Monday, December 1, 2025 | Vol. 69 No. 48 | 26 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Vol. 69 No. 48 | www.freepressjournal.in ● EDITIONS: ● MUMBAI ● INDORE ● PUNE ● BHOPAL ● NASHIK ● KONKAN ● E-paper ● Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (January to June 2025) NATION Day after breakfast meet, Shivakumar rules out differences with Siddaramaiah GAMES Cinema Kiara Advani’s pregnancy inspires Sidharth Malhotra Liverpool legends David James and Robbie Fowler relive the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ with FPJ Edit Brahmin left has no future; the left needs to reinvent itself CLEANUP DRIVE | Distribution of enumeration forms will continue till Dec 11 and final voters’ list to be out on Feb 14 EC extends SIR deadline Agencies GONE IN GOA NEW DELHI A njali provides therapy, structure and dignity to adults who are differently abled. Turn to the Mumbai page to find out how. SEE CITY ‘US GAINED BIG FROM TALENTED INDIANS’ The Election Commission on Sunday extended by one week the entire schedule of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories amid allegations by opposition parties that "tight timelines" were creating problems for people and groundlevel poll officials. In a statement, the poll authority said the enumeration form distribution will now continue till December 11 instead of December 4. The draft electoral rolls will now be published on December 16 in place of December 9, while the final voters' list will be out on February 14, 2026 in place of February 7. Officials said the commission took the decision to extend the timeline for all phases of the SIR based on internal discussions with chief electoral officers of states and UTs where the exercise is underway. Alleging that at least 40 deaths of booth-level officers (BLOs) during the SIR, largely by suicides due to "stress of meeting tight deadlines", the opposition parties have questioned the timing of the voters' Panaji: As many as 90,000 electors in Goa have either been found absent, shifted, deceased or possessing duplicate voter cards in the ongoing SIR, a senior official said on Sunday. ‘STRESS’ TOLL list revision. The EC has junked these charges, saying the exercise is going on smoothly. Reacting to the EC's decision to revise the SIR schedule, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said it was an indication that the poll panel knew the timelines were not "practical". The decision to tweak the SIR schedule comes on the eve of the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Monday. The last session was a virtual washout over demands by the opposition for a debate on the SIR, then being held in Bihar. The EC had announced SIR in these states and UTs on October 27. Nearly 51 crore electors will be covered in the massive voters' list cleanup exercise. The states and Union Territories are: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshad- weep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. In Assam, where also polls are due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls was announced separately. It is being called 'Special Revision'. Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004, and they have nearly completed the mapping of current electors as per the last drive. The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown on illegal migrants, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Jaipur: Anuj Garg, a 42year-old BLO, collapsed at home while uploading voter data and died late Saturday night, police said on Sunday. His family said he had been working under extreme pressure. At Baheri village of UP's Moradabad, BLO Sarvesh Singh, 46, hanged himself in his home because of work pressure, police said. TARDY WORK Ballia: District authorities have initiated action against 28 BLOs in UP's Bairia tehsil for completing less than 25% of their assigned work, SDM Alok Pratap Singh said. ALL-PARTY MEET SIGNALS HEATED WINTER SESSION Bharatiya, yet doesn’t know own language, rues Bhagwat Agencies NAGPUR Agencies NEW DELHI The Winter Session of Parliament begins on Monday under the shadow of SIR with several parties uniting against it and threatening to stall proceedings in both Houses if a discussion on it is not allowed. At an all-party meeting convened by the Centre to seek the Opposition's support for smooth functioning of Parliament, several parties raised the demand for a discussion on SIR of electoral rolls together with issues of national security in the wake of the Delhi blast and air pollution in the national capital. Issues like foreign policy, price rise, unemployment, new labour codes and federalism amid charges that governors sitting on bills passed by state legislatures and funds of Opposition-ruled states being held up Scan & Watch were also raised and would come up during the session beginning December 1. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday expressed concern over the declining use of Indian languages and mother tongues, saying the situation has reached a point where "some Bharatiya people do not know our own languages". Speaking during the release of the English version of 'Shri Dnyaneshwari', a book written in Marathi by Sant Dnyaneshwar, Bhagwat appealed to society to introspect. "There was a time when entire communication, sharing, daily business was in Sanskrit. Now, some American professor teaches us Sanskrit, when in reality we should have been teaching it to the world. Many children today do not know some very basic and simple words and often speak at home in a mix of their mother tongue and English," he said. "The situation has reached a point where some Bharatiya people do not know our own Indian languages," the RSS chief said. He maintained that English-medium education was not to blame, but the reluctance to speak Indian languages at home was aggravating the situation. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation SET FOR FIREWORKS ■ While the Centre seeks cooperation for smooth conduct of proceedings, the Opposition is firm in its demand for discussions on SIR, Delhi blast and foreign policy concerns ■ The short session of 15 sittings instead of the usual 20 will see tabling of 14 Bills ■ The key leagislations include Atomic Energy Bill, 2025, Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2025 and Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 Fresh National Herald FIR Police image needs overhaul: PM stokes BJP-Cong slugfest Agencies RAIPUR Agencies Agencies NEW DELHI MUMBAI Elon Musk has said that the US has “benefitted immensely from talented Indians" who have moved to the country. The tech billionaire made the remarks during the latest episode of Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, “WTF is", released on Sunday. He also said some of America's so-called anti-immigration policies were triggered by the "misuse" of H-1B visa programme and the previous government's "freefor-all" approach. His remarks come even as for thousands of Indians, the American dream of world-class education, lucrative careers, better quality of life and social mobility is turning sour due to rising US visa restrictions and policy unpredictability, media reports said. The Tesla CEO added that such policies had encouraged illegal immigration and created what he called “a diffusion gradient" of people coming to the US, partly driven by financial incentives and government benefits. 4Contd on | nation The BJP on Sunday dismissed as "baseless" the Congress' allegation of "vendetta politics" against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, and asked the Congress leaders to give an account of the "loot" they allegedly committed instead of giving speeches. With Delhi Police filing an FIR against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, the Congress on Sunday alleged that the "Modi-Shah duo" is continuing with its "mischievous politics of harassment, intimidation, and vendetta" against the party's top leadership. Condemning the action, the opposition party also said the National Herald matter is a "completely bogus case" and justice will ultimately triumph. Terming the Congress' allegations "baseless", senior BJP leader and former Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said PM Narendra Modi was not at the helm at the Centre when a private complaint was filed in the matter against the Congress leaders. "The matter dates back to 2008," he told reporters. The BJP leader said that the crime branch of Delhi Police filed an FIR against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi after the ED requested it book them based on its findings in the investigation into the case under due provisions of law. "Just by giving Rs 50 lakh, the entire shareholding of the Associated Journals, publisher of the National Herald, was transferred to a new company, Young Indian, and a majority 76% of the share went to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said, citing the allegations against the Gandhis. Along with this, the BJP leader said, they also allegedly became the owner of the National Herald's property in various states, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow, worth crores of rupees. 4Contd on | nation HAMMER AND TON A Super Sunday for batsmen This is politics of vendetta... We never bowed down earlier, neither will we bow down now nor in the future. Pramod Tiwari Congress leader This is a clear case of loot. You will commit loot... and then you will allege that you are being implicated. PM Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed the urgent need to transform public perception of the police, particularly among the youth, by enhancing professionalism, sensitivity, and responsiveness. Addressing the 60th All India Conference of Director Generals/Inspector Generals of Police, Modi also stressed on the importance of establishing mechanisms for the regular monitoring of banned outfits, ensuring the holistic development of areas freed from Left Wing Extremism, and adopting innovative models to strengthen coastal security. The PM directed police forces of states and UTs to adopt innovative strategies for integrating uninhabited is- lands, make effective use of databases integrated under NATGRID, and link these systems through artificial intelligence to generate actionable intelligence. "The PM stressed the urgent need to transform public perception of the police, particularly among the youth, by enhancing professionalism, sensitivity, and responsiveness," said an official statement issued after the conclusion of the three-day conference. It was themed 'Viksit Bharat: Security Dimensions'. Modi highlighted the need to strengthen urban policing, reinvigorate tourist police, and increase public awareness regarding the newly enacted Cyclone Ditwah dumps heavy rain in TN, 3 die SMASH HIT With a blistering knock of 135 against South Africa in Ranchi, Virat Kohli notched up his 52nd ODI ton. Became the first player to score maximum centuries in a single format, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of 51 Test hundreds. It was his 83rd international century. Abhishek Sharma smashed a 12-ball fifty, the secondfastest T20 half-century by an Indian, during Punjab's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Bengal. His 32-ball century was the third-fastest T20 ton by an Indian. Became second Indian batter to hit more than 15 sixes in a T20 match. HIGH SIX Playing his 278th onedayer, Rohit Sharma took his tally of ODI sixes to 352, surpassing Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (351 in 398 matches) to enter the record books. SEE GAMES 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation A320 fleet in India gets software fix after scare Ravi Shankar Prasad Agencies BJP leader NEW DELHI standby with 10 more teams from other states joined in the relief and rehabilitation work on Saturday evening, state's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said. "Three people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents since last evening. While two persons died due to wall collapse in Tuticorin and Thanjavur, a 20-year-old died due to electrocution in Mayiladuthurai.” Scan & Watch Aviation regulator DGCA on Sunday said Indian carriers have completed the software upgrades on 323 operational A320 family planes to address a potential issue related to flight controls. On Friday, Airbus said intense solar radiation might corrupt data critical to flight controls in a significant number of A320 family aircraft and that the software changes required to fix the issue would lead to operational disruptions. A total of 338 A320 family aircraft with three Indian airlines —IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express — were initially identified for the software upgrades. Among them, 323 were operational, 6 were under base maintenance and later it was found that the upgrades were not needed for nine such planes in the fleet of Air India, according to a senior DGCA official. 4See also | world 4Contd on | nation Two state-run buses collide in TN, 11 dead N Chithra CHENNAI KING’S FEAST Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, and Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, which replace the colonial-era criminal laws. He called for encouraging universities and academic institutions to undertake case studies on the use of forensics in police investigations, noting that enhanced forensic application would further strengthen the criminal justice system. Modi emphasised that tackling drug abuse requires a 'whole-of-government' approach, bringing together enforcement, rehabilitation, and community-level intervention. The conference witnessed in-depth deliberations on a wide range of national security matters. At least 10 passengers and a bus driver were killed in an accident involving two buses of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation in Sivaganga district on Sunday evening. Police said 20 passengers were injured, some of them severely. The victimes included eight women and a child. It is feared the toll could go up. According to reports reaching Chennai, a Devakottaibound bus from Karaikudi and another bus proceeding from Devakottai to Dindigul collided head-on near Nachiyarpuram in Sivaganga. 4Contd on | nation Agencies CHENNAI Sharp showers triggered by Cyclone Ditwah continued to lash parts of Tamil Nadu, while three persons were killed in rain-related deaths, the state government said on Sunday. With heavy rainfall pounding Cauvery delta districts, Ramanathapuram and Nagapattinam districts bore the brunt. The cyclone is expected to weaken into a deep depression and the weather system would be centred over southwest Bay of Bengal within a minimum distance of 30km from the coasts of north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry by midnight of Sunday, the Regional Meteorological Centre said. Private weather bloggers said Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Chengalpattu and Ranipet districts may have some rain as the cyclone moves closer to Chennai. Life continued to be hit in the coastal towns of Rameswaram and Nagapattinam as heavy rainfall inundated several low-lying areas. The state government has kept 38 disaster response teams, including SDRF and NDRF on