NEW DELHI 05 JULY 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in BHEJA FRY PLUS: 12 PAGES Ozempic Games MAGAZINE The Greek Geekiness and a Bunch of Nobodies Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Prabhu Chawla Neha Sinha Shankkar Aiyar Ajai Sahni Geetha Ravichandran The Ottoman Twilight in the Indian Sky EXCLUSIVE VOICES Art OK, Please ‘I’m Nothing Like Guddu Pandit’ The Last Keepers of the Monpa Table AMMA SPEAKS True Devotion Takes Courage Khalid, Sharjeel fail to get bail, again No option but to follow Jan 5 SC order, says trial court U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi RED ALERT Rain batters Mumbai, edu institutes shut S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai INCESSANT rain continued to batter Mumbai and its suburbs on Saturday, submerging several low-lying areas and disrupting local train services in the financial capital. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared a red alert for Sunday and warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in view of the MeT office warning, people should venture out only if necessary . Due to heavy rain, the educational institutions in Mumbai and Thane declared a holiday on Saturday Also, . the roads that were inundated were closed to prevent any untoward incident. Roads around places such as Andheri, Hindmata, Milan Subway, and Chembur were closed for vehicles due to heavy waterlogging. Treefelling incidents were also reported at Marine Drive, Andheri, and other places. BMC chief Ashwinin Bhide said that 10,000 civic workers are in the field and working on a war footing to ensure that the submerged areas open for public and vehicle movement. The BMC has issued an advisory asking people to avoid going near open manholes, drainage areas, dangerous trees, electric poles, broken electric wires, etc. A Delhi trial court on Saturday rejected the bail applications of activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying the Supreme Court had already junked their pleas moved on similar grounds. Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai said the court had “no option but to follow” the Supreme Court’s January 5 order and, therefore, “could neither entertain the pleas nor grant them the relief ”. The judge added that the bail pleas were not even maintainable in the trial court. “Although the applicants had argued that there was a change in circumstances following a division bench judgment of the top court in the case of Syed Iftikhar Andrabi, the issue concerning the divergence of opinion between that verdict and the Supreme Court’s judgment in Gulfisha Fatima versus State has already been referred to a larger bench. Unless the issue is settled, the court cannot consider the present applications,” the judge said. The court further said it cannot even examine whether there is any change in circumstances, as it is bound by the Supreme Court’s January 5 order dismissing the bail pleas of Umar Khalid Sharjeel Imam Lens on Jan 5 order Umar Khalid’s lawyer, Trideep Pias, told the court there was a change in circumstances after the Supreme Court’s January 5 judgment. He also questioned the reasoning adopted by the top court in the case of Gulfisha Fatima who was granted bail in the same case both the applicants. On January 5, the Supreme Court refused bail to Khalid and Imam in the larger conspiracy case, while granting relief to co-accused Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria had then observed that there was a prima-facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and held that all accused could not be treated equally in view of the “hierarchy of participation”. On May 18, a division bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had expressed reservations about the judgment in the Gulfisha case, saying it did not follow the judgment given by a three-judge bench in 2021 in Union of India versus KA Najeeb, which said long delay in trials is a valid ground for bail even in cases under the stringent UAPA. Subsequently a division bench led , by Justice Arvind Kumar, while accepting there was “perceived conflict” among dif ferent benches with regard to the K A Najeeb ruling, referred the matter to a larger bench. Khalid, Imam and others were booked under UAPA for allegedly being part of a larger conspiracy in the 2020 riots. Ultimatum to Telegram app to curb film piracy PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi THE Centre has issued an ultimatum to Telegram, directing it to curb the widespread circulation of pirated films, overthe-top (OTT) content, and other copyrighted audiovisual material on the messaging platform. According to official sources, the Ministry of Infor mation and Broadcasting directed the company to submit an Action Taken Report within 15 days, detailing the measures it has initiated to comply with the directive. “Telegram has been asked to strengthen systems for detection, reporting, disabling access to and removal of pirated films and infringing audio-visual content. It has been direct- ed to act against repeat infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators and associated entities. The ministry has sought details of Telegram’s grievance redressal system for producers, OTT platforms, and law-enforcement agencies,” sources said. The notice comes days after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technolo g y (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over WhatsApp’s proposed username feature. Later, it issued summonses to the company over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child abuse material. According to officials, the development clearly signals a shift from the piecemeal takedown approach to platform accountability . T H E G R E AT E S C A P E Blockbuster in Miami Argentina survive a monumental scare before beating Cape Verde 3-2 in an all-time World Cup classic in Miami Stadium on Friday... Own goal decides thriller Salah vs Messi next Egypt posted their first victory in a knockout round by beating Australia 4-2 on spot-kicks to reach the last 16. This was after the match had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes. Egypt will face Argentina next Cape Verde rocked Lionel Messi’s Argentina with two stunning equalisers to raise the prospect of pulling off the greatest upset in WC history. But a Diney Borges own goal, under pressure from Cristian Romero, in the 111th minute finally broke Cape Verde resistance 20 Messi netted his 20th WC goal, seventh in this edition so far, against Cape Verde Narrow victory: Colombia, meanwhile, ended Ghana’s run with a 1-0 win. The South Americans will go on to meet Switzerland on Tuesday TODAY’S MATCHES: Brazil vs Norway | 1:30 AM*; Mexico vs England | 5:30 AM* (*IST Monday) 52 officers in finance dept transferred: Govt E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Delhi government on Saturday announced a major reshuffle in the Finance and Accounts Department, claiming that it would further strengthen transparency, accountability and efficiency in governance. Under its Transfer and Posting Policy, 52 officers who had been serving at the same place for five years or more have been transferred with immediate effect. CM Rekha Gupta said the transfers and promotions have been made purely on administrative grounds to promote integrity and transparency in the system. “The government’s aim is to establish an administrative system that meets the highest standards of transparency, accountability, efficiency and good governance. There is no place for laxity negligence or corruption at any level,” she said. , “Twenty-three deputy controllers of accounts and 29 senior accounts officers are among those transferred. In addition, 19 senior accounts officers have been promoted as Deputy Controllers of Accounts, expanding their responsibilities in financial management,” a government statement said. All officers have been directed to take charge at their new postings immediately . Stormy Monsoon session on the cards from July 20 RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi UNION Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday that the Monsoon Session of Parliament will be held from July 20 to August 13. The upcoming session, expected to be stormy, could see the government introduce several key bills, including the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which seeks to sack the PM or CM or ministers if they fail to secure bail within 30 days of imprisonment. Opposition parties are most likely to raise the issue of donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, among other matters. The government is expected to make another push for a Key JPC meet on July 17 The JPC on the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, headed by BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, is likely to meet on July 17 to adopt its report Constitutional amendment bill providing 33% reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies, along with the contentious Delimitation Bill. On the Opposition side, the issue of privilege proceedings against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh may get raised during the session. Both Houses are expected to witness a changed political arithmetic following defections from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena (UBT). A closely-watched development will be Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s decision on the proposed merger of the 20 rebel Trinamool MPs with the lesserknown NCPI. The Speaker is also expected to take a final call on merger of six Uddhav Sena MPs with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. Amid these defections, the DMK has also requested separate seating for its MPs away from the Congress. P7 WFH ends as situation The youngest: Vaibhav arrives at global stage in West Asia ‘improves’ HISTORIC DEBUT G O M E S H S @ Chennai 15 YEARS, 99 days. T20I cap No 122. These two numbers will remain in cricketing folklore and part of trivia for decades to come. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is now the youngest male cricketer to represent India, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar who made his debut at 16 years, 205 days against Pakistan in 1989. It could have happened sooner, in Belfast against Ireland last week or in Durham against England in the first T20I. But it is better late than never. Sooryavanshi’s childhood coach Manish Ojha too felt that it could have happened in Belfast. “We expected it against Ireland. It came as a surprise for us today . Very proud moment,” he told Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his debut in the second T20I against England | AP this daily . The entire cricketing world was waiting for this moment. Such is the manner in which the teenager from Tajpur, a small village 12km from Bihar’s Samastipur, had stirred the imagination of the nation. This is not the first youngest. There are quite a few more written against his name — Ranji Trophy, IPL debut, IPL century etc. This could also be , the first time the BCCI sent parents with a player where he had to use separate change rooms. With this debut, the focus shifts to the international arena where more records are under threat. However, his approach on the field has remained the same. After a quiet over against Josh Tongue in the second T20I against England, the 15-yearold got on his knee to scoop Jofra Archer for a six. He hit another maximum before falling for a 10-ball 14. But these are the first pa g es. For Sooryavanshi is not a footmark, but a new chapter in Indian cricket history . malised, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has approved withdrawal of work from home on WednesTHE Delhi government on Sat- days and Saturdays,” the Chief urday withdrew the work-from- Minister’s Office said. The rehome (WFH) policy for vised office timings are its employees and renow from 10 am to 6:30 stored regular office pm, replacing the earschedules, citing the lier schedule of 10:30 normalisation of the am to 7 pm. Now that the geopolitical T h e f u e l - s av i n g situation in West Asia. situation has measures were anThe work-from-home practically nounced under the policy, which allowed normalised, the government’s 90-day government employCM has approved “Mera Bharat, Mera ees to work remotely withdrawal of twice a week, had been work from home Yogdan” campaign, launched after PM introduced in May as CMO Narendra Modi appart of energy conserpealed for austerity to vation measures following disruptions to global oil conserve energy amid concerns over drop in oil supplies supplies during the Iran war. “Now that the geopolitical through the Strait of Hormuz situation has practically nor- during the Iran war. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi E20 SAFE FOR ALL VEHICLES: INDUSTRY Amid concerns over impact of E20 petrol on vehicles, the auto industry stated they have not seen any damage, even on vehicles that are non-compatible | P10 EXPRESS READ EAM to launch UNSC campaign External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will launch India’s official campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2028-29 term during a visit to New York on July 13. No Mann I-cards at Golden Temple Golden Temple devotees under the ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ were on Saturday asked to remove identity cards carrying CM Bhagwant Mann’s photograph before entering the holy shrine, Akal Takht said. Portion of bridge collapses in Bihar A concrete slab fell down during the construction of the Tajpur-Bakhtiyarpur Ganga bridge in Bihar’s Samastipur on Saturday, leaving several labourers injured. It’s dream project of former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.