kannur l tuesday l march 31, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION India’s First fully-digital census to kick off on April 1 The process starts with self-enumeration in Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands from Apr 1 Second phase from February 2027 No decision taken on NPR updation The Census 2027 will be done in two phases—house listing or house census and population enumeration. After a 15-day self-enumeration period, the 30-day house-listing phase will begin on April 16. Across the country, the first phase will be wrapped by October. The population enumeration phase will then be conducted in February 2027 | p9 ■ ■ The self-enumeration process will begin on April 16 in Andhra Pradesh, April 26 in Telangana, June 16 in Kerala, and July 17 in Tamil Nadu. The date for West Bengal is yet to be decided Registrar General Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan (pic-R) said no decision has been taken on National Population Register’s updation 31 lakh Enumerators to participate in the World’s largest census 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 Trump threatens obliteration Open Hormuz or face destruction of electricity generating plants, oil wells, Kharg Island, desal plants, Don tells Iran Rupee breaches 95/$ level, recovers Spain closes its military bases to US Brent crude hits $117 per barrel The rupee breached the 95/USD-mark in intra-day trade on Monday before regaining some lost ground to settle at 94.70 against the US dollar, up 15 paise, after Iran war escalation jolted global markets, fuelling rupee volatility and risk-off sentiment. Spain has closed its airspace to US planes carrying out missions against Iran in addition to denying Washington use of its militray bases for the war. “Neither the bases are authorised, nor Spanish airspace is authorised for Iran war,” Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Oil prices rose as the West Asia crisis escalated on Monday. Brent North Sea crude, the international benchmark, jumped to almost $117 per barrel in Asian trading. It was up 2.3 per cent at $107.71 per barrel in late morning trading in New York Rahul: Modi controls Pinarayi just like Trump controls PM Express News Service @P’Thitta/Kottayam A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-octane election campaign for NDA in Kerala, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday tore into both the PM and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Addressing poll meetings in Pathanamthitta and Kottayam, the senior Congress leader also sought to place the Sabarimala gold theft case on the centre stage, and announced UDF’s welfare plans. The first cabinet meeting of the “forthcoming UDF government” would set the price of rubber at `250 per kg, Rahul said. “This will be the first decision of the new Kerala cabinet. The price will subsequently be increased to `300 per kg, as outlined in the UDF manifesto,” he said. Rahul also revealed that the proposed public health insurance scheme of the UDF, valued at `25 lakh, would be named in honour of former chief minister Oommen Chandy. Criticising the Centre’s foreign policy its alleged , nexus with Adani, and the state government, Rahul said Modi controls Pinarayi just as US President Donald Trump controls Modi. “Despite projecting himself as the protector of temples and Hinduism, Modi did not say anything against the LDF government and leaders who stole gold from Sabarimala temple and replaced it with brass. This is because Modi wants LDF government in Kerala,” he said. “Everybody knows anybody who stands up against Modi is attacked. Why is the CM of Kerala not being attacked? Why is he not interrogated? Why are there no cases against him?” Rahul ● More on P6 asked.  Assembly elections US President Donald Trump said Iran faces a mass destruction of its energy resources unless a deal to end the war is reached “shortly”. Trump wrote on a social media post “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran but bristled that if a deal is not reached and if the strategic Hormuz Strait is not immediately reopened, the US would broaden its offensive by “completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants, oil wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).” Destroying civilian infrastructure such as power and water facilities would be illegal under international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime, experts say. A scrubby island in the Gulf that is roughly one third the size of Manhattan, Kharg Island is the nerve centre of the Iranian oil industry . Later in the evening, Trump said he was negotiating with Iranian parliament speaker Port city hit The strike on Oil Haifa comes refinery as Israel has launched haifa attacks on Iran’s South Pars natural gas field Gaza Strip Jordan Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi cycles through Pampady in Kottayam on Monday as part of UDF’s campaigning | Vishnu Prathap A blaze at the site of a missile strike at the Haifa oil refinery in Israel after it was hit by debris from the interception of a projectile on Monday | X Egypt Downers dampen Left harvest in Upper Kuttanad I P5 E X P R E S S R EAD Retd brigadier on morning walk killed in crossfire Dehradun: A morning walk turned fatal for a retired Army brigadier in Dehradun on Monday after he was caught in a crossfire between occupants of two cars in an incident of road rage. Mukesh Joshi, 74, is the deceased. The occupants of one of the cars were detained. The police are on the lookout for the others | P10 day 31 Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as per Times of Israel. Iran has previously threatened to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure and de- salination plants in its Arab neighbours in the Gulf who host US military bases. Market experts warned that any US ground operation or Draft IT rules give Centre powers to censor user-generated news content RA K ESH K U M AR @ New Delhi who will face the waqf wham? I P4 Syria a g e n c i e s @ Washington, Tel Aviv Key change THE Ministry of Electronics and IT has proposed to make sweeping changes to the digital media oversight framework to monitor and regulate user-generated news and current affairs content on social media. The proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 give the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting statutory powers to order removal of news-related content from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, and other influential social media platforms. Amendments to Part III (Rule 8) of the 2021 IT Rules will bring individuals under the ambit of digital media oversight. Under the proposed rules, news-related posts by ordinary users could come under govt radar Currently, the digital media oversight framework applies to publishers of news content and curated content platforms. The amendments would extend it to individual users and social media influencers with millions of followers. The government said the move is to strengthen social media platforms’ accountability and stop malicious content from going viral. The rules propose that all social media platforms must comply with gove r n m e n t a dv i s o r i e s a n d directions. Non-compliance may cost safe harbour protection (legal provisions that shield platforms from liability for content posted by users). The move comes amid allegations of arbitrary ban and restriction of Facebook pages, YouTube videos, and Insta reels of influencers critical of the government. Digitial rights activists say the proposed amendments would heighten censorship risks. indelible impact Kerala’s ageing electorate set to make their mark again At 92, Nedungadan Ouseph George is unlikely to break a lifelong habit. Ever since he became eligible to vote, he has turned up at the polling booth without fail — a ritual that has spanned decades of Kerala’s political churn. A resident of Gandhi Nagar in the Ernakulam assembly constituency, George still carries the fading ink mark from the 2025 local body polls on his finger — both a reminder and a statement of intent. Despite being eligible for home voting, he Janaki (111 yrs) N O George (92 yrs) politely declined the offer conveyed through the ward’s ASHA worker. His plan: walk to the polling booth on April 9 and vote, just as he always has. Meanwhile, 111-year-old Janaki of Vattakulam house at Elder rolls R a j e s h R a v i @Kochi Age Male Female Total 90-99 17,975 35,968 53,943 100-109 110-119 Total 459 1,042 1,501 19 35 54 18,453 37,045 55,498 No registered third gender voter in these age groups Cherukunnu in Thrissur’s Puthur has opted for home voting for the first time. Her grandson, Surabhi Das, told TNIE that she went to the polling booth in the local body polls in December. A former coir work- 62.91l between 60 & 89 years As per the latest assembly electoral roll, Kerala has 62,91,860 voters aged between 60 and 89 years. They include 13 third gender voters er, Janaki has witnessed active politics and trade union movements firsthand, and her spirit, Das says, remains intact. George and Janaki are among the over 55,000 voters aged 90 and above who figure in the electoral rolls for Kerala’s assembly elections. Their presence underlines a distinctive feature of the state’s demographic profile — a rapidly ageing yet politically engaged population. What is striking is not just the numbers, but the spread within them. As many as 1,501 voters fall in the 100–109 age group, while 54 are between 110 and 119 years old. In an election often dominated by first-time voters and youth outreach campaigns, this segment stands out for its consistency and quiet de● More on P6 termination.  wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the July 2008 commodity boom, when the cost of world benchmark crude Brent hit close to $150 per barrel. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appealed directly to Trump on Monday to find an off-ramp. “Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it,” Sisi said in Cairo. On the ground on Monday, there was no let-up in hostilities. Israel said its air defence batteries responded to “missiles launched from Iran” after earlier announcing it was striking “terror regime military infrastructure across Tehran”. Israel’s fire and rescue services also reported a blaze at an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa. Israel’s military said it had struck the Imam Hossein University in Tehran run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Iran confir med Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza Tangsiri had been killed. In the Gulf, Kuwait reported strikes on a power station and a desalination plant. There was fresh bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday as well as airstrikes in the country’s south, one of which targeted an army checkpoint and killed a soldier. The UAE and Saudi Arabia said they intercepted Iranian P11 missiles and drones.  APEX body dismantled India is now Naxal-free: Shah P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced that the country has become free from Naxalites with their top body and central structure almost completely dismantled. Replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on ‘Efforts to free the country from Left-wing extremism (LWE)’, Shah accused the Congress of not taking any action to end the long spell of violence by the Naxals. The assertion came a day before the deadline he set for the elimination of Naxal violence. Last year, Shah had announced that the LWE would end in the country by March 31, 2026, and a major operation had been organised against the Naxals. In his 90-minute speech, Shah targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying he was seen multiple times in public with sympathisers of Naxals and even posted videos “sympathetic” to the Maoists from his social media handle. “When top Naxal commander Hidma was killed, slogans were raised at India Gate that if one Hidma is killed, Hidma will arise from every house. A video of this was tweeted by Rahul Gandhi,” said Shah. The home minister alleged that former prime minister Home Minister Amit Shah replying to the debate on Naxalite violence Indira Gandhi had accepted the support of the Naxals in an election in the 1970s in then undivided Andhra Pradesh and remained “influenced” by the Maoist ideology “Experts say without . the support of those in power, the Red Corridor could not have been created,” he said, referring to the region affected by Naxalism across Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Issuing a stern warning, Shah said the Modi government will not tolerate violence and won’t spare anyone who picks up arms. “The biggest achievement of the Modi government is a Naxalfree India,” he said.