dharmapuri l saturday l september 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION trai tightens rules to put end to spam calls and messages TRAI on Friday said that telecom companies will now use AI to detect suspected spam numbers and share this information with each other no blocking of banking, govt-tagged calls penalty for unsolicited, robo-calls Under the amended regulations, if five or more numbers associated with a sender are flagged within 10 days, further investigation and graded action will follow, including KYC re-verification, physical verification, barring of outgoing services and disconnection for repeated violation. The order also said apps like Truecaller cannot block or tag 140, 1600, and 1601 calls ■ ■ Entities using calls initiated by an application or software (A2P calls) will have to pre-declare their use and numbers to their provider, while calls made without such declaration will be treated as unsolicited A termination charge of up to 5 paise per minute has also been introduced for A2P calls, barring authority-authorised calls 15 days time given to consumers to file appeals against any resolution CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI diaspora comes to fore amid chaos Indraneel Das Express @ asian games Nagoya Sanchita Dey Pradhan withdraws her nomination from the Oct 6 bypoll race; Congress’ Milan Pradhan | PTI Central UCC unlikely, 21 states to adopt U’khand model PR E E T H A NA I R @ New Delhi THE Centre may do away with a national Uniform Civil Code draft, with the Uttarakhand UCC likely to serve as the template for similar laws in as many as 21 NDAruled states, highly placed law ministry sources said. Though the 22nd Law Commission, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, had been tasked with preparing a nationwide UCC draft—a long-standing electoral promise of the BJP—it could not submit the final document before Justice Awasthi was appointed a member of the Lokpal and its term ended on August 31, 2024. The Uttarakhand UCC law incorporated several recommendations from the nationwide UCC framework prepared by the commission, except for its contentious provision requiring the registration of live-in relationships, a senior official said. In January 2025, Uttarakhand became the first state after Independence to bring such a code into force. Though the assemblies of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam have passed UCC Bills, they are yet to implement them as Presidential nod is awaited. The development assumes significance after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement that 21 NDA-ruled states could implement the UCC before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The senior official quoted above said a separate national draft may no longer be required, as the Centre has so far chosen to allow NDAruled states to frame their own codes instead of introducing central legislation. E x p r e s s Re a d TN governor grants assent to 12 of 13 Bills Chennai: Governor RV Arlekar has given assent to 12 of the 13 Bills passed by TN Assembly during the Budget session. The Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill remains under the consideration of the governor, though there is speculation that he has referred the Bill to the President | P4 TMC’s Nandigram pick quits, Didi backs Cong, its nominee arrested Having lost the party its sym, bol and now its candidate, BanIN a theatrical turn of events, erjee said at her Kalighat resiTrinamool Congress candidate dence that she would support Sanchita Dey Pradhan, fielded the Congress candidate in by Mamata Banerjee for the Oc- Nandigram. “My party will tober 6 bypoll in Nandigram, never support the BJP,” she turned the tables on her men- said. “Today is a black day in tor by withdrawing her nomi- the history of democracy It is . nation papers on Friday after- unfortunate, unconstitutional, noon minutes after meeting anti-democratic and politically Chief Minister Suvbiased. It is just servendu Adhikari at the ing the interests of a state secretariat here. particular political T h e w i t h d r aw a l party she alleged. ,” came a day before the Today is a black day Faced with no in the history of last date for filing choice, Mamata annomination papers. A democracy, which nounced support for photograph of the is unconstitutional, Congress candidate anti-democratic meeting, which lasted Milan Pradhan. “We and biased. It’s just about an hour, went fulfilling interests are extending our supviral on social media, port to Congress in of a particular though this paper Nandigram. We are political party could not verify its doing this for the Mamata Banerjee authenticity . greater interest of the Sanchita’s movenation,” she said. ments had appeared mysteriThe impact of the Sanchita’s ous since morning, according withdrawal was soon overshadto sources close to her. She did owed by Pradhan’s arrest, who not speak to the media when was picked up from a hotel in she left her residence. She with- Chandipur in Purba Medinipur drew her nomination at the of- district. Police sources said fice of the sub-divisional offic- Pradhan was arrested in an old er in Haldia, Purba Medinipur. murder case, apart from a case Her decision left the Mamata linked to his involvement in the Banerjee faction in dire straits. 2007 Nandigram land acqusiSince the party did not field a tion case. The Congress alleged dummy candidate, it can no vendetta and questioned the longer contest the seat. timing of Pradhan’s arrest. s u bhe n d u m a iti @ Kolkata EC allots new symbol to 2 factions The ECI allotted the Didi faction the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol, while the rival group led by Arup Roy got ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and ‘Envelope’ symbol for the Oct 6 bypoll | P9 Assam TMC withdraws candidate The Assam unit of Trinamool on Friday said the party will not contest the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll to protest the ECI’s decision to freeze the party’s original name and symbol naval collision India rejects Pak allegations J AYAN T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday rejected Pakistan’s allegations over the recent collision between an India n N av y w a r s h i p a n d a Pakistani naval vessel in the wester n Arabian Sea and termed Islamabad’s response “the usual prevarication”. In a press briefing on Friday , the Ministry of External Affairs said Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata was on a routine deployment when Pakistani naval vessel PNS Hunain carried out a “dangerous overtaking manoeuvre” that resulted in the collision. The MEA’s clarification came after Pakistan’s foreign ministry alleged that the collision took place in its exclusive economic zone after a “highly pro- vocative and unacceptable action” by the Indian vessel. “We have seen Pakistan’s response to the protest we had lodged. It is the usual prevarication that we expected. We reject the allegations and insinuations contained therein,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. India had on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires Saad Warraich and lodged a diplomatic protest. Later, the Pak foreign ministry summoned Indian charge d’affaires Satyanjal Pandey . The collision happened on Tuesday night after the Pakistani vessel closed in on the frontline Indian Navy warship. The incident did not cause any major damage to INS Kolkata, which remains at sea. Action not acceptable Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of MEA, said the “Pakistani Naval ship Hunain conducted itself in an unacceptable and unprofessional manner at sea that resulted in a collision.” Nilgiris man-eater trapped after 29-day hunt M S a r a v a n a n @ Nilgiris Giving much-awaited relief to the residents of Gudalur in the Nilgiris district, the male tiger that killed and partially devoured two men in August was trapped in a cage set up by the forest department in the Silver Cloud region on Friday ending , a 29-day operation. After verification, the tiger was relocated to the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur, Chennai. According to forest officials, the big cat was caught around 4 am inside a cage placed at a private tea estate in Silver Cloud, close to the fourth division in Gudalur. The tiger, which is currently aggressive, is being closely monitored by forest teams. Officials had initially shifted the animal to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve for further examination before deciding on its permanent placement. The capture ends an intensive operation launched after the deaths of two local farmers. On August 8, M Balakrishnan (58) was killed in a tiger attack at Lauriston in O-Valley, with parts of his body devoured.  P7 The male tiger trapped inside a cage in Gudalur on Friday | Express 200 staff, four kumki jumbos deployed A team led by Gudalur DFO consisting of more than 200 forest personnel was deployed to locate and capture the tiger, with the support of four kumki elephants and camera traps installed in 200 areas T he union sports ministry Indi. an Olympic Association (IOA) officials as well as the Indian diaspora in Nagoya have stepped in to ensure that Indian athletes and their coaches aren’t overly disturbed during the course of the Asian Games. Following various teething issues — including people stranded at the airport as well as spending a considerable amount of time without accommodation and food — the focus has now shifted to ensuring that athletes don’t suffer. During an informal chat with select mediapersons, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who is here for a few days, revealed their threepronged strategy. When he learnt about the ordeal faced by athletes upon landing in the city as highlight, ed by this daily first, the ministry stitched together a mitigation plan. The first layer starts with two persons stationed at the airport who will fast-track their exit. The second would be at the village where three persons will help them with their accommodation. If these seem routine, the sports minister said that with the help of the India embassy they have , reached out to the 2000-strong Indian diaspora. “There are more athletes mou inked Walgreens set to open GCC in Chennai E XPR E SS N E W S S E RV I C E @ Chennai Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with IOA President PT Usha in Japan | pti who will come here and if they are short of rooms, we have identified some 10-15 houses in case athletes need to be adjusted or need to freshen up in case there is a delay,” he said. IOA chef de mission, Sahdev Yadav, had said how India were forced to book hotels at the last moment. “Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee informed us that more than desired athletes had come and they would not be able to give accommodation,” he said. “We have booked 16 rooms and will book 10 more.” As of Friday things are ok. , As for Nagoya, there couldn’t have been a more disastrous start to the Games. First, a heavy downpour that submerged the city days ahead of the Games. Then, there was the logistical nightmare. Now? A threat of a severe storm with wind blowing at 100km/hr on Monday. However, the organizers have said that all mitigation measures are in place. US-based phar macy and healthcare group Walgreens is set to open a global capability centre (GCC) in Chennai, adding to a wave of GCC investment into Tamil Nadu’s capital. Walgreens India Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Friday . The proposed centre, to be housed at DLF Downtown in Taramani, will focus on technology and business services and is expected to create 250 high-value jobs in its first year, with further hiring planned in subsequent years. Walgreens joins a growing roster of US and European companies setting up technology and business-services hubs in Chennai.  P7 The MoU was signed in the presence of CM C Joseph Vijay on Friday | Express