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 KOCHI l saturday l august 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION SC opens online SIR claim window Excluded voters can upload forms 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 poll-bound 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 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 elec- 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 toral 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) 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, lifeline to strays SC: Release stray dogs but only after sterilisation suchitra kalyan mohanty @ New Delhi IN a ruling that brought relief to dog lovers, 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 warned that appropriate action wo u l d b e t a ke n a g a i n s t violators. Expanding the case’s scope, the Supreme Court said its ruling on Friday applies to all states and Union Territories, and further directed 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 in- ”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 appearing for the ECI, said. The court was 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. 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. Tainted MLA to stay, Congress rules out internal probe too E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @ T’Puram Civic bodies to file report The SC directed municipal authorities to file reports of resources like dog pounds, veterinarians, dog catching personnel dividual 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 the existing infrastructure and human resources available with municipal bodies. “A blanket direction to place all strays in dog shelters without evaluating infrastructure may lead to a catch-22 situation,” it said. Rallying behind its disgraced legislator, the Congress leadership in the state has decided to ignore the mounting political pressure for Rahul Mamkootathil’s resignation as MLA. It has also ruled out any party probe against Rahul, who stepped down as Youth Congress state chief on Thursday, following harassment allegations. KPCC president Sunny Joseph, after consultations with Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and the three PCC working presidents, came to the conclusion on Friday that there was no need for Rahul to relinquish the role of people’s representative. His resignation from the YC post was enough. Other senior leaders too conveyed their reservation about him resigning as MLA, a senior Congress leader told TNIE. “There is no complaint filed against Rahul in any police station by any of the women. Even the actor who has given interviews to channels never said anything against Rahul. Then, why should he resign?” he asked. He cited instances when neither the Congress nor the CPM asked its MLAs to step down even after criminal cases were registered or the parties received complaints from ● More on P4 the victims.  Ministers running govt from jail insult to Constitution: 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. EXPRESS READ Tribal man locked up, starved for 5 days Palakkad: A 54-year-old tribal man was allegedly held captive, starved and assaulted for five days by the owner and employees of a farm stay near Muthalamada in Palakkad. P4 Shah unveils BJP’s ‘Mission 2026’ Kochi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday presented Mission 2026, a 21-point strategy for the BJP to secure power in Kerala in the 2026 assembly elections. P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express 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 Rus- sian oil for its domestic consumption 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 glo- bal oil prices that shot up due to the Russia-Ukrain 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 profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin. That’s the reality of that,” he said. Donald Trump They (India) don’t need the oil. It’s a refining profit-sharing scheme. It’s a laundromat for the Kremlin Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro 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 | P10 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 ■ ■