WEDNESDAY 03 DECEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard IN U-TURN, GOVT SAYS SANCHAR SAATHI APP IS NOT MANDATORY H O S TA G E S ISRAEL RECEIVES PRESUMED BODIES Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday in a volte-face said the fraud reporting app can be deleted if users so wish Israel has received “findings” handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross. They were believed to be remains of hostages Not for snooping, says union minister A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00 ‘JUST & FAIR PLEA’ PAGES 12 INDIA-RUSSIA ANNUAL SUMMIT Putin visit to spur trade, mobility, defence relations SC asks EC to try and extend SIR deadline for Kerala S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to consider extending the December 11 deadline for submitting enumeration forms in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala by one more week, in view of the ongoing process for local body elections. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made the recommendation after taking note of submissions that the local body elections in the state will take place on December 9 and 11, and counting of votes on December 13. “It seems to us that the request is just and fair, and it warrants due consideration by the Election Commission of India,” the order said. The court allowed the petitioners to submit a formal representation to the Election Commission by Wednesday 5 pm seeking SIR extension. It asked the EC to consider the request sympathetically and take a decision within two days. Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission of India, said the Kerala State Election Commission has already exempted SIR staff from election duties, adding that the SIR deadline had earlier been extended from December 4 to 11. Terming it a peculiar situation, the CJI said the state government staff should not be overburdened.  Many opposition leaders and critics viewed the Sanchar Saathi app as a snooping attempt, as they felt it could listen to calls and monitor messages. Scindia stepped in to defuse the crisis and denied allegations of snooping. “If you want to delete it, then delete it... it will remain inactive till users register,” Scindia said outside Parliament | P7, 10 J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Opposition leaders K Kanimozhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and others during a protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, at Parliament complex in New Delhi on Tuesday | PTI The discussion can be initiated in either House. We have decided that it will be taken up in the Lok Sabha first Kiran Rijiju, minister Oppn strategy meet today Floor leaders from various INDIA bloc parties will meet at 9.45 am on Wednesday in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss their joint strategy in Parliament Two-day SIR debate in LS from Tuesday To be preceded by Vande Mataram discussion on Mon P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi BREAKING the deadlock in Parliament, the Union government on Tuesday announced that the Lok Sabha will hold a debate on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram on December 8 (Monday), followed by a discussion on electoral reforms, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway in nine states and three Union Territories, on December 9 and 10. Both discussions have been allocated 10 hours each. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will initiate the debate on Vande Mataram, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will reply to the debate on electoral reforms on December 10. The decision was taken after an allparty meeting and a Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the afternoon as both Houses of Parliament had not been functioning over the Opposition’s demand for a SIR debate. Speaking to reporters, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, the special discussion on the 150th anniver- sary of Vande Mataram will start at 12 noon and go on for the full day On Tues. day there will be discussion on election , reforms. “When we discuss poll reforms, you can raise many issues related to it and its process. For Parliamentary democracy the election process is , extremely important. So, finally every, body agreed.” He reiterated that the SIR is an administrative exercise carried out by the Election Commission and should not be isolated from the larger debate on electoral reforms. Speaking to this paper, an opposition MP informed that the opposition and the government reached a consensus on the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha this week. Floor leaders of the INDIA bloc will meet at 9.45 am on Wednesday in Parliament to finalise their strategy for the ongoing Winter Session, Opposition leaders claimed victory as they said, a consensus was reached during the BAC meeting and the all-party meeting on holding an exhaustive discussion on electoral reforms, the SIR exercise and the suicide of booth-level officers (BLOs). P7 Aren’t your speeches terror act as per UAPA, SC asks Sharjeel Imam pearing for Imam, told a Bench. Claiming innocence, Dave further added that his client QUESTIONING the manner in was also anguished as he which activist Sharjeel Imam, was labelled as a “dangerous an accused in the 2020 Delhi ri- intellectual terrorist” without ots case, delivered some speech- a full-fledged trial or a single es in the 2020 Delhi riots case, conviction. Seeking bail in the riots case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked whether it can be Dave further submitconcluded that his ted that the student acspeeches do not constitivist was arrested on tute incitement and terJanuary 28, 2020, which rorist acts as per the was before the riots, Unlawful Activities for his alleged speech(Prevention) Act 1967. es which alone cannot The court made the constitute the “crimiobservation while hearnal conspiracy” ofing the student activfence in the riots case. ist’s bail plea. “I am being proseI am not a While rejecting the cuted for my speeches I terrorist, as I Delhi police stand, have been called gave, snippets of which Imam told the SC that were played in court. by the police... I he was “not a terrorThis FIR was regisam not an antiist” and claimed innotered in March 2020. national, as called by state cence and sought bail For over a month I had in the riots case. already been in custoSharjeel Imam “I would like to say dy. This FIR is registhat I am not a terrortered for conspiracy, ist, as I have been called by the for riots that were committed respondent (police). I am not in February 2020. Of course, it an anti-national as called by rules out my physical presence the State. I am a citizen of this in the riots because I was in country, a citizen by birth, and custody,” he contended before I have not been convicted for the bench. The hearing in the any offence till now,” senior case is set to resume on Wednesadvocate Siddhartha Dave, ap- day by the same bench. P3 Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman ment soon,” with the FTA expected to significantly boost market access on both sides. Another development is the finalisation of a pact on mobility of skilled and semiskilled workers. This is expected to ease labour movement. Coinciding with Putin’s visit, a two-day India-Russia Business Forum will be held in Delhi, focusing on expanding Indian engineering exports to Russia, scaling up Russian imports of Indian pharma and food products, and enhancing collaboration in digital services. These discussions align with the ambitious bilateral goal of achieving $100 billion in trade by 2030. Putin will be accompanied by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and a high-level delegation representing business and industry P7 . E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ T’Puram ANOTHER woman has accused Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who is absconding after being booked for rape, of sexual assault. The new complainant, a 23-year-old woman residing outside Kerala, alleged that she was “grievously exploited, assaulted and emotionally abused under the pretext of marriage”. In the complaint to the KPCC chief on Tuesday, the woman said the assault caused her trauma. State Congress president Sunny Joseph has forwarded the complaint to the police chief. According to the complaint, she was an acquaintance of Rahul: “In September 2023, he re-established contact through Instagram. He first messaged respectfully, then asked for my Telegram number, saying his account was being monitored. He then expressed desire to marry me. After he became Youth Congress president, my f amily a g reed to the marriage.” She alleged that Rahul sexually assaulted her. “Afterwards, when I asked him to reaffirm his commitment to marriage, he said that he had no intention of marrying anyone.” The state police department is set to examine the complaint in detail and take action based on that. ‘2 goals with 1 step’: Tihar inmates shaping lives, carving school desks IN what ties classroom comfort to prison inmate rehabilitation, the Delhi Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has cleared a proposal to procure 10,000 dual desks from the Tihar Central Jail Factory for the city’s government schools. Gupta said the decision hits two goals with one step—easing the furniture crunch in schools while expanding opportunities for inmates to learn skills and earn wages. This will not only improve the learning environment in schools, but also create employment and rehabilitation opportunities for inmates in Tihar, she said. All these desks will be sup- @ New Delhi Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s health is “perfectly fine” but he is being subjected to “mental torture in solitary confinement”, his sister Dr Uzma Khan says | P9 We’re looking at the possibility of increasing imports from India A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y ‘IMRAN TORTURED’ FORMER PAK PM’S SISTER MAKES BIG CLAIM RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on December 4-5, his first in four years, will anchor a renewed push to accelerate India-Russia economic cooperation with a series of deals spanning trade, health care, mobility media and economic coop, eration set to be signed. Along with the ongoing dialogue on defence, security space and nuclear cooperation, the visit is expected to place emphasis on narrowing the trade gap. Bilateral trade between India and Russia surged to a record $68.7 billion in FY25, driven by a sharp rise in energy imports. Of this, India exported goods worth $4.9 billion, while imports from Russia stood at $63.8 billion. Fertiliser imports remain a central pillar of India’s engagement with Russia. New Delhi currently sources 3-4 million tonnes of fertilisers annually from Moscow, and both sides are keen to bolster this partnership to ensure agricultural security . A key economic deliverable is the India-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement, for which the first round of negotiations took place last year. Officials in the Ministry of External Affairs said the intent is to “have the agree- Another rape complaint filed against Kerala Cong MLA plied at the proposed GST-inclusive rates, with the total project pegged at `8.95 crore. The education department has already set aside `20 crore in the 2025–26 budget for furniture and essential items. The initiative follows instructions issued by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during the third National Chief Secretaries’ Conference, which encouraged states to involve inmates in productive work. Gupta said that the move fulfils the objective of rehabilitation, reform, and reintegration. She noted that the desks made in Tihar are on par with PWD fur niture and nearly 25% cheaper than market options. Education Minister Ashish Sood said the demand for desks has surged alongside rising enrolment and new classroom construction. Delhi operates 1,086 government schools. A special survey in April found an urgent need for 23,321 dual desks in 127 schools. Additional requests pushed total demand to nearly 25,000. EXPRESS READ System outage causes flight delays VANDE J&K A Vande Bharat Express train runs along the elevated Katra-Jammu track on a foggy morning on the outskirts of Jammu on Tuesday | PTI Man arrested in Rubaiya case freed Minimum temp to dip in city in 3 days A third-party system disruption affected check-in systems at various airports on Tuesday night, causing multiple flight delays. The disruption impacted passengers from 8.30 pm to 10.41 pm | P5 A special TADA Jammu court on Tuesday rejected the CBI’s remand plea, ordering release of Shafat Ahmad Shangloo, held the day before for alleged role in the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed | P8 The IMD on Tuesday stated that the minimum temperature in Delhi is likely to fall by about 2-3 degrees Celsius in the next three days. Additionally, cold wave conditions may be witnessed in parts of Delhi on December 5 | P3 TWO PHASES Housing census by Apr-Sept ’26, population count in 2027 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE long-delayed national population census, which will include caste enumeration for the first time, will be conducted in two phases starting April 2026, the Centre informed Parliament on Tuesday . Responding to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said Phase I (House Listing and Housing Census) will take place between April and September 2026, while Phase II (Population Enumeration) is scheduled for February 2027, with March 1, 2027, as the reference date. Snow-bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh will be covered in September-October 2026. Responding to another question from Rahul Gandhi on whether the government plans to publish the draft questions and seek inputs from public or people’s representatives, Rai said the Office of the Registrar General and Census commissioner was in the process of finalising the questionnaire for the Census 2027. In a separate question, the minister said caste enumeration will also be done in the census as decided by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on April 30 this year. In another response, the minister said Census 2027 will be conducted through digital means in which data will be collected through mobile apps along with online provision for selfenumeration. Around 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors will be deployed for the exercise. The timeline has been fixed to avoid clashing with board examinations, Rai said.