HYDERABAD l sunday l october 25, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late cITY EDITION travel insurance for railway counter bookings from Tuesday Passengers booking reserved train tickets through offline counters can purchase the optional travel insurance policy starting Tuesday follows recent supreme court order only digital payment accepted It comes days after the Supreme Court directed the Railways to extend the optional travel insurance facility to those booking tickets through the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters at railway stations. The Railway Board has instructed zonal railways to ensure that all PRS counters are suitably equipped to offer the facility from October 27 ■ ■ Only digital payment is applicable for those opting to buy the coverage. “The applicable premium shall be collected along with the ticket fare through digital means only,” the Railway Board said As per IRCTC, the premium is 45 paise per passenger. The insurance company is responsible for issuing policies and settling claims 11% of reserved tickets are bought via counters, according to railways 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 Set NHPC office on fire, vandalise houses of three politicians, including two MLAs p r a s a n ta m a z u m d a r @ Guwahati WITH THIS ISSUE Married to Menace PLUS 12 P AGES THE proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) turned a massive flashpoint on Saturday as anti-dam protesters in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district set fire to an office of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and scores of vehicles parked on the premises of a police station, then vandalised houses of three politicians, including two MLAs, and later clashed with security forces that left several injured. The incident took place around 11 pm on Friday after a 12-hour bandh to protest against the hydropower project was over, Pasighat Deputy Superintendent of Police Tony Tatak said. The agitators vandalised the residences of BJP state unit president and former MLA Kaling Moyong, and Pasighat West legislator Ninong Ering, he said. The office of the Adi Bane Kebang, the apex body of the Adi community was , also ransacked, the officer said. Later in the night, violence broke out again in Pasighat town and adjoining Mebo in East Siang district, where clashes left several people injured. Pasighat remained shut on Saturday . The violence erupted hours after a bandh in Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts to protest against the proposed hydropower project was over, a senior police official said. The Union government had proposed SUMP , expected to generate 11,000 MW power, as a counter to a 60,000 MW Chinese project. The protesters are demanding scrapping of the hydro power project, withdrawal of armed forces from the region, deployed allegedly in connection with pre-feasibility report (PFR) or survey release of 10 arrested activists and re, instatement of some suspended village chiefs. The protesters fear displacement, loss of livelihoods and environmental and seismic risks. Joint protest The shutdown was jointly called by the Adi Bane Kebang United, SUMP Affected Area Youth Association, Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Wing and Adi Galo Welfare Society A damaged police station in Pasighat | ANI CM’s appeal Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed concern over the vandalism, looting and damage to property. “The government’s doors are always open,” Khandu said costs: europe in uproar|p9 @ Hyderabad The Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TG-iPASS) portal went offline on Thursday night after its application failed to connect to the database server. Subsequent checks indicated that the server had been compromised, with the database and related files encrypted in what officials suspect was a ransomware attack. When TNIE attempted to access the website, it displayed the message: “Server is temporarily unavailable. We are working on it... Our team is working to restore the service as soon as possible”. In his complaint to the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB), Joint Director in the Commissionerate of Industries S Suresh detailed the sequence of events. He said Cloud4C, which hosts the portal, was contacted immediately after the application failed to con- i n d r a nee l d a s @ Chennai AT 31, badminton players usually start thinking about sipping a hot beverage within the confines of their homes watching their favourite movie or sport. The challenges of courts would not be as enticing as it would have been five years ago, especially if one is a multiple Olympic and world championships medallist. P V Sindhu is one such player who has a cabinet full of medals; most players would be envious of. She has won Olympic medals, Worlds gold and different medals and numerous other BWF Tour titles. Yet, when she should be slowly walking into the sunset, she is still conjuring wins like a regular top player. There is no sign of age slowing her down or mental f atigue due to a long career. At the French Open on Saturday, post a middling Asian Games campaign, she again showed vintage Sindhu signs. She had been struggling in the final games but not against Hina Akechi as she won 21-10, 20-22, 21-16. She will face World No 1 An Se Young in the final. There was some criticism when she lost the Asian Games in the quarterfinal but she can be excused for losing in her third match in less than 24 hours. The gruelling schedule was cruel. Despite such a long career, one big positive was her fitness. She has remained relatively injury-free. Something which she said was because she understood her body and played accordingly “It is important to . know your body she had said ,” at the Asian Games. “We use gadgets and know where we are straining, and when we need to take it easy and when I have to give my best: PV “I have to give her a good fight, a tough fight. Every point matters. I know we’ve played a lot of times and she’s been doing really well. But I think tomorrow is a different day. Every day is a new day. I just have to go out there and give my best. I’m ready to give a fight” 2nd Her second BWF Tour Super 750 final after Japan Open which she won State govt targets Kaleshwaram repairs before 2027 monsoon TG-iPASS portal fails protests sweep in school ransomware attack test cities overfrench funding & living C h i t h a l u r i Re v a n t h Sindhu in pristine touch, storms into French final PV Sindhu Anti-dam stir: Arunachal mob on the rampage E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Announcing a time-bound roadmap to rehabilitate the damaged Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) on Saturday Ir, rigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the state government aims to complete the repairs before the 2027 monsoon, subject to technical clearances and implementation progress. He criticised the BRS regime, saying that its decision to abandon the original Pranahita-Chevella irrigation project in favour of Medigadda was a “historic blunder”. Uttam stated that a broad timeline has been drawn up, with concept designs completed by the end of September, while estimates and government approvals are targeted for October-end. Agencies are expected to be mobilised by the end of November, and work is scheduled to commence on all fronts by December-end. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy makes a point during a presser at the Secretariat CM to meet Fadnavis today over Tummidihatti project Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and officials, is likely to travel to Mumbai on Sunday evening to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday to discuss the Tummidihatti project | P4 The broad designs propose extending the stilling basins to 66 metres at Medigadda and Annaram and 58 metres at Sundilla. The existing lengths are 46.8 metres at Medigadda, 45 metres at Annaram and 30 metres at Sundilla. The department is also planning an integrated instrumentation and monitoring system to track seepage, uplift pressures and structural behaviour during and after rehabilitation. Uttam said the state government has engaged national and international experts to oversee the rehabilitation process, with technical assessments, design approvals and execution milestones forming part of the programme.  continued on p4 we can give more than 100 per cent. Sometimes one may not be able to give 100 per cent. We need to preserve ourselves.” At World No 11, she is the best shuttler in the country, even now. With LA28 less than one and half years away, it augurs well. But for Sindhu it’s one tour nament at a time. For her, right now it’s best to “enjoy where am I at right now, and I enjoy the f ame.” For now, she has final to take care of against someone she has not won before. “But I think tomorrow is a different day,” she said.  P11 express read Aerospace & Defence Policy 2.0 soon: CM Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday said the state government would soon introduce Aerospace and Defence Policy 2.0. The proposed policy will be aligned with the state’s long-term Telangana Rising Vision 2047 and is intended to support the expansion of the aerospace and defence industries| P4 Rain, mudslides bring Nilgiris to a halt Coimbatore: Heavy rains triggered multiple mudslides in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris on Saturday, burying a government bus and killing its driver. The conductor was injured, while over 100 Kerala students narrowly escaped. Burliar recorded 25 cm of rain, blocking key highways and leaving over 200 vehicles stranded | P5 cause of concern A screengrab of TG-iPASS portal nect to the database, and the server was restarted. However, the problem persisted. Further examination revealed that the SQL Server Agent service had stopped. Cloud4C was asked to restart it, but the service could not be started. “Inspection later indicates that the server has been compromised and that the database and related files have been encrypted. The affected files bear an unfamiliar extension (.vgb), and a ransom note displaying a contact email address and a machine identifier ID was found on the server.  Continued on p5 Surat’s industrial effluents to be dumped into Arabian Sea J i t en d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi THE empowered committee of Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, as part of India’s largest deep-sea disposal project, has recommended dumping 650 million litres per day (MLD) of treated industrial wastewater from the textile and chemical hubs in Surat in deep sea near the Gulf of Khambhat in Arabian Sea. The effluents are proposed to be carried through pipelines to the landfall located near Danti Village in Navsari, and extend to outfall point offshore in Ubharat and Vansi of the Threat to marine ecology 1 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change approved India’s largest deep-sea disposal project in Surat 2 The project aims to manage 650 million litres per day of treated industrial wastewater from Surat’s textile and chemical sectors and discharged into deep sea in the of Gulf of Khambhat Gulf of Kuchchh 3 Environmentalists criticise the lack of a zero-waste policy instead of deep-sea dumping, which may damage marine ecology Arabian Sea. The project vehicle, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, said the onshore pipeline network will extend approximately 67.5 km, while offshore pipelines will range between 15 km and 17.9 km from the landfall point to the marine diffuser locations. Under chairmanship of M S Negi, chief of Expert Appraisal Committee on Coastal Regulatory Zone, the proposal has been recommended for clear- Arabian Sea Gulf Surat of Khambhat ance in line with the CRZ Notification of 2019, at a meeting on October 8, 2026. In its recommendation, the committee highlighted the saturation of existing effluent disposal systems from CETPs into local creeks. “Treated effluent is currently discharged into nearby creeks. Due to limited carrying capacity, further discharge of effluent is not permissible,” it said. Environmentalists have criticised this approach. Local fisherfolk in Navsari and Surat fear a loss of livelihood. “They are concerned that releasing such huge daily volumes of industrial wastewater will decimate fish populations and push thousands of fishing families into financial hardship,” said MSH Sheikh of Brackish Water Research Centre, a Surat based non-profit.