SATURDAY TIKTOK WEB GOES LIVE FOR SOME IN INDIA, APP STILL OFF LIMITS 23 AUGUST, 2025 For the first time since its 2020 ban, TikTok’s official website is accessible to some users in India, fueling speculation about its return epaper.morningstandard.in PARENT COMPANY MUM ON APP’S INDIA LAUNCH facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard MISUSE OF FUNDS FORMER LANKAN PRESIDENT HELD Ranil Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested on Friday for allegedly misusing the state funds during his tenure as head of state, police said. PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI Former general secretary of CPI S Sudhakar Reddy passed away in Hyderabad on Friday due to age-related illness. He was 83. He became CPI general secretary after the death of AB Bardhan. The former Lok Sabha MP was the second leader from combined Andhra Pradesh to lead CPI after Chandra Rajeswara Rao. | P7 Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Gayaji on Friday. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also seen | PTI Ministers running govt from jail insult to Constitution: PM will not allow this.” Addressing a public rally organised in Kolkata, he alleged TAINTED ministers running the opposition parties are government from jail is an in- against the bill because they sult to the Constitution, Prime support the corrupt. Minister Narendra Modi said Targeting the Trinamool on Friday . Congress, Modi said, “Two Making his first comments TMC ministers, even after goon the Constitution (130th ing to jail on corruption chargAmendment) Bill, 2025, which es, were not willing to give up seeks to bar arrested PM, CM, their posts.” He was referring and ministers from to former state educaholding office, Modi tion minister Partha said: “An anti-corrupChatterjee, arrested in tion bill has been connection with the Many CMs, even brought in the Lok after going to jail, teachers’ recruitment Sabha this time. In our have been running scam, and Jyoti Priya country, if even a the government Mallick, arrested in small government em- from there. This is ration scam. an insult to the ployee has to be taken Earlier in the day, Constitution. We into police custody, if while addressing a bail is not granted won’t allow this public meeting at within 50 hours, his Gayaji after laying the Narendra Modi, job will be lost. Even foundation stone of Prime Minister if a small worker goes development projects to jail for two days, his life is worth `12,000 crore, he said: over. But there is no such law “We saw how files were being for the Chief Minister or Prime signed from jail and how govMinister if they go to jail.” ernment orders were given In an apparent dig at former from jail. If leaders have such Delhi chief minister Arvind an attitude, how can we fight Kejriwal, Modi said, “Many corruption?” CMs, even after going to jail, Speaking in the two pollhave been running the govern- bound states, Modi also flagged ment from there. This is an in- the threat of demographic sult to the Constitution. We changes due to ‘infiltration’. KAUSHIK PRADHAN & R A M A S H A N K A R @ Kolkata / Patna A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal NOTED INDUSTRIALIST SWRAJ PAUL DIES Lord Swraj Paul died in London on Thursday evening. He was 94. The founder of UK-based Caparo Group had been taken ill and hospitalised recently, where he died. 2 CRORE BIHAR PARTIES IMPLEADED @ New Delhi Secular service: MP Muslim man offers to donate his kidney to Hindu preacher IN Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district, a 26-year-old Muslim man has offered to donate one of his kidneys to Hind u p re acher Premanand Govind Sharan ‘Premanand Ji Maharaj’, calling it his contribution to communal harmony . The Vrindavan-based saint, belonging to the Radha Vallabh Sampradaya, has been suffering from kidney disease for nearly two decades. With both kidneys failing 18–19 years ago, he has survived on regular dialysis. Yet, at 56, he continues PAGES 12 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ Tirunelveli Ex-general secy of CPI Sudhakar Reddy dies  Allows excluded voters to upload forms along with Aadhaar copy or one of 11 documents EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE EXPRESS READ J8.00 INDIANS WERE USING TIKTOK AT THE TIME OF INDIA BANNING IT IN 2020 SC opens online SIR claim window NDA’s win will prevent rise of 2 sons, says Shah HOME Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that M K Stalin is calling the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill as “black bill” as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister himself is engaged in “black deeds”. Citing the cases against former DMK ministers V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy, Shah asked if it was appropriate to be part of the cabinet and govern even after being incarcerated. Addressing the zonal booth committee conference of the BJP in Tirunelveli, Shah said that both DMK president Stalin’s dream of making his son Udhayanidhi the CM and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s dream of making her son Rahul the PM would never materialise. “The NDA’s victory would prevent the sons of INDIA bloc leaders from rising to top posts,” Shah asserted. Reiterating his position on the alliance government, Shah expressed confidence that BJP , AIADMK and other constituents of the NDA would form the government after the 2026 Assembly polls in TN. In 2024 Lok Ssbha polls, the NDA got 18% votes and AIADMK (which was not part of the NDA at that time) won 21%, and the total vote share is 39%, he said.  Despite the website’s partial functionality, TikTok app remains absent from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India. Neither ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, nor the Centre provided official statements if the app would be relaunched locally. TikTok was among 59 Chinese apps banned in June 2020 by the government citing national security | P10 his daily spiritual practices, including the famous night padyatras, drawing admiration for his faith and resilience. Moved by his life and message, Arif Khan Chishti, an online consultant and legal documenter from Itarsi, wrote to the district collector and to the saint on August 20, offering his kidney “I saw a reel where Ma. haraj Ji spoke about Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri and Amir Khusrow. It struck me that he was working for brotherhood. His long life is essential for keeping that spirit alive,” Chishti said. He follows the Sufi tradition. He first consulted with his wife about the donation. “I lost my mother in 2023, which made me virtually lifeless. I was married a year back. My life is not bigger than the life of a spiritual guru who is working at promoting unity,” Chishti said. THE Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow excluded voters to submit their claims online, adding it was not mandatory to make physical submissions in the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise of electoral roll in pollbound Bihar. It also allowed the excluded voters to submit their Aadhaar card copy or one of the 11 documents the poll body had sought during the SIR exercise. The order came after the ECI reported compliance of the court’s earlier directive to publish online the names of the 65 lakh voters proposed to be dropped from the Bihar draft roll, during the SIR drive. The ECI said around 85,000 excluded voters had submitted their claim forms, adding over THE BENCH PULLED UP POLITICAL PARTIES FOR THEIR INACTION IN HELPING EXCLUDED VOTERS GET THEMSELVES ENROLLED ”Voters are individually coming forward. But what are the political parties in Bihar doing?” the bench asked 1 Give the ECI a 15-day window to show there was no exclusion, says senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi 2 2 lakh new voters had sought to register themselves in the electoral rolls in the state. A two-judge bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi expressed surprise over political parties not coming forward to file objections related to the excluded voters. They directed the chief electoral officer of Bihar to implead them in the court proceedings. “All 12 political parties shall issue specific ”Give us some time, we will ensure that not one voter will fall through the cracks,” Dwivedi said 3 Booth level officers told to acknowledge receipt of claim form. But that shall not mean the form is complete 4 directions to party workers to assist voters in filing claim forms,” the court said. “They also need to be present in court and file status reports,” the bench added. “Our understanding is that if each booth level agents (BLA) of the political parties verifies at least 10 names of the 65 lakh excluded voters, then in a single day the 1.60 lakh BLAs who have been registered till now, will be able to verify 16 lakh LIFELINE TO STRAYS SC RULES STRAY DOGS SHOULD BE RELEASED BACK TO SAME AREA BUT ONLY AFTER STERILISATION S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN a ruling that brought relief to dog lovers, the Supreme Court on Friday modified its August 11 order, directing that stray dogs be released back to their original locations after sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or displaying aggressive behaviour. A three-judge bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria, which had reserved its order on August 14, prohibited feeding stray dogs in public places, stating that unregulated feeding causes public nuisance. It also warned that appropriate action would be taken against violators. Expanding the case’s scope, the Supreme Court said its ruling on Friday applies to all states and Union Territories, and further directed animal husbandry departments and municipal authorities to comply . The bench then mandated the creation of a helpline by each municipal body to re- Civic bodies to file compliance report The SC bench directed municipal authorities to file an affidavit of compliance with complete data of resources like dog pounds, veterinarians, dog catching personnel and specially modified vehicles and cages port violations and ruled that no individual or organisation can hinder officials in performing their duties. The bench said the August 11 order, passed by a twojudge bench calling for permanent relocation of strays from streets to shelters in 8 weeks, should be kept in abeyance for the time being. Before any direction for impounding entire stray dog population was given, the court said, it was necessary to examine the existing infrastructure and human resources available with municipal bodies. “A blanket direction to pick up all the strays and place them in dog shelters/ pounds without evaluating the existing infrastructure may lead to a catch-22 situation,” the bench said. Municipal authorities were further directed to create dedicated feeding spaces for stray dogs in each municipal ward. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and other lawyers appearing for various petitioners had moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the August 11 order, citing there were not enough shelter homes to house stray dogs. The bench directed each individual and NGO that moved the court to deposit `25,000 and `2 lakh, respectively, within seven days, failing which they will not be allowed to appear in the matter any further. The bench posted the matters after eight weeks for further directions. P4 MCD draws up feed points for strays in city EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi IN light of the Supreme Court’s revised directions on dealing with stray dogs, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Friday discussed an action plan for time-bound implementation of the court’s directions. Standing Committee Chairperson Satya Sharma asked officials to identify suitable areas for feeder places and finalise the procedure for largescale sterilisation of stray dogs. She wanted particular caution to be taken in handling aggressive and rabies- infected dogs, which need to be kept in shelter homes. She also advised establishing coordination with animal lovers and NGOs for the rehabilitation of dogs to ensure both public safety and animal welfare. The safety and convenience of citizens are the priority of MCD, she said. voters. In 4-5 days we can verify the entire 65 lakh voters who have been excluded from the draft roll,” Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, said. The court was also surprised that of the 1.68 lakh booth level agents (BLAs) of political parties, so far only two objections have been filed on voter deletion. But lawyer Fauzia Shakil, appearing for RJD MP Manoj Jha, said BLAs were not given acknowledgement receipts when they went to submit claim forms physically . Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted that not all those excluded may be able to file their claims as some go out of the state from time to time for work. Though Aadhaar is permitted, officials seek additional proof from the 11 documents listed earlier. The bench said the claim forms can be submitted with either Aadhaar or matric certificate. P8 7-yr-old locked in school, found with head stuck in window grill D E B A S H I S M I S H R A @ Keonjhar A Class-II girl of Anjar government upper primary school in Odisha’s Keonjhar district was accidentally locked inside the classroom for over 17 hours before being found with her head stuck in the window grill on Friday morning. Jyotsna Dehuri (7) of Ambadahara village suffered injuries and was admitted to Keonjhar district hospital. Taking cognisance of the incident, the district administration placed school headmaster Gourahari Mahanta under suspension. Sources said that Jyotsna reportedly fell asleep in the classroom when the school got over at 4 pm on Thursday The teach. ers locked the classroom without checking it. When the girl did not reach home, her family members launched a search and even enquired about her whereabouts from the school authorities. However, they could not trace her. In the meantime, Jyotsna woke up from sleep and found herself alone in the classroom. In a desperate attempt to get out, she tried to slip through the window grill. However, her head got stuck in the iron railing, leaving her trapped. When teachers arrived in the school on Friday morning, they were shocked to find Jyotsna trapped in the window grill. The girl was freed from the iron railing and rushed to hospital. Tension flared up after the student’s family members and locals reached the school and demanded an explanation from the authorities. Police and administrative officials rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. India is Kremlin’s ‘laundromat’, 50% tariffs from next week: Trump’s aide J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE additional tariffs to punish India for purchasing Russian oil will kick in as scheduled on August 27, according to US President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro. “I see that taking place,” he said while speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday . Launching a blistering attack on India, Navarro claimed New Delhi doesn’t need Russian oil for its domestic consumption but it is importing cheap crude for refining and exporting the refined product at a premium price. The comments by Trump’s aide come a m i d e s c a l at i n g trade tensions between New Delhi and Washington and growing US frustration over India’s robust energy ties with Russia. Since the 2022 Ukraine conflict, India has significantly in- US President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC | AFP creased its purchases of discounted Russian crude and has also been refining it for export purpose. India maintains it acted under US advice to stabilise global oil prices that shot up due to the Russia-Ukrain war. In his sharpest ever attack on India, Navarro alleged India has been acting like a “laundromat for the Kremlin” by continuing its trade with Russia. “Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India bought no Russian oil...It was like almost 1% of their need. The percentage has now gone up to 35%...They don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” he said. For its part, India cited both economic necessity and US encouragement to stabilise the global energy market. During his recent visit to Moscow, foreign minister S Jaishankar said: “We are a country where, actually, the Americans said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the energy markets, including buying oil from Russia.” The Trump administration, however, argues the flow of money is indirectly funding Russia’s “war effort”.