BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  AUGUST 23, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  JEYPORE EDITION TIKTOK WEB GOES LIVE FOR SOME IN INDIA, APP STILL OFF LIMITS For the first time since its 2020 ban, TikTok’s official website is accessible to some users in India, fueling speculation about its return PARENT COMPANY MUM ON APP’S INDIA LAUNCH SIGNS OF WARMING TIES WITH CHINA Despite the website’s partial functionality, TikTok app remains absent from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India. Neither ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, nor the Centre gave clarity on whether the app would be relaunched locally. TikTok was among 59 Chinese apps banned in June 2020 by the government citing national security ■ ■ The website’s reappearance aligns with warming diplomatic ties between India and China in the backdrop of recent meetings between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Posts on X reflected mixed experiences, with some users accessing the website without a VPN, while others saying it’s still inaccessible 2 crore INDIANS WERE USING TIKTOK AT THE TIME OF INDIA BANNING IT IN 2020 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 opens online SIR claim window Allows excluded voters to upload forms along with Aadhaar copy or one of 11 documents BIHAR PARTIES IMPLEADED S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allow excluded voters to submit their claims online, adding it was not mandatory to make physical submissions in the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise of electoral roll in pollbound Bihar. It also allowed the excluded voters to submit their Aadhaar card copy or one of the 11 documents the poll body had sought during the SIR exercise. The order came after the ECI reported compliance of the court’s earlier directive to publish online the names of the 65 lakh voters proposed to be dropped from the Bihar draft roll, during the SIR drive. The ECI said around 85,000 excluded voters had submitted their claim forms, adding over THE BENCH PULLED UP POLITICAL PARTIES FOR THEIR INACTION IN HELPING EXCLUDED VOTERS GETTING THEMSELVES ENROLLED ”Voters are individually coming forward. But what are the political parties in Bihar doing?” the bench asked 1 Give the ECI a 15-day window to show there was no exclusion, says senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi 2 2 lakh new voters had sought to register themselves in the electoral rolls in the state. A two-judge bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi expressed surprise over political parties not coming forward to file objections related to the excluded voters. They directed the chief electoral officer of Bihar to implead them in the court proceedings. “All 12 political parties shall issue specific No one can now give orders from jail: PM KAUSHIK PRADHAN & R A M A S H A N K A R @ Kolkata / Patna TAINTED ministers running government from jail is an insult to the Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday . Making his first comments on the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to bar arrested PM, CM, and ministers from holding office, Modi said: “An anti-corruption bill has been brought in the Lok Sabha this time. In our country, if even a small government employee has to be taken into police custody, if bail is not granted within 50 hours, his job will be lost. Even if a small worker goes to jail for two days, his life is over. But there is no such law for the Chief Minister or Prime Minister if they go to jail.” In an apparent dig at former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Modi said, “Many CMs, even after going to jail, have been running the government from there. This is an insult to the Constitution. We will not allow this.” Addressing a public rally organised in Kolkata, he alleged the opposition parties are against the bill because they support the corrupt. Targeting the Trinamool Congress, Modi said, “Two TMC ministers, even after going to jail on corruption charges, were not willing to give up their posts.” He was referring to former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam, and Jyoti Priya Mallick, arrested in ration scam. Earlier in the day, while addressing a public meeting at ”Give us some time, we will ensure that not one voter will fall through the cracks,” Dwivedi said 3 Booth level officers told to acknowledge receipt of claim form. But that shall not mean the form is complete 4 directions to party workers to assist voters in filing claim forms,” the court said. “They also need to be present in court and file status reports,” the bench added. “Our understanding is that if each booth level agents (BLA) of the political parties verifies at least 10 names of the 65 lakh excluded voters, then in a single day the 1.60 lakh BLAs who have been registered till now, will be able to verify 16 lakh voters. In 4-5 days we can verify the entire 65 lakh voters who have been excluded from the draft roll,” Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, said. The court was also surprised that of the 1.68 lakh booth level agents (BLAs) of political parties, so far only two objections have been filed on voter deletion. But lawyer Fauzia Shakil, appearing for RJD MP Manoj Jha, said BLAs were not given acknowledgement receipts when they went to submit claim forms physically . Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted that not all those excluded may be able to file their claims as some go out of the state from time to time for work. Though Aadhaar is permitted, officials seek additional proof from the 11 documents listed earlier. The bench said the claim forms can be submitted with either Aadhaar or matric certificate. EXPRESS READ Class Two girl locked overnight in school, found stuck in window grill Keonjhar: In a shocking case of negligence, a Class II girl of Anjar government upper primary school in Banspal block here was accidentally locked inside the classroom for over 17 hours before being found with her head stuck in the window grill on Friday morning | P4 Strays get a lifeline SC: RELEASE STRAY DOGS BUT ONLY AFTER STERILISATION S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Gayaji. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan also seen | PTI Mega projects launched PM on Friday inaugurated projects in the two poll-bound states of Bihar and West Bengal. In Bihar, he inaugurated development projects worth `12,000 crore. He also launched multiple development projects worth over `5,200 crore in Bengal Gayaji in Bihar after laying the foundation stone of development projects worth `12,000 crore, he said: “We saw how files were being signed from jail and how government orders were given from jail. If leaders have such an attitude, how can we fight corruption?” Speaking in the two pollbound states, Modi also flagged the threat of demographic changes due to ‘infiltration’. “Trinamool and some political parties are supporting them (infiltrators) for power and votes. In some places, they are also taking their help. West Bengal is a border state. The way infiltration is increasing, it is becoming a social problem,” he said, launching a sharp attack on the TMC. IN a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Friday modified its August 11 order, directing that stray dogs be released back to their original locations after sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or displaying aggressive behaviour. A three-judge bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria, which had reserved its order on August 14, prohibited feeding stray dogs in public places, stating that unregulated feeding causes public nuisance. It also warned that appropriate action would be taken against violators. Expanding the case’s scope, the Supreme Court Civic bodies said its ruling on Friday to file report applies to all states and The SC directed Union Territories, and municipal further directed animal authorities to file husbandry departments reports of resources and municipal authorilike dog pounds, ties to comply . veterinarians, dog The bench then mancatching personnel dated the creation of a helpline by each municipal body to report violations and ruled that no individual or organisation can hinder officials in performing their duties. The bench said the August 11 order, passed by a two-judge bench calling for permanent relocation of strays from streets to shelters in 8 weeks, should be kept in abeyance for the time being. Before any direction for impounding entire stray dog population was given, the court said it was necessary to examine existing infrastructure and human resources available with municipal bodies. India Kremlin’s ‘laundromat’: Trump’s aide J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE additional tariffs to punish India for purchasing Russian oil will kick in as scheduled on August 27, according to US President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro. “I see that taking place,” he said while speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday . Launching a blistering attack on India, Navarro claimed New Delhi doesn’t need Russian oil for its domestic con- sumption but is importing cheap crude for refining and exporting the refined product at a premium price. The comments come amid escalating trade tensions between India and US. Since the 2022 Ukraine conflict, India has increased its purchases of discounted Russian crude and has also been refining it for export purpose. India maintains it acted under US advice to stabilise global oil prices that shot up due to the RussiaUkrain war. In his sharpest ever attack on India, Navarro alleged India has been acting like a “laundromat for the Kremlin” by continuing its trade with Russia. “Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India bought no Russian oil...It was like almost 1% of their need. The percentage has now gone up to 35%...It’s a refining profitsharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” he said. On its part, India cited both economic necessity and US encouragement to stablise the global energy market. They (India) don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profitsharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro CM launches India’s first FinTech hub I-GFTCH under Bharatnetra EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhubaneswar CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday unveiled the country’s first integrated global financial technology capability hub (I-GFTCH) as part of the Bharatnetra initiative in the city . Addressing the gathering, the chief minister said IGFTCH is a leap forward in the state’s vision to emerge as a global hub for FinTech. “The initiative will also help strengthen the country’s global leadership in the fast growing digital economy It reflects . our commitment to bring the best of the world to Odisha, and take Odisha to the world,” he said. With a strong network of tech institutes, Majhi said, the state has a strong talent pool and produces 1.8 lakh graduates annually. “The semiconductor projects approved recently will create thousands of jobs. Our goal is to place Odisha among the top five Indian states in per capita income. As we contribute to the Viksit Bharat-2047 mission, Odisha will play a central role in making India a global economic leader,” he said. Stating that Odisha is the first state to formulate an AI CM Mohan Charan Majhi unveils the I-GFTCH in presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and ministers Mukesh Mahaling & Suryabanshi Suraj policy, the CM informed, a dedicated FinTech policy and GCC policy will be launched soon to attract global investments. This, he said, is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister to upskill three crore youth of the country with an investment of `1 lakh crore. Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Bharatnetra is a nation-building mission. “We are laying the foundation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision Viksit Bharat@2047 by skilling and educating our youth and creating a globally-connected FinTech and InsurTech hub in Odisha,” he said. Pradhan said the initiative will ensure that students from Odisha can open pathways for employment and entrepre- neurship, and take leadership in financial inclusion and innovation. The I-GFTCH will be implemented through a globally-integrated four-pillar strategy designed to build world-class fintech capabilities. Odisha has partnered with National University of Singapore, Asian Institute of Digital Finance and GFTN to launch certificate course in FinTech and InsurTech (CFI), a fivemonth hybrid programme combining course-work, inperson sessions in Bhub a n e sw a r, p r o j e c t s a n d internships. Group CEO of GFTN Sopnendu Mohanty said, “It is yet another step forward in advancing Singapore-India bilatCONTINUED ON P5 eral ties.”