tirupati l wednesday l october 28, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Israel logs high voter turnout as Netanyahu faces tough fight Nearly 66 per cent voters cast their ballots by 6 pm (9.30 pm IST) in Israel’s crucial general elections on Tuesday, the highest since 1973 polls bibi falls back to tested playbook of 2015 several parties allege irregularities Surveys predicted a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. Locked in a tight race, Netanyahu made a desperate plea to right-wing voters to “wake up” and go vote for his Likud party to avoid formation of a ‘government of Arab parties’, in a repeat of his tested playbook of 2015 ■ ■ Several parties, including Eisenkot’s Yashar and Bennett’s B’Yachad, alleged irregularities, including missing or defaced ballot slips and suspected attempts to interfere with voting | P9 Arab citizens, who make up about 21 per cent of Israel’s population, could play a significant role in the post-election arithmetic Nov 4 is when the results will be announced 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 New face-off brewing on CEC mock impeachment Railway Minister reviews emergency preparedness No police permission but Oppn to go ahead with event on Friday P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi the confrontation between the INDIA bloc and the government escalated on Tuesday with the , Congress asserting that the Opposition would go ahead with its proposed mock “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 30, despite the Delhi Police denying permission for the event at two venues. The party alleged permission was first denied for government-owned Hotel Ashok, where the event was originally planned, and subsequently for Ramlila Maidan. The proposed event comes ahead of the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged ‘vote theft’ and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the alliance had sought to hold the event at Ramlila Maidan after permission was denied for Hotel Ashok. However, police Kerala Cong stopped preparations at apologises the ground despite the organisers having the requiThe Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee s i t e p e r m i s s i o n s, h e (KPCC) has tendered alleged. an unconditional “The INDIA bloc had apology to Chief booked Ramlila Maidan Justice of India from October 25 to NovemSurya Kant for a ber 3. So there is no reason disrespectful post on to deny us permission to its official X account. hold our event there on KPCC said it was October 30,” he said. posted without Asserting that the Oppoauthorisation sition would continue its and the person campaign for Kumar’s reresponsible moval, Venugopal said: “If for the post they stop us here, we will has been go to Amit Shah’s house, removed PM Modi’s house, and stage a massive dharna there.” Contesting the Congress’ claims that authorities were stalling its programme, police sources said the Congress had not submitted a separate request for permission to hold the ‘public impeachment’ on October 30. The party had sought permission only for the November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan, they said. Speaking to the media, police sources said that the permission for Ashoka Hotel rested with the hotel as the premises were privately owned. They also clarified that it has not withdrawn permission for the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan, saying a no-objection certificate has been granted from the law-and-order perspective. We know everything, will examine all SIR allegations, says SC S UCHITRA K ALYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi THE Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that all its decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were unanimously approved by the full poll panel, rejecting allegations that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ignored the opinions of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. In its affidavit, the ECI rejected claims that Form 6, the statutory form used for voter registration, had been amended. It clarified that the decFresh plea on laration required under Bihar SIR the SIR is a separate document. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought The ECI, however, adresponse of the mitted that the way the Election Commission declaration was displayed on a fresh plea on its online platform may by TMC’s Rajya have created the impresSabha MP Dola sion that For m 6 was Sen alleging that made. It said the declarachanges were made tion had been merged into to Form 6 during the the online Form 6 page so Special Intensive that applicants would need Revision (SIR) only one OTP and one eof electoral sign instead of two. rolls in Bihar The poll panel filed its without the 248-page response to a top court’s batch of petitions against approval the ECI’s decisions on SIR, filed on Monday evening. The petitioners, including opposition parties, alleged SIR was being carried out in a hurried manner, risking mass deletion of voters. They sought the court’s direction to put on hold the exercise and to frame guidelines. The CJI said the court is cognizant of the issues raised and would consider all aspects. “We know everything. We will examine.” Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for lead petitioner Rakesh Kumar Singh, urged SC to issue directions to preserve the ECI’s file notings and internal communications to ascertain whether decisions were taken unanimously . The bench asked the petitioners to file a comprehensive rejoinder within 10 days and listed the matter on November 17. The severely damaged Kakinada-Uppada Beach Road after being battered by high-tides | express Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reviewed emergency preparedness across South Coast Railway (SCoR) and East Coast Railway (ECoR) ahead of Cyclone Arnab. Around 600 km of railway track across vulnerable sections, including those under Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam divisions, is being closely monitored to ensure passenger safety, and enable the swift restoration of services in the event of disruptions Cyclone Arnab may Protecting every make landfall near life is our foremost Yanam by forenoon priority, asserts CM Us h a P e r i @ Visakhapatnam S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab, which has already begun bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and rough sea conditions to parts of the Andhra Pradesh coast, is expected to make landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Ya n a m , b y We d n e s d a y forenoon. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “Very Severe Cyclonic Storm “Arnab” is interacting with the land surface, and the outer spiral band has entered into the land. Due to faster movement, the landfall of cyclone is expected early It is likely to make land. fall during early hours between 2 to 4 am.” The IMD has warned of extremely heavy rainfall and destructive winds, with maximum sustained speeds of 125-135 kmph and gusts up to 150 kmph, as the cyclone approaches the coast. The system was centred over the west-central Bay of Bengal at 2.30 pm on Tuesday around , 140 km southeast of Kakinada, 170 km south of Visakhapatnam, 230 km east of Machilipatnam and 300 km east-north- Stating that protecting every life is the foremost priority of the government during Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged people to remain alert, and strictly follow the local advisories. Addressing a press conference at his Camp Office in Undavalli on Tuesday Naidu said the , government machinery was fully prepared to mitigate the impact of the cyclone and prevent loss of life and property . Despite being engaged in election-related work, the Chief Minister has been reviewing the cyclone preparedness of official machinery every hour with district collectors. Cyclone Arnab has been placed in the red category, but people need not panic. The cyclone is likely to affect the region from Srikakulam to Bapatla. Arnab is likely to cross the coast near Yanam, he explained. Rainfall began in North Andhra this morning, and coastal areas are likely to receive rain tonight and tomorrow as well. Konaseema, Eluru, West Godavari, Manyam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Kakinada districts are likely to face a greater impact of cyclone, with extremely heavy rainfall expected in some places, he said. Rainfall of up to 30 cm is likely in Srikakulam, 28 cm in West Godavari and 23 cm in Visakhapatnam. Several areas are likely to receive more than 10 cm of rainfall. Seawater may enter low-lying areas along the coast. Residents of coastal villages are being urged to move to cyclone shelters, Naidu said.  P4 Gusty winds & rough sea conditions witnessed in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday | G Satyanarayana east of Bapatla. It had moved west-northwestwards at 18 kmph during the preceding six hours, according to the IMD’s National Bulletin. The cyclone is likely to continue moving westnorthwestwards for the next few hours before tur ning nor thwestwards and crossing the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to the south of Yanam. Rainfall and strong winds have already affected several coastal areas. Rough sea conditions were witnessed along the Visakhapatnam coast, while the system has also begun affecting essential services. P4 Technology is being used to assess the likely impact of Cyclone Arnab accurately to take effective steps to mitigate the loss of life and property N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister 84K people shifted As many as 84,396 people have been shifted to 290 cyclone shelters. More than 30,000 fishing boats have been brought back from the sea SC refuses to postpone Pakistan invited to first civilisational MPTC & ZPTC elections dialogue of SCO from Nov 20 in Delhi 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 Tuesday rejected YSRCP’s plea to postpone the MPTC and ZPTC elections, while hearing a petition related to Andhra Pradesh local body elections. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, refused to defer the MPTC and ZPTC elections, and said polls must be held as per schedule. Senior counsel appearing for the YSRCP argued that the ruling alliance was misusing the State machinery, police were preventing YSRCP candidates from filing nominations, and that there was a need for level playing field, seeking defer- ment of local body polls by at least three weeks. The bench rejected the plea, saying, “Elections once notified cannot be postponed on mere apprehensions and political allegations. It is for the State Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls. We trust the SEC will discharge its duty .” The SEC submitted that notification has been issued, nominations have started, and it is too late to postpone polls. It said security arrangements are in place, and observers have been appointed. The State government also assured the court that law and order will be maintained, and that strict action will be taken against anyone indulging in violence. j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi INDIA will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi between November 20 and November 22, with Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, among those invited to attend, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday . Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the forum, which will bring together representatives from more than 25 countries at Purana Quila, a 16th-century fort in the national capital. The Ministry of Culture will partner with the Ministry of External Affairs in organising the event. The initiative was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and subsequently adopted by the grouping. Culture ministers from all 10 member states, including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Belarus, have been invited, along with representatives from observer and dialogue partner countries, sources said. Pakistan is yet to confirm who will attend the event from its side. If Khichi attends, it would mark the first visit by a Pakistani minister to India since the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in 2023 which was attended by Bilawal Bhutto. Despite strained bilateral relations, India has continued to participate in SCO engagements involving Pakistan. In September 2026, India sent SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad for a meeting ahead of Pakistan’s presidency of the grouping. the sharma show Abhishek Sharma celebrates his 35-ball ton, the joint-second fastest T20I hundred by an Indian. He scored a 38-ball 113 (9X4, 11X6) as visitors chased down 199 in 13.2 overs against New Zealand. India secured the 5-match series 3-0 on Tuesday | bcci SC notice to govt as digital publishers argue data law will force newsrooms to close down S UCHITRA K ALYAN M OHANTY @New Delhi Newsrooms will shut down if journalists are forced to seek permission before reporting on a person, the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while challenging the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and DPDP Rules. The court, which refused to stay the Act, issued notice to the Centre on the plea that contends the law infringes on press freedom and right to information. Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for DNPA, informed the SC that this was the first comprehensive challenge of the law by ‘legacy’ media. The DNPA comprises 21 media outlets, including NDTV Net, work 18 and TNIE. “If I am left to the mercy of the data principal on whether he or she will give consent, the Act endangers sources of journalists, says petition The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA)’s petition contends that the law trampled on investigative work of journalists and endangered journalists’ sources. Earlier drafts of the law carved out an exemption for journalists. However, as the final legislation has not exempted media outlets, the law infringes on press freedom, the publishers said. The DPDP Act aims to protect digital data of users, raising compliance requirements for platforms like Meta and Google concept of news will be gone... News has to be new. What’s the point if I have to ask for permission and consent? Please stay the impugned provisions... how can we ask for your permission before reporting on you. We are regulated. The pro- visions will shut down the newsroom,” Divan contended. “We will never pass an exparte order without hearing the other side. You have to tell us how you will be regulating yourself,” said a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. “You are the domain experts. You are the best person to suggest to the Union and us how you will ensure there’s no misuse,” the CJI said, clarifying that there had to be balance to ensure people’s rights are not abused. “If there’s something inaccurate, we must face consequences... We are regulated by Press Council etc,” Divan submitted. DNPA has separately challenged the amendment, via the DPDP Act, of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act by creating an exemption for “personal information”. The SC issued notice to the Union law and electronics and information technology ministries and listed the matter for November 17.