COIMBATORE l tuesday l december 02, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION SC refuses to extend Waqf property registration deadline The Supreme court on Monday refused to extend the deadline for the registration of all waqf properties under the Waqf Amendment Act 2025 Petitioners can Approach waqf tribunal Court refuses to examine portal issues A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih observed that individuals seeking to register properties under Section 3B of the Waqf Act may approach the waqf tribunal for an extension in accordance with the law. Section 3B of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 mandates the compulsory registration of Waqf properties on the UMEED portal ■ ■ Kapil Sibal told the court 10 lakh mutawallis will have to go the tribunal. The court told him tribunal will decide on case to case basis When Sibal highlighted issues with the UMEED portal, through which users upload property details, the bench told him he can “approach the tribunal and say this is the reason” for missing the deadline Dec 6 the last date to upload property details on umeed portal 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 Chennai’s automatic Deep depression was weather stn recorded located 50km east of 132mm rainfall in 11 hrs Chennai on Monday Holiday for schools in 4 TN districts With Monday receiving more rain than expected, causing inconvenience to schoolgoing children, the government has announced a holiday on Tuesday for schools and colleges in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts Remnant of Ditwah pounds Chennai, neighbouring dists 2 S V K RI S HNA C HAITANYA @ Chennai (1) Students on their way to school amid rain at Kolathur in Chennai | P Jawahar (2) Waterlogged roads near Guindy flyover in Chennai | Martin Louis 1 For some time now, Parliament has been used as a warm-up arena for polls or as an outlet for frustration after defeat. It is a place for delivery, not drama - Narendra Modi A stubborn, slow-moving deep depression — a remnant of Cyclone Ditwah — that defied forecasts for two days slammed Chennai and its neighbourhood with intense rain on Monday sharply reversing expecta, tions after appearing to weaken over the weekend. Meteorologists described the weather system as a “highly complex” system that exposed the limitations of numerical weather prediction in the Bay of Bengal. From issuing an orange alert at noon on Monday to upgrading it to a red alert barely four hours later, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, was forced to respond to a rapidly evolving atmosphere. This system has been challeng- PM is saying, ‘enjoy the weather’. What weather should the people of Delhi enjoy? At least take a peek outside... 2.2 mn Delhi kids are suffering lung damage - Priyanka Gandhi Parliament winter session: Day 1 SIR rumble rocks Lok Sabha Oppn stages walkout in Rajya Sabha; Minister Rijiju seeks time to take call on the matter J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi The Winter Session of Parliament opened on a discordant note on Monday, with the Lok Sabha repeatedly disrupted and eventually adjourned for the day after Opposition MPs pressed for an immediate debate on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as the government proceeded with planned legislative business. As the House met at 11 am, Opposition members rose, raising slogans on the SIR issue. Speaker Om Birla appealed for order, reminding MPs that the House “is not for slogans” and that “there is ample space outside to do that.” The Lok Sabha functioned for only 18 minutes before the first adjournment. Despite the commotion, the government introduced three key bills — the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025. But protests contin- Vice President C P Radhakrishnan’s first day as Rajya Sabha Chairperson | PTI Kharge mentions Dhankar, draws protests Sparks flew in the Rajya Sabha after Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge recalled the “unexpected and sudden exit” of former V-P Dhankhar, saying that the House did not even get time to bid him farewell. The remark made in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggered a volley of protests | P7 ued, with Opposition MPs storming the Well and demanding a debate on SIR underway across 12 states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry Assam, which goes to . polls in 2026, is conducting a separate revision. In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition parties staged a walkout Thiruparankundram: HC allows lighting of lamp on Deepathoon near dargah J EGADEE S W ARI PANDIAN @ Madurai Observing that it is Tamil tradition to light Karthigai Deepam on hilltop and the very purpose of a Deepathoon is to light lamp, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday allowed four petitions filed seeking a direction to light the lamp on an ancient stone pillar atop Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai. Though the location was opposed owing to its proximity to the Sikandar Badusha Dargah and the fact that the Karthigai Deepam is usually lit on a Deepa Mandapam near the Uchipillaiyar temple on the hill, Justice GR Swaminathan rejected the objections. He said while the rights of the dargah or the Muslims will not be affected in any way by lighting the lamp at Deepathoon, not doing so might jeopardise the rights of the Subramaniya Swamy temple over the unoccupied portions of the hill due to alleged attempts made by the mosque trustees to encroach them. The court directed the temple management to light the Karthigai Deepam at Deepathoon also, apart from the usual places, from this year, with a direction to the police to grant necessary protection to ensure compliance with the order. The judge quashed the executive officer’s proceedings, where it was decided to light the Deepam at the Deeepa Mandapam.  P5 later in the evening. TMC’s Derek O’Brien accused the government of “stonewalling” attempts to take up the matter. Responding, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju insisted the government was open to discussion but opposed being bound by deadlines set by the Opposition. “Please give (us) some time. Don’t presume that the government is not ready to discuss… Please don’t put conditions on timeline.” JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb, and Union minister Chirag Paswan, accused the Opposition of disrupting Parliament for political gain. Earlier, at a strategy meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, INDIA bloc parties resolved to continue pressing for a debate. Although the TMC skipped the meeting, its leaders said they would join the protests. The Opposition has called a joint demonstration at 10.30 am on Tuesday at Parliament’s Makar Dwar. Amid the uproar, the Lok Sabha also passed the Manipur GST Amendment Bill, replacing an Ordinance issued on October 7 to implement GST 2.0 reforms in the state under President’s Rule. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the amendment ensures the state’s GST Act aligns with decisions taken at the 56th GST Council, which rationalised rates on nearly 375 items. Rubaiyya case The CBI on Monday arrested an absconder carrying a `10 lakh reward for the 1989 kidnapping of Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiyya ing and erratic from the beginning, as there were multiple circulations in the open oceans, interaction with the Sri Lanka landmass, fluctuating wind shear and at least two false starts in convection buildup. According to the met office, the deep depression is expected to weaken gradually into a depression. However, as it will continue to hug the coast and remain within 30 km of Chen- going after cyber crime state-owned app mandated on your phone A r s h a d K h a n @ New Delhi THE Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a new direction effective November 28, mandating all mobile phone manufacturers and importers to pre-install state-owned fraud reporting app — Sanchar Saathi — on devices used in India. The implementation must be completed within 90 days and a compliance report filed in 120 days. The move, according to the ministry is aimed at “protecting , citizens from purchasing non-genuine handsets, facilitating easy reporting of suspected telecom misuse and enhancing the effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative.” Smartphone maker Apple, which had previously pilloried the development of the anti-spam mobile app, along with Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi will be affected by the new order. Under the new rules, the Sanchar Saathi Sanchar Saathi app must be prominently visible and acA government portal and cessible to users during app to protect mobile users their first device setup, with from fraud and misuse no restrictions on its funcIt lets you check all mobile tionalities. For phones alnumbers registered in your ready manufactured, manuname, block lost/stolen facturers and importers are phones and required to push the app report spam/fraud through software updates. calls (Chakshu) Users won’t have the option The app, launched in Jan to delete the app. 2025, is free and works The Sanchar Saathi initiawith OTP login tive, developed by DoT, combats cyber fraud and telecom security threats by allowing users to verify handset genuineness using the IMEI number. The Central government claimed that the app also helps report suspected fraud, lost or stolen devices, track mobile connections in one’s name, and provides trusted contacts for financial institutions. Government figures show the Sanchar Saathi app, launched in January has helped recover more than 7 lakh lost , phones, including 50,000 in October alone. However, privacy advocates criticised the push, with some calling it “dictatorial”. “Sanchar Saathi is a lost phone tracker, but if it gets embedded with no possibility of removal, it becomes a government tracker on your device…” said Nikhil Pahwa, digital rights activist and founder of MediaNama. ED stirs Pinarayi’s masala bond curry further EXPRE S S NE W S S ER V I C E @ T’Puram Re-dominated bond THE Enforcement Directorate has served a show cause notice to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vjayan, former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, and the CM’s chief principal secretary K M Abraham over alleged infractions in the issue of masala bonds in 2019 by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). The Kerala CM is the chairperson of KIIFB, established by the Kerala government to fund infrastructure projects. Isaac was the finance minister and vice-chairperson of KIIFB Rupee-denominated masala bonds are issued outside India. Indian entities take this route to raise funds from international investors in rupee while mitigating the risk of currency fluctuation when it raised `2,150 crore through masala bonds. Abraham is the CEO of KIIFB. The notice alleged that masala bond proceeds worth `466 crore were used to purchase land in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Rejecting the charges, Abra- ham said the deployment of masala bond proceeds was in compliance with FEMA and RBI guidelines. “Only `66 crore, not `466 crore as alleged in the notice, was spent for land acquisition. The RBI has restricted the use of funds in real estate, not for land acquisition. KIIFB’s masala bond was issued in 2019, when the regulatory position was crystal clear: land acquisition for infrastructure projects was permissible; investment in real estate business was not,” he said. He also accused the ED of “fabricating” documents. Isaac termed the show cause notice a ‘gimmick’ orchestrated by the BJP-led government. “Previously the ED sent notic, es and summons on the masala bonds ahead of the 2021 assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Now, another set of summons has been served ahead of the LSG and assembly polls,” he said. nai, moisture convergence is likely to persist. “Tuesday will also see heavy rain in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur,” said N Senthamarai Kannan, director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre. At 11.30 am on Monday, the deep depression was centred just 50 km east of Chennai, drifting northwards at a sluggish 3 kmph.  P5 SC orders pan-India CBI probe on digital arrest 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 Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a detailed, unified panIndia probe into cases of digital ar rest, expressing concern over the rise in the number of such cases. “The CBI shall have a free hand to investigate the role of bankers under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act wherever they are found involved in the opening of mule accounts used in cybercrime cases,” said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The court also asked the Reserve Bank of India why it is not leveraging artificial intelligence to identify mule accounts used by cybercriminals and freeze them. The two-judge bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, asked Opposition ruled states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana that had withdrawn general consent to the CBI for investigations to grant the consent, so that a comprehensive probe can be undertaken. The court directed all telecom service providers to implement the directions of the Department of Telecommunications on the issuance of SIM cards. “In view of the negligent approach of telecom service providers in issuing multiple SIM cards in one name, we ask the Department to submit a proposal to address the misuse of SIM cards,” the order stated. e x pr e ss r e a d 16.5% Nellai voters may be off draft electoral roll Tirunelveli: About 2,33,464 voters or 16.46% of the electorate in Tirunelveli district may be removed from the draft electoral roll for reasons such as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate or double entry under the SIR exercise | P2 HC allows eco-park work on 160-acre MRC land Chennai: A two-judge Madras High Court bench has permitted the state government to carry out work to store excess rainwater and set up an eco-park on 160 acres of prime land, earlier leased out to the Madras Race Club | P2