NEW DELHI 04 MAY 2025 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES A Passage to a Forgotten India MAGAZINE The Weary Weight of Womanhood EXCLUSIVE VOICES FATAL MEDICINE Turning Over a Raw Leaf Pushpesh Pant Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Preeti Shenoy Dinesh Singh Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Nanditha Krishna A Blend of the Northeast Committed to take firm, decisive action against terrorists and their ecosystem, says Modi FURTHER SQUEEZE Addl structure on Indus will INDIA STOPS DIRECT & INDIRECT PAK IMPORTS, draw attack: SUSPENDS MAIL SERVICES, DENIES PORT ACCESS Pak minister J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi NORTH GOA Six dead, 80 injured in temple fest stampede S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai AT least six people died while 80 sustained injuries in a stampede that broke out at a temple festival at Shirgaon in North Goa early Saturday morning. The state government ordered a magisterial inquiry , headed by Revenue Secretary Sandeep Jacques, into the tragedy at Shirgao village, and transferred five officials including the district collector and superintendent of police. The stampede occurred at around 3 am when thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes leading to the temple of Goddess Sree Lairai Devi for an annual festival, police said. The village is located 40 km away from Panaji. “At least 30,000 to 40,000 people had gathered, and some were standing on a slope. A few persons fell, causing others to tumble and fall on each other,” DGP Alok Kumar said. About 50 people fell on the slope, and the stampede was confined to that spot, he added.Thousands of devotees from Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka had congregated to attend the annual festival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the tragedy “Saddened . by the loss of lives due to a stampede in Shirgao, Goa. May the injured recover soon,” the PM wrote on X. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced `10 lakh solatium for the family members of every deceased and `1 lakh to the injured. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed unwavering and decisive action against terrorists and their backers, condemning terrorism as the gravest threat to humanity, after his meeting with visiting Angola’s President Joao Lourenco here. Meanwhile, as part of continuing economic and diplomatic measures following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, including a Nepalese citizen, India halted all imports from Pakistan, suspended mail services, and denied port access to Pakistani vessels with immediate effect. “Government of India has decided to suspend the exchange of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes,” Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Communication said. India also imposed a ban on both direct and indirect imports from Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships from accessing Indian ports. A newly introduced provision in the Foreign Trade Policy said that “the direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan is prohibited with immediate effect until further orders.” The notification said the provision was imposed in the interest of national security An. other order from the Directorate General of Shipping said that any ship flying the Pakistani flag will be prohibited from vis- AMID escalating tensions over the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Friday that Islamabad would “strike” if India built any structure on the Indus River, violating the Indus Waters Treaty . Speaking to Geo News, Asif said that building any infrastructure on the river would be considered an act of “Indian aggression”. The warning came after India held in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty as part of its broader response to the terror attack in Pahalgam. Asif emphasised that any attempt by India to build on the river would be met Khawaja Asif, with strong op- Pak def minister position. “Certainly, if they attempt to build any structure, we will strike it. Aggression is not just about firing cannons or bullets; it has many faces. One of those faces is (blocking or diverting water), which could lead to deaths due to hunger and thirst.” Asif added: “If they make any architectural attempt, then Pakistan will destroy that structure.” However, Asif said for now, Pakistan would take the issue to the appropriate for u m s, a n d t h e r e l ev a n t stakeholders. The Indus Waters Treaty was , signed on September 19, 1960, between India and Pakistan. @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with J&K CM Omar Abdullah in New Delhi | PTI Pak test-fires Abdali missile Lanka searches Chennai flight Pak wife draws CRPF wrath Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali surface-tosurface missile with a range of 450 km. India saw it as a blatant act of provocation Sri Lankan police searched a flight arriving in Colombo from Chennai after being tipped off that a suspect linked to the Pahalgam attack could be on board. The filght was later cleared. No one was arrested The Central Reserve Police Force sacked its jawan Munir Ahmed for concealing his marriage with a Pakistani woman, as his action was found to be detrimental to national security, official sources said iting Indian ports. Although trade volumes are low, it has become a casualty following the terror strike, as India began imposing economic costs on Pakistan due to the cross-border links involved in the attack. Direct trade had already sharply declined after India revoked Pakistan’s Most Favoured Nation status following the 2019 Pulwama attack. India’s imports from Pakistan have been minimal in re- @ Chandigarh THE Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s Court on Saturday ordered that all five floors of the disputed Sanjauli mosque are unauthorised, and directed the demolition of the entire structure. A section of residents of Sanjauli and Hindu outfits had launched an agitation to press for the demolition of the mosque, claiming that it was unauthorised but no action was taken by the Corpora- MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 7 HARYANA WATER Citing seven-day notice rule, Punjab skips BBMB meet H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh HOT CAT ‘Chanda’ quenches thirst at the Jhalana Leopard Safari Park, in Jaipur, on Saturday | PTI EXPRESS READ 22.7L to take up NEET-UG exam today, says NTA India offers $200 mn def credit line to Angola NTA has taken action against 165 Telegram channels for spreading false info about availability of contents of NEET-UG exam with over 22.7 lakh candidates having registered for the test on Sunday. After talks with visiting President Joao Lourenco, PM Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a $200 million defence credit line to Angola and pledged support in digital infra and space tech. Mosque in Shimla to be brought down HARPREET BAJWA cent years, with some goods routed through third-party ports like Dubai, Singapore, and Colombo to bypass trade restrictions. In 2023-24, India imported just USD 3 million worth of goods from Pakistan. However, with India halting all trade, Pakistan, heavily reliant on India for pharmaceuticals, is now urgently seeking alternative sources for its pharmaceutical requirements. tion during the past 15 years. The court had on October 5, 2024, ordered the demolition of the top three “unauthorised” floors and asked the Waqf Board to produce documents of sanctioned plans of the remaining two floors. This decision follows the Waqf board failing to present the mosque’s revenue records during the court hearing. The lawyer of the Waqf board argued that the mosque originally existed before 1947 and was rebuilt after demolition. But the court of Commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri ques- tioned why necessary permissions, including architectural plans, were not obtained from the municipal corporation for the reconstruction. Commissioner Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without necessary permissions, including a building permit, a no-objection certificate and a sanctioned map. He ordered demolition of the lower two floors in addition to the three floors that were ordered to be demolished last year. E a rl i e r, t h e H i m a c h a l Pradesh HC had directed the municipal commissioner to decide the case by May 8. A day after the Centre instructed the Punjab government to implement the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) order and release an additional 4,500 cusecs of water to Haryana, the AAP-led government did not attend the scheduled meeting on Saturday Instead, it sent a letter requesting . a postponement of the meeting. In the letter addressed to the BBMB chairman, the state government stated that a special session of the Punjab Assembly has been conveyed on Monday where the board’s decision to allocate additional water to Haryana would be discussed. Since, the officials are occupied with preparations for the Assembly session, they will be unable to attend the meeting, sources said. Also, a seven-day notice is mandatory before convening a BBMB meeting, as per Section 7 of Regulation 1976, the water resources department stated. Amid the ongoing water dispute between Haryana and Punjab, an all-party meeting called by Haryana asked the Bhagwant Mann government to allow the release of water from Bhakra dam unconditionally . The meeting slammed the Punjab government’s move, calling it “unconstitutional, illegal, inhuman and inappropriate’’. On Friday, in the meeting headed by Home Secretary Govind Mohan in New Delhi, the Punjab government was asked to release water to Haryana. P3 ALBANESE WINS A 2ND 3-YR TERM Centre-left Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese claimed victory as the first Australian PM to clinch a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years on Saturday. | P9 PLAYING THE COMEDY CARD SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS Decoding the Power of Pixels The Mystery of Life IIT-K roped in for cloud-seeding trials to check pollution I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi A week after announcing that cloud-seeding trials will be discussed at the next Delhi cabinet meeting, a senior environment department official on Saturday said that Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur has been given the responsibility to execute the plan. Each cloud-seeding will cost around `1.5 crore. If the proposal is approved, the government is expected to transfer funds directly to the institute. “They (IIT-K) have already worked on technical aspects. If the proposal gets cabinet approval, no-objection certificates will be sought from 13 departments whose permissions are required to conduct the trial. The government will do the funding,” the official said, adding that after the initial test run, scientific evaluations would be conducted. A total of 13 NOCs will be required from key agencies such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Airports Authority of India. “Once approved, it will be shared with all relevant departments for no-objection WHAT IS CLOUD-SEEDING? An experiment to assess whether it can successfully enhance precipitation, potentially addressing water scarcity or improving air quality Involves introducing substances like silver iodide or dry ice into clouds Substances act as ‘nuclei’, providing a surface for water vapour to condense and form ice crystals, which can then grow into raindrops or snowflakes WHY TRIALS CONDUCTED Particularly useful in areas facing drought or water shortages Can increase snow accumulation, providing water source during spring melt Can be used to suppress hail formation Inducing rainfall can help to wash pollutants out of the atmosphere, potentially improving air quality certificates. We aim to conduct the first trial during peak summer on the outskirts of Delhi,” Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa had earlier said. He had also said that the government was ramping up its pollution control measures using advanced technologies such as digitisation, artificial intelligence-based monitoring, and 24x7 surveillance at pollution hotspots. SEBIMORE REGULATIONS CHIEF’S TAKE ON More regulations do not necessarily mean better and effective monitoring, says Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey | P10