www.thestatesman.com | India’s National Newspaper since 1818 FOLLOW US: | Pages 16 @TheStatesmanLtd | ` 5.00 8th Day Navigating the depths of unknown terrain @thestatesmanltd | KOLKATA LC People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | Evolve LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 27 September 2026 S P O RT S New terror in town: ‘Sim swap scam’ Virat Kohli ready to give it all for India in his ‘last’ World Cup Page 16 ECI eases SIR process, sets up panel to India will act against terror, EAM Jaishankar tells UN review ECINET, clarifies on Form 6 Poll panel extends SIR claims deadline in Delhi and Maharashtra STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 26 September T he full bench of the Election Commission of India met on Saturday and announced a series of measures relating to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls amid the ongoing row over reports of dissent among the Election Commissioners. At a meeting of the full BRIEFLY Two civilians shot dead in Manipur’s Senapati district: Senapati: Two Naga civilians were shot dead by suspected militants in the Kalenjang area of Manipur’s Senapati district on Saturday, according to police. The bodies of the two victims were reportedly found near Taphou Naga village, with blood stains also reported at the site. The deceased are believed to be members of the Mao and Poumai community. The incident comes a day after four Tangkhul Naga civilians were allegedly killed at Pilong village in neighbouring Kamjong district. The villagers said the attack was launched by Kuki militants from Myanmar belonging to KNA-B. Commission held on Saturday, the ECI decided that persons served notices over unmapped records or logical discrepancies during the SIR exercise would not ordinarily be required to appear personally before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). Instead, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would visit their homes and collect the required documents. The ECI said hearings would be conducted only in exceptional circumstances New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi and Maharashtra. Under the revised schedule Delhi voters can file claims and objections until 30 October, while the corresponding deadline in Maharashtra has been extended to 12 October. For Delhi, the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections will continue until 30 November, with the final publication of the electoral roll scheduled for 4 December. In Maharashtra, the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections will continue until 10 November, and the final electoral roll will be published on 16 November. The Commission said the changes followed requests from the Chief Electoral Officers of the two jurisdictions. and, preferably, through online mode, according to a statement released by the Commission. To ensure accessibility of the verification process for vulnerable voters, the ECI also directed District Election Officers to organise help desks or special camps for people living in night shelters, labourers, poor and homeless persons and others who could face difficulties. On the changes to Form 6 (for enrolment of new voters) for the SIR exercise, the ECI said it had been upheld by the Supreme Court. It also clarified that outside periods of SIR, the forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would continue to be used. UCC rollout in 3-4 months: CM Adhikari STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 26 September West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said his government was committed to implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state immediately after the panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai completed its consultations. “We have already constituted a commission under retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. The commission has started its work. It will take three or four months. It will conduct some hearings and, after that, finally, we are committed that UCC will be implemented immediately in West Bengal. There will be only one law here as well,” Mr Adhikari said. He was speaking at the Ram-Sharad Kothari Pratibha Samman and Ram-Sharad Kothari Memorial Evening at the National Library here. The nine-member panel headed by Justice Desai has been tasked with examining the proposed UCC framework and is conducting consultations before submitting its recommendations. The panel is also expected to hold public hearings across the state's five divisions to seek views and suggestions. The prop osed UCC framework is intended to provide a common set of rules for personal civil matters, including marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption. Mr Adhikari had earlier said the government would bring the legislation before the state Assembly after considering the panel's recommendations. Linking the UCC to his broader emphasis on a common legal framework, Mr Adhikari said his government has implemented Central laws in West Bengal. He also claimed that steps have been initiated to deal with illegal infiltrators, including through holding stations, and said Vande Mataram has been made mandatory in schools and madrasas. The Chief Minister accused unnamed groups of attempting to undermine Sanatan traditions, Indian culture and Bengal's cultural identity, and said his government would not allow such attempts. Addressing concerns over its digital systems, the ECI said field officers had role-based access to ECINet in accordance with their statutory powers. It announced that a committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and comprising an independent expert would review the ECINet system to ensure its compliance with the relevant regulations. As part of measures to strengthen internal procedures, it said agendas for all Commission meetings would be circulated in advance and minutes would be issued. It said all directions issued by the Commissioners to officers would have to be “meticulously complied with”. The ECI said the SIR exercise has already been completed in 20 states/UTs, including Bihar and West Bengal. People whose names were left out during or after the SIR, including young and first-time voters, can apply to the concerned ERO for inclusion through continuous updation, it said. VIBHA SHARMA New Delhi, 26 September During normal years, strong east-to-west trade winds push warm surface water towards Asia and Indonesia, and cold, deep water rises near South America to replace it. During El Niño events, these trade winds either weaken or reverse, allowing warm surface water to move towards the central and eastern Pacific, and in turn disrupting atmospheric circulation and altering risks in the coming months. El Niño is a complex, circular feedback loop where the trade winds and the ocean trigger and reinforce each other. It operates as a circular feedback loop where naturally weakening trade winds allow warm Pacific water to move eastward toward the Americas. This ocean warming reduces wind strength, creating a climate cycle that triggers severe droughts in Asia and heavy rainfall globally. According to reports, the daily SSTs on 21 September in the region where El Niño develops was 3.08 degrees C warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average, which is more New Delhi, 26 September External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday told world leaders that India would exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism, accusing Pakistan, without explicitly naming it, of misrepresenting facts at the UN General Assembly a day earlier. Speaking during the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, Mr Jaishankar said, in a reference to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif: “Yesterday, a serial practitioner of terrorism misrepresented facts before this assembly. Arguments were invoked to normalise terrorism and claim immunity from its consequences. That will not stand. Our right to defend ourselves against terrorism will be exercised.” Mr Jaishankar called state-sponsored terrorism with a cross-border purpose a direct challenge to the global order. Governments engaged in such practices must be held accountable, he said, and the financing of terrorism must be exposed and countered. In his speech, Mr Jaishankar also spoke on peace, development and the pressures facing poorer nations. He said the world was seeing “a weaponisation of everything”, from finance and market access to supply chains and technology. Countries were responding by reducing risks and diversifying their ties, he said. But the broader atmosphere was losing trust and goodwill. He described a “4F crisis” confronting the Global South: the security of food, fuel, fertiliser and finance. A super El Niño, fertiliser shortages and impediments to grain movements were causes for alarm, he said. He also warned that non-market practices and restricted market access were undermining developing countries’ ability to industrialise. Turning to maritime security, he said attacks on commercial ships and seafarers were unacceptable. Indian seafarers were among those who had lost their lives. India had joined Liberia and 23 other partners in an initiative to build opposition to such attacks, he said. On artificial intelligence, Mr Jaishankar said countries should be able to develop their own models and deployment plans in line with national priorities. India would make AI part of its partnership agenda with the Global South, he said. He also pressed for reform of international institutions as the world becomes more multipolar. “Large sections of humanity cannot be excluded from that process,” he said. India, Gulf Cooperation Council advance FTA talks, deepen energy and strategic ties STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 26 September India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening strategic and economic ties, with the two sides reviewing cooperation under their Joint Action Plan and advancing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations at a ministerial meeting in New York. The India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Troika Ministerial Meeting was held on Friday on the margins of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation. The GCC was represented at the Troika level by Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain; Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC; and Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign As ‘historic, record-breaking’ Super El Niño intensifies, why India should be on watch rainfall and weather patterns across the globe. This is what is happening currently as an exceptionally strong, potentially historic “Super El Niño” rages on and intensifies. Sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are climbing, with anomalies approaching record levels. According to the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), under the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is a high probability that the event will intensify through the winter of 2026–27. India, too, may face significant weather-related STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE extreme than any other El Niño ever recorded. India has already experienced a challenging monsoon season in 2026. According to IMD data, the southwest monsoon recorded a 13 per cent shortfall, contributing to dry conditions across large parts of the country. As much as 38 per cent of the districts in the country are “deficient” and 5 per cent “large deficient” as per the IMD. Weather experts believe that the upcoming 2026–27 winter may be warmer and drier than normal in parts of India, with fewer cold-wave days and increased risks of air pollution and agricultural stress. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar poses for a group photo during a meeting of the India-Gulf Cooperation Council Troika Ministerial in New York on Saturday. ANI Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The leaders reaffirmed their joint commitment to building on the achievements of the first India-GCC Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue, held on 9 September 2024, in Riyadh. The EAM highlighted that India and GCC countries share historically close and friendly ties, underpinned by vibrant trade linkages and strong people-to-people ties. In recent years, the relationship between India and GCC countries has deepened across various spheres, including trade, investment, energy, health, technology and cultural exchanges. A large Indian diaspora resides in the GCC region. Trade and investment between India and the GCC continue to grow, with total trade reaching USD 178.66 billion in FY 2025-26. The leaders reviewed the implementation of the India-GCC Joint Action Plan (JAP) 2024-2028, which was adopted at the first India-GCC Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue. The JAP envisages joint activities in areas such as political dialogue, security, trade and investment, agriculture and food security, transportation, energy, health, culture and education. They underlined that the diversity of sectors covered by the JAP represented the depth and breadth of engagement between India and GCC countries and appreciated the steady progress made in advancing cooperation in these areas. The leaders welcomed the launch of India-GCC FTA negotiations after the finalisation of the Terms of Reference (ToR) in February 2026. They noted that the FTA is expected to unlock the full potential of trade between India and the GCC upon signing and would be a force multiplier for global good, while facilitating the expansion and diversification of exports and strengthening economic integration between the two sides. Judiciary committed to protecting students’ right to protest: CJI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Patna, 26 September Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said on Saturday that the judiciary was committed to protecting the fundamental right of students to protest peacefully on various issues. The remark came at an ‘open house’ interaction with the students of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna. One of the students asked CJI Surya Kant about the police’s high-handed response to peaceful student protests. “The judiciary is committed to protecting the fundamental right of the students to protest peacefully,” the CJI said. Patna High Court chief justice V Kameswar Rao and the university’s vice-chancellor Faizan Mustafa also attended the ‘open house’, during which the CJI fielded questions directly from the law students. The event assumes significance in the light of the recent opposition to his scheduled visits to the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad, and the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore in recent months. According to a press release issued by the University, the initiative was taken by the students, who invited the CJI to have a direct conversation with them. The session was organised by the University's Academic and Debating Committee and Legal Aid Cell. On financial difficulties faced by first-generation lawyers, the CJI referred to the Sarika Tyagi case, in which the Supreme Court had backed the setting up of a Young Lawyers' Professional Assistance Fund. He said that such support should be seen as a structural necessity for the profession’s future and not charity. He also told students that concerns over skyrocketing tuition fees and inadequate scholarships would be addressed. CNLU Vice-Chancellor Prof Faizan Mustafa proposed shortening the five-year law degree to four years, with the final year as a mandatory court apprenticeship to eliminate the separate one-year practice requirement for judicial service exams.