TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard XI MEET TRUMP IN JAPAN, TO MEET PM Optimism grew on Monday that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will end their trade war during talks this week, as the US President touched down in Tokyo. PAGE 9 SEXUAL ABUSE PWD spl secy arrested over teen suicide in Arunachal EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Guwahati ARUNACHAL Pradesh IAS officer Talo Potom, named by a 19-year-old in his suicide note alleging sexual harassment, was arrested on Monday after he surrendered. Potom, posted as special secretary in the Public Works Department, Government of Delhi, was in his home state Arunachal on leave. He is an officer of Arunachal Pradesh Civil Services who got promoted to IAS. Potom had gone into hiding, prompting authorities to issue a lookout notice against him. He was produced before a judicial magistrate at Yupia, the headquarters of Papum Pare district, sent to 14day judicial custody . Potom had gone underground upon learning that he was named in the suicide note along with a senior engineer, Likwang Lowang, from the state’s Rural Works Department. Lowang shot himself dead at his residence in Tirap district hours after the suicide of the teenager. The teenager was found dead at his rented accommodation in Papum Pare district on October 23. The police registered an unnatural death case after the father of the deceased lodged an FIR. The father claimed that multiple handwritten suicide notes were recovered from the place of occurrence, wherein the deceased held the two senior officials responsible for his death. The IAS officer rubbished the charges against him through a video statement that he released before surrendering. He said that he did not have any personal relations with the deceased whom he had appointed as a contractual staff during his tenure as Deputy Commissioner in Itanagar. CJI recommends Justice Surya Kant as successor A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI JOINS GRAND CHHATH CELEBRATIONS Multiple venues on the Yamuna banks and other places witnessed the first big day of the Chhath festivities, with thousands converging at the ghats specifically created for the puja. | P4 J8.00  PAGES 12 SC allows govt to reassess Vi’s dues EXPRESS N E WS S E RVI CE @ New Delhi IN a major relief for Vodafone Idea (Vi), the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to reassess the demand for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues raised against the telco. While passing the order, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran observed that the decision on any relief to the telecom operator is a policy matter and the court need not interfere. The matter pertains to a plea by Vi against the Department of Telecommunications’ de- mand for an additional `9,450 crore towards AGR dues. Vi, the country’s third-largest telco, also sought a waiver of interest and penalties, arguing that several components of the dues remain disputed. “Taking into consideration the status of the case now—the government has infused substantial equity into the company and that it will have a direct bearing on 20 crore customers—we see no issue in the Union reconsidering the issue and taking appropriate steps,” the CJI said. Welcoming the SC order, Vi said: “We look forward to working closely with the Department of Telecommunications to resolve this matter in the interests of our nearly 200 million subscribers.” During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the government now holds 49% equity in Vodafone Idea, and that 20 crore consumers depend on its services. He said under the new circumstances, the Centre was willing to examine the issues to ensure consumer interests are safeguarded. `1.95 lakh crore in total liabilities, including AGR AGR is the income figure to calculate the licence fees and spectrum charges that telcos must pay the government. At present, VI owes the government around `76,000 cr in AGR dues, plus `1.19 lakh cr in deferred spectrum payment ‘Matter within policy domain, no need for SC to interfere’ The SC bench observed that reviewing AGR is within the Union’s policy domain, and the court has no reason to stop govt from taking an appropriate decision given the peculiar facts of the case SIR of electoral rolls in 9 states, 3 UTs from Nov 4 Poll-bound oppn-ruled states TN, Kerala, Bengal under its ambit M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi SECURITY FOR CAFE Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and Monica Wright were given a police escort on their way to a cafe in Mumbai. Wright shared the pic on her Insta handle. Security was beefed up in Mumbai too after the ‘stalking and molestation’ incident in Indore. SHREYAS IN ICU AFTER INJURY India vice-captain had a fall while diving to take a catch in the third ODI. He suffered a spleen laceration P11 STRAY DOGS CASE SC SUMMONS CHIEF SECYS OF ALMOST ALL STATES, UTS S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi CAPITAL  Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, who is retiring on November 23, has recommended Justice Surya Kant as successor. Justice Surya Kant, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after Justice Gavai, will become the 53rd CJI. He will have a tenure of 14 months before retiring on February 9, 2027. The retirement age for Supreme Court judges is 65 years. Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019 and has been part of several landmark verdicts. | P7 THE Supreme Court on Monday directed the chief secretaries of almost all states and Union Territories to appear before it on November 3 to explain why no compliance affidavits have been filed yet in the stray dogs case. “Your officers don’t read newspapers? They don’t read social media? They want a formal notice to be issued to them?” a three-judge bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria observed. They directed all chief secretaries, except those of Telangana and West Bengal, to be present before it on November 3, otherwise “we will hold the court in auditorium”. The court had, on August 22, reversed an earlier order directing authorities to move all stray dogs to shelters and said they can be released to the same area from where they were captured after proper sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour. It barred the feeding of the dogs in public places. The August 22 order expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond Delhi-NCR and directed that all states and UTs be made parties in the matter, and instructed them to file compliance affidavits. During the course of the hearing on Monday, the top court was surprised to see that various states had failed to file compliance affidavits. THE Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories in two phases — door-todoor enumeration forms distribution and collection — from November 4 to December 4. The final voters’ list would be published on February 7. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the draft rolls would be published on December 9; claims and objections can be filed from December 9 to January 8; and hearing and verifications from December 9 to January 31. The nine states are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the UTs are Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry Tamil Nadu, . Pondy Kerala and West Bengal , will go to the polls in 2026. As for Assam, where polls are due in 2026, the revision of rolls will be announced separately, as a separate provision of the Citizenship Act was applicable to the state. “Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of REQUIRED INDICATIVE DOCUMENTS FOR THE REVISION OF DRAFT ELECTORAL ROLL Any identity cards, pension payment order issued to regular employee/pensioner of any Central government/State govt/PSU Birth certificate issued by competent authority Matriculation/ education certificate issued by recognised boards/univs Forest Rights Certificate Any identity cards/certificate/ documents issued by Indian govt/ banks/local authorities/PSU checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Kumar said. Ruling out any confrontation with the West Bengal government, where the ruling Trinamool Congress has expressed reservations about the SIR exercise in the state, Kumar said, “There is no hurdle between the Election Commission and the State government. The Commission is doing its consti- Indian-origin Pinarayi fails to woman raped in placate CPI on UK, 1 arrested PM SHRI issue Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s attempt to pacify key LDF ally CPI, disgruntled over the state government signing the PM SHRI MoU with the Union government, failed on Monday with the latter remaining firm on its demand that the state should withdraw from the agreement. Besides CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam, the party’s four ministers attended the meeting. | P5 Twist in tale, father of DU ‘acid attack victim’ in police net N I T I N R AWAT @ New Delhi IN a twist to the acid attack case that unfolded near Laxmibai College on Sunday, the police have said that one of the three persons named as accused was found to be present in the Karol Bagh area at the time of the incident. Officials also said that the accused’s wife has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the victim’s father. A 20-year-old victim had claimed that she sustained burn injury on her arms after she was attacked by three people near the college. A senior police officer said, “During the probe, we found that the location of the person who was named as the prime accused in the incident was found to be Karol Bagh the whole day including at the time , of the incident. His bike was also found in Karol Bagh.” According to police, on Friday, two days prior to the acid attack, the prime accused’s wife had made a PCR call reporting harassment by the victim’s father Akil Khan. She alle ged that Khan sexually harassed her and forcibly established physical relations while she worked at his factory between 2021 and 2024. She alleged that Khan blackmailed her with objectionable photos of her that he possessed. On her complaint, a case was registered at the Bhalswa Dairy police station. Khan was absconding for days but was apprehended on Monday . The police are questioning the claim made by the victim in her FIR that three accused had thrown acid on her while she was heading towards the college. “We checked and found there was no clear sign of throwing of acid. She claimed that the acid marks were on the wall, but we found no such mark. We Permanent resident certificate issued by State authority OBC/ST/SC or any caste certificate National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists) Family register prepared by state/ local authorities Any land/ house allotment certificate by govt Aadhaar can be used as proof of identity, but not as proof of date of birth or citizenship EXPRESS READ A 32-year-old man has been arrested by West Midland Police in the UK for raping a 20-yearold Indian-origin woman in a “racially aggravated attack”. “We’ve arrested a man and are treating the crime as a racially aggravated attack,” the police said. This is second racially aggravated rape of an Indianorigin woman in West Midlands in two months. | P4 Passport have not found any proof of her claims,” the officer said. The CCTV footage shows the complainant leaving her home in Mukandpur on a scooter with her brother, who dropped her a short distance away from the college. She was later seen travelling further in an e-rickshaw. The reason why her brother did not drop her at the college gate after driving her all the way from Mukundpur to Ashok Vihar is being probed. The brother is untraceable. tutional duty by carrying out the SIR under Article 326 of the Constitution and the State government will discharge its constitutional duties.” As for Kerala’s local bodies elections, due in November-December, Kumar said, “The notification for the same was yet to be issued and the state governments are bound by Constitution to provide the necessary personnel to the Election Commission of India for the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of polls.” P8 Case lodged for unauthorised use of PM’s name in trust registration S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE CBI has registered an FIR against a person for allegedly registering a trust, titled ‘Centre for Narendra Modi Studies’, without prior approval from the Central government or the Prime Minister’s Office. The FIR, lodged against a man named Jasim Mohammad on October 24, 2025, cites violations under Sections 3 and 5 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. The act prohibits unauthorised use of names and symbols associated with the government and its dignitaries. According to the FIR, the trust was registered on January 25, 2021, under the Indian Trust Act, 1860. The complaint originated from PMO, who forwarded a letter, along with a prior complaint from Mushtaq Ahmad Hussain, an advocate in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. “Registration of a trust in the name of Hon’ble Prime Minister without prior permission of Central Government or Prime Minister’s Office,” an excerpt from the FIR read. Subsequently a probe was initiated by the CBI on April 17, which confirmed the trust had been registered without requisite permissions. The findings led the agency to seek judicial approval for probe. The permission was granted by the Rouse Avenue court on October 14. West distorting global energy markets: Govt The comments came just hours after he met US SecreEXTERNAL Affairs Minister S tary of Marco Rubio on the Jaishankar on Monday took a sidelines of the summit. His swipe at the Western nations, public remarks underscored accusing them of selectively New Delhi’s willingness to call applying global prinout perceived Westciples and distorting ern hypocrisy while the international enasserting an indeergy market through pendent foreign polirestrictive practices. cy stance. Speaking at the East Jaishankar argued Asia Summit in Mathat the global order laysia, Jaishankar must evolve to reflect said the world is goa more multipolar EAM, Rubio ing through “complireality “Change has . discuss trade, cated times” marked bilateral issues a life of its own. The by shifting global world will inevitably alignments, compe- Jaishankar met US respond to new cirtition over technolo- Secretary of State cumstances… gy, resources and Marco Rubio on the Multipolarity is not sidelines of the supply chains. just here to stay but “Energy trade is ASEAN and East Asia to grow,” he said and increasingly con- Summits, and rooted for “serious stricted, with result- discussed a host of g l o b a l c o nve r s a ing market distor- issues, including the tions” on competitions. Principles are ongoing bilateral tiveness, technology , applied selectively trade talks | P7 and market access. and what is preached On terrorism, he is not necessarily practiced,” said: “The world must display he said, in remarks seen as di- zero tolerance; there is no room rected at Western-led sanctions for ambivalence. Our right of regimes and certain protection- defence against terrorism can ist policies. never be compromised.” J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi