THRISSUR l wednesday l November 04, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION IISc Bengaluru, 5 IITs among Asia’s top 100 universities All 6 institutes drop in y-o-y rankings India continued to remain Asia’s second most represented higher education system, with 325 ranked universities, as per QS rankings According to the London-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), IIT Delhi was ranked 59th last year and slipped to 66th this year, followed by IISc Bengaluru, which was 64th last year and is 79th now. IIT Bombay fell from 71st to 83rd, IIT Madras fell from 70th to 85th, IIT Kharagpur fell from 77th to 90th, and IIT Kanpur fell from 77th to 97th ■ 7th India leads in research output per faculty ■ India leads Asia for universities excelling in research output per faculty, with 27 universities in the top 50 for papers per faculty and five in the top 10, more than any other higher education system India also increased its representation among the top 200, with 21, up from 20 last year and 17 in 2018 in the QS rankings Rank obtained by iit-b in employer reputation category 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, Israel vote against UNGA arms resolution J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA and Israel were the only two countries to vote against a United Nations General Assembly First Committee resolution on conventional arms control at regional and subregional levels, with New Delhi arguing that security concerns cannot be confined by geo g raphical boundaries. The draft resolution, moved by Pakistan and Belarus, was adopted with 180 votes in favour, two against and no abstentions in the 193-member world organistation. Explaining India’s vote, Anmol Sher Bedi, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said conventional arms control was a global issue and should not be addressed primarily through regional and subregional frameworks. “We read this request with a certain degree of curiosity,” Bedi said, questioning the need for further deliberations on a subject that had already been extensively discussed within the UN Disarmament Commission. The resolution argues that conventional ar ms control should primarily be pursued at regional and subregional levels, noting that most threats to peace and security in the post-Cold Regional security India opposed a draft resolution paragraph on arms control in South Asia, which noted regional initiatives like consultation among Latin American nations, and its use for regional security War era arise among countries within the same geographical regions. It also calls for agreements aimed at strengthening regional peace and security while maintaining armaments and military forces at the lowest possible levels. Bedi pointed out that the Commission had adopted three consensus outcomes on the subject: guidelines and recommendations on regional disarmament in 1993, guidelines on conventional arms control and disarmament in 1999, and recommen- dations on practical confidence-building measures involving conventional weapons in 2017. “We fail to understand why a subject already deliberated at length needs another round of deliberation unless the aim is to keep the UN disarmament machinery busy Bedi said. ,” India also objected to the resolution’s emphasis on maintaining a balance in defence capabilities within specific regions, arguing national security concerns often extend beyond geographical limits. SC: No one can occupy a protest site indefinitely ‘Can’t let women, kids be run over by buses’: HC stresses on road safety E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e day but they remained in Jantar Mantar for 17 days. In their plea, the traders arTHE Supreme Court on Tues- gued that the Opposition parday said everyone has the right ties’ protests against the Speto protest but no individual or cial Intensive Revision have led organisation can occupy a pro- to traffic diversions, police bartest site indefinitely as it will ricading and restricted access deny the right of others to shops, causing huge to use the venue. financial losses to small “You cannot occupy a shops and businesses. site for all times. Where The plea sought direcwill farmers, journaltions to shift the protest ists, etc go? The desigto an alternative site or nated sites must be givlimit the duration of en for a designated the demonstration. Notice period,” said a bench S e n i o r a dvo c a t e to Rahul of Chief Justice Surya Mukul Rohtagi, appearThe SC asked Kant and justices Joying for Kirana Commitmalya Bagchi and V Congress leader tee Delhi, said: “We Mohana, while empha- Rahul Gandhi to have lost thousands of sising that the right to file his reply to a crores. Nobody is able plea filed by a protest must be balto do business in Confemale anced against the rights naught Place. Thoujournalist of others, including sands of auxiliary traders and daily-wage alleging that he workers connected to had pushed her these businesses are workers. The bench was hear- during a protest without jobs as sales at the apex ing a litany of petitions are down in the middle including one filed by court premises of the festive season.” Kirana Committee DelRohtagi said busihi, which alleged that traders nesses have suffered losses runsuffered huge loss of business ning into thousands of crores due to the protests. and sought a two-month restricSolicitor General Tushar Me- tion on protests, especially durhta, appearing for the Centre ing the festive season. and Delhi Police, said the CockThe court asked him to imroach Janta Party’s protest in plead the organisers of the proJuly was permitted only for one tests as parties to the plea. SUCHITRA KALYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi TRUMP’s midterm test Voters at a polling location during the US midterm elections in Edinburg, Ohio on Tuesday. Americans voting in the midterm elections will decide who gets to control Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, along with dozens of governorships and thousands of state offices. The first results are expected from 6 pm EST (4:30 am IST Wednesday) | AFP | P11 Peeved at bar licence grant, Liju seeks explanation from excise commissioner E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Excise Minister M Liju on Tuesday said he had sought an explanation from Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao for sanctioning bar licence to an airport lounge despite the government objecting to a similar application earlier. “The department granted two licences without the government’s knowledge. Application for a third was forwarded to the government, but the government replied that a decision could be taken only after the new excise policy was adopted. Still, proceedings were initiated on a fresh application,” Liju told TNIE. Rejecting reports that he had approached Chief Minister V D Satheesan seeking Rao’s removal, Liju said, “I am not against any individual but want to correct the system.” Speaking to the media earlier, Liju maintained that the commissioner should have consulted the government before taking the decision. “The commissioner had forwarded the application seeking FL-7 bar licence at Nedumbassery airport and the government had made it clear that a decision could be taken only after the new excise policy came out. Earlier applications were sent to the government, that’s why the commissioner did not receive the communication,” Liju said. On whether Rao would be removed, Liju said, “Those are administra● More on P4 tive decisions.”  Expressing concer n over the delay in putting in place adequate mechanism to ensure road safety, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday said it could not allow children and women to fall prey to buses, get run over by their wheels and die. “Why would we want to do that? Come up with something,” the court orally observed. “Some action will have to be taken. Everything is being taken lightly, and cor rective measures are not being t a ke n , ” t h e c o u r t observed. The court made the remarks while considering a case initiated suo motu on road safety matters. Stating that people were driving vehicles at speeds of up to 220 kmph, the court stressed the need for a mechanism to inform motorists of the maximum permissible speed in a particular area — be it 120, 80 or 70 kmph. “If, at night, a car like a Porsche or Ferrari, or whatever car, is driven at breakneck speed, it should be identified. Within two days, we should be able to inform the appropriate authority as well as the vehicle owner about the Two helicopters collided on Tuesday while trying to land just below Mount Everest’s base camp, killing Vasanth Kumar Balaramaramadu (47) of Chennai and injuring three others at Pheriche village, which is located at an altitude of 4,200 metres (13,780 feet) in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district. Vasanth’s fellow passenger Shailesh Krishna Patel from New Zealand and Nepalese pilots Rabindra Prajapati (Fishtail Air) and Prajwal KC (Dynasty Air), who were injured in the incident, were taken to Kathmandu for treatment. According to the Nepal police, Vasanth’s mortal remains were sent to Kathmandu for a postmortem. The two helicopters collided around 8.11 am (local time) while landing at Pheriche in Solukhumbu, according to Ne- pal police. Vasanth’s chopper took off from Lukla Airport, the gateway to Mt Everest. The base camp trek lasts up to two weeks and goes from the only airstrip in the area at Lukla to base camp located at 5,300 metres (17,380 feet). Anxiety gripped Vasanth’s house on the Peramballu Street in Old Washermenpet as shocking visuals of the chopper crash flashed across news channels. The family had been tense ever since they saw the news, as they knew Vasanth was in Nepal for a trek. A visit from revenue department officials confirmed what they had been dreading. The cries of Vasanth’s elderly parents Balaramanadu (80), mother Parameshwari (74) and maternal grandparents from their first-floor house could be heard on the street as the family struggled to come to terms with the news of the death. Rescue workers inspect the mangled wreckage of a helicopter after two choppers collided while attempting to land at Pheriche in Nepal on Tuesday | pti Keralam targets zero free-roaming dogs in public spaces in 10 years Amid an increase in stray dog attacks, rabies deaths and stray population, an expert panel has prepared an ambitious 10-year roadmap to bring the number of free-roaming canines in the state’s public spaces to zero through targeted measures, including responsible ownership. The first two years will focus stray trouble The report said Keralam has an estimated stray dog population of around 4.5 lakh There were 3.69 lakh dog bite incidents in 2025 and 122 rabies-related deaths between 2021 and 2025, it said on bringing down the number of dogs in high density areas from 150-250 per sq km to 10-15 through intensive sterilisation, vaccination, adoption and scientific waste management. The panel, jointly formed by the Kerala Veterinary and Anim a l S c i e n c e s U n ive r s i t y (KVASU), animal husbandry department and the Kerala Grama Panchayat Association, made the suggestions in its report ‘A Comprehensive Roadmap for Humane Stray Dog Population Management and Eliminating Dog-mediated Human Rabies Fatalities through One Health’, submitted to the development of an integrated road safety monitoring platform was the most important measure. It asked the advocate general to ensure that recommendations made by the court regarding the development of the platform were initiated. The court said the police department will have to be involved in developing the integrated platform. violation,” the court said. The mechanism should also issue a warning that repeated violations could result in the cancellation of the driving licence or other action against the vehicle owner. “Some action will have to be taken. Everything is being taken lightly, and corrective measures are not being taken,” the court observed. It said the state needed a platform similar to an ‘Integrated Road Safety Monitoring Platform’. “If you somehow or the other bring out this platform, then it’ll be a one-stop shop,” the ● More on P4 court said.  S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai panel proposes roadmap S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram The court said the HC raps netas over Dia Mirza’s awareness video TN man killed as two choppers collide in Nepal G a u t h a m Se lv a r a j a n @ Chennai integrated platform @ Kochi Says protests must be time-bound, directs traders to implead organisers in their plea government. The committee advocates an adoption-driven model, supported by a network of shelters, continuous animal birth control (ABC) operations, mandatory pet registration and microchipping, besides stringent measures to prevent the abandonment of pet dogs. Principal director, Local SelfGovernment, Divya S Iyer said the department is fully aligned with the vision and roadmap laid out in the report. “On proposed timelines, we must be practical. Setting up the required infrastructure takes time,” she told TNIE. According to Divya, the biggest challenge before local bodies is the availability of qualified veterinarians. “We cannot rely solely on existing animal husbandry staff as they cannot be spared full-time for ABC operations,” ● More on P4 she said.  The Bombay High Court on Tuesday slammed BJP leaders for their remarks against actor Dia Mirza and her video message for a peaceful and pollution-free Diwali posted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on the HC’s orders. Stating that India is a secular country the HC said politicians , should not give a religious colour to awareness campaigns. The court, taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, said it was “disturbed by the stray comments made by some politicians” against Mirza, who had participated in the campaign following its directions. It directed the BMC, which had taken down the video after the remarks by BJP leaders, to re-upload the video on its social media handles. The BMC had posted her video on its social media handles. However, BJP’s Mumbai unit chief Amit Satam and Mayor Ritu Tawde objected to Mirza’s participation, labelling her “anti-Hindu”.