Officer to file an FIR against him for the DMK president’s alleged derogatory remarks against TVK’s Dharapuram candidate P Sathyabama | P4 Order of `1L maintenance to model upheld Chennai: The Madras HC has upheld a family court order granting `1 lakh maintenance per month to a model from her estranged husband. The judge said in a claim under Section 125 CrPC, strict proof of marriage is not essential and if the relationship was continuous, marriage can be presumed | P5 two tn men among 5 killed in AP boiler blast The explosion occurred at TIL Healthcare unit in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. An ex gratia of `50 lakh was announced for each victim | P5 TVK attends 1st INDIA bloc meet, backs anti-CEC stir Over 150 held on Day 2 of protests against Kumar E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai IN a first, the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) participated in a consultation meeting of the Tamil Nadu constituents of the INDIA bloc held 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 (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking to reporters at the secretariat later that 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 express news service @ New Delhi TVK ministers Aadhav Arjuna and Marie Wilson arriving at the Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai on Saturday | ashwin prasath On our CM’s advice, two ministers took part in today’s meeting. The fact that we participated in the meeting means we are present in that [INDIA] bloc Min Aadhav Arjuna 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. P5 ACTIVISTS of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) staged a protest for the second consecutive day against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with around 150 protesters detained while they were marching towards Jantar Mantar amid heavy police deployment on Saturday . The protesters began marching from Patel Chowkm next to the Election Commission’s office, towards Jantar Mantar, where security personnel had erected barricades and deployed additional forces. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Nitya Ramakrishnan and Pallav Sisodia, along with Bhushan and Yadav, joined other students during the march. Sibal said that he was walking in protest for the first time, because the rights of lakh of people had been taken away by the Election Commission. Around 150 protesters, including Yadav, Bhushan, Bora and CPI(M-L) leader N Sai Balaji, were detained. “Women protesters, journalists, and lawyers were manhandled by male police,” AISA said in a statement. The fresh mobilisation followed Bora’s call on Friday evening for activists to return to Jantar Mantar and continue the protest demanding Kumar’s resignation. Saturday’s protest came a day after protests were held near Jantar Mantar, in which more than 800 people were detained. Pallava-era Moothadevi idol, Chola-era Before Samba, Brazil team skips CM’s dinner Ganesh sculpture found in Villupuram f r ie n d l y tie s u b h en d u m a iti @ 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 m i nu t e s d u r i n g a p h o t o 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. Vinicius Junior during the friendly with India in Kolkata on Saturday | PTI The CM, who was to attend after 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. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Villupuram A sculpture of Goddess Moothadevi, likely dating back to the Pallava era, and a Lord Vinayagar sculpture, believed to be from the Chola period, have been found by a team of history enthusiasts during a field study on the banks of a pond near the Koralur Irular settlement, located close to Kanjanur in Villupuram district on Thursday . The Moothadevi sculpture, carved on a large stone slab, is estimated to be around 1,200 years old, said C Immanuel, the team leader and a research scholar of the Department of History at Arignar Anna Gov- Moothadevi is a deity associated with the protection of waterbodies | express er nment Ar ts Colle ge in Villupuram. The sculpture, measuring about 3.5 ft in height and 2.5 ft in width, is depicted wearing a k arandamak uta (crown ), makara kundalas (ear ornaments) and a necklace known as sarappani. Immanuel said, “Her son, Manthan, depicted with a bulllike face, is shown on her right side and her daughter, Mandhini, on the left. A crow — the symbol associated with Moothadevi — is depicted in the upper right portion of the sculpture, while a broom is seen in the upper left portion. Her right hand rests on the head of an attendant, while her left hand rests on her thigh. She is seated on a pedestal, with anklets depicted on both legs.” Traditionally, the residents of the area had worshipped the sculpture as Goddess Kotravai, he said. P5