The New Indian Express Wishes its readers a Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Monday coimbatore l sunday l november 08, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l late CITY EDITION Iran says 2,000-km missile range limit off after fresh U.S. attacks U.S. Officials point to Iran’s space tech While it is not clear whether Iran currently possesses missiles capable of exceeding the 2,000 km limit, US officials say technology from its space programme can be repurposed to build such intercontinental ballistic missiles. Iran’s supreme leader had recently warned any fresh US attack would invite an Iranian response “without geographic limits” | P13 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday it has lifted a self-imposed limit of 2,000 kilometres on the range of its ballistic missiles ■ 2017 Trump announces fresh attacks ■ A range of over 2,000 km would allow Iran to hit deep inside Europe. The announcement comes a day after President Donald Trump said the US military carried out new limited strikes on Iranian targets The fresh US attacks came as Trump named hardliner Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles, after midterm losses when iran announced self-imposed missile range limit of 2,000 km 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 IAF touches new heights with heavy lifter J a v a r i a R a n a @ New Delhi In the highest-ever landing by an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft anywhere in the world, an Indian Air Force (IAF) IL-76MD, nicknamed ‘Gajraj’, has touched down at the 13,629 feet Mudh-Nyoma airbase in eastern Ladakh. Nyoma lies around 25 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. With the landing, the IAF has shown it can now take the Russian-origin heavylift transport aircraft almost to the frontline, in a boost for India’s strategic airlift capability . Announcing the landing on Saturday, the IAF hailed it as “a new height in aviation history” and “a milestone that reinforces I n d i a ’s s t r at e g i c a i rl i f t capability”. Strategic airlift is the ability to move troops, tanks, artillery and supplies in bulk over long distances. It was put to the test after the 2020 standoff in eastern Ladakh, when the IAF flew in over 68,000 soldiers, around 90 tanks and 330 BMP infantry combat vehicles. “An Indian Air Force IL-76MD has scripted history with a successful landing at Nyoma, marking the highest-altitude landing ever achieved by the aircraft anywhere in the world,” the IAF said on social media. The landing also comes amid An Indian Air Force IL-76MD transport aircraft lands at Ladakh’s Nyoma airfield | PTI continuing friction along the 3,488-km LAC. Patrolling has resumed in Ladakh, but the temporary buffer zones at Galwan, Gogra-Hot Springs and Pangong Tso still cover areas Indian troops historically patrolled. The four-engine Gajraj can carry about 45 tonnes and has been airlifting T-72 tanks and South fuels ethanol war on the Centre Congress alleges blending surpasses cap, Keralam orders tests P r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Rise, Fall, And Rise of Rahul Gandhi PLUS 12 P AGES Class 9 girl asks for mobile, holds 3-yr-old nephew hostage for 6 hrs V i g n e s h V @ Virudhunagar A 14-year-old girl held her three-year-old nephew captive at knifepoint for nearly six hours near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar, demanding a new Nothing phone so she could speak to a friend. She released the child unharmed around 2 am on Friday after , police personnel arranged to get her the new phone. Around 8 pm on Thursday , the girl’s family noticed her entering a room in the house. Suspecting that the threeyear-old might be with her, they went looking for him and found both inside the locked room. The girl, whose parents had died, is a Class 9 student at a government school and is under the care of her elder sister, brother, aunt and uncle. When the family members asked her to open the door, she refused and held a kitchen knife to the boy’s neck, demanding a new Nothing phone.  P9 Tech executive shot dead over parking row in Faridabad | P11 Techie held in chain-snatching bid to clear trading debts | P9 DMK orchestrated India’s first AI scam: Rajmohan | P6 THE Centre on Saturday rubbished allegations of excess ethanol blending in petrol, stating that all 893 samples tested across 27 states and Union Territories met prescribed standards. This comes even as Keralam ordered inspections of fuel outlets and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded disclosure of actual ethanol content in petrol sold across the country . Keralam’s decision followed Karnataka government’s allegation that petrol supplied by major oil marketing companies contained ethanol above the prescribed limit, with tests recording levels as high as 31.2 per cent. Countering the allegation, Question use of third party laboratory The oil companies questioned certificates issued by a third-party laboratory in Karnataka, saying they didn’t specify the standard test method the Petroleum Ministry said tests by Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum found all 893 samples within the permissible 19–21 per cent range under the Bureau of Indian Standards’ IS 17021 specification. These included 56 samples collected across Karnataka from outlets of the three companies. Keralam said it ordered the inspections as a precaution following Karnataka’s allegations, though no instance of excess ethanol blending had been detected in the state so far. Samples will be collected from outlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Er nakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts and sent for testing. Rahul, meanwhile, cited Karnataka’s findings to question the Centre’s assurances. “Look at the results,” he said, citing readings of 31.2 per cent at an IOC outlet and 30.5 per cent at an HPCL outlet. The three oil companies, however, challenged the sampling and testing procedures adopted during Karnataka’s October exercise. They said the findings could not be validated without technical details and compliance. The October exercise was conducted without their representatives, they said. BMP-2 vehicles to Ladakh since the early 1990s. But Nyoma’s earlier mud strip could handle only smaller aircraft like the C-130J and AN-32, as well as helicopters. At over 4,000 metres, the thin air saps engine power and wing lift, so aircraft land faster and need longer runways. The decision to upgrade it into a fullfledged airbase came after the 2020 military confrontation with China. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) built a 2.7-km runway under the `218-crore project, and the base was operationalised last November. Nyoma is now the IAF’s fourth airbase in Ladakh, after Leh, Thoise and Kargil. `2,000-cr Vetri Laptop Scheme to cover college students in 1st & 2nd year express news service @ Chennai First- and second-year undergraduate and diploma students in government and government-aided colleges will be covered under the state government’s `2,000-crore Vetri Laptop Scheme, according to a government release issued on Saturday The scheme will also . cover third- and fourth-year students pursuing professional courses who were left out of the laptop distribution programme in 2025-26. The state government has issued eligibility guidelines and granted administrative sanction for the scheme, which was announced in the 2026-27 Loan waiver up to `75K Chennai: The state government on Saturday also expanded its crop loan waiver scheme, extending the eligibility period by a month and sanctioning an additional `2,842.77 crore to provide relief of up to `75,000 to eligible farmers | P6 Budget. Students pursuing arts and science, engineering, polytechnic, ITI, medicine, veterinary science, fisheries, agriculture, and law courses will be eligible. Engineering students will be provided with laptops featuring Intel Core i5 processors or equivalent specifications, considering their technical requirements, the release said.  P9 ‘It was all of us’: Usman on ‘sandpapergate’ Express news service @ Bengaluru NEW light has been shed on one of the most orchestrated cricketing scandals in recent times — the ball-tampering one featuring members of the Australian team against South Africa in a Test in 2018 which resulted in Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft serving significant bans — by Usman Khawaja. The recently retired Australian batter has told an Australian publication that everybody was in on it. “It was all of us. Not the batters, not the bowlers, not the staff. All of us,” he said ahead of the release of his autobiography next week, where a chapter is dedicated to the issue. Cricket Australia said in a statement it was “comfortable” with the findings of its original investigation, but remained open to new evidence.