The Editorial Page: Party-state is marching into public universities. There is no one to say no 12 FRIDaY, DECEmBER 12, 2025 Journalism of Courage NEW DELhI, LATE CITy, 22 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) 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 , LU 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 ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to release Consumer Price Index inflation data for November at 4 pm. Economists expect CPI inflation to have risen to around 0.7% from October’s record-low of 0.25%. This would be the 10th month in a row of inflation being lower than the RBI’s mediumterm target of 4%. ● former telangana Special Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakar Rao has been asked by the SC to surrender by 11 am for further investigation in the phone-tapping case. ● ● President drouPadi Murmu, who is on a visit to Manipur, will pay floral tributes at the Nupi Lan Memorial Complex. Nupi Lan (women's war) refers to two movements in 1904 and 1939 led by women, protesting British economic policies. Kerala Cm Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the sixth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale art festival. “The 110-day international exhibition features works by 66 artists/ collectives from 25 countries," Kochi Biennale Foundation said. ● Track These and more on www.indianexPress.Com business as usual By EP UNNY if ustr satisfied with offer, should sign on dotted lines: goyal Amid trade talks, PM speaks to Trump, says will work together Discuss importance of sustaining momentum in bid to enhance trade ravi dutta mishra & shubhajit roy New Delhi, December 11 aS The two-day talks between the indian and US trade teams in New Delhi drew to a close Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in the evening that he spoke with US President Donald Trump and they reviewed the progress of the india-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and discussed, among other is- pak court SendS ex-iSi chief to jail for 14 yearS u.S. clearS Sale of tech and Support for f-16 jetS to pak administrationimposed50 per cent tariffs on india – they last spoke on october 22 when TrumpcalledModitogreethim on Diwali. “We talked about trade... he’s very interested in »Continued on Page 2 The NaTioNal human Rights Commission (NhRC) has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation within four weeks and submit proof of payment tothe family of Ziauddin, a 36-year-old man who died in March 2021 after he was allegedly tortured in police custody in ambedkar Nagar. The Commission also criticised the UP police for “deliberatelyconcealingfacts”andfailing to provide a credible explanation for multiple injuries found on the deceased. initsorderwhichwasmade public Wednesday, the NhRC notedtherewasnodoubtabout the issue that the man was brought by the police to the police station and as per the postmortem report, there were eight injury marks on his body. “however,thereportissilentas to how and when the deceased would have sustained the said injury marks, more particu- larly, no justification about the nature of injuries while he was in custody of the police,” it stated. The order came after the Commission dismissed the state government’s reply to a show-cause notice and upheld itsearlierfindingthatZiauddin had died in police custody. “in absence of any material before this commission, this commission cannot come to a conclusive conclusion that the death of the deceased did not occur while in the police custody and now to save the skin, the police have given such a report to cover the mischief done by it while endorsing the reply byDeputySecretary,homeDepartment, Government of UP,” the order stated. according to the complaint filed by Ziauddin’s brother, Shahabuddin, his brother was picked up by a police SWaT team headed by Sub-inspector DevendraPalonMarch25,2021 while he was on his way to a relative’shome.hourslater,the »Continued on Page 2 Pavneet singh Chadha & nirbhay thakur Panaji, New Delhi, December 11 5.30 am on December 7, hours after the midnight incident. according to the Goa police investigation, the duo booked the tickets at 1.17 am on December 7 to flee the country, within 90 minutes of the blaze. The technical fire safety incident report of the Fire Department found that information regarding a fire outbreak at the premises was received by the firecontrolroomat11.45pm on December 6. Police said the luthrabrotherswereattending a weddinginDelhionthenight of the incident, when a club staff member informed them about the blaze. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Saurabh and »Continued on Page 2 revision of eleCtoral rolls Poll panel extends SIR deadline in five states and one UT damini nath New Delhi, December 11 Remembering Dharmendra actor-BJP mP hema malini held a prayer meeting in new delhi on Thursday in memory of her husband, dharmendra, who died last month. also seen are daughters esha deol, ahana deol. ANIL ShARMA Page 8 Now, Cong Govt in Karnataka warns Plea for Passive euthanasia ‘Have to do something’: SC wants board of bulldozer action in drug cases to examine man comatose for 13 years Kiran Parashar KaRNaTaKa hoMe Minister G Parameshwara said Thursday that the Congress government was taking “decisive action” in drug-related offences andwaspreparedtotakestrong steps, including bulldozingthe homes of drug peddlers. Responding to a question by MlC K abdul Jabbar during the Winter Session of the Karnataka legislature here, Parameshwarasaid,“alotofforeign nationals, many of them from african countries, have been caught smuggling and peddling drugs. We don't know howtheybringitinorsupplyit. We are monitoring their movements and have also identified the landlords who have rented houses to these people. We are prepared to go to the extent of nation l theschedule FoR The second time since octoberwhenitannouncedthe schedule for the Special intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the election Commission Thursday extended the deadline for electors in five states — Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and UttarPradesh—andtheUnion Territory of andaman and Nicobar islands to submit enumeration forms in the ongoing exercise by three to 14 days. Thursday was scheduled to be the last day of enumeration of electors in the SiR for eight states and three UTs, while Kerala had earlier been given an extension until December 18. The draft electoral roll for all states and UTs, except for Kerala, was scheduled to be publishedonDecember16.Kerala’s draft roll will be published on December 23. in a statement, the eC said it had revised the schedule “basedontherequestsreceived from the Chief electoral officers of the 6 states/UT”. however, in another statement Thursday, eC data showed that in five of the six states/UT, enumeration work n Enumeration form submission deadline n Draft roll publication date states/uts Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Dec 11 Dec 16 Rajasthan and West Bengal Tamil Nadu, Gujarat Dec 14 Dec 19 Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dec 18 Dec 23 Andaman & Nicobar, Kerala Uttar Pradesh E. Dec 26 Dec 31 ExplainEd What voter has to do l comPLainT aLLeging ‘VioLaTions of fair PLay PrinciPLes’ fiLed wiTh fide; faTher, coach deny charges Belagavi, December 11 pageS 11, 14 bulldozing even the homes wherethedrugpeddlersliveon rent.” Theministersaidabout300 foreign nationals arrested for peddling drugs had been deported in the last two years. While for the past several years, the opposition has criticised BJP-led governments in various states over “bulldozer justice”, this is one of the first gaurav and saurabh Luthra in Thai police custody in Phuket. ANI SaURaBh lUThRa and Gaurav luthra, who ran the North Goa nightclub Birch by Romeo lane where a fire killed 25 people on December 6, were detainedinThailandThursday, based on a request from indian law enforcementagencies. The process to deport the brothers to india has been initiated. Sources in Goa Police said the fugitive brothers were detainedfromahotelinPatongin Phuket Thursday early morning by the Royal Thai Police. The luthras had boarded a flight from Delhi to Phuket at Pay Rs 10 lakh to kin of man who died in police custody: NHRC to UP Govt Noida, December 11 page 16 Very warm and engaging conversation with Trump: modi. FILE 36-yr-old died in marCh 2021 neetika Jha world sues,theimportanceofsustainingmomentumintheeffortsto enhance bilateral trade. “had a very warm and engagingconversationwithPresident Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. india and the US will continue to work together for globalpeace,stabilityandprosperity,” Modi said on X. This was their third phone conversation since the Trump that,” Trump had said then. Following the phone conversation Thursday, a statementfromthePrimeMinister’s office said “both leaders reviewed the steady progress in india-USbilateralrelationsand exchanged views on key regional and global developments”. The two leaders, according tothestatement,reiteratedthat india and the US will continue to work closely together to advance global peace, stability and prosperity. Government sources said the leaders expressed satisfaction at the steady Goa club owners who fled hours after deadly blaze held in Thailand Student raped by prof: puniSh him So otherS don’t Suffer Sc callS for Speedy trialS in uapa caSeS New Delhi, December 11 The SUPReMe Court has asked the Director of aiiMS, New Delhi, to set up a secondarymedicalboardtoexaminea 32-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state for the last 13 years so that the court can take a decision on his father’s plea to allow passive euthanasia for his son. a Bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan asked for the report to be submitted by December 17, and fixed the next hearing for December 18. “We will have to do something now. We can’t allow him to live like this. That’s for sure,” Justice Pardiwala said Thursday. on November 26, the court had asked the Noida Sector 39 district hospital to constitute a primary medical board to examine the patient, harish Rana, to decide on his father ashok Rana’s plea for permission to withdraw the »Continued on Page 2 »Continued on Page 2 Electors have to trace themselves or any adult relative to the roll of the last intensive revision done in the early 2000s. Those unable to provide the extract will get a notice after the draft roll is published. They will be asked to submit documents to establish eligibility. Father’s ‘role’ casts cloud over 3-year-old youngest rated chess player amit Kamath 14 killed aS truck fallS into gorge in arunachal »Continued on Page 2 express news service nents who lost to the boy were coaches from the academy wherehetrains."itappearsthat a WeeK after a three-year-old the rating was achieved boy from Sagar in Madhya Pra- through unfair means, involdesh became the youngest ving clear violations of FiDe’s rated chess player ever, ques- fair play principles by the tions are being raised over his coaches or individuals superachievement. vising the games,” the coma complaint filed with plaint states. FiDe, the international chess FiDe,stickingtoitspolicyof body, has alleged secrecy over such that there were matters, didn't conpagE 1 “clear violations of firm or deny the FiDeʼs fair play princomplaint. ciples by coaches", however, the and that helped the boy enter boy’s father, Siddharth Singh the elite club of chess players. Kushwaha,andhiscoach,Nitin The complaint further Chaurasiya, said they were claims that all the three oppo- awareofthecomplaint.DismisMumbai, December 11 anchor sing the allegations, they claimed that the boy was being targeted due to factional politics in Madhya Pradesh’s chess federation, which is beingrunbyanadhoccommittee for the last few years. “in Sagar, there are two factions in the local chess body. one faction is trying to target the other by trying to prove my son’s record came by unfair means,”KushwahatoldTheIndian Express. The boy hit the national headlines in the last few months by registering wins over older and better-ranked players. he defeated abhijeet awasthi (Rating 1,542), Shub- complaint says boy’s opponents, who he defeated, were coaches at same academy where he trains ham Chourasiya (Rating 1,559), Yogesh Namdev (Rating 1,696) in tournaments hosted at Khandwa,indore,Chhindwara and Mangaluru. But the complaint states that Chourasiya, Namdev and awasthi are coaches at the same academy where the boy trainsinSagar.Counteringthis, theboy's father andcoach have calling it a coincidence. “Just because these people are from Sagar and we know them,itcannotprovethatthere was anything unfair. i know these three people by face, as someone who also runs a chess academy. They are like our competitors,” said Kushwaha, who runs a chess academy in Sagar called olympio Chess Club. The complaint alleges that atoneofthetournaments,both the boy and Namdev entered theeventafterthedrawwasdecided by FiDe’s electronic sys- New Delhi tem. as is the norm, the names ofthetwolate-entrantswereinserted manually in the draw and were also paired to play against each other. The boy ended up defeating Namdev. in the same tournament, the complaint claims, Namdev lost out on time because he went to the washroom for the final minutes of a 10-minute rapid game. The boy’s coach, however, denied that the loss was because of Namdev going to the washroom. “it's not just my son, there were other children, too, who reached late and were manually paired off,” said Kushwaha.