iaf chief’s concern over Neighbours’ jets IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh called the arrival of fifth-generation fighters in India’s neighbourhood a ‘cause for worry’. Singh’s concern comes amid a backdrop of China already flying J-20 and J-35 stealth fighters and Pakistani pilots reportedly training in China ahead of their air force inducting Chinese fifth-generation jets. The twin-engine AMCA is India’s only home-grown stealth fighter tirupati l sunday l october 04, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION 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 UAE confirms GOLDEN FINISH: use of axe for INDIA END ON HIGH terror attack Indraneel Das Hammam al-Hammami reportedly the co-pilot, motive not clear yet E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi E x p r e s s Rea d NDA to stick to 34% BC quota in local polls Vijayawada: The NDA comprising the TDP, BJP and JSP, is learnt to have decided to provide 34% reservation to Backward Classes in the upcoming local body polls | P4 WITH THIS ISSUE The Great Everest Invasion PLUS 12 P AGES The co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” with a crash axe while the aircraft was flying from Dubai to Israel, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday according to the state news agency WAM. UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said an investigation had found that the co-pilot “had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack”. He said the co-pilot attacked the pilot inside the cockpit with a crash axe in a bid to take control of the aircraft. The co-pilot was identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national. However, Emirati authorities and Flydubai have not publicly named him. Israeli officials had said the co-pilot was an Omani national, while Oman has not commented about it yet. A crash axe is normally kept in an aircraft cockpit for emergency purposes, including situations involving a crash or forced landing of the aircraft. The UAE prosecutor general said the probe into the suspect’s motives, remained ongoing and that the findings would be released after the completion of the “necessary procedures”. The incident took place last Wednesday aboard the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight. Most of the passengers were Israeli nationals. A reserve Flydubai pilot who was travelling as a passenger took control of the aircraft after the cockpit terror attack and landed safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The injured pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, is recovering well and remained under medical care, the Indian Embassy said. I Express @ asian games Nagoya T was like the last day of a wedding. Barring an equestrian event on Sunday morning, the festivities are over; done and dusted for the next four years. The overlays are being peeled one after the other. The temporary structures are getting dismantled and weary volunteers are slowly leaving their stations. Only the Closing Ceremony remains. After a slightly iffy start, the sun has been shining from an Indian perspective. India won as many as four gold on Saturday It began with . women’s archery and golf in the morning. The men’s cricket team kept their date with destiny before the men’s hockey team booked their LA28 spot. The highlight, though, arrived in the form of an incomparable run to gold in the women’s individual recurve archery . It was enough to propel India to fourth place in the medals tally with 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze. However, it has to be noted that Uzbekistan could take the fourth spot if they win gold in the equestrian event on Sunday . Even if Saturday saw two of India’s beloved sides winning gold, the day belonged to Kumkum Mohod, the 17-year-old archer whose unerring accuracy with a bow and arrow de- India players celebrate after beating Malaysia in the men’s hockey final to win the gold medal on Saturday | PTI Bright future What is heartening is that almost all the medallists from India are young while some of them made their debut. A healthy sign with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics just two years away throned the might of the South Koreans. If she was raging in faraway Okazaki sports park, wrestlers — Aman Sehrawat was the standout — scorched the mat. On top of that, there was a welcome gold in golf — Pranavi Urs became the first Indian woman to bag gold. India cricket team’s win over Pakistan was the icing on the cake. Though there were no handshakes, they had the gold medal dangling around their necks at least — unlike in the Asia Cup which is still lying in the Asian Cricket Council headquarters. India’s overall medals tally (85) and gold (21) was well below the high of Hangzhou (107 & 28). But, after a head-scratching first week, this was a fine comeback. Over to Doha.  P11 5 die as boiler explodes at Sri City pharma unit S u r en d r a K u m a r De v a r a pat i @ Nellore Five workers were killed when a boiler exploded at the TIL Healthcare unit in Sri City on Saturday The explo. sion occurred around 8.30 am during a shift change, triggering a major emergency response. As October 2 was a holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti, only essential personnel were present at the unit when the explosion occurred, resulting in a relatively limited casualties. The deceased workers were identified as Gourab Roy of West Bengal, Chinna Mastan of Cherivi village, Ramesh of Madurapakkam in Tamil Nadu, Mohan of Naidukuppam and Vasu of Tada. While four workers died at the site of explosion, Vasu, who was shifted to a hospital in Chennai for advanced medical treatment, succumbed to injuries later. The victims included a boiler operator, ETP personnel and other workers. Emergency response teams, local authorities and company officials immediately launched rescue and relief operations. Tirupati District Collector S Venkateswar and Superintendent of Police L Subbarayudu, along with senior officials, visited the unit, and oversaw relief measures. An ex gratia of `50 lakh was announced for each victim.  P4