HYDERABAD l saturday l august 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY 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, fuelling speculation about its return parent company mum on app’s india launch 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 | P10 ■ 2 crore signs of warming ties with china ■ 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 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 SU C HI T RA KALYAN MOHAN 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 get 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 ”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 Ministers can’t give orders from jail: PM KAUSHIK PRADHAN & RAMASHANKAR @ 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. 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. suravaram sudhakar reddy, former cpi general secretary & ex-mp passes away at 83|p4 India Kremlin’s ‘laundromat’: Trump’s aide J AYAN T H J A C OB @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Gayaji. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan also seen | PTI Earlier in the day, while addressing a public meeting at 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. Mega projects launched PM on Friday inaugurated projects in the two pollbound 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 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 told reporters outside the White House on Thursday . Navarro claimed New Delhi doesn’t need Russian oil for its domestic consumption but it 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. 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 profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” he said. Murder he wrote, at 14 years of age C h i t h a l u r i R e v a n t h @ Hyderabad Five days after the murder of 10-year-old Sahasra in Kukatpally, police concluded that a 14-year-old SSC student, a neighbour of the girl, was responsible. The boy was detained, interrogated along with his parents, and later produced before the Juvenile Justice Board on Friday . “It just happened like an accident,” the boy, who stabbed Sahasra 21 times, told the police after hours of questioning. Investigators said he had gone to the victim’s house intending to steal a cricket bat, which he called an “MRF bat”. When the girl spotted him, he attacked her. Initially police suspected , that the motive was theft of money, but the boy admitted he had gone for the bat. However, he neither took the bat nor any cash, fleeing after killing her. Police also found a note, purportedly written by the accused, in his house outlining a detailed plan: “First go to the residence, take gas (domestic refill), cut the gas pipe, ignite it, take money at the residence, come out of the room and lock the home.” The note ended with the words “mission don (done)”. Investigators insist it indicates premeditation, though the boy did not carry out the gas leak plot. Notebooks seized from his residence suggested he regularly watched crime films. The boy’s family is originally from Prakasam district in AP . Over the past five days, police questioned several neighbours and the minor accused himself. At first, he gave evasive replies.  Continued on P4 Sahasra The postmortem revealed 14 stab wounds on the neck and seven on the stomach. The weapon was a small sharp knife A police officer SC: Release strays, but after sterilisation Cong on the horns of a dilemma s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n ty I r e d d y S r i n i v a s R e d d y @ Hyderabad 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 of 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. Friday’s ruling applies to all states and UT, the bench said, directing animal husbandry departments and municipal authorities to comply . The bench also 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, 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. The ruling Congress finds itself on the horns of a dilemma over holding local body elections. The party had promised 42% reservation for BCs during the 2023 Assembly polls. But it has failed to translate it into law. Two Bills enhancing BC quota to 42% are still pending with the Centre, which remains stoically silent. The ordinance amending the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act is stuck with the Governor. No one knows when he will give assent. The Congress staged a maha dharna at Jantar Mantar recently accusing the BJP-led NDA government at the Cen, tre of blocking the Bills. But the ice is not melting. With no clarity the Congress may end up allotting 42% tickets to BCs , in local body polls to show it tried to keep its word to make the quota part of the Act. Meanwhile, the ground reality is that urea shortage is testing farmers’ patience. Party leaders have warned the government that farmers are angry and that elections now could backfire. But another section argues the shortage is a passing issue and that the government’s good work will outweigh discontent. With opinion divided, the government remains indecisive. Against this backdrop, the TPCC Political Affairs Committee will meet on Saturday to firm up its stand. Leaders and MLAs expect a clear picture to emerge. BC leaders, however, are urging the government to seek 1–2 months’ time from the high court, and wait for the Supreme Court to deliver its verdict on the powers of Governors and the President in clearing the Bills. Senior leaders counter that the PAC must take a clear call: wait, or go ahead with existing reservations and balance the quota by allotting tickets to BC candidates. Sources say most PAC members favour going ahead with polls. The state Cabinet, which will meet on August 25, is expected to discuss the PAC’s decision on local body polls, the urea crisis, rural mood, and high court directions on the PC Ghose Commission’s report on Kaleshwaram. @ New Delhi L o c a l b o d y p o lls