chennai l tuesday l march 31, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late 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 | p11 ■ ■ 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 power plants, oil wells, desal plants, Don tells Iran; war crime, warn experts Seeman CM aspirants Stalin, Vijay and Seeman file papers on Day 1 Ex p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai on the first day of filing of nominations for the Assembly elections on Monday, three CM aspirants – incumbent Chief Minister MK Stalin, Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman, and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay – and around 570 candidates from various political parties filed their papers across Tamil Nadu. After filing his papers with the Returning Officer of Kolathur Assembly constituency Stalin expressed full confidence that , people would hand him a spectacular victory for the fourth time in a row in the segment, and the DMK alliance will win more than 200 seats. He was accompanied by HR and CE Minister PK Sekarbabu and a few senior DMK functionaries. TVK president Vijay, who is contesting in Perambur and Tiruchy East constituencies, filed his papers for the Perambur seat. Vijay later addressed the voters of the constituency from his open-top campaign vehicle, and appealed to the people to give an opportunity to TVK and vote for the party’s whistle symbol on April 23. He later campaigned in Stalin’s Kolathur constituency, reiterating his allegation that the DMK was an evil force. In Devakottai, Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman filed his papers for contesting in the Karaikudi Assembly segment. In the past elections, AIADMK candidates would file their nominations simultaneously on the same day around the same time that was usually considered astrologically auspicious. However, party sources said that it was left to the candidates’ convenience this time, since many wanted to file nominations according to their personal horoscopes. | P9 TVK campaign cancelled Citing lack of adequate arrangements to ensure the safety of party president Vijay and general public, TVK cancelled the actor-politician’s street-corner campaign in Villivakkam BJP list may be out today BJP is likely to release candidates’ list on Tuesday. While Tamilisai Soundararajan may be fielded from Mylapore, Vanathi Srinivasan and L Murugan may get Coimbatore North and Avinashi seats, respectively Assembly elections sowmiya to contest from d’puri I P4 Manian eyes hat-trick in Vedaranyam I P5 Vijay declares assets worth `641 cr, Jose Martin `609 cr Ex p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai among the candidates who had filed their nominations so far in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay has emerged the richest candidate with assets worth `640.5 crore. Chief Minister MK Stalin, who filed his nomination from Kolathur on Monday, has assets worth `9.70 crore. As per the poll affidavit filed by Vijay, his properties include `220.15 crore of immoveable assets and `420.10 crore of moveable assets, including high-end cars like BMWs and Toyota Lexus, and bank deposits of `213 crore in multiple accounts. The 52-year-old ‘Jananayagan’ star has agricultural land in Kodaikanal and commercial and residential properties across Chennai. He has also provided `3 crore to TVK General Secretary N Anand. A moped worth `67,400 is also part of his assets. Jose Charles Martin of the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi , son of Lottery King Martin, who is making his electoral debut from Kamaraj Nagar in Puducherry, is the second richest candidate with assets worth `609 crore.  | More on P5 Rupee breaches 95/$ level, recovers Spain closes its airspace for US military Crude hits $117 per barrel The rupee breached the 95/USD-mark in intra-day trade on Monday before settling at 94.70. The BSE Sensex tumbled 1,635.67 points, or 2.22 per cent, to settle at 71,947.55. This month alone, the benchmark has crashed 11.48 per cent, ever since the West Asia conflict began Spain closed its airspace to US planes involved in the attacks on Iran in addition to denying its military bases for the war. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s March 3 stance to oppose the war had infuriated the US, with Trump threatening to cut trade ties 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. Crude oil prices in India rose by `159 to `9,554 per barrel in futures trade on Monday TN victim’s kin seek govt help to bring back body a g e n c i e s @ Washington, Tel Aviv US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Iran faces mass destruction of its energy resources unless a deal to end the war is reached “shortly”. Trump ranted on social media that “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran, adding 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, Trump revealed . he was negotiating with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as per The Times of Israel. In a significant development, the Israeli military indicated it has been ordered by the political leadership to shift to hitting economic targets in Iran, The Times of Israel revealed. Israel’s defence establishment added that it had entered the “completion phase” of the war. It Port city hit Site of a Oil building and refinery a fuel tanker afire at Haifa haifa oil refinery after missile debris impact Syria C Joseph Vijay Ex p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Ramanathapuram/ New Delhi Gaza Strip Jordan mk stalin 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 day 31 meant that it has largely achieved the objectives of degrading Iran’s military capabilities and creating conditions for the regime to fall. Iran has previously threatened to retaliate by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants in its Arab neighbours in the Gulf who host US military bases. Market experts warned that any US ground operation or 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, Draft rules empower I&B ministry to censor user-generated news content R A K ES H K U M A R @ New Delhi 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 draft 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. Currently, the digital media oversight framework applies to publishers of news content and curated content platforms. The amendments would extend it to individual users, professional content creators, and social Key change Amendments to Part III (Rule 8) of the 2021 IT Rules will bring individuals under the ambit of digital media oversight. Earlier, Part III applied to recognised digital news publishers. Under the proposed rules, news-related posts by ordinary users could come under govt radar media influencers with millions of followers. According to the government, the move is to strengthen social media platforms’ accountability and stop malicious content from going viral. Under the proposed rules, all social media platforms must comply with government advisories and directions, including orders to remove content deemed harmful or misleading. Non-compliance may cost safe harbour protection (legal provisions that shield platforms from liability for content posted by users). The contentious move comes amid allegations of arbitrary ban and restriction of Facebook pages, YouTube videos, and Insta reels of influencers who are critical of the government. Digitial rights activists say the proposed amendments would heighten censorship risks, particularly around political speech, including satire and parody . The proposals effectively bring user-generated commentary on political developments within the ambit of regulation, allowing the government to take down opinion and explanatory content it doesn’t like. The government will accept feedback to the draft rules till April 14. Rtd brigadier hit by stray bullet during Dehradun road rage dies N a r e n d r a S e t h i @ Dehradun A retired Army Brigadier on a morning walk died after being caught in the crossfire of a violent road rage incident in Dehradun on Monday morning. The road rage incident began around 6.50 am on Mussoorie Road, when a Delhi-registered Toyota For tuner overtook a Mahindra Scorpio N. Angered by the manoeuvre, the driver of the Scorpio N began chasing the Fortuner. In an attempt to force it to stop, the occupants of Scorpio N opened fire, targeting the Toyota SUV’s wheels. Those in the Fortuner were also armed and retaliated. Brigadier (Retd) Mukesh Joshi, 74, was on his routine morning walk in the area at the time, and was hit by a stray bullet. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died during treatment. During the incident, the driver of the Fortuner lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a tree. The occupants of the Scorpio N then assaulted the two passengers inside the Fortuner and vandalised the vehicle before fleeing. “We have launched a massive manhunt to trace the as- Officials at the spot where a retired Army brigadier was killed amid a road rage incident in Dehradun; inset Brigadier (Retd) Mukesh Joshi | PTI sailants. Police teams are scouring CCTV footage and have set up barricades across the district to catch the suspects. We will ensure they are arrested soon,” Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Parmendra Dobhal said. The officer’s death sparked public outrage with demands being made for swift justice and stricter enforcement of traffic laws. “He was a distinguished officer who served the nation, only to lose his life to the lawlessness of armed thugs on our streets,” Anita Shastri, a resident of nearby Johdi village, said. 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.  P13 A day after Santhana Selvam, a Tamil working in a Kuwait firm, was killed in Iranian attack on a power and water desalination facility in the Gulf country his family on Monday , sought the state government’s help to bring the body back to India. With the death of the 36-year-old from Ramanathapuram, the total number of Indian fatalities in the West Asia conflict has gone up to eight since the hostilities began on February 28. A cco rd i n g to a petition submitted by Selvam’s family members to Ramanathapuram Collector, Santhana Selvam had been working in Kuwait for more than a decade at Al Dhow Engineering General Trading & Contracting Company. The man from Anikurunthan village at Mudukulathur block was the sole breadwinner of his family and is survived by his wife and two children.  P9 APEX body dismantled India is now Naxal-free: Shah Pr 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 Indira Gandhi had accepted Home minister Amit Shah replying to the debate on Naxalite violence 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. Outstanding speech by the Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah Ji, filled with important facts, historical context and the efforts of our Government in the last decade — Narendra Modi, PM