hyderabad l saturday l november 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE City EDITION Govt mandates rice, paddy stock declaration as prices surge The Centre on Friday directed all traders, retailers, wholesalers and millers to declare their rice and paddy stocks to prevent hoarding stocks of 6 rice categories to be declared 5 southern states to impose stock limits Stocks must be declared under six categories—Basmati rice, non-Basmati premium rice, non-Basmati rice, parboiled rice, broken rice and paddy. Every unit holding stocks will have to update details on the Food Stock Portal (foodstock.dfpd.gov.in) every Friday, the food ministry said. Units not registered on the portal or violating stock limits will face action ■ ■ The Centre has also allowed Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana to impose stock limits on paddy and rice through control orders to prevent hoarding till January 31 Trade and industry experts said deficient and uneven rainfall has contributed to rice inflation, particularly in premium varieties | P2 8.25% year-on-year rise in Retail rice inflation in September 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 EC gives left-out `29 lakh crore bonanza as voters in 7 states festive cheer lifts D-Street Sensex another chance AR S HAD K HA N @ New Delhi Applies to those from whom panel didn’t get back enumeration forms handed to them sum i t kum a r s i ng h @ New Delhi FACING sharp questions in the Supreme Court over the rollout of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission on Friday said it is providing another shot to voters in seven states whose enumeration forms were issued but were not received by it, resulting in their exclusion from the voters’ list. In a letter, the EC asked chief electoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland to facilitate inclusion of voters marked ‘ bA sent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate’ (ASDD) in the final rolls. The relief covers those who were handed enumeration forms that EC didn’t get back. Booth-wise lists of deleted voters, with reasons for exclusion, will be displayed at polling stations and designated local government offices and also uploaded on websites of chief electoral officers. Booth Level Officers must give these voters fresh forms and try to reach them through house visits, WhatsApp, e-mail and SMS. In all, 4,51,76,997 voters were left out of the draft rolls in Maharashtra (2.06 crore), Telangana (73.39 lakh), Delhi (47.56 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (44.89 lakh), Jharkhand (43.61 lakh), Haryana (33.83 lakh) and Nagaland (1.57 lakh). Final rolls are yet to be published. American, 42, found dead in Gachibowli hotel E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad A 41-year-old American businessman was found dead in his hotel room at Marriott Executive Apartments, SLN Terminus on Thursday evening. The deceased was identified as Michel Brian Lee, a native of California, USA. According to police, Lee arrived in Hyderabad on November 2 with his business par tner, David Wu, for business purposes. Hotel staff grew concerned after he failed to respond to calls from the evening of November 4. They later opened the door to his room on the 12th floor, around 6.30 pm and found him unconscious on the bed. An ambulance was called, and medical staff who arrived at the hotel declared him dead. Gachibowli police reached the spot and registered a case. Officials said the exact cause of death is yet to be established. Further investigation is on. 73.4 Lakh Telangana voters marked ASDD A total of 73,39,235 electors in Telangana were categorised as Absent, Shifted, Dead & Duplicate (ASDD) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Of these, 57,46,803 were marked as absent or shifted, 9,22,229 as dead and 6,70,203 as duplicate entries | p4 The EC is apparently trying to avoid adverse observations from the court on the controversial voter deletions. On October 5, the SC clarified it had not approved any modified Form 6, contradicting the EC’s September 26 press note. Chief Justice Surya Kant said the altered form was never placed before the bench in the Bihar SIR case and asked the EC to show who authorised it. On October 28, the Supreme Court said it had not finally ruled on the EC’s use of “logical discrepancy” to delete voters. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the category was allowed only for West Bengal elections and was not applicable to the Bihar SIR exercise. Express Read Diwali cheer: Metro-RTC pass now costs `4,000 The state government has more than halved the cost of monthly Metro-RTC travel passes, bringing the price down from `8,500 to `4,000. The revised fares, announced as a Diwali gift to commuters, will come into effect from November 8 | p3 tg gets `3,185 cr to boost rural broadband| p4 INDIAN stock markets on Friday rallied for the seventh consecutive session, defying the ongoing global market rout and bringing early Diwali bonanza for investors, with benchmark indices recording their sharpest weekly gains in recent years. The Sensex surged 1,718 points (2.17%) to close at 81,028 on Friday while the Nifty surged 493.75 , points (2.01%) to settle at 25,030. The massive pre-Diwali rally in Indian markets was buoyed by robust foreign institutional investor inflows, easing crude oil prices, and strong corporate earnings in the second quarter. The global rout was triggered by a sell-off in AI-linked stocks and softening US bond yields. “Indian equities defied a global rout, extending their winning run as investors treated the home 82,000 81,028.02 81,000 80,000 79,000 9am Friday Closing 79,310.01 Previous close 11 am 1pm 3 pm 4 pm Diwali airfares soar Airfares have shot up due to the Diwali rush, with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route commanding `23,000 against `3,800-`5,000 last year. Similarly, Delhi-Mumbai tickets have climbed to `26,500 market as a safe harbour amid turmoil abroad,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments. “A sharp weekly slide in crude, easing US Treasury yields 13 districts face a drought that the rains couldn’t fix S i d d h a r d h a G at t i m i @ Hyderabad Thirteen districts in Telangana are facing an exceptional agricultural drought, with soil moisture levels significantly below normal, according to an agricultural website developed by researchers at IIT Bombay. With the Rabi season approaching, the findings raise fresh concer ns over water availability for farmers. The situation is worrying in Jogulamba Gadwal, Narayanpet, Nagarkur nool, Wanaparthy and Mahbubnagar, which are among the worst-affected districts. Their soil moisture anomaly values ranged from -1.65 to -2.88 during the week of November 2 to 8. Jogulamba Gadwal recorded the highest deficit at -2.883, followed by Narayanpet (-2.820), Nagarkurnool (-2.532), Wanaparthy (-2.527) and Mahabubnagar (-2.501). Vikarabad recorded an anomaly of -2.446 and Sangareddy -2.256. The figures for Kamareddy Adilabad, Nizama, bad, Nirmal, Rangareddy and Medak stood at -2.096, -2.029, -1.972, -1.896, -1.777 and -1.650, respectively . Across several other affected and a firmer rupee further burnished India’s relative appeal.” In the past seven sessions, the Sensex has advanced 7,782 points, or 10.62%, while the Nifty added 2,331 points or 10.27%. This was Nifty’s biggest weekly percentage gain in about six years and the largest ever weekly advance in absolute terms. The rally added `29 lakh crore to investors’ wealth during the week as the combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies swelled from `475.34 lakh crore to over `504 lakh crore. The sharp recovery comes after the market witnessed brutal selling pressure during August, September and October amid tensions in West Asia and its impact on global energy prices. Crude oil prices have a direct influence on Indian financial markets because India imports 85% of its crude oil needs. easy peasy one-way traffic system around Lakdikapul soon? C h i t h a lu r i R e v a n t h @ Hyderabad Soil moisture anomalies District Anomaly Jogulamba Gadwal -2.883 Narayanpet -2.820 Mahbubnagar -2.501 Nagarkurnool -2.532 Wanaparthy -2.527 Vikarabad -2.446 Sangareddy -2.256 Kamareddy -2.096 Adilabad -2.029 Nizamabad -1.972 Nirmal -1.896 Rangareddy -1.777 Medak -1.650 Data as of November 2—8, 2026 regions, values ranged from -2 to -2.9, indicating significantly drier-than-normal conditions. Across several other affected regions, soil moisture anomalies ranged from -2 to -2.9 across other affected regions, indicating significantly drier-thannormal conditions compared with the average for the same period over the previous 10 years.  Continued on p7 Following the successful implementation of a one-way system near KBR Park, Hyderabad Traffic Police are considering similar measures to ease congestion along the busy Lakdikapul stretch. To assess how the proposed changes would work on the ground, Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and other senior police officials inspected the area on Friday . Under the proposed plan, vehicles travelling from the Old Police Control Room towards Secunderabad via Ravindra Bharati and Iqbal Minar would no longer be allowed to proceed directly from Ravindra Bharati. Instead, they would be diverted through HDFC Bank, the old Saifabad Police Station, Iqbal Minar and the Secretariat junction. Similarly, vehicles coming from Nirankari Junction towards the Old Control Room would not be allowed to proceed directly towards HDFC Junction. They would be diverted at the old Saifabad Police Station, routed via Iqbal Minar and then directed to take a right turn past Ravindra Bharati to reach the Old Control Room. The route from the Secretariat junction and Telangana Talli flyover towards the old Saifabad Police Station would also change.  Continued on p7 Creamy layer order for 2025 babu picks, not past hires: SC S U C HITRA K A LYA N M O HA N T Y @ New Delhi Affirming its March 11, 2026 order that the creamy layer among OBC candidates could not be determined solely from parental salary the Supreme Court on Friday , clarified that the judgment could not be grounds for reopening selections or appointments concluded before the verdict. A bench of justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan also clarified that the order should be implemented in recruitment of candidates under the 2025 Civil Services Examination as allocations were not yet made. Possibly leaving the door open for further litigation, the SC said cases of candidates pending before any court, tribunal or authority should be considered on their own merits and the judgment could be considered in deciding such cases. Rejecting the Centre’s plea to extend its deadline for implementation to two years, the court said the six-month time- What was March frame was for the Centre to ac- judgment about? commodate the parties before To determine creamy the SC, who were granted relief in the March 11 order and gave layer status, a 1993 the gover nment two more Office Memorandum said for children of PSU, months to comply . The Centre had approached private company, bank the SC under Article 142, seek- workers, an income/ ing to restrict the March verdict wealth test (excluding to prospective application. It ar- salary & agricultural gued that applying it to previ- income) would be used ous and ongoing recruitments till equivalency to govt could trigger “complete admin- posts was fixed. A 2004 letter made salaries a istrative chaos”. The SC, however, said grant- criteria. In UoI vs Rohith ing relief to the parties before Nathan, SC said the ’04 the court would neither disturb letter was discriminatory seniority nor require reopening completed recruitments. It said the parties had qualified for OBC non-creamy layer benefits and were entitled to reservation, consequential placement, and allotment of posts, noting a DoPT letter stating that selections pursuant to CSE 2016 were subject to the outcome of appeals pending before the SC. Juicy bites Sonia recalls first culinary encounter with India that ‘set her mouth on fire’ P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi In fresh excerpts from her forthcoming memoir, Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi recalls one of her first culinary encounters with India, a bright red tandoori chicken that “set her mouth on fire”. In Belonging: A Journey of Love, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson recalls, among other things, how she grew familiar with Indian food, clothing and family life. One of the first Indian dishes she tasted with Rajiv was tandoori chicken, publisher Harper Collins wrote in a promotional post on social media, days before the book’s November 10 release. “It was bright red, slightly charred and set her mouth on fire,” it said. In time, she grew used to meals served on thalis with the family: rice, phulkas, a vegetable, and mutton, fish or chicken. Arhar dal was served every day Beyond food, the . memoir also touches on Sonia’s relationship with the traditional Indian sari. For her engagement, she recalls choosing a jade Struggles with sari Sonia Gandhi considered the sari as one of the world’s most elegant garments, but she found learning to wear it difficult, as per the fresh excerpts green and pale yellow sari, which needed several safety pins to hold the drape in place. At her wedding, she wore a sari woven from yarn spun by Jawaharlal Nehru in prison during the freedom struggle, according to the publisher. “How does a country become a part of you? It happens slowly, as the things that once felt unfamiliar become part of everyday life,” the publisher posted along with photographs of Sonia interacting with people. Earlier excerpts shared on social media recalled her meeting Rajiv at a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge. In her first post on X, she described him as good-looking and gentle. The memoir also traces her entry into public life after years of resisting politics. It recounts her travels across India to campaign, meet people, and listen to their concerns. The book also covers her marriage, her introduction to her mother-in-law and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and her efforts to settle in India, including learning Hindi.