The Editorial Page: Bihar has got tall promises, it needs a credible development strategy 10 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2025 JOURNAlISM of COURAgE KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A Happening today AfTER pUNJAB pROTESTS MOVE TO INCLUDE UT IN ARTICLE 240 Centre’s rethink on Chandigarh Bill: No final decision taken lJUSTICE SURyA KANT will take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. He will succeed Justice B R Gavai, who demitted ofice on Sunday. l TURKISH pRESIDENT RecepTayyip Erdogan will have a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine and resumption of the Black Sea deal for passage of grains. Proposal under consideration, no intention to bring Bill in winter session: MHA lpUNJAB ASSEMBLy will hold a special session in Sri Anandpur Sahib, the first time it meets outside Chandigarh. It is being held to honour the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur on his 350th martyrdom anniversary. l SUpREME COURT is scheduled to hear a plea filed by Sonam Wangchuk's wife which termed his detention under the NSA as illegal and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANExpRESS.COM Jatin Anand New Delhi, November 23 Farewell, Fighter Wing Commander Afshan Akhtar, wife of Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who was killed in a Tejas crash at the Dubai Airshow, with their 7-year-old daughter Aariya as his remains are brought to his ancestral home in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, Sunday. A US F-16 team cancelled its final performance at the air show ‘out of respect for the pilot, his colleagues and family’. ANI REPORT, PAGE 7 S.I.R. Of ELECTORAL ROLLS UP moves against BLOs: Over 60 FIRs in Noida, 2 suspended in Bahraich Saman Husain & Manish Sahu Noida, Lucknow, November 23 THENOIDAadministrationhas registered FIRs against over 60 booth-level officers (BLOs) and seven supervisors across three policestationsforallegednegligenceanddisobedienceduring the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, two BLOs have been suspended for alleged negligence and a third has been booked based on a BJP leader’s complaint. In Noida, the action was taken under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. On the orders of DistrictMagistrateMedhaRupam, who is also the District Election Officer of Noida, the Sub-District Magistrates of three Noida assembly segments lodged FIRs naming the BLOs who have allegedly shown a lack of compliance. The one-month enumeration phase for the SIR phaseII, ongoing in nine states and threeUnionTerritories,hasput BLOs in charge of distribution and collection, with a December 4 deadline. Unlike the Bihar exercise, the current phase places the onus on the BLOs to match the elector details on the forms with the old electoralrollsofelectorsortheir parents during the enumeration phase itself. According to the Nodia administration, despite repeated instructions, warnings and notices, several BLOs “did not report to their assigned areas” and “failed to adhere to orders issued by senior officials”. Four FIRs have been registered.TwoareinDadri,naming 18 officials: 12 anganwadi workers and government school teachers in one, and six »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 KHAMBATA SAID ‘COUp’ TALK ABSURD, BUT BATTLE SIMMERS Tata director admits: Breaking consensus got us unwelcome publicity, govt’s attention Tension persists as September 11 meeting also seen to have cost Trusts a seat on Tata Sons board George Mathew Mumbai, November 23 DESPITE THE exit of Mehli Mistry from Tata Trusts, there is still pain and rancour within the organisation over the manner in which a group of trustees led by Mistry blocked the nomination of Vijay Singh to the board of Tata Sons at the September 11 meeting. Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Responding to a recent letter from Darius Khambata, who is a senior lawyer and trustee on the boards of Sir RatanTataTrustandSirDorabji ExPRESS exclusive Tata Trust, a senior Tata Group director said the September 11 meeting was “botched” and triggered a series of developments that went against the Trusts’ interests. “I don’t know if there was a coup or not, but whatever happenedwascertainlybotched.It resulted in the loss of a Trusts seatontheTataSonsboard,the attentionoftheGovernmentof India,andagreatdealofunwelcomepublicity,”theTataGroup director said in a written re- sponse to The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity. In his November 10 letter to TataTrustsChairmanNoelTata and other trustees, Khambata said,“Wefeltabsolutelynothing againstVijay(Singh),andweregretted that he was not present at the meeting so that we could explainourpositiontohimface toface.”Singh,whoretiredasIndia’s Defence Secretary, had joinedTataTrustsin2018onthe invitation of Ratan Tata. While Ratan Tata always stood for consensus on appointments and nominations, especially in Tata Trusts, a bloc of four trustees led by Mistry A DAY after a Bill to include ChandigarhinArticle240ofthe Constitution,whichempowers the President to make regulations for the Union Territory andlegislatedirectly,figuredin a tentative list of Lok Sabha business for the winter session next month and led to an uproar in Punjab, the Centre said Sunday the proposal was “still underconsideration”andithad “no intention of introducing any Bill to this effect” in the upcoming session of Parliament. The Constitution (131st Amendment)Bill2025,seeking to “include the Union Territory of Chandigarh in Article 240 of the Constitution of India, in alignment with other Union Territories without legislatures —namely,AndamanandNicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Puducherry(whenitsLegislativeAssembly is dissolved or suspended)”, was mentioned in »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Woman among two held for From Tilak’s arrest to dreaded dons: Curtains to fall on Mumbai landmark murder of CA in Kolkata hotel Mumbai, November 23 FROM BAL Gangadhar Tilak’s arrestbythethenBritishgovernmenttotheinterrogationofPakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, underworlddonsChhotaRajan, ArunGawliandAbuSalem,and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt — the iconic 117-year-old Crime Branch building, inside the Mumbai Police HQ premises, hasbeenthestageforseveralkey episodesinthecountry’shistory. »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 Tanusree Bose Kolkata, November 23 The building inside the Mumbai Police HQ premises. GANESH SHIRSEKAR A DELIVERY agent and a woman, both in their 20s, have been arrested in connection with the death of a Chartered Accountant, whose naked body was found with legs tied, in a hotel room in south Kolkata’s Kasba area on Saturday afternoon. Police on Sunday said they haveidentifiedthetwoarrested as Dhruvo Mitra, a delivery agent from Nadia, and Kamal Saha,aresidentofBarrackpore. Accordingtopolice,Dhruvo Mitra and Kamal Saha were seen in the CCTV footage of the hotelenteringCAAdarshLosalalka’s hotel room at 9 pm on Friday and leaving his room, as well as the hotel, after five and Chandigarh an emotional issue for Punjabis, says Jakhar Raakhi Jagga Ludhiana, November 23 THECENTRE’Sstatementthat the proposal on inclusion of ChandigarhinArticle240ofthe Constitution was “still under consideration” and it had “no intention of introducing any Bill to this effect” in the up- a half hours at 2.30 am. Losalalka’s body was found the next day, on Saturday afternoon. SourcessaidLosalalka,who lived in a rented flat in Kolkata with friends, had booked two rooms in the hotel. He checked into one of the booked rooms on Friday at 8.30 pm. At the same time, Dhruvo and Kamal were seen checking in at the hotel and entering another room, which was also booked by Losalalka. Later, around 9 pm, Dhruvo and Kamal were seenenteringLosalalka’sroom. »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 coming session of Parliament came after the Punjab unit of theBJPtoovoicedconcernover the move which had all other parties in the state protesting. It is learnt that Punjab BJP presidentSunilJakharspoketo Union Home Minister Amit Shah late Saturday. State BJP general secretary Anil Sarin said, “On Sunday, the core committee of the Punjab BJP held a virtual meeting and conveyedtheiroppositiontothe MHAafterwhichtheMinistryissued a clarification. We stand fully committed to Punjab’s interests and communicated our »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 After key gains at COP, India tells developed countries: We won’t fill in for your failures Amitabh Sinha »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 CA, woman met through a dating app, cops probe delivery agent’s link to her BJP’s Punjab unit too pushed back, told MHA it opposed move New Delhi, November 23 117-yR-OLD CRIME BRANCH BUILDING TO BE RAzED THIS WEEK Manish Kumar pathak Since 1984, Punjab’s Governor has been the UT’s Administrator. FILE INAdemonstrationofthenewfound assertiveness of the developing countries after their securing a reasonably satisfactory outcome at the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, India told the developed nations that their agenda on climate change cannot be imposed on the rest of the world. It warned that attempts to “overturn the architecture of the Paris Agreement” will not be allowed to succeed. Speaking on behalf of Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), a negotiating group that also includes China and Saudi Arabia, India underlined the long-held position of the developing countries on climateaction—thatreductionof greenhouse gas emissions was primarily the responsibility of the developed nations and the burden could not be shifted to the developing countries be- E. ExPlAINED Consistent stand In the last few years, India has consistently taken the position that development imperatives cannot be compromised for climate action. In fact, it has argued that development was the best defence against climate change. It has also made the case for prioritising adaptation in developing countries. cause of their own failures. India also reminded the developed countries that along with cutting down emissions, they were legally obligated to provide finance and technology to developing countries. It said that for developing countries, adaptation, and not »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2 l SENURAN MUTHUSAMY SCORES HIS FIRST TEST HUNDRED, TAKES SOUTH AFRICA TO STRONG POSITION AGAINST INDIA IN THE SECOND TEST South African mom races home to watch her ‘freedom baby’ make history in India Lalith Kalidas gone on a business trip. “I watched him bat till stumps yesterday, and it was around SHE CALLS him “freedom 2.30 am India time when I was baby” because he was born in on the flight out from Ghana,” 1994, the year apartheid ended says Vani, speaking to The IninSouthAfrica.AndonSunday, dian Express. minutesafterhestrodetoalandTouching down in Durban, mark in the land of her fore- her nerves were a mess — in fathers, Vani Moodley changed contrast her “obedient and maherWhatsAppprofile ture” son, who was a PAGE 1 picture to show her picture of serenity as he studiously son,SenuranMuthusamy, celebrating. pushed South Africa When Senuran was ap- to a strong position in the secproaching his hundred on the ond Test of the two-match second day of the India-South series. His innings of 109 from Africa match at Guwahati — 206ballshelpedhisteam reach the first ever Test at the venue 489 in the first innings after — Vani was travelling to Dur- being 201 for five at one stage. ban from Ghana where she had “I was frantically asking them Guwahati, November 23 anchor tochangetheTVchannelinthe lounge,” says Vani. Shewasstillinaraceagainst time when her son hit India’s premier wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for a slog-swept six and a fine-glance for four to reach 98. But when Senuran finally punched a ball from pacer Mohammed Siraj to cover and reached his first Test hundred, the mother was in front of the screen at her Durban home. “I was racing through the roads crazily to get home. Luckily,Imadeitjustintimefor his century,” Vani tells. Soon, the frame of her son in South African whites, celebrating the hundred, appeared on her WhatsApp profile. It also had a Senuran Muthusamy with his mother, Vani Moodley, after the World Test Championship final at Lord’s earlier this year. smallnote:“Thefirstcenturion at the Guwahati Stadium.” For Vani, it was an important moment. The collective dreamofan“entirevillage”had taken close to two decades. That was the time Senuran was 11. Born into a family that faced discrimination in the eastern port city of Durban, Senuran’s arrivalcoincidedwithanewera thatbroketheshacklesofapartheid in South Africa. “Our forefathers came here in the early 1900s, as indentured labour from our roots back at Vellore in Tamil Nadu,” says Vani. “My paternal grandfatherwasbasicallyastowaway ononeoftheshipsthatcameto Africa. I was born in a period Kolkata whenapartheidwasraging,and we were raised in segregated colonies. I couldn't afford to go to university and had to work full-timetosupportmystudies. I had the opportunity to be part oftheanti-apartheidstruggleas a young activist at the time.” Vanirecallshergrandfather working even on Sundays, and contributing the money for the governmenttobuildaschoolin the community. Senuran's paternal grandfather Punnatambaran Muthuswamy, too, had played cricket but could not reach the top due to the curbs on people of colour. “Things changedinmyson’sera.Hewas born into a multicultural communityandhadhisgrandfather and father to plant the seeds of cricket in him,” says Vani. The making of Senuran started with his cricket-loving dad, who passed away when he was 11. “From the time he could stand,hewasfullykittedoutand basically having throwdowns with his dad. That continued until his dad passed away. I had to equip myself with cricket knowledge to keep giving him thosethrowdowns,”Vanirecalls. Thoselonghourshelped.At 14,Senurantookhisfirststepto become a professional cricketer. He made his First Class debut in 2013, as an allrounder who bowls left-arm spin, and played his first Test in »CONTINUED ON pAGE 2