SATURDAY AI generated 20 JUNE, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard PRIME MINISTER STARMER’S JOB COULD BE ON LINE GABBARD OUTS FAUCI’s FUNDING OF WUHAN LAB, COVID-19 FOOTPRINT Veteran UK Labour politician Andy Burnham vowed to put Britain on a new path after winning a crunch by-election on Friday. SUPPRESSED LAB-LEAK ORIGIN THEORY, LIED A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 Dr Anthony Fauci, who served as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, worked with the intel community to suppress the lab-leak origin theory of Covid-19, and lied to Congress under oath, said Tulsi Gabbard on her last day as US Director of National Intelligence, while releasing documents on Wuhan lab funding | P9 Walking on demarcated footpath a fundamental right: SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Sidewalk for all roads BUZZ-WORLD ON & OFF FIELD “If a road exists, there must then be a duty to ensure that a footpath is demarcated and maintained for the walkers.” The right to walk on footpaths shall override the privilege of a motorised vehicle, the court said Portugal camp is under spotlight after Joao Neves’ comments on Cristiano Ronaldo; Mexico become first team to enter knockouts of ongoing WC. A look... MEXICAN DELIGHT It was euphoria for Mexico fans as their team became the first side to advance to the knockout stage. The co-hosts edged South Korea 1-0 at Guadalajara to send fans onto the streets acoss the country to celebrate. Luis Romo scored the only goal of the match while goalkeeper Raul Rangel stopped a header from close range to deny South Korea in the dying minutes. THE Supreme Court on Friday said that the right to walk on a demarcated footpath is a fundamental right, and must take precedence over the movement of motorised vehicles. The right to walk is part of the right to movement guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (d) and other fundamental rights including Article 21 (Right to life and liberty) of the Constitution, said a bench of justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar. The court was deciding an appeal in a motor accident claim, where a tanker mowed down a 5-year-old who was on his way to school along with his dad. While the father filed a compensation claim for `25 lakh, the Motor Accidents Walking is a struggle for the not so fortunate, meditation in motion for many, resistance for others, discovery for the inquisitive, a cohesive strategy for sharp socio-political minds — Supreme Court Claim Tribunal awarded only `7.82 lakh with 6% interest. Following appeals, a high court cut the compensation to `4.7 lakh, hence the petition before the SC, which raised to payout to `11.4 lakh. Stressing on the necessity to establish a regulatory body the , court said that such a regulator will develop and retain institutional memory so that it can act on the basis of the experience, data and information it has gathered and processed. “Institutional expertise is Jio enters satellite Temporary Telegram race, to launch LEO ban legit, says HC network for India PROPORTIONALITY TEST SATISFIED PORTUGAL FACING HEAT Portugal camp is under pressure. Midfielder Joao Neves faced massive backlash from fans on social media following his comments on star forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Neves, after Portugal’s 1-1 draw against DR Congo, had said: “At this moment, he (Ronaldo) and we know that he is no different. He is just another player here to help.” Those comments have not gone down well with some of the fans. Neves and his family has been subjected to a barrage of abuses from fans on social media. The team, including Ronaldo, trained on Friday. India’s largest telecom operator plans to set up sovereign constellation, take on Musk’s Starlink R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi TODAY'S MATCHES Group F: Netherlands vs Sweden (10:30 pm); Tunisia vs Japan (9:30 AM*). Group E: Germany vs Ivory Coast (1:30 AM*); Ecuador vs Curacao (5:30 AM*). *IST Sunday EXPRESS READ R G Kar case: 3 IPS officers grilled The CBI probing the rape-murder of a woman doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday questioned three IPS officers—Vineet Goyal, Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta—in connection with their alleged role in destruction of evidence. ‘Security of women lawyers must’ The Supreme Court while hearing a plea by a group of women advocates on Friday said that women lawyers should be given safe and equal working conditions. The SC also flagged financial hardships faced by young lawyers and porposed setting up a fund for them. P7 `10K cr for Bihar rail infra Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced a record budget allocation of `10,000 crore to develop rail infrastructure in Bihar and said that five additional platforms were being constructed at the Patna railway junction to enhance capacity. P8 IN a move that could put it in direct competition with Elon Musk-led Starlink and other global satellite internet providers, Reliance Jio on Friday announced plans to enter the satellite communications sector by developing a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for India. Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm and managing director of Jio Platforms, said the company is looking at developing its own LEO satellite constellation and may also partner with global satellite operators. The announcement is significant as Jio is India’s largest telecom operator and one of the world’s largest mobile service providers by subscriber base. “Jio connected India on the ground. Now, we must connect India from the skies. There are still remotest villages, island communities, and border outposts where the Jio network cannot reach. For them, satellite connectivity will be the bridge to the rest of India,” said Akash Ambani while speaking at Reliance Industries’ 49th annual general meeting. The company is also setting up its own ground stations in India, which will act as links between satellites in space and users on the ground. These stations will support both satellite networks operated by Jio’s global partners and any future satellites launched by Jio itself. LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites operate much closer to the Earth, usually between 160 km and 2,000 km above the surface. Because they are closer, they can provide faster internet speeds and lower delays than traditional communication satellites, making them ideal for broadband services. Reports said the firm has submitted plans to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre to set up 1,650 satellites. Starlink currently leads the global satellite broadband market with 10,634 active satellites serving 12 million customers. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has 367 satellites in orbit, while Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat OneWeb operates 654 satellites. Jio Platforms has already partnered with Luxembourg-based SES to offer satellite broadband services in India. However, SES operates Medium Earth Orbit satellites and does not have a LEO network. There are still remotest villages... where Jio network can’t reach. For them, satellite connectivity will be the bridge to the rest of India Message editing feature Telegram’s messageediting feature could be misused to falsely suggest that exam papers had been leaked before the exam, the court said Illegal activity The judge noted that despite correctives sought over misuses, illicit activity by unlawful entities on the app continued EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the ban on Telegram messaging app ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG re-exam, observing that the order was not disproportionate in an emergency situation. A vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia said the Centre’s order was “least restrictive” option on the table. The platform’s architecture is conducive to amplification and mass dissemination of content. “Any unlawful content, if circulated on Telegram, is capable of being amplified rapidly and likely to give rise to a public order situation,” the judge noted. Telegram also hosts an extensive bot ecosystem for automated dissemination of content. “As a result, illicit activity may resume within a short period notwithstanding takedown action against the original channel,” he added. Akash Ambani, MD, Jio Platforms Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital services arm of Reliance Industries, on Friday filed draft papers for what could become India’s largest-ever IPO, seeking to raise `37,700 cr, valuing the firm at roughly `13 lakh crore Vinesh turns to international events A few weeks after renowned wrestler Vinesh Phogat was not allowed to compete at the National Open Ranking Series, she has turned her attention to international competitions. The double world championship medallist, who had to seek court intervention to compete in the Asian Games trials last month, has written a mail to the Sports Authority of India requesting them to submit her name for international competitions in July and August. In her mail, which was also copied to the WFI, Vinesh re- quested to submit her entry in the 53kg for three upcoming events — Grand Prix of Spain (July 10-12), Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary (July 15-19) and Poland Open in Warsaw (August 26 to 30). She also said that she would bear the entire cost of all three competitions along with her support team comprising four individuals including her new-born son and husbandcum-coach Somvir Rathee. Interestingly the last date of sub, mission of entries for the first two tournaments already expired as WFI has not responded to Vinesh’s request. It was also learnt that the SAI to is silent on this. “We are not sending teams for the Spain and Poland events. As for Ranking Series, we have already sent entries of three wrestlers in the 53kg as a national federation can field three grapplers in one category,” said a top WFI officials. Entries can be sent by federation According to WFI, it’s the prerogative of the federation to send entries and the WFI sent entries of those wrestlers, who have been competing in various events including nationals for the past few months Besides, the app permits messages and files to be edited at a later point in time, which could be exploited to mislead the public, he observed. “Such functionality may be employed to disseminate misinformation by editing messages sent prior in time by replacing the attachment to give impression that the examination paper was leaked prior to the examination even though such editing takes place after conclusion of the exam,” the judge said. As for proportionality, the jusge said requirements stand fulfilled: identification of a legitimate objective; existence of a rational nexus between the objective and the measure adopted; necessity of the measure in the facts and circumstances of the case; and adoption of the least restrictive measure available. “The measures adopted by UoI under the Orders constitute the least restrictive measure for achieving the stated objective, he observed. P7 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi A day after dermatologist Dr Manish Gupta allegedly murdered his domestic help in South Delhi’s posh Mount Kailash area, investigators have uncovered several details suggesting that the crime may have been planned. A court on Friday remanded the accused to two days of police custody, while cops said that he confessed to the crime during interrogation. Investigators are examining multiple angles, including allegations related to family disputes, mental health issues and other possible motives. Police found that a cricket bat and a sharp dagger-like weapon had allegedly been kept in the store room on the terrace beforehand. They said the accused called the domestic help upstairs on the pretext of cleaning the store room. Police are now probing whether the murder was premeditated. Investigators have also learnt that the accused and the help allegedly argued in the store room over some issues. During the altercations, the woman reportedly attempted to defend herself and bite marks were found on one of her fingers. Police said that following the arguments, she was allegedly attacked with a cricket bat and stabbed with the dagger. Neighbours alerted police after hearing screams from the house. Investigators further stated that the accused returned to his room after the incident. Police dismissed any occult angle in the case, but sources said the accused suspected the domestic help of allegedly practicing black magic. He reportedly told cops that a few months ago he had overheard her speaking to someone on the phone, which led him to develop these suspicions. Officials are also examining whether family-related stress, concerns regarding his son or any other domestic issues may have played a role in the crime. Top ex-health official in ACB net in medical procurement scam Biggest ever IPO A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi GRAPPLING FOR SPACE F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai critical, and such a regulator will employ human resources with domain expertise and talent. The regulator will maintain institutional integrity by taking independent and objective decisions without governmental or industrial control. These values shall flow naturally if there is institutional transparency and accountability It is in this perspective that . we need to effectuate the fundamental right to walk,” the top court stated. The judges said the violation of the right to walk on demarcated footpaths will entitle the citizens to invoke constitutional and legal remedies against duty bearers for restitution and compensation. This remedy is independent of the remedies that are available under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Clues point to planned killing of domestic help, say cops ANOTHER STRIKE Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel on Friday | AP CEASEFIRE IN LEBANON AFTER US-IRAN TALKS IN GENEVA SCRAPPED Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group on Friday agreed to renew their ceasefire after Iran pulled out of the Switzerland talks citing the unabated fighting | P9 THE Delhi government’s AntiCorruption Branch (ACB) has arrested Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga, a senior officer formerly associated with the Directorate General of Health Services, in a corruption case linked to medicine and medical equipment procurement. The arrest follows a probe into alleged irregularities in purchases made by the Central Procurement Agency (CPA), where Dr Ranga served as head of office. Sources indicated that over 100 doctors and officers could end up under scrutiny. More than 20 doctors have already been questioned. The investigation spans multiple committees involved in the procurement process, including the Specifications Committee, GeM Bid Formation Committee, PreQualification Evaluation Committee, Technical Evaluation Committee, Price Bid Evaluation Committee and Justification Committee. These panels comprised heads of departments, senior specialists, professors, associate professors and junior facul- Worked in DGHS Dr Vinod Kumar Ranga was formerly associated with the Directorate General of Health Services. The senior doctor was arrested in a corruption case linked to medicine and medical equipment procurement. ty members from government hospitals and medical colleges. A complaint from the Directorate of Vigilance alleged that certain public servants and private individuals entered into a criminal conspiracy to manipulate procurement procedures, tender conditions and technical specifications to favour selected firms and suppliers, causing huge loss to the government exchequer. According to investigators, the irregularities involved the procurement of portable X-ray machines, bed sheets and linen items, radiological equipment, anaesthesia workstations, oral rehydration solution (ORS), surgical consumables and medicines at highly inflated rates. CONTINUED ON P3