THE SUNDAY Vol. 37 No. 10 | Sunday, November 30, 2025 30 Pages | `5 & for State `6 | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 FREE PRESS JOURNAL INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation St. Andrew’s Day WEEKEND Weekend Even as infections decline, India confronts newer HIV hotspots Alliance strains out in the open Ravikiran Deshmukh Death anniversary of Ambedkar triggers talk about his relevance K’taka Cong drama put off Vinaya Madhava Gowda BENGALURU 4Contd on | Nation FOOD FOR THOUGHT: CM Siddaramaiah with Dy CM D K Shivakumar during their breakfast meeting –PTI It was a high drama of a sorts when Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar went for a breakfast meeting to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's residence on Saturday morning. Other than the two of them only the Chief Minister's political advisor Ponnanna was present in the breakfast room, where DKS and Sidda tucked into idly, vada, chutney, sam- FPJ News Service Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Friday announced that the Supreme Court will begin implementing reforms to streamline case listings from Monday, with a promise to share regular progress reports with the Bar. Speaking at a felicitation ceremony hosted by the Supreme 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation FPJ News Service FPJ News Service NEW DELHI Artificial Intelligence (AI) could potentially resolve more than 60 per cent of India’s pending litigation if routine small-ticket cases are shifted to automated systems, Supreme Court judge Justice Manmohan said on Saturday. Speaking at the India Law AI and Tech Summit 2025 in Delhi, organised by Oak Bridge, Justice Manmohan said that technology should re- lieve judges of clerical burdens and allow courts to focus on complex legal questions. He noted that a large portion of India’s case load involves minor, repetitive disputes that do not require detailed judicial reasoning, Bar & Bench reports. “Small ticket offenses, traffic challan, check-bouncing cases. They could be decided by AI because these are matters of routine and can be easily dealt with,” he said. 4Contd on | Nation CASE LISTINGS Court Bar Association (SCBA) after his swearing-in, CJI Kant said the Court would launch certain administrative initiatives next week on a pilot basis to reduce unpredictability in the cause list and save valuable time for lawyers and the Bench, Bar & Bench reports. “I shared certain ideas [with the SCBA] about how I am starting to streamline the listing of matters, the cause list, and not only listing of matters in terms of the day, but that unpredictability, that element of uncertainty, that how it can be effectively addressed so that your valuable time in making mentioning or the Court time is also not wasted. 4Contd on | Nation The Supreme Court on Friday expressed strong displeasure after learning that Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar had yet to even examine a report submitted by former Supreme Court judge Sudhanshu Dhulia on the long-pending appointment of regular vice chancellors to two state-run universities. The Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan said a document prepared by a retired judge of the apex court could not be dismissed as routine paperwork, 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation First Aussie PM to marry while in office Agencies Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made history by becoming the first serving leader in the 124-year history of Australia’s federal government to marry while in office.   In a secretive and intimate ceremony on Saturday, Albanese wed his partner Jodie Haydon at The Lodge, his official residence in Canberra. Around 60 guests at- ANI NEW DELHI tended, including Oscarwinning actor Russell Crowe and several cabinet ministers. The private event remained unreported until after the vows were exchanged.   “We are absolutely delighted to share our love and commitment to spending our future lives together, in front of our family and closest friends,” the couple said in a statement. Albanese and Jodie Haydon MELBOURNE India, US sign deal for copter logistic support The Ministry of Defence on Friday signed Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) with the United States Government for a five-year sustainment support package for the Indian Navy’s MH-60R multirole helicopters, worth about ₹7,995 crore. According to the Defence Ministry, the agreements were concluded under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The ministry said the package would ensure better operational availability of the Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk fleet, which is equipped for anti-submarine warfare and designed for allweather missions. The sustainment support includes spares, support equipment, product support, training, technical assistance, repair and replenishment of components, and the setting up of intermediate-level repair and periodic maintenance inspection facilities in India. FPJ News Service The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that across-Line of Control (LoC) trade with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is intra-state trade, since the areas under Pakistan’s de-facto control remain part of Jammu & Kashmir and therefore part of India. The ruling came while the Court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by traders who had received show-cause notices under the GST Act for goods moved on the SrinagarMuzaffarabad and PoonchRawalakote routes. mour, Siddaramaiah said: “Shivakumar asked me to come for lunch at his house. I told him that Venugopal had asked me to invite you for breakfast and you better come. Lunch some other time,'' he said. Siddaramiah steadily evaded questions of transferring power to DKS, now that two and a half years were up as part of a verbal agreement that had been made. MUMBAI ‘Cross-LoC trade intrastate trade’ NEW DELHI bar, upma and kesari baath with apparent bonhomie. Aftrwards addressing the media with a smile on his face, Siddaramaiah said that they did not discuss anything over the breakfast table, but had a brief discussion in the next room after the breakfast. Siddaramaiah could not help but admit that the entire meeting drama was choreographed by AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal. Making an attempt at hu- AI can clear 60 per cent SC flags Kerala Guv’s inaction backlog, says SC Judge The Bench said a document prepared by a CJI set to roll out listing reforms NEW DELHI Sunday Read Filmmaker Anil Sharma on his love for the late Dharmendra HIGH LEVEL RESOLUTION | Chief Minister Siddaramiah says both his and the Deputy CM’s D K Shivakumar’s factions will end infighting from today MUMBAI Cracks in the Mahayuti alliance widened visibly on Saturday after Dy CM Eknath Shinde issued a pointed reminder that the BJP must abide by alliance dharma. For a leader known for his restrained public demeanour, Shinde’s unusually sharp words—delivered across at least two regional news channels—have set off ripples. Shinde, who broke away from Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and later claimed the party leadership, said his faction has strictly followed yuti dharma and expects the BJP to do the same. If the principles of coalition discipline are ignored, confrontation becomes inevitable, he warned. His remarks come against the backdrop of the BJP inducting leaders from his party, a move that has clearly riled the Sena. The immediate problem seems to be developments in Kalyan-Dombivli and Thane, Shinde’s strongholds, where the BJP recently absorbed several Sena workers. Play & Pause Lisa Rodrigues on reimagining Alice Electrical activity detected on Mars Agencies WASHINGTON Scientists believe they have detected electrical activity in the Martian atmosphere for the first time, raising the possibility that the Red Planet is capable of lightning. The findings come from NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in 2021 and has spent the past four years exploring the Jezero Crater in search of signs of ancient life. The rover’s SuperCam instrument captured audio and electromagnetic data that researchers say include electrical discharges, nicknamed “mini lightning”, BBC reports. A team of scientists in France analysed 28 hours of microphone recordings collected over two Martian years, or 1,374 Earth days. They discovered that these electrical bursts were most often linked to dust devils and dust storm fronts. Dust devils, formed when hot air rises from the ground and spins into small whirlwinds, can generate internal movements capable of producing electrical discharges. Lead author Dr Baptiste Chide told Reuters: “These discharges represent a major discovery, with direct implications for Martian atmospheric chemistry, climate, habitability and the future of robotic and human exploration.” 4Contd on | Nation retired judge of the apex court could not be dismissed as routine paperwork especially when the Governor himself is Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology. During the hearing, the court pressed the Governor’s counsel on why the report, forwarded by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had not been reviewed. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state, said the Governor had taken no steps despite receiving the committee’s findings. This prompted Justice Pardiwala to pointedly ask why the Chancellor had “not even looked at the report”. The dispute is the latest flashpoint in a prolonged stand-off between the Kerala government and the Raj Bhavan over filling key academic posts. 4Contd on | Nation GLITCH HALTS A320 FLEET FPJ News Service MUMBAI India’s civil aviation network went into an intense 48-hour safety scramble after Airbus issued a global alert warning that extreme solar radiation could corrupt flight-control data on A320-family aircraft— India’s most widely used commercial jets. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) responded with an immediate airworthiness directive, ordering airlines to install a mandatory software patch before affected aircraft could return to service. As many as 338 A320family aircraft operated by IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express required the update. By Saturday morning, more than half the fleet—189 planes—had already been patched, with the remainder queued for checks ahead of the strict 5:29 am, November 30, compliance deadline. Despite the scale of the exercise, the country avoided mass cancellations. IndiGo, which operates India races to install software patch for 338 A320 aircraft after Airbus flags solarradiation flight-control risk. By Saturday morning, more than half the fleet—189 planes—had already been patched. India’s largest A320 fleet, confirmed no cancellations and only short delays, most within 30–90 minutes, as aircraft were cycled through maintenance bays during ground halts. Air India said more than 40 per cent of its affected fleet had already been updated, with engineering teams working round the clock and no major disruption to schedules. Airlines deployed technical crews across airports to upload the software during overnight halts or brief turnarounds while reshuffling aircraft to maintain network stability. 4Contd on | Nation