BJP state chief Nainar Nagenthran (right), party veteran H Raja (centre) and other partymen being arrested in Thiruparankundram on Thursday

MADURAI: The Karthigai Deepam issue has snowballed into a major controversy in Tamil Nadu, with the state govt Thursday defying for the second time a Madras HC order allowing lighting of the lamp at Deepathoon (a stone lamp pillar) atop Thiruparankundram hills, even as a division bench of the HC rejected its appeal against a contempt order. Meanwhile, BJP state chief Nainar Nagendran and dozens of others were detained by police during protests.State govt filed an SLP in the Supreme Court challenging the division bench order, which dismissed its appeal against a single bench order on a contempt plea.Earlier in the day, the bench of Justices G Jayachandran and K K Ramakrishnan dismissed the state’s appeal, saying it was meant to preempt contempt action. The bench upheld Justice G R Swaminathan’s orders permitting lighting of the lamp at Deepathoon with CISF protection. The single bench had also initiated contempt proceedings Wednesday after the Deepam was lit at Uchi Pillaiyar Temple, not at Deepathoon atop the hill, as directed by it on Dec 1.Despite the single-bench order on Wednesday, police had prevented the petitioner and 10 others, who had been allowed to light the lamp at Deepathoon, from proceeding to the hills citing prohibitory orders.Following the rejection of the state’s appeal Thursday, Justice Swaminathan resumed the contempt proceedings, quashed the prohibitory orders imposed by Madurai district administration, and once again permitted lighting of the lamp atop the hill, this time under protection of Madurai city police. If officials defied the order, “harsh consequences will ensue”, the judge said.However, police once again stopped the individuals from proceeding, saying it would be detrimental to public order. It was a re-enactment of the scene from Wednesday at the Thiruparankundram foothills, with hundreds of BJP workers and Hindu group activists protesting against state govt, and over 1,000 police personnel deployed. BJP’s Nagendran had an argument with police before he was detained along with several others, including H Raja and Amarprasad Reddy, and about 50 cadres to prevent them from proceeding to the hills.Meanwhile, the HC division bench will on Dec 5 take up the appeals filed by Madurai district collector and executive officer of the Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities, challenging the order passed by the single bench allowing the lamp to be lit at Deepathoon.Justice Swaminathan had Monday allowed Rama Ravikumar and other petitioners to light the lamp at Deepathoon, brushing aside objections on proximity of the site to a dargah and the fact that the lamp has been lit at Uchi Pillaiyar Temple for decades.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday personally received Russian President Vladimir Putin at Delhi’s Palam Airport, marking the start of his two-day state visit to India. PMModi greeted Putin with a handshake and warm embrace, before both leaders left the airport together in the same vehicle.

Putin’s arrival was met with a security grid comprising the Delhi Police, Special Protection Group (SPG), and Russian security officials. Flex boards and Russian flags lined the airport route, and advanced surveillance systems were activated across key areas of the capital.The two leaders will co-chair the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit, where more than 10 inter-governmental agreements and over 15 commercial MoUs are expected to be signed. Key focus areas discussed by officials include trade expansion, healthcare, fertilisers, shipping, agriculture, connectivity and workforce mobility.

Ahead of Putin’s arrival, defence minister Rajnath Singh underlined that despite global instability, India–Russia cooperation “is moving at a healthy pace.” He welcomed progress toward a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union and highlighted consistent military exchanges between the two sides.Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov echoed the sentiment, describing relations with India as a “time-proven friendship” based on mutual respect and cultural affinity.During the visit, Putin will attend a state banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu and is also expected to launch the Indian edition of Russian broadcaster RT.

Putin’s first engagement in India is a private dinner with PM Modi. The meeting is expected to cover the full spectrum of the “special and privileged strategic partnership,” ranging from defence and energy security to trade and cooperation in emerging sectors. Discussions will also include global geopolitical issues, Eurasian developments and the Indo-Pacific.The dinner sets the stage for Friday’s structured summit talks.

Putin begins his Friday schedule with a visit to Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi — a tradition for visiting heads of state. He will then receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, followed by formal summit discussions with PM Modi at Hyderabad House.After a working lunch, Putin will address the India–Russia Business Forum aimed at boosting private sector partnerships and investments. The evening will conclude with a state banquet hosted by President Murmu, after which Putin is expected to depart around 9.30 pm.

A joint statement is expected, along with agreements across multiple sectors. Among the key outcomes is the Programme for the Development of Strategic Areas of Russian-Indian Economic Cooperation until 2030, seen as a roadmap to enhance long-term industrial and trade cooperation.Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that bilateral trade reached $63.6 billion in 2024, a 12% rise driven by energy, fertilisers and machinery. He also listed priority areas for collaboration: industrial partnerships, innovative technologies, peaceful space exploration, transport, mining, healthcare and labour mobility.Putin will also attend the launch of Russian media channel RT’s India operations — a signal of Moscow’s growing soft power outreach.

Modi and Putin have spoken by phone five times in 2024 and last met in person at the SCO Summit in Tianjin. Despite shifting global alignments and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, the India–Russia partnership continues to diversify, balancing legacy defence ties with new cooperation in technology, energy transition, education and workforce mobility.

AHMEDABAD: A Indigo flight travelling from Medina to Hyderabad was forced to make an emergency landing in Ahmedabad on Thursday following a suspected bomb threat, airport officials said.The flight had 180 passengers and 6 crew members, airport sources told news agency ANI.

The scare comes as lakhs of passengers across India face unprecedented flight delays and cancellations, primarily due to a pilot shortage at IndiGo, the country’s largest airline by market share.IndiGo has cancelled more than 200 flights a day this week, after days of triple-digit cancellations. On Tuesday, the airline’s on-time performance slumped to 35%, the lowest among all scheduled carriers in India. Some passengers have reported waiting up to 10 hours at airports.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has summoned IndiGo’s senior management, demanding an explanation for what it called “unprecedented disruptions”. Officials say the regulator is examining corrective measures for the peak travel season, when India is recording over five lakh domestic passengers daily.IndiGo said it had initiated “calibrated adjustments” — flight cuts expected to continue for at least 48 hours — to stabilise operations. Industry sources say new crew-duty rules introduced in November have intensified the airline’s staffing crunch, with 62% of last month’s 1,232 IndiGo cancellations attributed to “crew constraints”.Fares have surged sharply as a result. One-way Delhi–Bengaluru economy tickets for Friday and Saturday were listed between Rs 11,000 and Rs 43,000, while Mumbai–Kolkata fares ranged from Rs 8,000 to Rs 19,000.Major airports — including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru — have reported heavy congestion, with Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport alone expecting more than 30 outbound cancellations on Thursday. Passengers there have complained of being stranded for over 12 hours overnight, with repeated assurances of “crew coming soon”.Hyderabad airport authorities said delays were limited to IndiGo operations and that overall airport functioning remained normal.Meanwhile, security agencies in Ahmedabad continue to investigate the threat to the Madina–Hyderabad flight.

BENGALURU: A 45-year-old techie’s dream of building a house ended on a sad note as he died by suicide, accusing a family and officials of the erstwhile BBMP, now Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), of abetting his extreme act through harassment.Murali Govindaraju, a resident of Brookbong Layout in Whitefield, worked with a private software company at ITPL. The father of two minor girls was found dead in his under-construction house at Nallurahalli Wednesday morning.Police arrested Shashi Nambiar (64) and his wife Usha (57), on charges of abetting the suicide and are looking for their son, Varun. The couple was produced before a magistrate and remanded in 14-day judicial custody.

Police recovered a 10-page death note, which accused the Nambiars of abetting his suicide through harassment. According to the note, the family, along with a few GBA officials, tortured him, stating he violated the rules by not constructing the building according to the approved plan and repeatedly demanded Rs 20 lakh to hush up the matter.Murali’s mother, Lakshmi Govindaraju (61), filed a criminal complaint at the Whitefield police station against Shashi and Usha, accusing them of trying to extort Rs 20 lakh from her son, torturing him for refusing, and abetting his suicide.Lakshmi alleged the Nambiars encouraged GBA officials to harass Murali. Police booked Shashi and Usha under sections 108 (abetment to suicide) and 308 (extortion) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).Murali had purchased the land at Nallurahalli from a close relative of the Nambiars in 2018. “When my son began constructing a house on the land, Usha and Shashi started harassing and torturing him. They repeatedly demanded Rs 20 lakh from him. When my son refused, Usha complained to BBMP officials, who came near the construction site and harassed my son. My son told me that today (Wednesday) was the deadline to pay Rs 20 lakh. My son told me that Usha and Shashi were torturing him. Bearing this in mind, he left our house (Brookbong Layout) around 6am. He reached the under-construction house and hanged himself on the second floor. I seek legal action against Usha Nambiar and Shashi Nambiar for abetting my son’s suicide through harassment,” according to his mother’s complaint.GBA officials had issued a notice to Murali, directing him to appear before them Wednesday. “Investigations, so far, revealed that Usha approached BBMP, accusing Murali of violating the approved plan. Accordingly, BBMP, after making a spot inspection, issued a notice. The spat between Murali and the Nambiars dated back to 2018, when he purchased the land measuring 40×60 sqft. The Nambiars, for one reason or another, fought with Murali and made him run around the BBMP office, police station, and local court. The couple allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh to stop harassing him,” police said.A senior police officer said many locals accused the Nambiars of extorting money by filing cases against them in BBMP/GBA. “According to locals, many houses are constructed in and around Nallurahalli where Usha Nambiar plays the role of an activist. If someone is harassed or tortured by the Nambiars, we request them to come forward and file a police complaint,” he said.

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the govt had not proposed to levy a new cess but was levying excise on tobacco products.“This is not a new law, this is not an additional tax or something that the Centre is taking away. Many MPs here observed that this is a cess. This is not a cess, this is excise duty. Excise duty existed before GST. The amount will be redistributed to the states as per the Finance Commission’s recommendations,” she told Lok Sabha while responding to the discussion on the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill. The bill was passed by the lower House by voice vote.“In order to ensure that the incidence is not lower than what it was during GST with the compensation cess, we are bringing this excise. In a way, we are saying cigarettes should not become affordable now because incidence has become less,” the minister said while moving the bill.The minister also said that the Centre always keeps the interests of states in mind and no state gets less resources than what has been mandated by the Finance Commission.Dismissing charges of the Centre using GST compensation cess money to repay its debt, Sitharaman said, “It has been clarified many times that the compensation cess was collected for a period of five years for the purpose of giving it to the states, and that after five years it was to conclude…The compensation cess was, in fact, collected with the authority of the GST Council to repay the loan taken for the back-to-back arrangements made to compensate state governments for the revenues they could not collect during the Covid-19 pandemic.”By amending the Central Excise Act, the Centre has sought powers to levy excise duty of Rs 2,700 to Rs 11,000 per 1,000 sticks of various categories of cigarettes. The bill also proposes a levy of 60%-70% on every kg of tobacco used for various purposes and 100% a kg on chewing tobacco.She said that before GST, tax rates on tobacco were increased every year, so that high prices acted as a deterrent to consumption.Quoting the World Health Organization (WHO) observation that cigarette affordability has either stagnated or increased in the past decade in India, Sitharaman said the cess rates on cigarettes have remained unchanged since 2017, when GST was implemented.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (File photo)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday clarified that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not question India’s growth figures, and said the Fund’s ‘C’ grade on national accounts stems solely from the use of an outdated base year. She said the IMF, in fact, acknowledged India’s healthy economic performance and the resilience of its financial sector, according to PTI.Responding to concerns raised by NCP MP Supriya Sule during a Lok Sabha discussion on the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, Sitharaman told the House that India will shift to a new base year of 2022-23 for national accounts from February 27, 2026. She said the current assessments rely on data based on the 2011-12 base year, which the IMF flagged as outdated while assigning the ‘C’ grade.According to PTI, the Minister emphasised that the IMF’s report focuses largely on India’s robust growth outlook. The Fund expects GDP to expand 6.5 per cent in 2025-26 and highlighted private-sector activity, macroeconomic stability and financial-sector strength as key drivers. It also noted inflation remains below the RBI’s tolerance band and projected it at 4.3 per cent for the full year.Sitharaman said the lower grade was tied specifically to statistical parameters. “The ‘C’ grade is assigned to the National Accounts data because it is based on an outdated base year, 2011-12,” she said, adding that the shift to the updated base year in 2026 will address the issue. “The IMF report does not question the growth figures,” she reiterated.Citing latest economic data, she said the Indian economy grew 8.2 per cent in the July-September quarter — a six-quarter high — after expanding 7.8 per cent in the April-June period. “It (IMF) didn’t question the growth figures we have given. On the contrary, they said we will be growing at 6.5 per cent. They appreciated our inflation management,” she said.The Minister added that India received a ‘B’ grade on all other statistical fronts, including inflation data, external-sector statistics, and monetary and financial statistics. “So, the median rate we have got is B,” she said, noting this is in line with countries such as China and Brazil.The IMF grades national accounts across A, B, C and D categories. While an ‘A’ rating indicates data adequate for surveillance, a ‘B’ means the data is broadly adequate despite some shortcomings. A ‘C’ suggests shortcomings that could somewhat hamper surveillance, and a ‘D’ signals serious issues that impede surveillance.