TIRUNELVELI l Monday l November 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION blackouts in Ukraine as Russia launches fiercest attack in months Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, killing two civilians and injuring six ‘200 missiles and drones FIREd AT UKRAINE’ Nato member poland mobilises forces Russia launched 120 missiles and 90 drones, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Explosions were heard across the country, including in capital Kyiv, the key southern port of Odesa, as well as the country’s west and central regions, according to local reports. It was the biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine since August ■ ■ The scale of the attack prompted neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, to scramble fighter jets and mobilise all available forces The strikes caused massive power cuts across the country. The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter 1,000 days Will have passed ON Tuesday since Russia INVADED Ukraine ON fEB 22, 2022 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 India in elite club after successful long-range hypersonic missile test Shah holds key meet as Manipur simmers H e ma n t K u mar R o u t & M aya n k S i n g h @ Bhubaneswar/New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday cancelled his campaign in poll-bound Maharashtra and rushed to Delhi to hold a high-level review meeting on the fresh violence in Manipur. Sources said Shah sat down with senior officials to take stock of the situation, and directed them to take all possible measures to bring back normalcy in the strife-torn state. It is learnt that Shah has called another meeting on Monday for a detailed discussion on the state’s law and order situation. Meanwhile, the director-general of the Central Reserve Police Force, Anish Dayal, was sent to Imphal to assess the security situation in the state, which has been witnessing intermittent violent incidents since May 2023 following the ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities. Tensions escalated in Manipur on Saturday following the recovery of the bodies of six individuals, who were reportedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam. On Saturday, irate mobs attacked the residences of state In a significant demonstration of India’s growing military prowess, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday successfully flight-tested the country’s first long-range hypersonic missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off Odisha coast. The test missile was launched from a ground-based mobile launcher positioned at the launching complex-IV of the Integrated Test Range at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island around 6.55 pm on Saturday . The missile, developed by the laboratories of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, Hyderabad along with other DRDO laboratories and industry partners, can carry various payloads for ranges greater than 1,500 km, an official readout said. At present, only a few countries like the US, Russia and China, have hypersonic missiles. These missiles can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound or roughly around 6,200 kmph). With such extreme speed, manoeuvrability, and the ability to fly at lower altitudes than traditional ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles are harder to detect and intercept. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the missile test on Saturday under the country’s first longrange hypersonic mission as a “stupendous” achievement and a “historic moment”. “The flight data obtained from down range ship stations confir med the successful ter minal maneuvers and impact with high degree of accuracy” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Sources told this newspaper that the test was “a stupendous success as the test missile covered around 1,400 km in its first attempt validating all its subsystems and exhibiting excellent terminal manoeuvres”. Also, it was the first time the DRDO conducted the experimental trial of an indigenously-designed and developed missile after sunset. Test missile being fired from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast | PTi Cancels Maharashtra poll rallies, rushes to Delhi to hold high-level meeting in view of rising tension in the state M u k e sh R a n ja n @ New Delhi Amit Shah ministers and MLAs. The protesters also attempted to storm Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s house, prompting security forces to respond with tear gas to disperse the crowds. The fresh incidents of violence took place on Saturday night even as an indefinite curfew was clamped after people, agitated by the killing of three women and children each by militants in Jiribam district, Mob vandalises BJP MLA’s house in Imphal Imphal: A mob vandalised the ancestral house of BJP MLA Kongkham Robindro in Manipur’s Imphal West district on Sunday evening, police said. The incident occurred a day after a house built by the legislator himself in the same district was attacked. Miscreants also reportedly attacked the BJP, Congress offices in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Sunday R A J A L A K S H M I S A M PAT H @ Vellore l Russia and China have made significant progress in developing their own hypersonic missiles The queue for toilets begins at 2 am at the Vellore Central Prison with only three usable toilets available for each block housing 70 male prisoners, inmates told TNIE. As a result, inmates wait over two hours every morning to access the facilities. On the one hand the prison manual says prisoners must arise at 5.30 am, on the other All India Committee on Jail Reforms recommends a toiletprisoner ratio of 1:6. With the jail in compliance with neither, inmates wake up hours earlier just to use the toilets. One for mer inmate, who was released in July, told TNIE that it was a daily ordeal for all the inmates of the prison. “When I would wake up, there would be at least 30 people in lOther countries, including France, Germany, Japan, Iran, and Israel, are also pursuing projects to build hypersonic missiles express read New pollution control measures in Delhi from today New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management has announced stricter pollution control measures for Delhi-NCR under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan, effective Monday. There will be curbs on truck entry and construction. Other measures include online classes for students, work-from-home options for employees, etc NPP withdraws support to Biren Singh-led govt P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati THE National People’s Party (NPP) on Sunday withdrew its support to the BJP-led government in Manipur saying it has “completely failed” to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy . In a letter addressed to BJP president J P Nadda, NPP chief and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma expressed deep concern over the prevailing law and order situation in Manipur, where innocent lives have been lost and people are going through immense suffering. “…we strongly feel that the Manipur government under the leadership of Shri Biren Singh has completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy Keeping the current . situation in mind, the NPP has decided to withdraw its support to the Biren Singh-led government with immediate effect,” the letter read. my block already waiting in line for hours to use the toilet,” he said. According to officials, the prison, which is the second largest in Tamil Nadu, houses as many as 1,078 male inmates and has three blocks each for convicts (blocks 1, 3, and 4) and remand prisoners (blocks 5, 6 and 7). Block 2 is currently closed for repair work. Each block has two dormitories with a capacity of 60 inmates, but, over 70 people are often lodged in each. “We are compelled to stand in line for an hour to access the unsanitary toilets without any proper mug. I go to sleep early just to avoid the queue in the morning,” said a remand prisoner, on a condition of anonymity. For this reason, the prisoner said, a 65-year-old inmate in his block developed severe health issues. “The elderly inmate had to go without relieving himself for long periods, which led to him developing a urinary infection. I eventually had to take him to the hospital,” he said. Although there are 24 additional toilets outside each block, they lie in disuse. “I lodged multiple complaints about the toilet situation during my time in the prison, but there was no response from the authorities. Repairing these 24 toilets outside the block would help ease the burden,” said another recently released inmate said. Sources said inmates hesitate to complain over fear of reprisal. The complaint box is located next to jailer’s room and not in each block, they added. Meanwhile, it is not just prisoners who suffer; there are no separate toilets for prison staff either, sources said. Staff are forced to use the toilets allotted to doctors and psychiatrists inside the prison. According to the Model Prison Manual, 2016, the Ministry of Home Affairs mandates prisoners should be provided with accommodations that maintain hygienic conditions and personal cleanliness, alongside adequate clothing and necessary equipment for daily life. P5 Delhi cabinet minister Kailash Gahlot quits AAP A n u p v e rma @ New Delhi In a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, its senior leader and minister Kailash Gahlot left the party on Sunday Sources said his resig. nation was accepted by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi. Gahlot, in his resignation letter, said “political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled”. He cited the case of Yamuna River, which the party had promised to clean up. “Now the Yamuna is perhaps even more polluted than before,” he said. He also made a mention of the ‘Sheeshmahal’ row over `45 crore renovation of the Chief Minister’s residence, saying such controversies are making the public doubt whether the AAP is still the common man’s party . He alleged that instead of fighting for the rights of the people, the party was busy fighting for its own agenda which has crippled delivery of basic services in Delhi. Meanwhile, AAP sources said Gahlot left the party as a result of multiple investigations launched against him by various Central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Multiple raids have been conducted on his properties in recent months. “Pressure was created on Gahlot by conducting ED-CBI raids, and now he is speaking as per the script given by the BJP,” AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said. “The Modi washing machine has become active before the Delhi elections. Now many leaders will be inducted into the BJP through this machine,” Singh said. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva welcomed Gahlot’s resignation. “Gahlot stepped down raising the same issues for which the BJP was protesting and fighting against Kejriwal and AAP. His resignation proves that even AAP leaders do not consider Kejriwal an honest politician,” Sachdeva said. Grand Commander Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds the certificate of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger received from Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu (R), in Abuja | AFp new projection Avg max temperature to rise 1.50C as early as 2047 if fossil fuel use not cut A k n isr e e K arthik @ Bengaluru India’s average annual maximum temperature could rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius as soon as 2047, a new report said. As per Climate Change Projections for India (2021-2040) report of Azim Premji University, released on Sunday, the average annual maximum temperature will increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2057,under the ‘Middle of the Road’ emission scenario where society is assumed to take moderate steps to cut emissions. The more extreme ‘Fossil Fuel Development’ (society relying heavily on fossil fuels for energy) emission scenario predicts that the temperature will rise a decade earlier, by 2047. States like Karnataka, Gujarat, parts of Uttar Pradesh The NPP has seven MLAs. The BJP-led government’s survival will not be threatened by this development as the NDA still has 46 members in the 60member House. On Sunday, an uneasy calm prevailed in the Imphal valley . As there is an apprehension of further attacks, security has been beefed up outside the houses of the legislators in the Imphal valley. The protestors are demanding the resignation of the elected members for failing to check the escalating violence. Meanwhile, the Congress said Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh should seek an appointment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so the MLAs of ruling and opposition parties can go and meet him to discuss the situation. “What is the point of being a member of the Assembly if we cannot save Manipur?” Congress leader and former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh said. Men at Vellore jail face hours-long lines for loo Arms race lThe US is in the process of developing a range of hypersonic weapons attacked the residences of three state ministers and six MLAs earlier in the day . The angry mobs torched the houses of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam’s BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, Wangjing Tentha’s BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Khundrakpam’s Congress MLA Thokchom Lokeshwar in Imphal East district, according to officials. On Sunday morning, there was a tense calm in all five districts of the Imphal Valley, where the curfew was imposed and internet services were suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six people who were allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam. Last week, Manipur police said it shot dead 10 militants. and Madhya Pradesh, including parts of Ladakh, will experience an increase in precipitation by 20 to 60%, according to the report. The new climate data offers critical insights into how climate change will impact the country over the next two decades, revealing key information about India’s climate, detailing how extreme weather events Summer wet bulb temp to hit 310C in 25 districts Twenty-five districts across the coastal states and eastern Himalayas will experience over 31 degrees Celsius summer wet bulb temperature, posing serious threats to human health, the report said could affect communities, agriculture and natural resources. The western part of India will experience a significant increase in precipitation, compared to most of the eastern and northeastern parts, said Prof. Santonu Goswami, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University. Changes in precipitation patterns can have a significant im- pact on Indian agriculture, the report said. The projections examine two Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change scenarios-- SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 (high emissions with heavy fossil fuel reliance). Under the high emissions scenario, 249 districts in India will experience an annual maximum temperature change of one degree Celsius or more. Tribal youth working as guides for tourists during a trek in Manombolly forest range near Valparai | Express Trekking opens new avenues for 5 tribal youth S S e n thil K u mar @ Coimbatore A few months ago, the road ahead for C Jayaraman from Koomatti tribal settlement seemed to be leading nowhere. He completed his schooling this year but did not pursue higher education. His father, who had worked as a forest guard, retired last year. Unemployed and unaware of the opportunities, he had idled away hours on the roads in the Manombolly forest range near Valparai. The tribal youth’s future took a turn for the better when Manombolly forest range officer K Giritharan roped him in, along with four more unemployed youngsters, to work as guides for trekkers. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has recently introduced 39 trekking routes across the state, including one in Manombolly . Speaking to TNIE, Giritharan said the department has handpicked five youths – C Jayaraman, Anandan, Prabhu, Dheena and Prabhakaran – from two tribal settlements to provide them a job for improving their livelihoods. With the department’s initiative, all five youngsters are set to receive their first monthly salary of `12,500, for working as guides for four hours a day from Friday to Sunday . Giritharan said the officials had learned about the unemployment of the youth through their family heads, during their regular interaction with the people to address their grievances. Four of the five, he said, discontinued their school education after completing classes between 8 and 10. P5