THURSDAY 07 MAY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard DAY 68 X.com/TheMornStandard R I S K TA K E R TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER, NO MORE The flamboyant entrepreneur who transformed television news with the creation of CNN in 1980, has died at the age of 87, the US network said. PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb 28 against Iran, has ended. He claimed the mission has achieved its objectives | P11 IRAN OPERATION OVER: RUBIO “The operation is over, as the president notified Congress. We’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio told reporters at the White House According to CNN, US and Iran are moving closer to an agreement on a one-page memo to end the war and begin nuclear negotiations Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he is pausing Project Freedom, the military operation to escort stranded ships out of Hormuz In his typical style, Trump also issued a fresh warning to Iran, saying the “bombing starts” again if a deal is not reached ALLIANCE RUMOURS MAY RAIN ON VIJAY’S PARADE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS CONG FORMALLY SNAPS TIES WITH DMK TVK president Vijay with TN Governor Rajendra Arlekar at tghe Lok Bhavan in Chennai on Wednesday | PTI Rumour on Dravidian jugalbandi to change the Tamil Nadu mandate denied such a development. DMK MP Kalanidhi VeerasTHE swearing-in ceremony of wamy, in a late night X post, TVK chief Vijay initially sched- said, “The DMK has decided , uled for Thursday, may be de- to function as an effective oplayed even as strong rumours position despite Congress’ begathered speed of arch-rivals trayal (and perhaps other alliDMK and AIADMK discussing ance parties). The ADMK (sic) a partnership along with their is pushing BJP to stop TVK allies to form a government. forming the government. That It is unclear how such an al- is disrespecting people’s manliance would work with the d a t e . H o p e d e m o c r a c y AIADMK’s ally prevails.” PMK and its rival The rumour mill Proposal on VC K , a l l i e d t o started chur ning EPS as CM DMK, being in the late on Wednesday, mix. The DMK (59 after the Congress In case of a DMKseats) and AIADformally anAIADMK tie-up, MK (47) together nounced its support Edappadi K have 106 seats, fallto the TVK, stating Palaniswami may ing short of a simthat the alliance assume the CM ple majority by 12. will continue till post as part of a T he IUML, CPI, the 2029 polls. Vijay larger plan that CPM and VCK from subsequently met may extend up to the DMK front have with Tamil Nadu the 2029 LS polls, two seats each and Governor Rajendra sources said D M D K ha s one, Arlekar and staked while the PMK his claim to form a from the AIADMK alliance government as the legislative has four. If such an alliance party leader of the single largcomes to fruition, AIADMK est party in the House. general secretary Edappadi K It is customary for Lok BhaPalaniswami may assume the van to issue an invite within an chief ministerial post with hour of the leader staking DMK’s support, as part of a claim to form a new governlarger plan that may extend ment and prove his majority on up to the 2029 Lok Sabha elec- the floor of the assembly withtions, sources indicated. in a specified time frame. HowHowever, leaders from both ever, by press time, Arlekar was Dravidian majors officially yet to issue such an invite. T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai Hours after two back-to-back explosions—one in Jalandhar and another in Amritsar—shook Punjab late Tuesday night, DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday that the attacks appeared to be the handiwork of ISI-backed forces in Pakistan, ahead of Op Sindoor’s first anniversary. | P4 Graft probe against IAS officers open to RTI lens The people can access details of corruption cases involving IAS officers under the RTI Act, says Uttarakhand. Once a corruption case is lodged against a public servant, or if the govt has granted sanction for prosecution, that info can no longer be shielded from the public, it added. | P8 T R Baalu, DMK treasurer GUV YET TO INVITE VIJAY TO TAKE OATH Lok Bhavan sources indicated that a formal decision on inviting Vijay to form the government and holding the swearing-in ceremony has not yet been made, indicating that Governor Arlekar was not fully satisfied with Vijay’s claim of support. TVK appears keen on securing support from the VCK, the Left and the IUML massive deployment of police forces was ordered. Police are IN a major escalation of post- verifying local CCTV footage to poll violence in West Bengal, a identify the culprits. close aide of BJP’s prime conEarlier in the day Chief Elec, tender for chief ministership, tion Commissioner Gyanesh Suvendu Adhikari, was shot Kumar ordered the arrest of all dead on Wednesday night at those involved the post-poll vioMadhyagram in North 24-Par- lence. The order came hours afganas district. ter two paramilitary personnel According to locals, the as- and an equal number of policesailants randomly sprayed bul- men, including the officer inlets on Chandranath charge of Nazat poRath, personal aslice station, B P Oath taking sistant of Adhikari, Purkayastha, and a on May 9 and his driver when woman constable, their car was on the were shot at during Preparations are National Highway . a clash in the Sandon for the oathBoth sustained eshkhali area. of taking ceremony severe injuries and North 24-Parganas. of the new CM at were rushed to a loThe condition of Brigade Parade cal hospital where P u rk ay a s t h a i s Ground in Kolkata Rath was declared serious. on May 9, dead. The condition A group of crimicoinciding with of the driver is critnals allegedly fired Tagore’s birth ical. Adhikari later at the security peranniversary visited the hospital. sonnel when they He was not in the arrived at the spot car that was attacked. to defuse the situation. The inThe attackers are said to have cident triggered tension in the followed Rath’s car, intercepted village. A huge contingent of it, shot him through the rolled- central forces and police were up window from the opposite deployed to bring the situation side and fled. He was in the under control. front seat next to the driver. The BJP alleged that TMC The incident occurred at was attempting to incite postChowmatha at Maddhyam- poll violence by disguising its gram, hardly 3 km from Kolka- workers as BJP supporters usta airport. With tension build- ing symbols of the saffron paring up in Maddhyamgram, a ty to malign it. P5, P7 & P8 S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata No bilaterals with Pak, but multi-nation events OK DILJIT DOSANJH GETS E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai INDIA has put out a formal sports policy regarding India’s participation or hosting of international events. Though certain provisions were part of an unsigned document on the sports ministry website in August last year, this time the signed policy outlined India’s approach involving Pakistan. India and Pakistan will not play in bilateral series but when it comes to international events involving multiple nations, they are free to compete in India or abroad. The circular dated May 5, 2026, has said that India’s policy of not playing Pakistan in bilateral events will continue. “India’s approach to sports events involving Pakistan reflects its overall policy in deal- ing with that country said the ,” office memorandum. The memorandum states that when it comes to bilateral competitions India will not participate in Pakistan nor will they allow Pakistan to compete here in India. In short, there will be no cricket or hockey involving the two neighbours in near future. To facilitate smooth travel India has decided to the visa process for sportspersons, team officials, technical personnel, and officebearers... shall be simplified. —Sports Ministry Memorandum It is understood that this was necessitated after the International Olympic Committee also had reservations over such incidents. With India hosting the CWG and the two bids — Asian and Olympics — the country would simplify the visa process for IF officials. “To facilitate smooth travel India has decided to the visa process for sportspersons, team officials, technical personnel, and office-bearers... shall be simplified.” The policy is not new and has been reported by this newspaper last August but sports ministry is trying to normalise sporting ties with Pakistan ahead of mega international events, including Asian and world championships. And the preferred destinaiton is 2030 CWG host city Ahmedabad. It needs to be seen if Pakistan are comofrtable travelling to India. It is known that Pakistan refused to play in India and vice versa during the crickP11 et Asia & World Cup. THREATS OVER KHALISTAN STAND Banned terror outfit Sikhs for Justice has issued threats to the singer-actor claiming that it would oppose his upcoming music concerts in the US as Dosanjh had taken on pro-Khalistani elements during Canada concert | P8 16% dip, still Delhi tops metro cities with 2.75L criminal cases in 2024 N I T I N R AWAT @ New Delhi DELHI recorded more than 2.75 lakh criminal cases in 2024, marking a 16 per cent decline compared to 2023. Despite this reduction, the national capital reported the highest number of cases among India’s 19 metropolitan cities, which are defined as urban areas with populations exceeding 20 lakh. The Delhi crime figures, revealed in the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), are 4.67% of the cases reported nationwide at 58.85 lakh in 2024. According to the data, the national capital had lodged 2,75,402 cases in 2024; 3,23,549 in 2023; and 2,98,988 cases in 2022. Meanwhile, neighbouring Ghaziabad reported 8,963 cases in 2024, which was 2.9% lower than the cases lodged in 2023. The data showed that the city reported 9,227 cases in 2023 and 9,860 in 2022. In 2024, the capital saw 13,396 cases related to the crime against women and 504 cases of murder. The city also witnessed 5,580 cases of kidnapping and abduction, while 7,662 cases were reported about crimes against children, 1,833 cases of death by negligence, 82 cases of abetment to suicide, 1,090 cases of grievous hurt, and 64 cases of crimes against foreigners. The murder cases marginally increased in 2024, as compared to 2023, when 503 such cases were reported, while 501 cases were registered in 2022. There were 50 murder victims who were 18 years old or under it, while 15 were above 60 years old. The maximum number of victims was between the age of 30 and 45 years. According to the NCRB, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have provided the citizen friendly service of online registration of FIR under certain category of offences, like vehicle and other thefts. This feature may have increased crime reporting in these states. Consequently, these heads may have become incomparable with similar heads in other cities. P3 & P7 City reports 4.67% of national crimes 64 cases were crime against foreigner 82 cases of abetment to suicide 1,090 cases of grievous hurt 13,396 cases of crimes against women 1,833 504 cases of murder CRIMINAL CASES 2022 2023 cases of abduction 5,580 2,75,402 Punjab blasts linked to ISI-backed forces: DGP Congress attempt to mask opportunism with a policy facade is laughable. Defeat is nothing new to us. Betrayal is nothing new to us either. But we also know that these are not permanent. Time will give the answer The high command is expected to make a final call once the AS the race for the Kerala CM observers submit their report. post intensifies, senior Con- However, it has been learnt that gress leader Ramesh Chennith- Venugopal has emerged the ala met Rahul Gandhi and Con- frontrunner, while V D Sateegress president Mallikarjun san has been projected as the Kharge in Delhi on Wednesday people’s choice. to present his case for the posiSources said Venugopal told tion, sources said. the leadership that voters did Following the Congress-led not back the UDF on the basis UDF’s victory in the assembly of projecting any one individuelections, the conal as CM. While test for the CM post Venugopal enjoys Wasnik and has narrowed to the support of the Maken in KL three key leaders: V majority of MLAs, D Satheesan, K C he reportedly arAICC observers Ve n u g o p a l , a n d gued that each conMukul Wasnik and Chennithala. stituency’s elected Ajay Maken His meeting with r e p r e s e n t a t iv e s arrived in the the top brass comes were chosen based state capital on ahead of the first on their individual Wednesday. They meeting of its newinfluence, positions, will take the views ly elected MLAs on and other factors. of the newly Thursday . “Therefore, their elected MLAs on According to opinions also reflect the CM choice sources, Chennithathe broader characla infor med the ter of their respecleadership he was overlooked tive constituencies. These views for the post of Leader of the Op- must be taken into account position in 2021, despite the while selecting the Chief Minbacking of a majority of Con- isterial candidate.” gress MLAs. He is also said to Media narratives pushing have highlighted his seniority specific names are misplaced, and vast administrative experi- he is learnt to have said. Acence. According to Chennitha- cording to him, administrative la, community leaders’ support experience, organisational will also work in his favour. The skills, and capacity to unite meeting was also attended by both the party and the alliance Venugopal, said sources. must be considered. P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant shot dead in West Bengal 3,23,549 US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Wednesday met Delgi L-G Taranjit Singh Sandhu to discuss areas of shared interest between the two sides. In a post on ‘X’, Gor called the interaction productive. Gor noted Indian firms are investing in the US and said the trend is encouraging. | P4 With the AIADMK relegated to the third place in the assembly elections, signs of internal strain surfaced within the party over supporting the TVK in forming the new government. While a sizeable section of the party’s officebearers is said to have pressured AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to join hands with TVK, another section remains strongly opposed it. Kerala CM race tightens as Ramesh Chennithala meets Congress brass Bullet marks on the window of a car Chandranath Rath (inset) was travelling in. Rath was Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant | PTI 2,98,988 US ambassador talks to L-G on shared interests MAJOR RUMBLE IN THE AIADMK CAMP Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala after meeting Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday | EXPRESS NCRB data EXPRESS READ The Congress formally severed its alliance with the DMK and extended support to Vijay. AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar said the TN Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party have decided to extend their full support to TVK for forming the government after Vijay wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge formally requesting the party’s backing 2024 cases of death by negligence 7,662 cases of crimes against children