The editorial Page: reforms 3.0 underline a credibility gap. First, reform the reformer 8 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026 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 lVice President C P Radhak- rishnan will visit Tamil Nadu to attend various events, including a university celebration. lPM narendra Modi will launch projects worth Rs 14,000 crore in Gujarat and release the 24th instalment of PM-KISAN payouts. lUnion HoMe Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s state executive committee meeting while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address its concluding session. lisro will launch navigation satellite NVS-03 aboard a GSLV rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com business as Usual By EP UNNY election coMMission extends s.i.r deadlines, day after sUPreMe coUrt nUdGe Claims, objections: Extension for Delhi, window reopens in 5 states Final rolls on November 30 in Nagaland, expLained Andhra, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana; December 22 in Delhi: Poll panel New hope for damini nath New Delhi, October 29 tHe eLeCtiOn Commission (eC) on thursday extended the deadline for filing voter enrolment and deletion forms in the ongoingSpecialintensiverevision (Sir) of electoral rolls in Delhi, and also re-opened the window in five states -- naga- Maulshree seth page 11, 3 U.s. trade deal will give iNdia stroNg comparative advaNtage: goyal those left out The EC's decision to re-open the claims and objection period in five States and extend the timeline in Delhi provides a breather for those who got left out of the draft roll following the SIR. It also offers hope to electors in other States who got left out due to various factors. »continUed on PaGe 2 tHe Uttar Pradesh government has barred members of organisations that advocate “changing the existing social order through violent means (hinsaatmak reeti)” from gettingstategovernmentjobs.the provision is part of fresh guidelines issued for screening candidates seeking government employment, following an allahabad High Court order. issued by Principal Secretary(appointmentandPersonnel) M Devaraj Wednesday, the guidelines also state that a person cannot be deemed unsuitable for government employment on account of their political ideology. the policy further states thatparticipationinsuch“violent” activities after attaining 21 years of age and within three years before the date of verification will be treated as evidence that the person remains actively involved, unless “positive and concrete evidence” of a change in conduct during that period is available. theguidelinesapplytocandidates selected for state government services and posts under government-controlled corporations, councils, educational institutions, autonomous bodies, undertakings andotherspecifiedpublicinstitutions. Pending cases will also be dealt with under the new guidelines. Meanwhile, on thursday evening, the appointment Department issued a clarification stating that the guidelines make a clear distinction betweenpoliticalideologyandviolent activities. “in a democratic system, union culture minister gajendra singh shekhawat and arunachal pradesh cm pema khandu in Tawang, Thursday. @GSSJoDhPUR/X divya a Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), October 29 a WeeK after itBP Director general Shatrujeet Kapur flagged a “face-off” with the Chinese PLa at “several locations” in arunachal Pradesh, state Chief Minister Pema Khandu said thursday that “transgressions” keep happening along the frontier since China does not recognise the McMahon Line. agreed upon in 1914 between British india and tibet, the McMahon Line serves as the de facto boundary between india and China in arunachal Pradesh. Beijing does not recognise it, saying it was not for tibet to enter into such an agreement. Speakingtoreportersonthe sidelines of the international Union HoMe Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, odisha and Chhattisgarh, and assured them of all possible assistance. invest india till then. invest india is a not-forprofit company, set up under public-private partnership in 2009, and is overseen by the Department for Promotion of industry and internal trade under the C&i Ministry. raicameunderscrutinyprimarily for awarding a rs 14.16crore consultancy contract to globalfirmatKearneywithout documented approval, and submittinginvoicesforremunerationwithtaxdeductedasapplicable to a consultant rather than an employee. When contacted by The IndianExpress,raidismissedthe allegations, saying the consultancy contract had proper approval, attributing the tax issue toerrorsinprocess.Shesaidher payrevisionhadbeenapproved “in principle” in 2023 itself. »continUed on PaGe 2 page 10 Nvidia chief seeN as target of chiNese spy plot odisha disaster rapid action Force personnel in sorada block of ganjam district following heavy rainfall and flooding triggered by cyclone arnab, Thursday. EXPRESS witH 70 VillaGes in flood-hit Ganjam marooned, people were airlifted by the Indian Coast Guard. odisha has deployed 79 teams for rescue operations. tourism Mart in tawang, Khandu said, “no doubt transgressionhashappened.itkeeps happening. it is nothing new since the border is not defined. the situation is quite normal now and our armed Forces are guarding the border very well.” “China doesn’t consider the McMahon Line in arunachal andsincethestatesharesavery long border with tibet, China, sometimes patrolling parties transgress. Our soldiers go (to) that side, their patrolling parties also come (to) this side sometimes,” he said. in September, india and ChinaheldCorpsCommanderlevel talks at the Wacha-Damai border meeting point amid reports of tension in the taksing areaoftheUpperSubansiridistrict in arunachal Pradesh. Wacha is india’s easternmost the worLd After the cyclone Jay Mazoomdaar ‘will throw them back’: adhikari vows crackdowN oN iNfiltrators claims and objections, i.e. time to file voter enrolment and deletion forms, in States where the process had ended on different dates in the past two months, according to the latest schedulesavailableontheState CeOs' websites and social media handles. While the claims and objectionsperiodisongoinginDelhi, ithadendedinMaharashtraon October 26, in Haryana on September 30, in telangana on October 7, in andhra on October 22,andinnagalandonOctober 20, according to the websites No UP govt jobs for members of groups seeking ‘social order change via violence’ Lucknow, October 29 inside land, telangana, Maharashtra, andhra Pradesh and Haryana - where the claims and objections period had ended as per the latest schedules available on the websites of the State Chief electoralOfficers (CeOs). in separate letters to the respective CeOs, the eC has now pushed the date of publication of the final rolls to november 30 for nagaland, andhra Pradesh, telangana, Maharashtra andHaryana,andtoDecember 22 for Delhi. While the eC has extended the Sir timelines across States severaltimesinthepastaswell, thursday’s decision comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Commission to consider extending the deadline for filing claims and objections beyondthedeadlineofOctober 30, while hearing a petition regarding the ongoing Sir in Delhi. the eC has also decided to re-start the period for filing Transgressions keep happening, border normal now, says Arunachal CM iN U.s., bolsoNaro says he is brazil’s rightfUl leader reGional MeteoroloGical Centre in Lucknow forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in eastern UP districts over next 2 days and possible hailstorm in western UP. May make banks pay digital arrest victims Meira Kumar to chair Opp’s ‘public 6-month extension for Invest India if no due diligence: SC impeachment’ of CEC tomorrow CEO, key decisions under scrutiny Pulls up RBI for ‘soft pedalling’ on issue, »continUed on PaGe 2 asad rehman New Delhi, October 29 aHeaD OF its rally at the ramlila Maidan on Sunday, the Opposition inDia bloc plans to hold a “public impeachment” of Chief election Commissioner (CeC) gyanesh Kumar on Saturday with former Lok SabhaSpeakerMeiraKumarset topresideovertheproceedings. the “public impeachment” is being held at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence at 10, rajaji Marg. earlier thisweek,Congressleadershad said they were denied permission to hold it at ramlila Maidan. Senior Opposition leaders met at Kharge’s residence on thursday to finalise the plan. a source present at the meeting On JULy 19, 2023, seven days after intel india chief nivruti rai was appointed Managing Director and CeO of invest india, the Commerce and industry Ministry praised her in a press statement for her “illustrious 29 years at intel as a global business and technology leader”andforhavingreceived “the prestigious nari Shakti Puraskar”. She was given a three-year tenure. amid scrutiny by auditors, internalcommitteesandsenior officials of the Commerce and industry(C&i)Ministry,raihas received a “short-term interim extension of six months” until January 2027, sources in the government said. She continues to be the MD and CeO of New Delhi, October 29 Former Ls speaker meira kumar, congress’s priyanka gandhi Vadra, Tmc’s derek o’ Brien and Jmm’s mahua maji in new delhi. ANI said Meira Kumar would preside over the “public impeachment”. “We have submitted multiple motions in both Houses of Parliament to im- peach gyanesh Kumar. But despite having the required numbers,ourmotionshavenot been accepted in either House. now, we have no choice but to »continUed on PaGe 2 rai did not, however, respond to questions about her secondterm.theDPiitdidnot respond to requests for comment, either. according to sources in investindia,raididnotattendofficefor10daysuntiltheinterim extension came through on July20,joiningworkadaylater. She was appointed to helm invest india three years earlier, after her predecessor Deepak Bagla stepped down following a critical audit of his tenure by the Commerce Ministry. Contract before approval Duringrai’sfirstterm,akey point of contention was the awardofafour-monthcontract to at Kearney for organisational restructuring. »continUed on PaGe 2 calls menace biggest financial fraud ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, October 29 DeSCriBing tHe menace of ‘digital arrest’ as “the biggest financial fraud… on the economy of the country… running into thousands of crores of rupees,” the Supreme Court said thursday it proposed to issue a direction making banks compensate victims and face prosecution if it’s established that failure of due diligence on their part resulted in such a fraud. a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of india Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, pulled up the reserve Bank of india (rBi) over the spate of digital arrest cases, saying it was “soft pedalling” the issue. “the problem is bank officials are involved in it… there is soft pedalling by the rBi. Unfortunate. Because rBi is consulting the banks when we are asking for action against the banks,” the CJi said. the bench posed a range of questions to attorney general r Venkataramani on the preventive measures that the rBi proposed to undertake. “thereshouldbeadirection that wherever digital arrest takes place, the bank will be deemed to be… and will be liable to compensate the victim besides being prosecuted further… if banks can give up and waive off thousands of »continUed on PaGe 2 l FIr regIsTered under Bns secTIons reLaTIng To roBBery, aTTempT To murder, crImInaL InTImIdaTIon, ouTragIng modesTy oF woman ‘What happens when police leave?’: Fear grips ‘purified’ Christians in Bengal village No arrests yet in an alleged assault that lasted three days in Paschim Medinipur ravik Bhattacharya & sweety Kumari chew bel and tulsi leaves. in this village of about a hundred families in Paschim Paschim, Medinipur, Oct 29 Medinipurdistrict,therearefour Sitting near the door of her which are Christian. three of mud house with her husband, thesefamilies,whicharerelated, were attacked that teenage daughter day,inanassaultthat and ailing father-inpage 1 lasted three days belaw, the 40-year-old tweenOctober18and shows the spot out20, with members sidewhereshewasallegedly forced to undertake a made to offer prayers at a local “purification” ritual on October DurgaPujapandal.the“ordeal” 18,withbucketsofwaterpoured endedonlyafterthepoliceinterover her as she was made to vened. anchor apickethasnowcomeupin thevillage,withpolicepersonnel and civic volunteers patrolling the area. However,withnoneofthose namedbytheChristianfamilies for the alleged assault arrested, the families – which claim they have been ostracised by the village – fear what will follow once the police leave. Says the 40-year-old: “the policepicketwillnotbehereforever. even now, they make threats. the entire village has turned against us. no one talks to us anymore.” Villagers accuse the families oflying,denyinganyassault.at thesametime,theyquestionthe “Locked ourselves inside our homes. did not dare venture out,” say families after the assault on october 18. PARThA PAUL “conversion” to Christianity around three years ago by the families.Particularly,theyobject tothecookingofnon-vegetarian foodbythefamiliesondaysthat the rest of the village celebrates religiousfestivalssuchasDurga Puja. anFirhasbeenregisteredat Chandrakona Police Station over the alleged assault, under BnSSectionsrelatingtorobbery, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, and outraging the modesty of a woman. PapiyaSultana,theSuperintendent of Police, Paschim Medinipur, told the indian express: “We set up a police picket as the families said they were feeling insecure. at present, there is peace. regarding the allegations, our investigation is on. this is all i can say.” It started a year ago Kolkata the 40-year-old, who is the only one willing to talk along with her husband as the other families are too scared, says the hostilities started only last year. “When we initially converted, there was no pushback. We foundpeaceinChristianity.But last year, villagers began objectingtoourfaithanddailyroutine. i was repeatedly warned.” Last October, a crowd allegedly surrounded their homes, and threats were made. the womansaystheywenttothepolicetwice,butthetwosideswere urged to “compromise”. “But this time, it crossed all limits.” On October 18, a group, includingthreewomen,arrivedat their homes at around 3.30 pm, the 40-year-old says. “they barged into our house, dragged my husband and me out, and beat us up. i fell to the ground. they tore my clothes and poured water over me, calling it ‘purification’, while others watchedon.”Shewasalsomade to chew leaves considered “holy”inHindurituals,shesays. the woman and her husband, 50, who make a living making copper jewellery at home, say the men kept shouting at them and abusing them, accusing that “we had adopted Christianity for money”. the group then allegedly »continUed on PaGe 2