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Trial run of Census self-enumeration to begin in select areas from today The efficacy of the self-enumeration module for the first phase of the Population Census 2027 will be tested from Saturday (November 1, 2025) with enumerators visiting the homes of prominent citizens in their areas and helping them fill the details on a website, a senior government official told The Hindu. This will be the first digital Census, and the first to enumerate caste in independent India. As Centre reverses ban on pilgrimages to Pakistan, first Sikh Jathas get visas post Operation Sindoor Weeks after he was told his pilgrimage to Sikh shrines in Pakistan, including Nankana Sahib, had been cancelled, Harjindarpal Singh’s disappointment turned to unbridled joy on Friday (October 31, 2025) as he received his passport and Pakistani visa. The Hoshiarpur resident is one of 2,100 Sikh pilgrims who were issued visas by the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi after the Indian government reversed its stand, allowing the groups to travel. We are monitoring every Chinese vessel entering Indian Ocean, says Indian Navy Vice-Chief The Indian Navy is keeping a close and continuous watch on every Chinese vessel that enters the Indian Ocean Region, including naval and research ships, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice-Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan said on Friday. “We are aware of what they are doing, when they come in, and when they go out,” he said, underscoring the Navy’s continuous surveillance of extra-regional powers operating in the region. Stray dogs case: Supreme Court declines virtual appearance for Chief Secretaries, says States ‘sleeping over orders’ The Supreme Court on Friday declined to exempt Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories from personally appearing before it to explain their failure to submit affidavits in compliance with its August 22 directive mandating the sterilisation, deworming, and immunisation of stray dogs in accordance with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. U.S. judge directs Trump administration to provide SNAP food aid benefits amid shutdown A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from suspending all food aid for millions of Americans amid the ongoing government shutdown and directed it to use contingency funds to pay for the benefits. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence issued a temporary restraining order at the behest of cities, nonprofits and a union that argued the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP or food stamps, starting Saturday was unlawful. Sengottaiyan expelled from AIADMK a day after meeting Panneerselvam, Dhinakaran, Sasikala AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, on Friday, expelled senior leader and Gobichettipalayam MLA K.A. Sengottaiyan from the party, a day after he accompanied expelled leader O. Panneerselvam and AMMK founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran in the same car to Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district and also addressed a joint press meet. No evidence links us to 2020 Delhi riots, Umar Khalid, others tell SC Activists Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima and Sharjeel Imam told the Supreme Court on Friday that they had been in jail for over five years without any evidence to show their involvement in the February 2020 Delhi riots, and said the continued incarceration amounted to “punishment without trial”. Mallikarjun Kharge says Patel’s logic on banning RSS holds good; condemns ideology as ‘poison’ Invoking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that he favoured a ban on the organisation, comparing its ideology with “poison.” Mr. Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “insulting” the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by allowing government employees to be associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Activist seeks probe into ‘fake encounter of Rohit Arya to cover up Government’s failures’ Social activist and advocate Nitin Satpute is set to file a writ petition in the Bombay High Court seeking an independent investigation into the death of Rohit Arya, who was killed by police on Thursday while he was allegedly holding school children hostage. On Friday, Satpute wrote to the Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, the Human Rights Commission, the Director General of Police, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, calling the incident a “fake encounter” and accusing the State government of endangering lives to cover up administrative failures. Regime changes in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were due to poor governance: Doval National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said “poor governance” was the reason behind uprisings that led to change of governments in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka over the past three-and-a-half years. Mr. Doval said governance plays a “seminal role” in “nation-building process” and in securing the nation-state. FIDE World Chess Cup trophy named after Viswanathan Anand The new trophy of the FIDE World Chess Cup being held in Panjim was on Friday (October 31, 2025) christened as the Viswanathan Anand trophy, in honour of the five-time world champion Indian legend.
