NEW DELHI 27 JULY 2025 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in The Unlikely Space Rangers Ninety Minutes at a Time A Love that is Unconventional and Poetic PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Anand Neelakantan S Vaidhyasubramaniam Ravi Shankar Anu Aggarwal THE ANTEATERS Debashis Chatterjee Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Namrata Joshi The World is its Oyster ‘I don’t Worry About Getting Older’ SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS Myth, Politics and British Propaganda The Changeless Principle UK FTA shows world’s trust in India, says Modi ment towards Tamil Nadu’s growth,” the PM said. The projects inaugurated THE Free Trade Agreement included a new terminal (FTA) signed between India building built at a cost of and the UK will soon make `450 crore and a cargo hanIndia the third largest econ- dling facility at the V O omy Prime Minister Naren- Chidambaranar Port. , dra Modi said on here SaturThe new terminal buildday, adding the pact ing of Thoothukudi showed the world’s airport will serve 20 trust in India. lakh passengers an“The FTA shows nually abd contribute , the growing trust of to the growth of inFTA with Britain adds the world and our dustries, transportapace to our self-confidence. We tion, health care, will make Viksit (de- vision of Viksit tourism and employBharat, Viksit veloped) Bharat and ment, the PM said. Tamil Nadu Viksit Tamil Nadu Recalling poet Subwith this self-confi- Narendra Modi, ramanian Bharathi’s Prime Minister dence,” the PM said strong connect with at an event after dediThoothukudi, he said cated to the nation and lay- the great Tamil poet had ing foundation stones for a strong links with Varanasi slew of development projects too. “I’m trying to develop worth `4,900 crore. this cultural and traditional “The Union government links with Tamil Nadu has given `3 lakh crore for through the Kashi Tamil Tamil Nadu’s development, Sangam,” the PM said. which is thrice more than Touching on Operation the funds given to the state Sindoor against Pakistan, under the erstwhile UPA Modi said the weapons mang ove r n m e n t . T h e n ew ufactured in India had deprojects underscore the molished enemy targets NDA government’s commit- with precision. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Thoothukudi I N ST E P Defence minister Rajnath Singh with Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Vice Chief Lt General N S Raja Subramani, Navy Chief Adm Dinesh K Tripathi and Air Chief A P Singh as they march to pay tribute to the Kargil War martyrs at the National War Memorial (R) on the Kargil Vijay Diwas anniversary, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Two men die in city after falling into septic tank N I T I N R AWAT @ New Delhi TWO men died in southwest Delhi’s Qutub Vihar area after they allegedly fell into a septic tank at an under construction house, police said on Saturday . The incident took place on Friday, following which a team reached the spot and initiated the probe. According to the police, they got information from IG hospital around 2 pm that two people —Subhash (32), and Pradeep (22)—were brought to the hospital after falling in a septic tank inside an under construction house at Qutub Vihar Phase-2. They were declared dead. As per inquiry Subhash was , a contractor, while Pradeep was a labourer. They died of suffocation after opening the under construction septic tank scaffolding. One Sujith Jha had given the construction work to Subhash, a senior police officer said. A case has been registered at Chhawla police station and further probe is in progress. In a recent related incident, the Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) sparked widespread outrage by publicly sharing images and videos of sanitation workers waist-deep in sewage during a de-silting operation—despite a national ban on the practice. The posts were deleted following a backlash. This controversy comes just months after PWD Minister Parvesh Verma assured the public that the city was phasing out manual scavenging. No timeline for completion of negotiations on bilateral trade deal Trade talks with Major pushback US making fast against Trump’s progress: Goyal GM playbook E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi TALKS on the India-US trade deal is progressing INDIA is firm on its stance against importing fast, Minister of Commerce and Industries Piy- genetically modified (GM) crops from the US, ush Goyal said on Saturday Negotiations are at sources in the government said. It has been our . an advanced stage with Oman as well, while with stated position for long and it remains so, said a the European Union and US, they are making top government source. Import of GM crops has fast progress, he said. been a bone of contention between the two counGoyal, however, refused to tries during the trade negotiagive any timeline for the comtions. With the government pletion of the US deal even as now making its stance clear, the extended deadline (August the Trump playbook will find 1) for imposition of the reciprofull resistance on GM crops. cal tariff is less than a week The US is pressing India to away. According to commerce allow imports of GM crops ministry sources, a delegation such as soybean meal and disof US negotiators is likely to tillers dried grains with solucome to India in the second bles (DDGS) for animal feed. In future, when Kolhapuri sandals are half of August for talks on the Initially, the India did not exported, India will get Bilateral Trade Agreement strongly oppose the idea of credit. It will be exported (BTA). India faces a 26% recipsome tariff cuts on farm goods as India’s GI product rocal tariff if there is no trade or even selective GM imports. deal by August 1. However, after facing strong do—Piyush Goyal, minister Goyal said that the India-UK mestic resistance, India seems trade agreement serves as a to have hardened its position as doorway for India to engage with the developed far as GM imports are concerned. world. He said that unlike past FTAs under the A Niti Aayog report had suggested a “strategic UPA government, which were often signed with opening for US imports” for broader export gains. direct competitors like ASEAN nations, the Modi It proposed importing GM soybean seeds, crushgovernment has focused on FTAs with comple- ing them at coastal facilities, selling oil domestimentary economies like Mauritius, Australia, cally and exporting soymeal (with GM traits) to UAE, and the EFTA bloc (Switzerland, Norway, avoid domestic contamination. But experts Liechtenstein, Iceland). panned it citing weak regulatory oversight. “The business opportunities, the quality and Another major area of difference between the cost competitiveness of Indian goods and serv- two countries is imports of animals fed on aniices, the demographic dividend of our young and mal-derived feed — for example, butter from aspirational population, the rule of law, and the cows fed meat — due to deep religious sensitivistrength of our democracy all make India a pre- ties. India prohibits such animals and it considferred global partner,” he said. ers this policy non-negotiable. Bihar horror: Chirag raps CM on ambulance rape R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna A 26-year-old woman with a dream to don the khaki appeared at a physical test for recruitment of Home Guards in Bihar’s Gaya but was allegedly gangraped in an ambulance after she fainted during the test on Thursday . The horrific incident drew widespread outrage as cracks appeared in the ruling NDA in Bihar when Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed “regret” over having to support the Nitish government, which he said had “surrendered” before criminals. The young woman, a resident of Imamganj in Gaya, narrated her ordeal to hospital authorities after regaining consciousness. Hospital authorities, in turn, informed police, following which an FIR was regis- D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi tered. Gaya SSP Anand Kumar said two accused, Vinay Kumar (driver) and Ajit Kumar (technician), have already been arrested and produced in court, which remanded them in 14day judicial custody . The victim, in her statement, said she was gangraped by three-four individuals travelling in the ambulance arranged to transport her from the BMP-3 ground to the Magadh Medical College and Hospital. “Though I was in semiconscious state, I felt the pain in my ... abdomen,” she said. Chirag’s remarks came two days after he heaped praise on Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor for playing an ‘honest’ role in Bihar politics. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav asked voters to vote the NDA out. “Bihar is under the rule of demons,” Yadav said. SAFETY CENTRE DIRECTS STATES, UTS TO CONDUCT AUDITS Following the collapse of a school building in Rajasthan, the Ministry of Education has ordered mandatory safety audits of all schools | P7 EXPRESS READ Asia Cup: India to play Pakistan on Sept 14 CHENNAI: The much-anticipated men’s Asia Cup schedule was announced on Saturday with India and Pakistan slotted in same group. They will play each other on September 14 in the tournament that is being held in the United Arab Emirates from September 9-28. The BCCI are the hosts but the tournament will be held in a neutral venue | P11 147 AI crash victims’ kin get interim relief Tamil Nadu minister Thangam Thennarasu presents a memento to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Thoothukudi on Saturday | V KARTHIKALAGU Air India on Saturday said that it has completed payment of interim compensation of `25 lakh each to the families of 147 passengers who lost their lives in the AI 171 Ahmedabad flight crash. The airline is in the process of paying the compensation to 52 more families. In the June 12 crash at Ahmedabad, 229 flyers, 12 airline crew members and 19 non-passengers lost their lives. ADR rejoinder rebuts EC’s claim that it has right to verify citizenship in Bihar S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi RESPONDING to the Election Commission’s counter affidavit filed on July 21, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday told the Supreme Court that the EC’s electoral roll verification goes against the SC’s past judgments, and was a “grave fraud” on voters. The ADR’s rejoinder came after the ECI had on July 21 submitted its reply defending the Bihar SIR (Special Intensive Revision) exercise and said it was done to restore public confidence and integrity of electoral rolls. The court will hear pleas challenging SIR on Monday . G R E E N Odisha prepares to undertake SIR Amid the row over the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, the Odisha government is gearing up to undertake the exercise soon. It will be held after a gap of over two decades. P5 The ADR also questioned the refusal by the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration card as valid “standalone” proof for inclusion in the electoral roll during the SIR, ad described it as “patently absurd”. It submitted that the ECI has given no valid reason for its decision. On July 10, a bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, while refusing to stay SIR, asked the EC to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ra- tion card for the exercise. But the EC argued that Aadhaar, voter cards and ration cards could easily be faked. The ADR said any of the 11 documents for SIR were equally prone to fraud. “SIR is being conducted in a manner that constitutes a grave fraud on the voters of Bihar,” the ADR said. It also alleged glaring discrepancies in SIR. “Media reports suggest how enumeration forms are being filled in the absence of voters,” the ADR said. C O V E R Punjab plans law to curb tree felling in urban areas H A R P R E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh THE Punjab Government is in the process of implementing “The Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2025” which aims to maintain green cover, ensure ecological balance, and regulate felling & replanting trees. Under the proposed Act, the felling of trees will be prohibited in urban areas. If a tree has to be cut down, permission from the designated tree officer will be a must. Every jurisdiction of the state will have an officer designated as the tree officer. Only rural areas will be exempt, as agro-forestry is practised in villages. Anyone who cuts down a tree will be bound to plant two trees in place. Failure to comply will result in a fine of `5,000, which can go up to `50,000. Those who axe trees without clearance shall face environmental compensation penalty of up to `10,000 per tree. What makes this Act different is that it exempts defence establishments due to operational requirements. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Punjab Dharminder Sharma said that the state forest and wildlife department has prepared a draft and sent it to the different departments for feedback. Once they get the input, the draft will be submitted to the state cabinet for final approval before it is officially notified. According to the act, the only trees that may be cut in urban areas are dead trees or those that have fallen naturally without human intervention. They are required to make a decision on applications within 30 days, and for dead trees within seven days. Officers must record the reasons for their decisions after conducting an inquiry Permission to cut a tree . cannot be refused if it poses a danger to persons or property . Due to non availability of land the tree officer can allow tree to be planted in other area or can get the money deposited in the state treasury but for that he will have to record the reasons in writing. In the cases where permission of tree officers is not required, the concerned agency shall give the information of cutting trees to the tree officer within 24 hours. On the directions of NGT, the state forest and wildlife department has proposed to enact this law.