visakhapatnam 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 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 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- Nod to Pak plane carrying aid to SL to overfly India J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Monday gave a Pakistani aircraft flying humanitarian aid for the cyclone victims in Sri Lanka, permission to use its airspace. According to sources, an official request was submitted by Pakistan to India around 1 pm on Monday seeking permission to fly over Indian airspace the same day Since the request per. tained to humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka, sources said the government “expeditiously cleared the request”. It was intimated to Pakistan at 5.30 pm through official channels. The gesture was despite Pakistan banning Indian airlines from using its airspace. It was considered purely on humanitarian grounds, sources said. express read Nandi Awards will be revived: Tourism Min Vijayawada: AP Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh said at the CII Big Picture Summit in Mumbai on Monday that the coalition government will revive the Nandi Awards with renewed prestige | P4 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 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. `50,763 cr spent on pensions alone in 18 months, says CM E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Eluru Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said that the coalition government has spent `50,763 crore on pensions alone in a span of 18 months, a scale unmatched anywhere else in the country . He noted that pensions are reaching more than 63 lakh beneficiaries every month, with 59 per cent of them being women. said that the people had given unprecedented support to the coalition government’s call to rebuild a damaged state, entrusting it with responsibility by electing its candidates in 164 constituencies. Speaking at the Praja Vedika programme in Gopinathapatnam village of Unguturu Assembly constituency on Monday, he noted that the much discussed ‘Super Six’ welfare schemes, once ridiculed by critics, had now become a ‘super hit’ through public backing. Recalling the legacy of NT Rama Rao, Naidu added, “While previous governments raised pensions only by `250, we im- 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 telecom ministry is aimed at pro, tecting 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. 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. AP weathers GST 2.0 impact with 5.8% increase in collections till Nov E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu interacts with beneficiaries of ‘NTR Bharosa’ pension at Gopinathapatnam in Unguturu constituency of Eluru district on Monday | Express plemented a one time increase to `4,000 per month.” Naidu stressed that welfare was being extended to all eligible sections. “Mothers are receiving `15,000 per child under Talliki Vandanam, and women have already availed 25 crore free bus journeys under Stree Shakti,” he said. On education, Naidu said the coalition government had filled 16,347 teacher posts through a mega DSC recruitment drive, addressing shortages that had persisted for years. He outlined a five point plan aimed at ensuring farmers do not incur losses, focusing on water security, demand based crops, agritech adoption, food processing, and government P4 support.  The Government of Andhra Pradesh has managed to withstand the impact of the GST 2.0 reforms by recording a 5.80% increase in net GST collections up to November 2025. In a release issued on Monday, Chief Commissioner of State Tax Babu A said that this growth is due to heightened economic activity in the State during 2025, along with the discipline instilled in taxpayers through strict compliance and enforcement measures. However, the State recorded moderate GST collections in November 2025, influenced by GST 2.0 rate reductions on Automobiles, Cement, FMCG, Consumer Electronics, Dairy Products, and others, effective from September 22, 2025, along with the withdrawal of GST on life/medical insurance and Compensation Cess on most items except tobacco products. Growth attributed to disciplined approach Chief Commissioner of State Tax Babu A said the growth is due to heightened economic activity in AP during 2025, along with the discipline instilled in taxpayers through strict compliance November 2025 collections relate to business transactions from October 2025. Despite sector-wide declines,except in Profession Tax, compliance measures and volume g rowth resulting from lower rates cushioned the impact, enabling total revenue to reach 74% of the target. Net GST collections in November 2025 stood at `2,697 crore, reflecting a 4.60% YoY decline due to rate cuts. Total Commercial Taxes revenue, including other Acts, amounted to `4,124 crore, showing a 3.17% YoY decline. These figures highlight revenue resilience driven by enforcement during reform transitions. The fall in SGST (`1,109.17 crore compared to `1,197.14 crore in November 2024, a 7.35% YoY decline) results from GST 2.0 rate reductions on automobiles, cement, FMCG, consumer electronics, and dairy products. While volumes increased, lower rates reduced overall P4 yields.  ACB Court closes liquor case filed against ED stirs Pinarayi’s masala bond curry further Naidu after CID probe finds no evidence Re-denominated bond E X P R E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ T’Puram P h a n i n d r a Pa pa s a n i @ Vijayawada The ACB Court in Vijayawada on Monday closed the case filed against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, which alleged irregularities in granting permissions to certain distilleries, purportedly causing a loss of about `1,300 crore per year to the State exchequer. According to sources, the case was closed after Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (APCID) officials informed the court that their investigation had been completed and there was no necessity for fur ther prosecution. Subsequently, the CID requested the Excise Commissioner to submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for closing the case. The NOC was issued and produced before the court. After examining both the submissions and responses, the ACB Court formally closed the case, granting relief to Naidu and bringing the matter to an end. The case dates back to October 28, 2023, when CID Mangalagiri police registered an FIR under Crime No. 18/2023, based on a complaint lodged by D. Vasudeva Reddy, former Commissioner of Distilleries and Breweries and Managing Director of the Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation. In the FIR, IAS officer I S Naresh was named as the prime accused, former minister and TDP senior leader Kollu Ravindra as the second accused, and Naidu as the third P4 accused.  THE Enforcement Directorate has served a show cause notice to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 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 state 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 `466 crore worth of masala bond proceeds 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.