NAGAPATTINAM  TUESDAY  OCTOBER 13, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION RETAIL INFLATION RISES TO 5.54 PC IN SEPTEMBER ON HIGH ONION PRICE Retail inflation rose sharply to 5.54 per cent in September on the back of high onion and other food prices, government data showed JUST WITHIN THE RBI’S TOLERANCE BAND RURAL INFLATION CROSSES 6 PER CENT The consumer price index (CPI) based headline inflation was 4.83 per cent in August. The latest figure is just within the RBI’s tolerance band of 6 per cent. Food inflation rose to 7.74 per cent from 5.97 per cent the previous month. The top items with high inflation were onion (108.09 per cent), silver jewellery (87.8 per cent) and ginger (62.85 per cent) ■ ■ The top five states with high inflation were Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The figures for rural and urban areas are 6.08 per cent and 4.88 per cent, respectively Commenting on the data, Dipti Deshpande of CRISIL said food inflation is likely to remain firm as weak rainfall weighs on agri output 5.2 per cent THE PROJECTED RETAIL INFLATION FOR 2026-27 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 Rahul leads ‘1 protest’ march to SC Ex-DMK min’s link to `100-cr Says anyone committed to protect Constitution has the Opposition INDIA bloc’s support Jantar Mantar denotified as designated protest venue EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar and others during INDIA bloc’s march to the SC | SAYANTAN GHOSH Rahul challenges legality of SIR ‘Didn’t approve or disapprove Form 6’ LoP Rahul Gandhi’s writ petition in the SC challenges the legality of the SIR, alleging largescale deletion of genuine voters. It seeks a direction to the ECI to place on record relevant ECINET and ERONET access logs and the complete file recording the decision to commence the SIR across India | P7 Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the SC had neither approved nor disapproved the revised Form 6. The court said the ECI cannot claim judicial endorsement for its revised form and that earlier orders (from Bihar SIR case) cannot be cited as approval for a form introduced later | P7 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi OPPOSITION leaders, party workers and members of the public took to the streets of central Delhi on Monday as the INDIA bloc intensified its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging electoral irregularities, and demanding an end to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The ‘Chalo Delhi — March for Democracy,’ was later followed by the filing of a joint petition in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention over the allegations. Led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the march began near the Connaught Place–Barakhamba Road junction and moved towards the SC. Opposition lead- ers, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and CPI general secretary D Raja, joined the mobilisation. Police stopped the march after a brief stretch, with security tightened across central Delhi. The petition challenges alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision process. The INDIA bloc has also demanded Kumar’s resignation, the suspension of the SIR exercise, a return to ballot papers and electoral reforms. Addressing a reporters ahead of the march, Gandhi said the opposition’s campaign was a collective effort to defend democratic institutions. “There are no parallel protests, there is one protest,” he said, adding that anyone committed to protecting the Constitution would have the Opposition’s support. Directly addressing the CEC, he said, “Resign, turn approver; you have made a mistake but you are not the mind behind the mistake.” He said the campaign would continue until the Election Commission’s leadership changed, the Constitution was upheld and the electoral system was overhauled. On X, Gandhi said the INDIA bloc had written to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who declined to meet the leaders but had said they could approach the court through a petition. Gandhi urged people across political affiliations to join the campaign, describing it as a broader struggle over democratic rights. “We want India to believe that India is not scared of anything,” he said, adding that the Opposition was fighting on multiple fronts. He said the agitation would continue beyond the march. “This fight is not going to stop. It will continue even if it takes days or years,” Gandhi said. Relatives kill stalker after woman ends life in TN Robert E Hall Michael Woodford NOBEL EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Kanniyakumari HOURS after a 26-year-old woman died by suicide allegedly due to the relentless harassment of a stalker, five of her relatives bludgeoned the stalker to death using stones and blunt objects near her house at Periyavilai near Kanniyakumari on Sunday night, triggering tension in the area. The woman, G Angel, was a private company employee, while her tormentor, D Antony Raj (33), was working as an earthmover vehicle driver. According to police, Antony Raj used to follow Angel on buses during her travel to work. After she informed her parents about his harassment, a complaint was lodged with the Kanniyakumari police in May. Antony Raj was arrested and remanded in judicial custody, but was later released on bail. Antony Raj allegedly continued to stalk Angel even after his release. After her death, the enraged relatives launched a search for Antony Raj, located him in the neighbourhood, brought him near the girl’s house, assaulted him with blunt objects and allegedly P5 killed him on the spot. THE Delhi Police on Monday de-notified Jantar Mantar as a protest venue and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as the new designated sites for holding protests and demonstrations in the national capital. According to the order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar, the Union home ministry had constituted a committee to examine alternative proper venues for citizens’ right for organising protest and demonstrations in place of the existing “designated site”. “Based on the Committee’s recommendations, Jantar Mantar as a protest venue has been de-notified. Three new venues viz Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, East Delhi have been designated as new venues for organising protest/demonstrations,” the order stated. Criticising the decision, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, “It is a definite sign of the extreme panic that has gripped the PM-HM duo that the historic Jantar Mantar will no longer be a place where our democracy is given a daily booster dose.” Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das called the decision an “assault” on the fundamental right to protest and assemble peacefully . “Why is Narendra Modi scared of Jantar Mantar? The Jantar Mantar belongs to THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. Did the Ministry of Home Affairs consult with the people of India?” he wrote on X, adding that “we do not accept this arbitrary decision.” HONOURS WORK ON MANAGING CRISES HOUSE COLLAPSE Videograb of several houses collapsing in the Ganga following riverbank erosion at Mahadevpur Ghat in Bihar’s Bhagalpur on Monday | PTI US economists Robert E Hall and Michael Woodford won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for work on models that have helped central banks manage economic shocks | P10 scam established: Cops to HC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai THE police have informed the Madras High Court that their investigation into the alleged `100 crore school recognition scam uncovered the involvement of Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, who served as the School Education Minister under the previous DMK government. The submission was made by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Greater Chennai Police (GCP) in a counter-affidavit filed through State Public Prosecutor R John Sathyan before Justice V Laskshminarayanan on Monday, when the ex-minister’s petition for quashing the FIR came up for hearing. “During the course of investig ation, materials emerged disclosing the role of the then minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in relation to demands and representations concer ning private schools, the collection of money by Arasakumar and Muthukumar by projecting their access, influence and connection with him, the corresponding facilitation and movement When did DMK start speaking about guv’s powers, asks judge Judge V Laskshminarayanan while hearing ex-minister Anbil Mahesh’s plea to quash the FIR, asked, “When did DMK start speaking about the powers of the Governor? The remark came after advocate Richardson argued that prior approval had to be obtained from the governor as the offence was committed when Anbil Mahesh was a minister of those demands through the department and government machinery,” the counter-affidavit stated. It added that the witnesses examined during the probe spoke about their direct interaction with the ex-minister and the discussions held in relation to the amounts collect- GUBERNATORIAL RESHUFFLE EXPRESS READ Arlekar is TN guv, Om Prakash Mathur moves to Kerala Vijay to meet AP CM over Krishna water R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi PRESIDENT Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed governors for six states, naming Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the regular governor of Tamil Nadu, transferring Om Prakash Mathur from Sikkim to Kerala and appointing Sudha Yadav as Governor of Karnataka. Braj Mohan Ram has been appointed Governor of Odisha, Dhal Singh Bisen will be posted in Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam in Sikkim. Arlekar, who was serving as Kerala Governor, has been in charge of Tamil Nadu following R N Ravi’s transfer as Governor of West Bengal in March. R Vishwanath Arlekar Mathur, a BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, sucEx minister, ceeds Arlekar in Kerala. He assumed Speaker office as Governor of Sikkim in July 2024. Mathur has held several organisa- A former Speaker tional positions in the BJP including as and minister of Goa , national vice-president and general sec- Assembly, Arlekar retary and served two terms in the Ra- has also served as , jya Sabha from 2008 to 2022. He was also Governor of associated with the party’s election Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. During management in several crucial states. Ram, a former Lok Sabha MP from his tenure as Goa Jharkhand’s Palamu, succeeds Hari Speaker, the House became the first Babu Kambhampati in Odisha. Sudha Yadav, a former BJP MP from legislature in the Mahendragarh, Haryana, and member country to adopt a of the National Commission for Back- paperless system ward Classes, succeeds Thaawar Chand Gehlot as Karnataka Governor. She entered politics after the death of her husband, a deputy commandant in BSF, in the Kargil war when Narendra Modi, then BJP’s Haryana incharge, proposed her candidature from Mahendragarh. Masked gang decamps with 600 kg silver worth `15 cr in Salem E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Salem A four-member masked gang allegedly assaulted and tied up a security guard before stealing around 600 kg of silver articles worth up to `15 crore from a warehouse at Chinneri Vayalkadu in Salem around 1 am on Monday. Police have formed special teams to trace the gang and recover the stolen valuables. The warehouse, located in Cinema Nagar, belongs to Balasubramaniam (60), a wholesale silver trader and manufacturer. He procures sil- ver to manufacture ornaments and uses the building, situated close to his house, to store the articles. Balasubramaniam was at home when the robbery took place. According to police, the four masked men entered the premises in the early hours of Monday and attacked security guard Venkatesan (60), a resident of Pallapatti. They allegedly tied him up before breaking open the doors of the storage building and stealing the silver articles. No other doors on the premises were broken open. The gang also Guard raises alarm The security guard managed to untie himself after the gang fled and alerted the warehouse owner, who reached the premises around 5 am and informed the police. The guard suffered minor injuries in the assault and was treated at Salem GH tampered with the CCTV surveillance system before fleeing, the police added. After the gang fled, Venkatesan managed to untie himself ed from school managements, represented as ‘Party Fund’, as well as assurances concerning the issuance of government orders in respect of their demands, requiring a further line of investigation. The police said upon the emergence of such material, the investigating agency with, out bypassing any statutory safeguards, rightly sought prior approval under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The request was processed, and approval was granted under section 17A on September 7. It said the applicable provision of law in the facts of the present case is only Section 17 A (b) of the Act, and the alteration report and probe regarding him were done only after the prior approval of the competent authority contemplated therein. “There is no need, nor is there any statutory requirement to obtain prior approval from the governor, as section 17 A (b) of the Act does not speak about prior approval from the authority who is competent to remove him from the office,” the police P5 said. The warehouse from where a gang stole silver articles worth `15 crore | EXPRESS and call Balasubramaniam to alert him about the robbery. According to sources, Balasubramaniam reached the warehouse around 5 am and in- formed the Pallapatti police. Venkatesan suffered minor injuries and was treated at Salem Government Hospital. Police personnel arrived at the spot and launched an investigation. Forensic experts collected fingerprints from the scene, while Salem City Police Commissioner A G Babu inspected the premises and reviewed the circumstances of the robbery . Police are examining CCTV footage from the surrounding areas to identify the suspects and trace their movements. A case has been registered. Chennai: CM C Joseph Vijay is scheduled to meet his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada on Tuesday to discuss the shortfall in Krishna water supplied to TN under the Telugu Ganga agreement. AP must supply 12 tmcft of water per year, but TN has received only 2.251 tmcft till October 9 | P4 TN to buy power at record `37 per unit Chennai: With electricity demand remaining high across the state even in October, the TNPDCL has decided to procure 181 MW of power from gas plants at a record high rate of `37 per unit until October 31. This is the highest price paid by TN so far. “We are unable to procure power at cheaper rates,” an official said | P4 Question paper fee: Teachers seek probe Chennai: TN High School and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association has sought a DVAC probe into the collection of question paper fees from students in Classes 6 to 12 in government high and higher secondary schools, alleging possible financial irregularities | P2 Bangladesh seeks duty-free access Bangladesh has sought the continuation of preferential market access to India even after its Least Developed Country status ends and sought the removal of restrictions on its exports through Indian land ports and the withdrawal of antidumping duties on jute products and polyethylene terephthalate film | P7