Thursday, December 4, 2025 | Vol. 69 No. 51 | 28 Pages THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation GAMES NATION Congress rubbishes Rajnath’s claims that Nehru wanted to fund Babri construction Shubman Gill picked in India T20I squad for five-match series against South Africa Cinema Aamir Khan announces Vir Das directorial Edit A code on conflict of interest: Reform or cosmetic optics? U-TURN | Mandatory Sanchar Saathi preload scrapped after furore. Govt says app poses no threat Kohli silences doubters again Centre retreats on Sanchar Saathi Haridev Pushparaj NEW DELHI The ministry added that Sanchar Saathi promotes jan bhagidari by enabling users to report fraud and other malicious activity. It insisted there were “no other functions” embedded in the app besides user protection and that individuals were free to delete it at any time — echoing Scindia’s assurance a day earlier that installation was “optional.” Despite these assertions, controversy continued to swirl. On Wednesday, the government announced that “given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance,” it had decided not to make pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers. It highlighted the app’s uptake, noting that 1.4 crore users have downloaded it so far and are contributing information on nearly 2,000 fraud incidents every day. The ministry further argued that the mandate was intended only to speed up access for “less aware” citizens. Jaishankar takes veiled dig at US Russia clears def deal ahead of Putin visit Calcutta HC reinstates 32k primary teachers Agencies KOLKATA Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar MUMBAI Few athletes command a sense of timing and occasion the way Virat Kohli does. The higher the stakes, the sharper his response: as murmurs about his 2027 ODI World Cup prospects grew louder, he answered in the only language he knows: runs, and plenty of them. His back-to-back ODI tons in Ranchi and Raipur against a combative South Africa have not merely revived the conversation around his selection — they have reframed it. When speculation swirled about whether an ageing Kohli fit into head coach Gautam Gambhir’s forward-looking blueprint, the former India captain turned the debate on its head with performances stamped with authority. Having retired from Tests and T20Is to focus on longevity, Kohli walked into this series with questions shadowing him. But with 52 ODI centuries already in his bank, he arrived in Raipur with a point to prove and delivered with a vintage master class. His 53rd ton was not just a number added to an already staggering tally; it was a statement of intent, a reminder that in 50-over format, Kohli remains unparalleled. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | games PUNE LAND SCAM SHEETAL TEJWANI ARRESTED Ankit Shukla PUNE Pune Police on Wednesday arrested Sheetal Tejwani for her alleged role in the Mundhwa land scam, accusing her of misleading both the Mahar Vatan community and government authorities in order to corner a prime 40-acre plot in Koregaon Park. According to senior police officials, Tejwani allegedly exploited the trust of 275 Mahar Vatans, convincing them to hand over power of attorney without producing any valid ownership documents or proof. Each member, officers said, was paid only a token amount. The land in question has been leased to the Botanical Garden for nearly 90 years, and the Mahar Vatans had no ownership over it. Despite this, Tejwani is said to have approached the court, filed a suo motu submission, and deposited demand drafts worth ₹11,000. 4Contd on | nation Facing sustained Opposition pressure and allegations that it was paving the way for statesponsored snooping, the Centre on Wednesday rolled back its order mandating the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi safety app on all new mobile phones. The announcement came shortly after Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told Parliament that “snooping was Ruturaj hits maiden ODI century Ruturaj Gaikwad, the stylish Maharashtra opener, struck his maiden OneDay International hundred against South Africa in Raipur. Long recognised for his fluency in domestic cricket and the IPL, Gaikwad had yet to translate that promise into a defining ODI performance. His 105 off 83 balls — laced with 12 fours and two sixes at a brisk strike rate of 126.50 — finally announced his arrival. neither possible nor would take place through the app.” In a statement issued after Scindia’s remarks in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Communications defended the rationale behind its earlier directive. It said the government had mandated the app’s pre-installation “with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens,” and reiterated that the app was “secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.” PTI NEW DELHI Countries creating too many roadblocks in flow of professionals across borders will be "net losers", and India needs to convince other nations that the use of talent is for mutual benefit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. His comments at an interactive session at a conclave on mobility came against the backdrop of concerns over the US's decision to impose new fees on H-1B visas in line with the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. "That they would be net losers if they erect too many They would be net losers if they erect too many roadblocks to the flow of talent Over 200 IndiGo flights cancelled Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI Thousands of passengers across the country were left stranded on Wednesday as IndiGo cancelled and delayed more than 200 flights due to a mix of technical, scheduling and weather-related problems. The airline expects operations to return to normal only by Fri- Operations to return to normal only by Friday, says airline day. Indian airlines have been facing severe delays across major Indian airports after a suspected technical failure hit airlines’ check-in systems, forc- ing ground staff to process passengers manually. This led to long queues and widespread delays. While Air India restored normal operations by late Tuesday evening, IndiGo continued to struggle, cancelling over 200 flights on Wednesday and around 130 on Tuesday. 4Contd on | nation SC okays return of deported woman Very dangerous: Rubio on India’s conflict with Pak PTI NEW YORK/WASHINGTON PTI NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the entry of a pregnant woman, Sunali Khatun, and her eight-year-old child into India on “humanitarian grounds”, months after they were pushed into Bangladesh. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the West Bengal government to take care of the minor and asked the chief medical officer of Birbhum district to provide all medical assistance to Khatun, “including free of cost delivery”. The court noted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s submission that the competent authority had agreed to allow the mother and child into the country “purely on humanitarian grounds without prejudice to rights and contentions”, and that they would be kept under surveillance. US President Trump has brokered several peace deals, including the “very dangerous ones like India and Pakistan”, and deserves “tremendous credit” for reshaping American foreign policy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. During a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Rubio said for the first time in decades, the American foreign policy was guided solely by whether it made the US “safer, stronger and more prosperous”. “If it is, he’s (Trump) for it. If it doesn’t, he’s against it. And that sort of clarity is transformational,” he said. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation Pregnant Sunali Khatun and her son, 8, were deported to Bangladesh after being labelled illegal immigrants GROUND SHIFTS AS PM MODI REACHES OUT TO AILING ZIA Ashwin Ahmad NEW DELHI Bangladesh watchers believe the recent Twitter/ X diplomacy between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Begum Khaleda Zia is a good bid by New Delhi to normalise ties with its neighbour. Smruti S Pattanaik, Research Fellow (SS) at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) believes that Prime Minister Modi’s enquiry about the Bangladeshi leader’s health “would have gone down very well with the Bangladeshi public” and would have also helped end long-held rumours that India did not engage with the BNP. “India has been engaging with the BNP for a long time. programme. Without naming any country, Jaishankar said India needs to convince other nations that the use of "talent across boundaries is to our mutual benefit. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation External Affairs Minister Former NSA Brajesh Mishra visited Dhaka to congratulate Begum Khaleda Zia on her electoral victory in 2001. She then visited India in 2012 where she received the redcarpet treatment. The question is not whether India wants to have a closer relationship with the BNP it is whether the BNP wants to have a closer relationship with India,” says Pattanaik. 4Contd on | nation ■ DoT's Nov 28 order asked manufacturers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi app on all new mobiles and to issue software update for phones already sold ■ The aim, govt said, was to ensure phone can't be cloned or SIM can’t be duplicated. Also to help report lost or stolen phones ■ But Apple refused to preload the app citing privacy risks ■ The Opposition too voiced similar concerns, calling it a 'snooping app' to turn India into a ‘surveillance state’ ■ Govt sought to allay fears, saying those who do not wish to use the app can delete it any time Aritra Singha MOSCOW On the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s highly anticipated arrival in New Delhi, the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, ratified a major military logistics agreement with India. The Reciprocal Exchange of Logistic Support (RELOS) agreement, originally signed on 18 February, was forwarded to the Duma for ratification last week by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. S Jaishankar roadblocks to the flow of talent. Particularly if you move into an era of advanced manufacturing, you will need more talent," Jaishankar said. He was responding to a question on the larger issues linked to immigration, including concerns over the H-1B visa 4Contd on | nation WHY THE APPROAR The Calcutta High Court has overturned a single-judge order that had cancelled the appointment of nearly 32,000 primary teachers linked to the alleged cash-for-jobs Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) recruitment scam. A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra set aside the 2023 ruling of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay — who is now a BJP Lok Sabha MP — and held that the sweeping cancellation lacked evidentiary backing and ignored the consequences for thousands of serving teachers reported Live Law. The bench observed that while allegations of wrongdoing in the 2014 TET process warranted scrutiny, the material before the court did not establish systemic malice. “There must have been a possibility of systemic malice, assessment of data doesn’t point to the same… A group of unsuccessful candidates cannot be allowed to damage the entire system. A job taken away after nine years of service would cause insurmountable difficulty,” the judges said. 4Contd on | nation