SATURDAY 07 NOVEMBER, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard GOVT MANDATES RICE, PADDY STOCK DECLARATION AS PRICES SURGE X.com/TheMornStandard K E N YA D E AT H S The Centre on Friday directed all traders, retailers, wholesalers and millers to declare their rice and paddy stocks to prevent hoarding CULT LEADER GETS 200 YEARS IN JAIL Leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to the deaths of more than 400 people was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people PAGE 9 Stocks of 6 rice categories to be declared A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  Stocks must be declared under six categories—Basmati rice, non-Basmati premium rice, non-Basmati rice, parboiled rice, broken rice and paddy. Every unit holding stocks will have to update details on the Food Stock Portal (foodstock.dfpd.gov. in) every Friday, the food ministry said. Units not registered on the portal or violating stock limits will face action PAGES 12 EC gives left-out `29 lakh crore bonanza as voters in 7 states festive cheer lifts D-Street SENSEX another chance A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Applies to those from whom panel didn’t get back enumeration forms handed to them S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H @ New Delhi FACING sharp questions in the Supreme Court over the rollout of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission on Friday said it is providing another shot to voters in seven states whose enumeration forms were issued but were not received by it, resulting in their exclusion from the voters’ list. In a letter, the EC asked chief electoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland to facilitate inclusion of voters marked ‘ bA sent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate’ (ASDD) in the final rolls. The relief covers those who were handed enumeration forms that EC didn’t get back. Booth-wise lists of deleted voters, with reasons for exclusion, will be displayed at polling stations and designated local government offices and also uploaded on websites of chief electoral officers. Booth Level Officers must give these voters fresh forms and try to reach them through house visits, WhatsApp, e-mail and SMS. In all, 4,51,76,997 voters were left out of the draft rolls in Maharashtra (2.06 crore), Telangana (73.39 lakh), Delhi (47.56 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (44.89 lakh), Jharkhand (43.61 lakh), Haryana (33.83 lakh) and Nagaland (1.57 lakh). Final rolls are yet to be published. DIWALI MILAN Sweets, SIR and message of unity at Rahul’s party P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi FESTIVE greetings set the tone, but politics remained firmly on the agenda as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi hosted his first Diwali Milan with Congress leaders on Friday. Days after the INDIA bloc’s massive Ramlila Maidan rally the gathering conveyed a , message of unity and renewed resolve, with discussions focusing on sustaining the campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Sachin Pilot, Ku m a r i S e l j a , H i m a ch a l Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar attended the gathering at Gandhi’s residence at 5, Sunheri Bagh. Fo r m e r c h i e f m i n i s t e r s Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, Harish Rawat and Digvijaya Singh were also present. Leaders described the occasion as a family reunion, even as the Congress seeks to maintain momentum in its campaign against alleged “vote theft” ahead of Assembly elections in key states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Baghel said Gandhi met leaders individually A senior Con. gress leader said the gathering was aimed at strengthening bonds among party leaders. T S Singh Deo said he met at least 50 people, including colleagues he had not seen for months. P7 Cong calls it a U-turn The Congress on Friday termed the poll panel’s move a “U-turn” and said this is a “belated admission that wrongful deletion and exclusion” has taken place. The Opposition also accused the EC of deleting crores of eligible voters from the electoral rolls. The EC is apparently trying to avoid adverse observations from the court on the controversial voter deletions. On October 5, the SC clarified it had not approved any modified Form 6, contradicting the EC’s September 26 press note. Chief Justice Surya Kant said the altered form was never placed before the bench in the Bihar SIR case and asked EC to show who authorised it. On October 28, the Supreme Court said it had not finally ruled on the EC’s use of “logical discrepancy” to delete voters. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the category was allowed only for West Bengal elections and was not applicable to Bihar SIR exercise. INDIAN stock markets on Friday rallied for the seventh consecutive session, defying the ongoing global market rout and bringing early Diwali bonanza for investors, with benchmark indices recording their sharpest weekly gains in recent years. The Sensex surged 1,718 points (2.17%) to close at 81,028 on Friday while the Nifty surged 493.75 , points (2.01%) to settle at 25,030. The massive pre-Diwali rally in Indian markets was buoyed by robust foreign institutional investor inflows, easing crude oil prices, and strong corporate earnings in the second quarter. The global rout was triggered by a sell-off in AI-linked stocks softening US bond yields. “Indian equities defied a global rout, extending their winning run as investors treated the home 82,000 81,028.02 81,000 80,000 79,000 9am Friday Closing 79,310.01 Previous close 11 am 1pm 3 pm 4 pm Diwali airfares soar Airfares have shot up due to the Diwali rush, with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route commanding `23,000 against `3,800-`5,000 last year. Similarly, Delhi-Mumbai tickets have climbed to `26,500 market as a safe harbour amid turmoil abroad,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments. “A sharp weekly slide in crude, easing US Treasury yields Creamy layer order for 2025 babu picks, not past hires: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi BEDDING DOWN NCP working president Praful Patel calling on NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar at a hospital in Mumbai fuelled speculation of a merger. NCP Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare confirmed the talks and said the merger would have happened had Ajit Pawar been alive | PTI | P8 NCR gasps for breath, but lawyers can drive non-BS-VI vehicles to court U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi WITH Delhi’s air quality deteriorating ahead of Diwali, lawyers have secured an exemption from pollution curbs on older vehicles, arguing that their absence from court would affect the “entire justice delivery function”. The Delhi High Court on Friday exempted advocates and judicial staff residing in the NCR from the ban on plying vehicles registered outside Delhi that do not meet BS-VI emission standards, but only on the working days of courts. Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order while hearing a petition by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), which argued that lawyers and judicial staff perform “essential functions” and that the restrictions could disrupt the delivery of justice. Senior advocate N Hariha- and a firmer rupee further burnished India’s relative appeal.” In the past seven sessions, the Sensex has advanced 7,782 points, or 10.62%, while the Nifty added 2,331 points or 10.27%. This was Nifty’s biggest weekly percentage gain in about six years and the largest ever weekly advance in absolute terms. The rally added `29 lakh crore to investors’ wealth during the week as the combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies swelled from `475.34 lakh crore to over `504 lakh crore. The sharp recovery comes after the market witnessed brutal selling pressure during August, September and October amid tensions in West Asia and its impact on global energy prices. Crude oil prices have a direct influence on Indian financial markets because India imports 85% of its crude oil needs. ran, appearing for the association and also its president, said the government’s notification empowered authorities to exempt certain categories of vehicles. He cited the exemption granted to advocates during the Covid-19 pandemic. “[The authorities concerned] have the power to exempt. As far as lawyers and court staff are concerned, we are performing judicial functions and as- sisting my lords. If we can’t come here, it will affect the entire justice delivery function,” Hariharan said. The DHCBA said many lawyers practising in Delhi live in Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad and commute to the capital for hearings, client meetings and access to their chambers. The restrictions, it argued, could prevent them from reaching courts on time and prejudice litigants. The association proposed allowing each eligible advocate to use one nominated vehicle, subject to verification of professional identity vehicle docu, ments and a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate. It also cited the environment department’s power to grant exemptions and a 2021 HC order allowing advocates to travel for court-related work during the pandemic on production of identity proof. P3 EXPRESS READ Astha Kunj rape case in court The Delhi Police is likely to submit over 500 pages of chargesheet in connection with Kalka Ji gang-rape incident within a week against three accused persons. A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped at Aastha Kunj Park in southeast Delhi. The document is likely to include the testimonies of 60 witnesses. P4 Students seek 3 IIT attempts IIT aspirants have sought another opportunity at cracking the qualifying JEE exam. Over 13,000 candidates have signed a petition, calling upon the government to permit three attempts to crack the test. A proposal on similar lines got the nod two years ago, but was withdrawn within a fortnight. P7 CBI books Kishore Biyani The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Future Retail Ltd and its promoters, including businessman Kishore Biyani and his brother Rakesh Biyani, over an alleged bank fraud of `904 crore. The agency conducted searches at multiple premises linked to the Biyanis. P8 AFFIRMING its March 11, 2026 order that the creamy layer among OBC candidates could not be determined solely from parental salary the Supreme Court on Friday , clarified that the judgment could not be grounds for reopening selections or appointments concluded before the verdict. A bench of justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan also clarified that the order should be implemented in recruitment of candidates under the 2025 Civil Services Examination as allocations were not yet made. Possibly leaving the door open for further ligitation, the SC said cases of candidates pending before any court, tribunal or authority should be considered on their own merits and it judgment could be considered in deciding such cases. Rejecting the Centre’s plea to extend its deadline for implementation to two years, the court said the six-month time- What was March frame was for the Centre to ac- judgment about? commodate the parties before To determine creamy the SC, who were granted relief in the March 11 order and gave layer status, a 1993 the gover nment two more Office Memorandum said for children of PSU, months to comply . The Centre had approached private company, bank the SC under Article 142, seek- workers, an income/ ing to restrict the March verdict wealth test (excluding to prospective application. It ar- salary & agricultural gued that applying it to previ- income) would be used ous and ongoing recruitments till equivalency to govt could trigger “complete admin- posts was fixed. A 2004 letter made salaries a istrative chaos”. The SC, however, said grant- criteria. In UoI vs Rohith ing relief to the parties before Nathan, SC said the ’04 the court would neither disturb letter was discriminatory seniority nor require reopening completed recruitments. It said the parties had qualified for OBC non-creamy layer benefits and were entitled to reservation, consequential placement, and allotment of posts, noting a DoPT letter stating that selections pursuant to CSE 2016 were subject to the outcome of appeals pending before the SC. DADA MATTER ‘DOOSRA’ INFRINGES RIGHTS: HC The Delhi High Court on Friday held the ‘Doosra’ movie prima-facie violated former cricketer Sourav Ganguly’s personality rights, but refused to interfere with the screening of the film for now. Justice Tejas Karia asked the filmmakers to add appropriate disclaimers in English and Hindi in the movie | P3 JUICY BITES Sonia recalls first culinary encounter with India that ‘set her mouth on fire’ P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi IN fresh excerpts from her forthcoming memoir, Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi recalls one of her first culinary encounters with India, a bright red tandoori chicken that “set her mouth on fire”. In Belonging: A Journey of Love, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson recalls, among other things, how she grew familiar with Indian food, clothing and family life. One of the first Indian dishes she tasted with Rajiv was tandoori chicken, publisher Harper Collins wrote in a promotional post on social media, days before the book’s November 10 release. “It was bright red, slightly charred and set her mouth on fire,” it said. In time, she grew used to meals served on thalis with the family: rice, phulkas, a vegetable, and mutton, fish or chicken. Arhar dal was served every day Beyond food, the . memoir also touches on Sonia’s relationship with the traditional Indian sari. For her engagement, she recalls choosing a jade Struggles with sari Sonia Gandhi considered the sari as one of the world’s most elegant garments, but she found learning to wear it difficult, as per the fresh excerpts green and pale yellow sari, which needed several safety pins to hold the drape in place. At her wedding, she wore a sari woven from yarn spun by Jawaharlal Nehru in prison during the freedom struggle, according to the publisher. “How does a country become a part of you? It happens slowly, as the things that once felt unfamiliar become part of everyday life,” the publisher posted along with photographs of Sonia interacting with people. Earlier excerpts shared on social media recalled her meeting Rajiv at a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge. In her first post on X, she described him as good-looking and gentle. The memoir also traces her entry into public life after years of resisting politics. It recounts her travels across India to campaign, meet people, and listen to their concerns. The book also covers her marriage, her introduction to her mother-in-law and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and her efforts to settle in India, including learning Hindi.