Tiktok web goes live for some in india For the first time since its 2020 ban, TikTok’s official website is accessible to some users in India Despite the website’s partial functionality, TikTok app remains absent from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India MADURAI l saturday l august 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION 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 (pic) 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 PM backs bill Ministers can’t run govt from jail, says Modi 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 gover nment 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 PM Modi worker goes to jail for 2 days, his life is over.” In an apparent dig at former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, he 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 in Kolkata, he said opposition parties are against the bill because they support the corrupt. Earlier in Bihar, after launching development projects worth `12,000 crore, he said: “We saw how files were being signed from jail. If leaders have such an attitude, how can we fight corruption?” Bihar parties impleAded S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing BJP cadre at the zonal booth committee conference held at Thachanallur in Tirunelveli on Friday | Express Shah: NDA’s win will prevent rise of 2 sons E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v ic e @ Tirunelveli Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said Chief Minister M K Stalin is calling the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill as “black bill” as the CM himself is engaged in “black deeds”. Citing the cases against former DMK ministers V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy Shah asked if it was ap, propriate to be part of the cabinet and govern even after being incarcerated. Addressing the zonal booth committee conference of the BJP in Tirunelveli, Shah said that both DMK president Stalin’s dream of making his son Udhayanidhi the CM and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s dream of making her son Rahul the PM would never mate- Udhaya will ensure defeat of BJP-AIADMK bloc: DMK DMK deputy general secretary A Raja said Amit Shah is afraid of DyCM Udhayanidhi Stalin as he would ensure BJP-AIADMK bloc’s defeat in TN Assembly polls | P4 rialise. “The NDA’s victory would prevent the sons of INDIA bloc leaders from rising to top posts,” Shah asserted. Reiterating his position on alliance government, Shah expressed confidence that a regime of BJP AIADMK and oth, er constituents of the NDA will form the government after the 2026 Assembly polls in TN. In 2024 LS polls, NDA got 18% votes and AIADMK (which was not part of NDA at that time) got 21% votes, and the total vote share is 39%, he said. P7 Trump aide Peter Navarro said the additional US tariffs to punish India for purchasing Russian oil will kick in as scheduled on August 27 if India continues to buy Russian oil 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 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 excluded voters had submitted their claim forms, adding over 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 ”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 electoral officer of Bihar to implead them in the court proceedings. “All 12 political parties shall issue specific 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) lifeline to strays Sc: sterilised stray dogs to be sent back to same area suchitra kalyan mohanty @ New Delhi 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 said its ruling on Friday applies to all states and Union Territories, and further di- rected animal husbandry departments and municipal authorities to comply . The bench then mandated 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, calling for permanent relocation of strays from streets to shelters in 8 weeks, should be kept in abeyance for the time being. 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. Advocate Prashant Bhushan said though Aadhaar is permitted, officials seek additional proof from the 11 documents listed earlier. e x p r e ss r e a d Hatred being instigated across states, says CM Chennai: CM MK Stalin on Friday said that while TN government worked with the objective of “everything for everyone”, hatred was being instigated across many states in India with government support | P4 HC: Cops may be right on closing Ponmudy plaint Chennai: Madras HC said cops may be right in closing complaints on ex-min K Ponmudy for allegedly denigrating Saivism & Vaishnavism if he was only recollecting a rationalist meet speech of 1972 | P2