dharmapuri l friday l november 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Kashmir Times office raided for ‘spreading secessionist ideals’ 14 cases of ak-series weapons found: SIA A spokesperson said a revolver, 14 empty cases of AK-series weapons, three live AK rounds, four fired bullets, four grenade levers and three pistol rounds were recovered from the office of media house in Jammu. Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times told a news magazine she was ‘surprised, not shocked’ as the print edition shut shop in 2021-22 J&K’s State Investigation Agency raided the office of ‘Kashmir Times’ for allegedly “spreading terrorist and secessionist ideology” BLAST CASE: LENS ON iNDIAN MUJAHIDEEN AIDE ■ ■ Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Thursday sent Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie , Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay and Dr Shaheen Saeed in the car blast case to 10 days of NIA custody | P9 Delhi Police has uncovered a fresh lead pointing to fugitive Indian Mujahideen operative Mirza Shadab Baig, an ex-student of Al-Falah 15 DAYS CUSTODY FOR FOUR PRIME ACCUSED IN BLAST CASE WAS SOUGHT BY NIA 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 Centre rejects TN’s plea to relax paddy moisture norm 1 Going against a two-judge bench’s order, SC says no timelines for Governor or President to act on bills passed by legislature B A N B U S E LV A N @ Chennai Nearly three weeks after three central teams inspected rain-soaked paddy fields across Tamil Nadu, the union government has rejected the state’s request to raise the permissible moisture content in paddy for public procurement from 17% to 22%. The centre, however, has increased the minimum limit allowed for buying disc o l o u re d , b ro ke n , a n d sprouted paddy grains from 5% to 7%. The decision will force farmers to incur additional labour cost in drying paddy crops with 19%-20% moisture content to reach the approved limit of 17% amid persisting wet weather across delta and other districts. Far mers without proper drying infrastructure may be forced to sell their produce at lower rates to private traders. It may be noted that the union government had earlier granted relaxation in moisture norms of up to 19%-20% in 2020-21 and 2022-23 due to high humidity and rainfall. In a recent communication to the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), which procures paddy under the central pool on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has said that the permissible moisture level for paddy for Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2025-26 will remain at 17%.  P7 CM: TN farmers neither got cash aid, nor relief Chennai: In a post on X, CM Stalin said, “Even before the dampness of the PM’s visit to TN has dried, the centre has rejected our plea for relaxation of moisture norms for paddy procurement.” He also pointed out that the farmers whose crops had suffered due to unseasonal rains were neither being given adequate compensation nor being allowed the small relief of a higher moisture limit in procurement | P4 centre says TN’s metro DPRs had mistakes Another judgment shot down 2 No deemed assent to bills on the ground that the Governor/ President failed to act within prescribed timelines 4 Judiciary gets into the picture only after a bill becomes law 5 Limited scope for judicial intervention if Governor does not act on a bill within a reasonable time 6 Governor can reserve bill for consideration of the President even in a second instance, when the bill is represented to him for assent by the assembly in whatever form No timeline for assent to bill by guv, President: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves a ‘gamcha’ after Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM, in Patna | PTI Jr Kushwaha surprise pick in Nitish’s 10th R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna JANATA Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar on Thursday took the oath as Bihar chief minister for the 10th time at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, and several Union ministers and CMs of BJP-ruled states. Nitish was administered the oath by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, along with 26 ministers –14 from the BJP, eight from the JD(U), two from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and one each from Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). Senior BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are among the ministers. The portfolios of the ministers have not been allotted. Thirteen ministers belong to the OBC/EBC categories and five from the Dalit community . Eight ministers are upper castes, including four Rajputs. JD(U)’s Zaman Khan, who had served as a minister in the previous government, is the lone Muslim face. Three women—Lesi Singh, Rama Nishad and Shreyasi Singh—have been included. The new cabinet has 12 new faces. Rashtriya Lok Morcha founder Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash, who did not contest the Assembly elections, is a surprise pick. The maximum number of ministers permissible for the state cabinet, including the chief minister, is 36. Union Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal on Thursday criticised CM Stalin of “politicising” the centre’s decision to reject TN’s request for metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai | P4 A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court were unanimous in their opinion on Thursday said that no timeline can be imposed by courts for a Governor or President to grant assent to any legislation, but added they cannot sit on the proposed bills indefinitely . The ‘opinion of the court’ came on a Presidential reference in May following the verdict of two-judge bench in the Tamil Nadu Governor case, which laid down timelines for the President and the Governor to act on bills. The court also smoked out the concept of deemed assent embedded in a two-judge bench verdict by using its plenary power under Article 142. “Articles 200 and 201 of the Consti- US OKs sale of weapons worth $92.8 million M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi India’s procurement of two types of weapons from the US — Javelin ATG missiles and Excalibur precision guided munitions — worth $92.8 million moved a step closer as the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) formally notified Congress on its sale. While Javelin is a new acquisition, the Indian Army is already using Excaliburs. “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of the Javelin Missile System and related equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress,” notification read. its estimated total cost is $45.7 million. Another approval notification on the sale of Excalibur projectiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $47.1 million was issued. India sought 216 M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles. In 2023, 600 Excalibur projectile rounds were acquired by the Army . S p e c i a l g u e st Don Jr visits Agra, Udaipur up next Star studded wedding N A M I TA B A J PA I & R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Lucknow / Jaipur DONALD Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump’s son, on Thursday visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. A group of 126 special guests from nearly 40 countries accompanied him during the tour of the 17th-century marvel. In view of the high-profile visit, the authorities had tightened security and spruced up the arrangements. According to sources, around 200 police personnel were deployed across key locations in the city and the security detail included officers of ACP and ADC rank. This is Trump Jr’s second visit to India. In February 2018, he had toured New Delhi, Mum- 3 Actions of President/ Governor on a bill cannot be taken to court Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump’s son, visits the Taj Mahal on Thursday bai, Pune and Kolkata. From Agra, Trump Jr will travel to Udaipur in Rajasthan to attend a high-profile wedding. Sources said he will reach Udaipur on Friday evening and will stay there till Monday . Sources said Trump Jr will be staying at The Leela Palace. The multi-day celebrations, from November 21 to 24, are for the wedding of Netra Mantena, daughter of US-based billionaire Rama Raju Mantena, and Vamsi Gadiraju. The main ceremony is on November 23 at the iconic Jag Mandir Palace, set on an island in Lake Pichola. The guest list includes Hollywood stars Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber, who are expected to perform at the event. Internationally acclaimed South African DJ and song writer Black Coffee are also set to perform at the gala wedding tution are framed to allow elasticity . The imposition of a timeline is strictly contrary to the Constitution. The concept of deemed assent presupposes that constitutional authority would place a substitute role for the Governor, it is antithetical to the separation of powers. We have no hesitation in concluding that deemed assent is virtually a takeover of functions of a constitutional authority The concept of . deemed assent is against the spirit of the Constitution and the doctrine of separation of powers,” said the bench. Led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, the Constitution bench included justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar. They said if there is a prolonged or unexplained delay by the Gover- nor, the court can exercise a limited power of judicial review to direct the Governor to decide in a timebound manner, without observing anything on the merits of the bill. The court went on to opine that the discharge of functions by the Governor or President is not justiciable, adding that judicial review can be invoked only when a bill becomes law. Knocking off another prescription of the two-judge bench, the court said the President need not seek judicial review when a bill is reserved by the Governor under Article 200. “If in extraneous consideration, the President wants to seek, it can,” the bench said. It also accepted the Union government’s submission that the Governor need not act as per the aid and advice of Cabinet.  P9 SC’s “opinion” may not affect 2-judge ruling on 10 TN bills T M uru g anan d ham / R S ivakumar @ Chennai The “opinion” provided by the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Reference regarding the powers of Governors and the President regarding assent for bills will not affect the earlier judgment of a two-judge bench of the court that granted “deemed assent” to 10 TN Bills that faced prolonged delays from Governor R N Ravi, at least two senior counsels and a retired judge told TNIE. With TN’s challenge of the interim stay granted by a vacation bench of the Madras HC for nine of these bills from becoming operational coming up for hearing in the SC in December first week, the SC’s opinion assumes significance. It is noteworthy that during the previous hearing in this case, the centre had argued that the SC should wait for the Constitution bench’s opinion on the Presidential Reference. Justice K Chandru, retired judge of the Madras HC, said the opinion provided by the SC in the Presidential reference is only “advisory in nature”.  P7