KOZHIKODE l friday l November 06, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION special committee to re-examine UGC’s equity norms in higher edu The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court it’s setting up a special committee to re-examine UGC 2026 norms on equity in higher education FOR TNIE EDITIONS looking to address student concerns caste-based discrimination a concern The government is examining ways to address concerns of students and ensure no section of the student community feels excluded, threatened or apprehensive under the regulatory framework, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta infor med a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. “The govt is contemplating appointing a committee,” the SG said ■ ■ The matter arose in Abeda Salim Tadvi versus Union of India. The 2019 petition was filed by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide after allegedly facing caste discrimination Key concerns centred on definition of “caste-based discrimination” under Regulation 3(1)(c), which focused on unfair treatment | P9 Aug 2026 is when the centre told sc the regulations were under review 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 SC: Detention starts 24-hr clock, not formal arrest ANNOUNCEMENT We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ravi Shankar as Editor and Kiran Prakash M S as Executive Editor of The New Indian Express and its Sunday edition. Flags the potential for abuse in custody without judicial oversight other orders E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Ravi Shankar has been associated with the organisation for over two decades and was, until recently, Consulting Editor – Sunday Magazine. He brings with him rich experience in journalism and editorial leadership. Kiran Prakash M S has been with the organisation for over a decade and was previously Resident Editor – Keralam. He brings extensive experience in journalism and editorial management. They take charge from today. cristiano bids farewell MANOJ KUMAR SONTHALIA Chairman and Managing Director Portugal legend and one of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo announced his international retirement on Thursday. The 41-year-old’s international career spanned over 23 years in which he won a European Championship and two Nations League titles with Portugal. His World Cup dream remained unconquered despite six attempts | afp/ap | P13 E lec t i o n c o m m i ss i o n EC restores Probe panel says oversight of its no complaint top IT official on police excess No graft in CM’s sponsored flight, state police chief tells Lok Ayukta E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi S U C H ITRA K ALYAN M O H ANT Y @ New Delhi @ T’Puram THE Election Commission has issued a fresh work allocation order that requires its top IT official Seema Khanna to route files through a senior deputy election commissioner. The new order restores a layer of oversight an earlier order had removed. An order dated July 28 had relieved Deputy Election Commissioner San- Reporting jay Kumar of the to dy EC charge of IT and Officials said ICT and let Direc- Khanna’s tor-General (IT) reporting Seema Khanna re- structure has port directly to the remained the poll panel. The de- same and that cision was put in she “has always abeyance after the been reporting to two election com- a deputy election missioners, Sukh- commissionerbir Singh Sandhu level officer”. and Vivek Joshi, objected. The latest work allocation order, issued on Wednesday requires Khan, na to route files through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. According to the poll panel’s submission to the SC, the July 28 order was not implemented. THE High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) constituted by the Supreme Court to probe alleged police excesses during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests at Jantar Mantar told the top court on Thursday that it has received hardly any complaints from those affected. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Fresh Joymalya Bagchi notices per mitted the HPEC to examine SC directed HPEC all materials subto issue fresh mitted by petitionpublic notices in ers before the Hindi and English, court on behalf of to open an online the victims. portal for The committee, complaints, and to headed by former extend the time SC Judge R Sublimit. It directed hash Reddy, told Delhi Police to the court despite share all records. activating a portal and providing a dedicated email address for filing complaints online and physically it had received hard, ly any responses. The SC had set up the panel to examine whether police used disproportionate force, whether protesters violated conditions, and what led to the escalation. The state police chief has told the Lok Ayukta that Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s chartered flight to flood-hit Malappuram did not constitute an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He said Chipsan Aviation had arranged the aircraft on request, and no proposal for renewing its contract was pending before the government at that time. The police chief filed the statement on behalf of the CM in response to a complaint by activist K M Shajahan, who alleged that accepting sponsorship from a private fir m amounted to abuse of official position and nepotism. The police chief said the CM, who holds the disaster management portfolio, visited Malappuram in the wake of a flash flood in the Kottapuzha river that claimed six lives. T h e s t at e g ove r n m e n t , through the police chief, had entered into a contract with Chipsan Aviation for helicopter services, which expired on September 18, he said. He dismissed as baseless the allegation that the firm’s fresh proposal was pending before the government when it sponsored the chief minister’s flight. No such proposal existed, he said, rejecting the claim that Chipsan had a direct commercial interest in arranging the ● More on P6 chartered flight.  EXPRESS READ Cheranalloor crash: Court bins appeals against teen’s bail CJP backs LPST rank holders’ protest against state govt Kochi: Coming down heavily on the police and prosecution over the probe into the Cheranalloor accident, the Additional District and Sessions Court in Ernakulam dismissed the appeals seeking cancellation of bail granted to the juvenile driver. P6 T’Puram: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has joined a stir against the UDF government, by extending support to striking lower primary school teacher rank holders, who have been demanding postings in government schools. P7 D i v i n e i n t er v e n t i o n Karnataka Adi Shankaracharya idol drives national inscription hunt B i n i ta J a i s w a l @ Chennai A sculpture recovered from an ancient brick structure in a Karnataka village last month, has given the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) a fresh lead as it searches for traces of Adi Shankaracharya in thousands of inscriptions. The ASI’s iconography team has confirmed that the sculpture found at Hampapura village in KR Nagar taluk of Mysuru district represents Adi Shankaracharya, said ASI Epigraphy Director K Munirathnam Reddy The idol was found inside a brick . structure dating back to the ninth century he said. , The ASI’s Epigraphy Branch has taken up a project to identify and plate inscription discovered in Gucompile inscriptions associated with jarat, dating to around 500-515 CE. Adi Shankaracharya. The initiative, Another significant reference is the assigned by the Union Ministry of 11th-century inscription found at Education, began just a fortnight ago Cholamadevi temple in Tiruchirapand aims to create a palli district, which recomprehensive collecfers to his philosophical t i o n o f e p i g r ap h i c work. If implemented efrecords relating to fectively, this project Shankaracharya for acacould bring to light more demic research and curh i s t o r i c a l ev i d e n c e riculum development. about Adi Shankarach“There are very few arya, his travels and the epigraphical records spread of his philosoph[known so far] that can ical teachings,” said G be directly linked to Adi Sankaranarayanan, proAdi Shankaracharya idol Shankaracharya. One fessor of Sahitya, Naof the earliest possible found inside a brick structure t i o n a l Sanskrit in Mysuru | Express . references is a copperUniversity press Intake EC orders summary roll revision in 6 states, UTs | P9 Leadership reshuffle likely in CAPFs | P9 Four men in Tripura were stopped on suspicion of carrying drugs at 2.30 pm on September 29, 2025. The search and seizure process was completed at 5 pm that day Their arrest was record. ed at 11.15 am the next day and they were produced before a magistrate that evening. What happened in the 18 hours between search, and seizure and formal arrest? In June 2025, a temple guard in Tamil Nadu was picked up in a theft case by police. After 12 hours in custody — without formal arrest — he died, allegedly from torture. It is these instances that the Supreme Court evoked in its ruling on Thursday, holding that the 24-hour deadline to produce an accused before a magistrate begins from detention and not formal arrest. “The prescription of 24 hourtime period would commence the moment a person is detained by the arresting authority suspecting him to have committed an offence, when his liberty is effectively curtailed. To that extent, the words appearing in clause (2) of Article 22 i.e. ‘arrested’ and ‘detained’ are syn- Plea to transfer Tirupati laddu trial rejected onymous,” said the bench of justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar, disapproving of orders from three high courts that sought to differentiate the two. The ruling came on the appeal filed by the four men held in Tripura under the NDPS Act, challenging denial of their bail plea by the Tripura HC. The SC ordered their release. “18 hours in custody without judicial oversight is a long period, with misuse and abuse of authority a clear possibility it added. ,” “The endeavour of this Court has always been to eliminate custodial violence which unfortunately takes place during the time when a person is under detention and not shown as formally arrested, in the process delaying production before the magistrate” the court said. If detention continues beyond 24 hours before the person is produced before the magistrate, he should be released, the SC said. The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea for transferring trial in the Tirupati ‘laddus’ ghee adulteration case out of Andhra Pradesh. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi dismissed the plea by Machindra Shantaram Lanke, a Maharashtra-based businessman, whose counsel Siddharth Dave sought the transfer due to “a hostile atmosphere for free trial”. Contempt against Punjab chief secy stayed The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed contempt proceedings initiated by Punjab and Haryana HC against Punjab’s chief secretary in a dearness allowance case. Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan passed the order on a plea challenging the high court order to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Chief Secretary K A P Sinha.