Vintage Virat hits fifty as India take 1-0 lead Chennai: Virat Kohli scored a breezy 74 from 51 balls to help India beat New Zealand by five wickets in the rain-affected first ODI at Eden Park, Auckland. Before Kohli turned back the clock to entertain the fans on a difficult surface, Anshul Kamboj stole the show with a spell of 2/22 in 10 overs as the hosts were bundled out for 185 | P15 chennai l Thursday l November 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 Poll bar on people with over two kids irrelevant: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN a landmark decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the poll disqualification of a former sarpanch for having more than two children, noting that laws prescribing such penalties have lost all relevance in modern India. The court also referred the SC’s 2003 precedent-setting judgment on such laws to a larger bench. Mangala Bhimrao, former sarpanch at the Kakoda Gram Panchayat, was disqualified under Section 14(1)(j-1) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act, 1959, following the birth of her third child. The law has imposed this restriction on candidates since September 2000. However, the bench of justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the rationale for restricting democratic participation based on family size has crumbled due to demographic changes. In 2003, the SC had upheld the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act of 1994, validating the disqualification of local poll candidates with more than two children, in the Javed vs State of Haryana case. With the latest order finding it infructuous and sending the 2003 verdict for review to a larger bench, the court has opened the door to an overhaul of poll eligibility rules across local bodies. MID-TERM ELECTIONS Senate 54 House of Representatives 7 Democrats 7 50 Not up for election 44 Republicans 234 28 218 to win Democrats 28 139 Republicans Trump loses U.S. grip Democrats wrest control of Congress; Vance blames Iran war for Republican mid-term losses A G E N C I E S @ Washington IN a major political setback to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, the opposition Democratic Party swept the mid-term elections by winning a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and flipping key gubernatorial posts. Of the 470 Congressional seats for which elections were held on November 3, the Democrats won 288, according to the Associated Press race call. The Dems crossed the halfway mark of 218 in the 435-seat House with 234 seats, pushing the Republicans to 139, with 62 seats yet to be called. In the outgoing House, the Republicans had a slim margin of 220-215. Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku, take the stage after he declares victory; and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman (R) dances with supporters at an election night event Wednesday | ap In the 100-seat Senate—of which 35 went to polls—the Democrats now have a comfortable majority with 54 seats, while the Republicans have 44. Republicans had a 53-47 major- express read Iran ‘exempts’ Indian ships from Hormuz curbs Panel for managing TN temple: HC order stayed New Delhi: Iran has exempted merchant vessels from India, China, Iraq, and Qatar from restrictions on transit through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, with the move aimed at facilitating medicine imports from India, a senior Iranian lawmaker has said | P10 New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed a Madras HC order constituting a board of management to rectify the maladministration of the ancient Chidambaram temple. The SC has issued a notice to the state govt and HR&CE department, seeking their response in the matter | P7 ity in the outgoing Senate. With an upper hand in Congress, the Democrats have ended the Republicans’ hold on Washington and opened the window to challenge Trump’s agenda over the remaining two years of his term. The results are believed to indicate voters’ frustration with Trump’s major policies, including the Iran war. Trump conceded defeat but ducked responsibility “I wasn’t . on the ballot... If I was, we would have won,” he boasted. He also threatened to use his presidential veto power to strike down legislation passed by Congress. Trump later posted an image of a red cap bearing the word ‘VETO’. Meanwhile, Vice President J D Vance sought to distance himself from the debacle, blaming the Iran war for Republican losses. “The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X.  P13, 14 Early Diwali for Agniveers as def hire path opens J a v a r ia Rana @ New Delhi The Union Cabinet on Wednesday rewrote a key provision of the Agnipath scheme, giving two more years in uniform for 75% of personnel not retained after the initial four-year stint, along with another shot at becoming regular soldiers. It comes weeks before the first batch of Agniveers, who joined in 2022, is due to leave the armed forces after completing their four-year stint. The new “second engagement period” effectively creates a six-year pathway to regular military service for those willing to stay on and able to meet the selection criteria. The original provision for 25% of each batch to be absorbed on merit at the four-year mark remains untouched. Announcing the decision, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General NS Raja Subramani said the scheme was “not set in stone” and would be reviewed periodically, adding that more tweaks could follow. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dubbed it a ‘Second Tour of Duty’. To sweeten the deal, the second tour comes with higher pay and a bigger Seva Nidhi package. Agniveers, however, remain outside the pension and gratuity net. Those enrolled as regulars after six years will rank below the 25% of personnel absorbed at the four-year mark, the CDS said. The push came from the ar med forces themselves. They had increasingly questioned the logic of showing the door to soldiers just when they had become operationally useful. In a rare tragedy, tiger run over by train in TN E X PR E S S N E W S S E RV I C E @ Tenkasi A male tiger aged between four and five years was fatally knocked down by the PalakkadThoothukudi Palaruvi Express train near Shengottai early on Wednesday. The forest department has registered a forest offence case and launched a probe into the circumstances that led to the animal’s death. It is believed to be the first time a tiger has been run over by a train in the state. The incident took place on the tracks between Bhagavathipuram and Poolankudiyiruppu. “As Kerala was just a km away from the spot in the Courtallam forest range, a team will visit the neighbouring state and examine CCTV footage to check if the wild cat arrived from there,” District Forest Officer (DFO) R Rajmohan said. According to the DFO, the forest personnel received information about the incident around 3.30 am. P7 The tiger died on the tracks | Express