visakhapatnam l saturday l november 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 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 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 A RS H A D K H A N @ New Delhi Applies to those from whom panel didn’t get back enumeration forms handed to them s u m i t k u m a r s i ngh @ 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. hc directions Interim norms to curb illegal mining issued E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The State government has issued comprehensive interim guidelines to strengthen interdepartmental coordination, and prevent illegal mining, unauthorised excavation and transportation of minerals. The guidelines prescribe clear responsibilities for various departments, time-bound verification of complaints, joint field inspections, stringent enforcement measures and accountability of officials found negligent in preventing illegal mining activities. Chief Secretary G Sai Prasad issued the orders in compliance with the directions of the AP High Court in W . (PIL) No. 227 .P of 2026, filed by Amanchi Krishna Mohan against the State government pertaining to illegal sand mining in Bapatla. In its order dated October 1, 2026, the High Court directed the government to formulate comprehensive guidelines ensuring effective prevention of P4 illegal mining.  Cong calls it a U-turn The Congress on Friday termed the poll panel’s move a “U-turn” and said this is a “belated admission that wrongful deletion and exclusion” has taken place. The Opposition also accused the EC of deleting crores of eligible voters from the electoral rolls. 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 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 Bihar SIR exercise. 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 @ Vijayawada Elaborate ar rangements have been made for counting votes in the MPTC and ZPTC elections across Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The counting will begin at 8 am at 365 counting centres. State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said 9,062 counting tables had been Creamy layer order for 2025 babu picks, not past hires: SC SUC H ITR A K A LYA N MO H A N TY @ New Delhi bedding down NCP working president Praful Patel calling on NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar at a hospital in Mumbai fuelled speculation of a merger. NCP Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare confirmed the talks and said the merger would have happened had Ajit Pawar been alive | PTI | P8 MPTC-ZPTC poll counting today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e 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. set up across the State. As many as 11,002 counting supervisors and 28,692 counting assistants and other personnel have been deployed for the exercise. Of the total 659 ZPTC and 9,821 MPTC seats in the State, elections were unanimous in 77 ZPTCs and 2,051 MPTCs. Polling was held on Thursday for the remaining ZPTCs and MPTCs, recording a voter turnout of 70.72%. In the last elec- E x p r e s s Re a d Naidu seeks Central aid tions held in 2021, 60.91% voting was recorded. Repolling was held on Friday at seven polling stations in Anantapur, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Markapuram and Palnadu districts following incidents of booth capturing and damage to ballot boxes. The repolling concluded peacefully he said. , Postal ballots will be counted first. Half of the counting tables have been allocated to ZPTC votes, and the remaining P4 half to MPTC votes.  Vijayawada: In a letter written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought immediate Central aid to the cyclone-hit Andhra Pradesh to take up relief measures on a war-footing | P4 Cyclone: 2.9K women deliver Vijayawada: As many as 2,924 of the total 6,166 identified pregnant women with a due date between October 28 and November 8, who were shifted to hospitals in view of Cyclone Arnab and Murasu, have delivered babies | P3 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 ligitation, the SC said cases of candidates pending before any court, tribunal or authority should be considered on their own merits and it 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 ee t ha 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.