hyderabad l saturday l october 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION time’s up for mehul choksi as belgian court okays extradition Key accused in `13,000 cr pnb fraud case Choksi is a key accused in the over $1.6 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, along with his nephew Nirav Modi. He fled India in January 2018, just before the scam came to light. In November 2023, Choksi reportedly traveled to Belgium for medical treatment. The CBI and ED made an extradition request to Belgium, leading to his arrest on April 11 this year In a strong validation for India’s case, a court in Antwerp on Friday cleared the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi to India to be housed in mumbai’s arthur road jail ■ ■ Indian authorities have assured their Belgian counterparts that Choksi would be housed in Barrack 12 at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, with no chance of overcrowding or possibility of solitary confinement Nirav Modi, declared a fugitive economic offender, has been lodged in a London jail since he was held there in 2019 based on India’s request Jan 2018 is when pnb officials realised about the massive fraud 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 Key dates 2025 2026 November 1 to 7 Apr 1, 2026 to Feb 28, 2027 Actual Census-2027 exercise in 2 phases Option for citizens to do self-enumeration November 10 to 30 Pre-test of first phase in select locations in all states and Union territories. First phase includes Houselisting and Housing Census e x p r e ss r e a d TG govt mints money from liquor shop licences Hyderabad: The Telangana Excise department has received overwhelming response to liquor shop licence applications, with 25,000 filed on Friday alone. Officials said over 50,000 applications have been submitted so far for 2,620 licences. The last date for submission is Saturday, and another surge could take the total above 1 lakh. The draw for allotment will be held on October 23, with successful applicants required to pay the first instalment by October 24. Licence fee can be paid in six instalments and will be effective from December 1. Current licences expire in November. Despite the application fee rising from `2 lakh to `3 lakh (nonrefundable), interest remains high. The government expects revenue of over `5,000 crore from applications and licences. The new licence period runs from December 1, 2025, to November 30, 2027. 2027 Phase-2 Phase-1 From April 1, 2026: Includes Houselisting, compiling data on housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household Scheduled to begin on Feb 1, 2027: Population Enumeration, demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other details of every person in each household will be recorded Census system test for first phase from Nov 10 To check for system bugs, identify challenges, refine operations MUKESH RAN J AN @ New Delhi Setting the testing process of Census-2027 in motion, the Centre on Friday said the first phase of the Population Census will be conducted in select areas across states and Union Territories from November 10 to 30. Parallelly, a digital self-enumeration window for citizens will be open from November 1 to 7, a gazette notification issued by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said. The pre-test aims to assess the efficacy of the Census, which will be conducted between April 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027, in two phases. The test is meant to check for bugs in the systems, identify challenges and refine methods before the full-scale Census. Census-2027 will be the first such digital exercise in India. Caste enumeration too will be done for the first time after Independence. During the test phase, all aspects of the exercise — from questions, data collection, training, logistics and mobile application to software performance — will be assessed to rectify procedural/ technical issues. In Phase-1, the Houselisting Operation, data on housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected. In Phase-2, the Population Enumeration (PE), demographic, socio-economic, Self-enumeration from November 1-7 A digital self-enumeration window for citizens will be open from November 1 to 7. It, too, will be part of the pre-test before the actual rollout of the exercise on April 1, 2026, officials said cultural, and other details of every person in each household will be recorded. The PE is scheduled to begin on February 1, officials said. The reference date for the Census is March 1, 2027, for most parts of India, while for Ladakh and snow-bound regions of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it will be October 1, 2026. Over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, along with around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries, will be deployed for the massive data collection exercise. This will be India’s 16th Census since the exercise began and the eighth after Independence. The official Gazette notification of the government’s intent to conduct the Census was published on June 16. The last Census was conducted in 2011. The next one was to done in 2021, but had to be postp oned d ue to t h e C ov i d pandemic. Ex-SC judge to probe Leh riot F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel (left) during the swearing-in ceremony; and Rivaba Jadeja takes her oath of office as a minister in Gandhinagar on Friday | PTI Deputy CM, 19 freshers in new Gujarat ministry D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Gujarat on Friday witnessed a total reset of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s ministerial team ahead of the local body elections, with the elevation Harsh Sanghvi as Deputy Chief Minister in a 26-member ministry that includes 19 freshers. The reshuffle blends caste arithmetic, political muscle and strategic messaging, while dropping several old and Congress-origin ministers. Sanghvi took the oath first, marking his formal elevation as Deputy Chief Minister, a position held by only five others in Gujarat’s political history. His rise is more than ceremonial as it cements his place as a key power centre in the government and reflects the BJP’s calibrated grooming of its next rung of leadership. The new ministry has seven Patidars, eight OBCs, three members of the Scheduled Castes, four Scheduled Tribes, and three women, including Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja. Rivaba’s entry is both symbolic and tactical it blends celebrity pull with electoral arithmetic in Jamnagar. Of the 16 ministers in the THE Union Home Ministry on Friday moved to address a key demand of the protesting Ladakh groups by announcing a judicial inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court judge into the violent clashes of September 24 in Leh, which claimed four lives, including a 1999 Kargil war veteran. The judicial probe, to be headed by Justice B S Chauhan, will investigate the ‘circumstances leading to the serious law and order situation, the police action and the resultant unfortunate deaths of four people’. Retired district and sessions judge Mohan Singh Parihar will function as judicial secretary, while IAS officer Tushar Anand will be the ad- historic Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor sidelined Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, once fiery faces of agitations that shook the BJP, find themselves sidelined within the party. With other Congress defectors also dropped, the BJP has sent a sharp message: the path to power runs through loyalty, not past glory outgoing ministry, only six were retained while 10 others were axed. Amid the smooth transition was a quiet purge, particularly of Congress turncoats. Out of five such ministers in the previous cabinet, only two survived — Kunwarji Bavaliya and Arjun Modhwadia. The rest were shown the door. Of the 25 members of the new council of ministers, nine are of cabinet rank, three MoS with independent charge and 13 MoS. Gujarat has seen only five Deputy Chief Ministers in the past: Chiman Patel and Kantilal Ghiya (1972), Keshubhai Patel (1990), Narhari Amin (1994), and Nitin Patel (2016-21). ministrative secretary . The September 24 clashes between security forces and protesters who were demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union territory, left four civilians dead and 90 injured, escalating a monthslong agitation. The probe is an attempt to restore dialogue with representatives of the ongoing movement, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which suspended talks with MHA’s high-powered committee following the violence. On Friday, authorities reimposed curbs in Leh ahead of Saturday’s two-hour silent march and a blackout called jointly by Leh Apex Body and KDA to push for Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh. tanvi 1st indian woman to confirm medal in 17 years The 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma advances to semifinals of BWF World Junior Championships | P11 All parties support BC bandh today for 42% quota Express News Service DGP warns against unlawful activities @ Hyderabad All major political parties, including the Congress, BRS, BJP, CPI and CPM, have extended their support to the statewide bandh called by the BC Joint Action Committee (BCJAC) on Saturday, demanding 42 per cent reservations for BCs in local body elections. Responding to the call, the Telangana Recognised School Managements’ Association announced a holiday for schools, while Osmania University cancelled all examinations scheduled for the day. The TGSRTC said it would operate bus services as per the police advisory . As many as 135 BC associations and 35 BC organisations have called for the “Bandh for Justice” following a meeting held on Friday . Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha and MRPS founder Manda Krishna Madiga also extended their support to the bandh. BCJAC leaders said that due to the high court’s stay order on 42% BC reserva- local body polls High court asks state, SEC to specify dates Director General of Police (DGP) B Shivadhar Reddy urged all political parties and participants to ensure that the bandh is observed peacefully. He warned of strict legal action against those indulging in unlawful activities under the pretext of bandh. He said that police personnel and Intelligence teams will be closely monitoring the situation throughout the day. tions, the local body election process had come to a standstill. “In the history of India, never has a stay been granted after the issuance of an election notification,” they said. R a j ya S ab h a m e m b e r R Krishnaiah said that 30 BC organisations had filed implead petitions, questioning the stay order, which was granted without hearing the arguments of the petitioners. Asserting that their case was strong, he said Article 243D(6) of the Constitution empowers the state government to determine the percentage of reservations for BCs. Accordingly GO Ms No 9 was is, sued, he added. He also referred to the ninejudge bench judgment in the Mandal Commission case, which held that if population data supports it, the reservaENS @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court has directed the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to inform it when local body elections will be held. A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin issued the direction while hearing a tion percentage can be increased accordingly . BC leaders further pointed out that the apex court lifted the 50 per cent ceiling in case of reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), ruling that it can be relaxed depending on time and circumstances. “If the ceiling can be lifted for EWS candidates from forward castes, why should there be any objection to lifting it for BCs?” they asked, declaring that their agitation would continue until their demand is fulfilled. Meanwhile, several leaders from Left, Dalit-Bahujan, BC and Independent JACs, along with professors and research scholars from Osmania University participated in a bike , rally in suppor t of the bandh. petition filed by Renka Surender of Luxettipet in Mancherial mandal challenging the SEC’s October 9 order suspending an earlier notification for conducting the elections. Appearing for the petitioner, advocate N Venkaiah argued that the SEC had suspended the notification citing pending petitions related to reservations. continued on p4 AIMIM opts out of jubilee hills bypoll, to support ‘good candidate’ Express News Service Congress Jubilee Hills candidate Naveen Yadav meets AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi after filing his nomination for the byelection in Hyderabad on Friday @ Hyderabad AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday announced that his party would not field a candidate in the Jubilee Hills byelection and instead extend support to a “good candidate”. Congress candidate Naveen Yadav met the AIMIM chief after filing his nomination papers for the bypoll. Speaking to reporters on the occasion, Owaisi said it was only a byelection and its outcome would not alter the government. While refraining from naming the candidate his party would support, he clarified that he would not campaign in the bypoll. Dismissing the ‘sentiment card’ being played by the opposition BRS, Owaisi said, “This is a sentiment for development. It is the sentiment of around 3.98 lakh voters, not of a single candidate.” He pointed out that the constituency faced several issues, including poor sewerage lines, inadequate hospitals, graveyard facilities, and bad roads. Alleging that the previous BRS government had done little for the segment during its 10-year rule, Owaisi said the Congress government still had three more years in office to address these concerns. Recalling the BRS’s performance in recent elections, he not- ed that the party secured 37% of votes in the 2023 Assembly polls but only 15% in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections. “The BRS votes were transferred to the BJP, and we will stop the BJP in this bypoll,” Owaisi asserted. It may be recalled that AIMIM candidate Mohammed Rashed Farazuddin had polled around 8,000 votes in the Jubilee Hills Assembly election held in 2023. A w a r d s c o m p e n sa t i o n SC sets up equal opportunity panel to protect trans persons SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY @ New Delhi In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Friday awarded compensation to a transwoman whose appointment as a teacher was terminated by two private schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, respectively, based on her gender identity . A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed the Centre, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat governments and the school in Gujarat to pay `50,000 each to the petitioner for the discrimination she faced. The court delivered the verdict on a writ petition filed by Jane Kaushik, who was dismissed from service on account of her gender identity . The court expressed concern over the discrimination faced by transgenders despite the enactment of a law in 2019, and directed the Centre to come out with an “equal opportunity policy” within three months of a report submitted by an advisory panel. The panel will be headed by Justice Asha Menon, former judge of Delhi High Court. The bench said the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 and its corresponding rules have been “brutishly reduced to dead letters”, and the Centre and the states have exhibited a ‘grossly apathetic’ attitude towards them. “The community continues to face discrimination and marginalisation, with a scarcity of healthcare, economic opportunities and non-inclusive educational policies adding to their struggles,” the bench said in its order. It made various suggestions, including asking the Centre to consider formulating and issuing specific directions to ensure that no transwoman is arrested without the presence of a female officer. It suggested that all establishments, including workplaces, may cultivate an environment that is genderinclusive and conducive to the free expression of identity by transgender persons, without fear or stigma.