TUESDAY 07 APRIL, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard LUNAR MILESTONE ARTEMIS II SET TO BREAK RECORD THREE ACADEMICS CAUGHT IN NCERT ROW APPROACH SUPREME COURT Astronauts raced to set a new distance record on Monday from Earth on a lunar fly-around promising magnificent views of the far side never seen before A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was told the three experts, Professor Michel Danion, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar, were not fly-by-night persons and had credibility. On February 26, the court banned NCERT’s Class 8 social science book which contained ‘offending’ contents on corruption in the judiciary Both sides reject Pak proposal on truce, Israel hits South Pars again Ceasefire plan not enough to end war, says Trump; admits bid to arm Iranian protesters DAY Forensic team inspecting Delhi Assembly premises on Monday | SAYANTAN GHOSH Major security breach at Delhi House premises N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi A major security breach was reported at the Delhi Assembly on Monday after a private car bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration rammed through a gate and briefly entered the high-security premises, triggering a large-scale security response. According to police, the incident occurred around 2 pm when a white Tata Sierra (UP26AZ8090) crashed through the main black gate and a boom barrier at Gate No. 2, a designated VIP entry point, and drove into the complex. ADG-led Officials said the driver, later identified as panel to Sarabjit Singh (37), exited the vehicle and investigate placed a bouquet and a marigold garland inside the Speaker’s official car. He also reportAuthorities have edly sat inside the vehicle for a short duration formed a highbefore fleeing the premises. The Assembly level committee, led by an ADG-rank was not in session at the time. DCP (North) Raja Banthia said, “One indiofficer, to probe the breach. The vidual alighted from the vehicle and proceedincident comes ed towards the porch area carrying a bouquet days after the and a garland (mala) of marigold flowers. It is Assembly received pertinent to mention that the Vidhan Sabha a bomb threat was not in session at the time. During the inemail ahead of the cident, the accused drove the vehicle in a danpresentation of gerous manner with apparent intent to run the budget by CM over security personnel on duty, thereby enRekha Gupta. The dangering their lives.” Upon being challenged threat was later by security staff, the individual fled the spot declared a hoax after no suspicious in the same vehicle, he added. Police teams, including bomb disposal and material was dog squads, rushed to the site and conducted recovered. a thorough probe. A forensic team collected evidence from the entry gate and the premises, and the bouquet was also examined. Senior officers, including Police Commissioner Satish Golcha, visited the spot. CCTV footage was scanned to trace the accused. The car was intercepted around 4:15 pm at a police picket in the Roop Nagar area of north Delhi. Three individuals, including Sarabjit Singh, a resident of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested. Sources said that Singh had travelled from Pilibhit to Bareilly on April 2 and reached Delhi on the day of the incident. The vehicle has been seized, police said. Police said a case has been registered at the Civil Lines police station under charges including attempt to murder, criminal trespass, use of force against a public servant, and provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. P3 Kalpakkam PFBR attains criticality E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai INDIA on Monday achieved a major milestone in its civil nuclear programme, with the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam attaining criticality the stage at which a , controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction begins. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described it as a “defining step” in advancing the second stage of India’s nuclear programme. “The indigenously designed and built Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam has attained criticality… a decisive step towards harnessing our vast thorium reserves,” he said in a post on X. The 500 MWe PFBR, developed by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and operated by BHAVINI, is India’s first fast breeder reactor, which produces more nuclear fuel than it consumes. Using plutonium-based fuel and liquid sodium as coolant, it converts non-fissile uranium-238 into fissile material, improving fuel efficiency and reducing waste. RESIGN AI CEO CAMPBELL WILSON QUITS Air India’s top executive was appointed on a fiveyear contract, which he did not complete. His tenure was expected to last till July 2027 38 A G E N C I E S @ Dubai IRAN and the United States received a draft proposal late Sunday calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal, tentatively dubbed the ‘Islamabad Accord’, came from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators, hoping the 45-day window would provide enough time for talks to reach a permanent ceasefire. It was sent to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran on Monday rejected the proposal. News agency IRNA said, “Iran... has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict.” Iran’s refusal for truce came after the head of intelligence for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Maj Gen Majid Khademi, was killed in an attack targeting him in Tehran. @ Madurai IN a groundbreaking verdict, a sessions court in Madurai, on Monday imposed death penalty , on all nine policemen who were convicted for the custodial torture and death of two traders—P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks—at Sathankulam in Thoothukudi in 2020. Referring to similar incidents, including George Floyd’s murder in the United States and recent killing of Ajithkumar in Madapuram, the judge observed that custodial killings Oil refiners to postpone maintenance shutdown Two more LPG tankers sail through Hormuz Indian oil refiners are planning to postpone maintenance shutdowns of their units to meet domestic production of LPG, petrol, and diesel. According to a top official, some refineries of Indian Oil Corporation and BPCL have already planned shutdowns. Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz and are headed for Indian ports even as 16 other vessels remain stranded. Green Sanvi carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG will reach India on April 7 while Green Asha with 15,500 tonnes will reach on April 9. The Revolutionary Guards s a i d t h e y w i l l av e n g e Khademi’s killing. For his part, US President Donald Trump said the truce proposal was a “very significant step,” but not enough yet to end the conflict. Word of Iran’s rejection came while Trump addressed a White 55% of voters remain excluded even after review: West Bengal Bengal, said the appellate tribunals should pass interim orders for those prima facie found THE West Bengal government wrongly excluded. on Monday told the Supreme The bench, however, declined Court that as many as 55% of the submissions and refused to voters whose names were re- set any deadline for the tribumoved from the electoral rolls nals to decide on the appeals. stand excluded even after the The court noted the electoral adjudication of claims list needs to be frozen and objections. at some point in view “Out of these 60 lakh of the upcoming Ascases, available data of sembly elections, but 40 lakh cases indicates it was leaving the decithe exclusion rate is sion to the appellate 55%,” said senior lawtribunals. yer Shyam Divan, apThe CJI asked the pearing for West BenCalcutta High Court gal Chief Minister Tribunals will go on chief justice to conMamata Banerjee. hearing and we do stitute a three-memA bench headed by not want to rush it, ber panel of former but we need to Chief Justice Surya senior judges to frame freeze the list Kant and comprising uniform procedures somewhere... j u s t i c e s Jo y m a l ya for these tribunals. Appellate process Bagchi and Vipin Pan- can take a month “Let the committee choli, noted that 59.15 prescribe the proceor even 60 days lakh out of 60.06 lakh dure by tomorrow Supreme Court cases were decided by (Tuesday) so that adApril 6 noon. judication of appeals Divan argued that the rejec- can be expedited,” it said and tion rate is very high despite fixed the matter for further the judicial safeguards. “These hearing to April 23. were mapped individuals. SevIn another decision, the court en lakh objections have already directed the NIA to take over been filed and several lakh ap- the probe into the gherao of jupeals are in the process of be- dicial officers engaged in SIR ing filed,” he said. work in Malda after noting seSenior advocate Kapil Sibal, rious allegations against the appearing for the State of West local police. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Death penalty for 9 cops over custodial torture of TN traders J E G A D E E S W A R I PA N D I A N File photo of the South Pars gas field in the southern Iranian port town of Assaluyeh, which was hit by an Israeli missile strike on Monday | AFP are a social evil and an assault on human rights. “When there is power, there should be responsibility. The policemen involved misused their power and like the fence eating away at grass, they took the life of two common men, a father-son duo, by stripping them of their clothes and beating them throughout the night, merely because Jeyaraj scolded them and Beniks tried to prevent them from assaulting his father,” the judge said, adding that the judgment should serve as a warning so that such incidents do not recur. House event. Asked if Tuesday at 8 pm Washington time was his final deadline for Iran, Trump replied, “Yeah.” Trump also revealed the US attempted to arm Iranian protesters but the weapons were diverted and never passed to the right people. “We sent guns, a lot of guns... The people that they sent them to kept those guns.” Besides, he threatened a media outlet with jail time if it does not reveal the person who leaked information about a US airman who was missing in Iran. Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said they struck a petrochemical facility in Iran. “The IDF has now strongly attacked the largest petrochemical facility in Iran located in [Asaluyeh],” he said, adding the facility in the Pars region services Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, and produced half of its petrochemicals. This was the second hit on South Pars in weeks. Strikes on cities across Iran killed more people, while in Israel’s Haifa, four persons were found dead in a rubble. GOVT CONTRACTS CBI to probe firms linked to Khandu: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations that various contracts for the public works in Ar unachal Pradesh were awarded to firms linked to Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s family members. “We order CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry It shall submit a status . report within 16 weeks on whether an independent investigation is required or not,” said a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath. The court passed the verdict on hearing a PIL filed by two NGOs, which alleged government contracts were being illegally awarded to Khandu and his close family members and sought an SIT probe. The top court said, “The CBI shall register a preliminary inquiry; it shall cover awards and execution from 2015 to 2025. The CBI shall examine awards made to respondents 4 to 6,” the court ruled. The petitioners’ counsel Prashant Bhushan had pointed out that a large number of firms were related to the CM. Speaker and RS Chair reject Oppn notice for impeachment of CEC R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi Mamata Banerjee addresses a public meeting in Nadia on Monday | PTI ‘Stalin, Congress in cahoots with BJP’ Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the BJP had entered into a “tacit understanding” with the Congress and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, saying many officers from Bengal had been sent to the southern state as poll observers. Also, the EC transferred around 500 officers in Bengal compared with a handful in other pollbound states, she alleged BOTH Houses of Parliament on Monday declined to admit the Opposition’s notice of motion seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The notice, signed by 63 Opposition Rajya Sabha members, was submitted to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, C P Radhakrishnan, on March 12, after a similar notice had already been submitted by Opposition members in the Lok Sabha. Following what was described as wider consideration and a careful, objective assessment of all relevant issues, the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla declined to admit the notice of motion in their respective Houses. With this rejection, the Opposition’s attempt to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar has effectively failed. According to a Rajya Sabha parliamentary bulletin stated that, after due consideration of the notice of motion and a careful, objective assessment of all relevant aspects and issues involved, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha refused to admit the notice. Similarly Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla de, clined to admit the motion. A Lok Sabha parliamentary bulletin noted that, after due consideration and a careful, objective assessment, the Speaker, exercising powers vested in him under Section 3 of the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, refused to admit the notice of motion. As per Parliament rules, at least 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha must sign a notice of motion for the removal of the CEC. 1st attempt to remove a nat’l poll body head This was the first such attempt in history to remove a Chief Election Commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar is the first CEC in the history of the Election Commission against whom Opposition members submitted a formal notice in both Houses of Parliament. ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS SC ASKS NIA TO PROBE MALDA CASE I P8 PROMISES MADE IN ’21 ACHIEVED: KERALA CM I P5 ‘IIT Baba’ of Kumbh fame weds K’taka engineer Who is Abhay Singh? N A M I TA BA J PA I @ Lucknow ABHAY Singh, who shot to fame as “IIT Baba” and gained attention during the Mahakumbh in Allahabad last year, has tied the knot with an engineer from Karnataka. He was seen with his wife Pritika at his native place Jhajjhar in Haryana recently . While interacting with media persons in his father Karan Singh’s chamber, who is a lawyer, Abhay said he had gone to the city to meet his parents and seek their blessings. Crowds gathered outside the chamber to take selfies with him. Abhay said the wedding took Born to a lawyer father and a homemaker mother in Jhajjar, Abhey completed aerospace engineering from IIT-Bombay in 2008. A high-paying job took him to Canada in 2016. He returned to India during the pandemic and gradually broke ties with his family, leading the life of a wanderer in spiritual pursuit. place on February 15 on the occasion of Mahashivratri at the Aghanjar Mahadev Temple. The couple later registered it in a court on February 19. He added that Pritika, who hails from Bengaluru, accompanied him to Jhajjar for documentation work and meeting his family . Pritika has described Singh as a simple and honest person, stating that the couple shared a common vision to promote Sanatan traditions. She said they had plans to establish a university that would combine modern education with spiritual teachings. Singh said that he was still dedicated to sadhna and spirituality Currently liv. ing in Himachal Pradesh, the couple said they were working toward their shared goals. Singh said that he met his wife at the ashram of Sadguru in Coimbatore during one of his visits on Mahashivratri. However, after becoming a head-turner at the Mahalumbh, he courted controversies when he picked up a fight during a TV debate. He was also caught with narcotics in Rajasthan and spent some time in jail.