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 vijayawada 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 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 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 ■ 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 P o l iti c a l j o ust South fuels ethanol war on the Centre Cong alleges ethanol blending surpasses prescribed limits, Keralam orders tests P r ee t h a n a i r @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Rise, Fall, And Rise of Rahul Gandhi PLUS 12 P AGES Consumers fume at ‘low quality’ of Dharani rice Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada The Andhra Pradesh government’s initiative to make fine quality rice available to the general public at affordable prices under the Dharani brand has faced a challeng e, with consumers complaining about a gradual decline in the quality of rice being sold through Rythu Bazaars. The initiative taken in the wake of rising prices of essential commodities, is also aimed at ensuring that ordinary households could access better quality rice without having to spend heavily on premium varieties available in the open market. Though the Dharani rice seems to be relatively fine in appearance, consumers say it lacks the taste, aroma and texture of a good quality rice after cooking, making many reluctant to purchase it again.At present, the government is offering two varieties of rice under the Dharani brand. BPT rice is being sold at `49 per kg, with a 26kg bag costing `1,274, while KNM/RNR variety is priced at `50 per kg, with a 26-kg bag costing `1,300. Initially, the government had supplied 10-kg bags of rice at a subsidised price on production of Aadhaar card. Subsequently the 26-kg bags , of rice were introduced. 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, the PetroUse of third leum Ministry said tests by Indian Oil, party laboratory Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroquestioned leum found all 893 samples within the permissible 19–21 per cent range under The oil companies the Bureau of Indian Standards’ IS questioned 17021 specification. These included 56 certificates issued by samples collected across Karnataka a third-party from outlets of the three companies. laboratory in Keralam said it ordered the inspecKarnataka, saying they didn’t specify the tions as a precaution following Karnataka’s allegations, though no instance standard test method of excess ethanol blending had been detected in the state so far. Samples will be collected from outlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, 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. He alleged that samples from outlets of IOC, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara and Shell had exceeded the limit. The three public sector oil companies, however, challenged the sampling and testing procedures adopted during Karnataka’s October exercise. They said the findings could not be independently validated without technical details and compliance with prescribed procedures. The October exercise was conducted without their representatives, they said. Despite requests through the coordinator, they said they had not received retention samples, outlet details or laboratory reports. 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 Coalition continues its winning streak in MPTC and ZPTC polls S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The TDP-led NDA is heading towards a landslide win in the MPTC and ZPTC polls. After securing an advantage in the unanimous elections, the alliance parties have now continued their strong performance in the contested polls as well. After making a clean sweep in Anakapalli and Palnadu districts, the NDA is set to claim all the 28 Zilla Parishad chairperson posts. In Kadapa, the hometurf of YSRCP president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy the NDA bagged 14 , ZPTCs, including 12 by TDP and two by JSP restricting the , opposition YSRCP to only two seats. As per the latest reports, the NDA won 495 ZPTC seats and is in the lead in more than 20 seats. While the YSRCP won 54 ZPTCs and is in lead in more than five seats, others emerged victorious in four seats. 65 villages await power restoration | P5 Dress code for devotees at Simhachalam temple | P5 Turn AP into global investment hub: Naidu | P6 Excluded electors get another chance to enter final rolls | P6 Entire Oz cricket team part of sandpapergate scandal: Usman E x p r ess n e w s se r v i c e @ 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 — 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. In 2018, after TV cameras picked up Cameron Bancroft using the material on the ball in the hope of achieving reverse swing, Cricket Australia conducted an internal investi- gation and banned then captain Steve Smith, deputy David Warner for 12 months and Bancroft for nine months. Now, according to Khawaja all of them, including current captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, knew. “In an ideal world, I don’t want to do this,” Khawaja told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now. Maybe I thought Davey (Warner) would have exposed it, or someone else would have talked about it more. I just didn’t think it was going to come down to this.” Khawaja went on to add that he wanted to take collective responsibility . 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. I don’t want to be the one who comes out and talks about the truth. The issue is that I genuinely thought after eight years the truth would have been out by now Usman Khawaja, retired Australian batter NDA bags 495 ZPTCs The NDA is set to claim all the 28 Zilla Parishad chief posts. As per the latest reports, the NDA won 495 ZPTC seats, and is in the lead in more than 20 seats. The YSRCP won 54 ZPTCs, and is leading in more than 5 seats The TDP has also performed well in the MPTC elections, where it secured 4,823 of the total 7,767 seats when reports last came in. This include 1,780 unanimous victories, and 3,043 contested wins. The JSP has won 644 MPTC seats, while the YSRCP secured 1,050 seats. The BJP has bagged 130 MPTC seats, independents won 110, the Congress secured two and other candidates 20. Of the total 659 ZPTC and 9,818 MPTC seats in the State, 77 ZPTCs and 2,051 MPTCs were declared unanimous on October 27. Polling for 577 ZPTCs and 7,707 MPTCs was held on November 5. However, due to Cyclone Murasu, polling in five ZPTCs and 60 MPTCs was held on November 6. Repolling was also held at seven polling stations in Anantapur, Kurnool, Markapuram, Palnadu and Srikakulam districts following reports of electoral malpractices during the polling on November 5. Counting of votes began at 8 am on Saturday State Election . Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said the counting process was progressing peacefully and was still underway when the latest figures were compiled at 9 pm. Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan attributed the NDA’s landslide victory in the ZPTC and MPTC elections to the development and welfare initiatives taken by the governP6 ment in rural areas.  Man shoots COO dead over parking row e x p r ess n e w s se r v i c e @ Faridabad A senior executive of a private firm in Singapore was shot dead by his neighbour over a parking dispute in Faridabad. The accused fired around 12 to 15 rounds at Paramjith Dhankhar, who had returned to India to celebrate Diwali, late on Friday night. Dhankhar was COO of FPT Asia Pacific. Police arrested the accused, Monu Sharma, a resident of Sector-21C in Faridabad. According to police, the dispute between the two neighbours was over the broken gate of their parking area, apart from a fight on a dog defecating in the parking lot. On Friday night, when Dhankhar returned from the gym and asked Sharma to move his car from the parking area, both had a verbal duel. Shortly after, Sharma shot Dhankhar dead.