fridAY 10 july, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Sir: Voter base in Odisha, Sikkim Mizoram & Manipur shrinks by 22L Ukraine Around 22 lakh voters have been left out of the draft electoral rolls in Mizoram, Odisha, Manipur and Sikkim where Phase 3 of the SIR is underway drones at Russian oil facilities voter count down to 3.46 cr from 3.68 cr Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil facilities, setting two oil tankers ablaze in the Sea of Azov, a day after the US pledged to grant it license to build Patriot system A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 Australia eases uranium hurdle in win-win deal Modi’s cricket analogy caps major push to enhance bilateral defence and trade ties India and Australia on Thursday finalised a long-pending arrangement for Australian uranium exports to India for peaceful civilian use and unveiled a sweeping defence and security framework, signalling a sharper convergence of interests in the Indo-Pacific. The announcements came after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Melbourne. They reaffirmed commitment to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and expanding cooperation in critical minerals, cyber security, clean energy and advanced technologies. Setting a light-hearted tone, Modi likened the bilateral relationship to cricket. “Our meetings feel like a cricket match— the agenda has the focus of a One-Day match, decisions are as fast as T20, and our partnership is as long and deep as a Test match,” he said. The centrepiece of the visit was the finalisation of the administrative arrangement under the 2014 India-Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement, clearing the way for Australia to supply uranium for India’s civilian nuclear programme after years of delays over safeguards and implementation. No volume of uranium exports was announced. The leaders also issued a new “Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation”, replacing the 2009 security declaration and significantly broadening military engagement. The framework envisages stronger strategic coordina- The two sides unveiled the Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS) and agreed to develop a critical minerals corridor to secure supply chains vital for clean energy and advanced manufacturing tion, more complex joint military exercises, greater interoperability between the armed forces, enhanced cyber cooperation, counter-terrorism collaboration and defence industrial partnerships. A key outcome was the launch of the “India-Australia Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap”, alongside an MoU between the Indian Coast Guard and Australia’s Maritime Border Command to strengthen maritime domain awareness, information sharing and operational coordination. The expanded agenda comes as both countries seek to bolster cooperation amid China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Stressing the strategic significance of the region, Modi said, “The Indo-Pacific... symbolises the shared aspirations of likeminded democracies like India and Australia.” p7 b u r e a uc r a c y 21 IAS, 40 IPS officers of AGMUT cadre transferred in major rijig The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday announced a major reshuffle involving 61 officers of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, including 21 IAS and 40 IPS officers. The transfers, which take immediate effect, include several postings in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. According to the MHA notification, the officers have been directed to assume charge of their new assignments without delay. As per the official notification, the 21 IAS officers have been transferred across Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Delhi, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Mizoram. The MHA has also ordered the transfer of 40 IPS officers across various AGMUT postings. The latest reshuffle reflects the Centre’s continuing efforts to streamline the deployment of senior IAS and IPS officers, strengthen administrative capacity and enhance governance across the states and UTs under the AGMUT cadre. —RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR J8.00 l PAGES 12 Kotla, Delhi 2024 2 July 2020 26 June 2019 19 July 2018 29 June 2017 19 July 2016 13 July 2015 26 June 2014 17 July A boy collects water from a hand pump outside his partially submerged house after heavy rain at a village in Khowai district of Tripura on Thursday | PTI HC approves Didi faction of TMC to use frozen funds S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata 2025 29 June 2021 12 July Developing a critical minerals corridor l 2026 9 July 2022 2 July PM Narendra Modi with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at an event in Melbourne on Thursday | PTI New Delhi Year & date when monsoon covered entire India 2023 2 July J ayanth J acob @ New Delhi l The collective voter base in these states, which stood at 3.68 crore before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, has now shrunk to 3.46 crore, according to data made available in the public domain over the past few days. People left out of the draft rolls still have a chance to be included in the final rolls to be published later this year A tree collapsed on a car following incessant rain near Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday. City reported many such incidents | Sayantan Ghosh Day late, but monsoon covers India J it e ndra C houb e y @ New Delhi The Southwest monsoon on Thursday fully covered the entire nation, marking a day’s delay from the normal arrival date of July 8. The last time it covered the whole country by July 9 was in 2011. This year’s monsoon onset over Kerala occurred on June 4, which was three days later than the climatological normal date of June 1. Last year, the monsoon had covered the entire nation by June 29, almost nine days earlier than normal. At 108%, last year’s monsoon was well above normal. In contrast, this year’s precipitation is expected to be the reverse. In June, the monsoon deficit was 40% of the long-period average, resulting in the fifth lowest rainfall (99.5 mm) ever recorded for that month. However, good rainfall since July has helped reduce the deficit to -15.2% by July 9. India has received a total of 195.5 mm of rainfall in the current season, compared to the total long-term expectation of 230.4 mm. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the monsoon advanced further into the remaining parts of the north Arabian Sea, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab on Thursday thus covering the entire country It also forecast a below, . normal to deficient rainfall for the country, anticipating around 90% of the long-period average from June to September. This below-normal expectation is attributed to the emergence of a strong El Niño phenomenon, which refers to the abnormal warming of the East Pacific Ocean. In India, El Niño is synonymous with a weaker monsoon. The IMD also predicted a fresh cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal adjoining Odisha and West Bengal in the next few days. The poor monsoon affected kharif sowing, with only 350 lakh hectares sown so far — about 92 lakh hectares less than normal. p3 Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand Damaged buildings after a landslide near Kaddukhal on NH707A following heavy rainfall in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand | PTI Raigad dist, Maharashtra Gas cylinders adrift in the Patalganga after being swept away from a HPCL bottling plant, in Raigad district | PTI 7-yr-old boy drowns in waterlogged plot A seven-year-old boy drowned in a waterlogged vacant plot in Samaypur Badli on Thursday morning. Rehan, a Class III student, who lived in Sanjay Colony, had left home with his fiveyear-old brother around 8.30 am for the nearby plot when he drowned, police said. A large amount of rainwater had accumulated there following continuous rain in the last two days. Khowai dist, Tripura The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) to use funds from its frozen bank accounts for day-to-day administrative and legal expenses. The accounts with a private bank, worth around `440 crore, were made debit-frozen on June 19 by Bidhannagar cyber police following a complaint by the rebel faction led by MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, claiming the funds contained “proceeds of crime”. While issuing an interim order, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya noted that prima facie, the complaint appeared omnibus in nature without pinpointing any transaction. “The court is unable to find particular materials which could have been the basis of such abrupt steps,” the judge observed. The court appointed retired judge Subrata Talukdar as a special officer to handle the banking transactions of the frozen accounts till September 30. The special officer can release funds required for day-today political activities of the TMC faction aligned to Mamata Banerjee. “No other expenditure, major or minor, shall be permitted,” the order said. It added that funds can be withdrawn against cheques signed by two approved signatories. The signed cheques must be presented before the special officer, who will verify and countersign before releasing them to the bank. The high court directed the special officer to file a report on the expenditure incurred during the period on the next date of hearing on September 21. On June 18, one Trinamool Congress MLA from South 24Parganas district had lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that funds from a cyber fraud operations were deposited in many bank accounts, including that of the TMC. p8 Ayatollah laid to rest, Iran hits US military targets in Gulf A G E N C I E S @ Mashhad Amid fresh escalation in its conflict with the US, Iran on Thursday buried its slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a shrine in his hometown in Mashhad, marking the culmination of a week of mass funeral processions and rallies. As the body of Khamenei, who was killed in a US airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, was taken through crammed streets of Mashhad, a sea of black-clad mourners waved Iranian flags, photographs of the late leader, and red placards with revolutionary slogans. Many reportedly called for revenge and rejected any compromise with the US to end the war. Beating their chests and weeping, mourners lined the route as they waited for Khamenei’s coffin to arrive at the city’s shrine of Imam Reza, the holiest site for Shia Muslims in Iran and the burial place he had chosen in his will. Early in the day, Tehran attacked “US bases and strategic centres” in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar after Washington bombed Iranian cities for a second consecutive night. Reports said sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and Jordan, where the US has stationed troops and aircraft. Iran said it fired 10 ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Azraq military base, which hosts the US Air Forces Central’s 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. A truck carrying the remains of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, on Thursday | ap SC pulls up MCD, civic bodies in UP over Chandni Chowk at the centre of Old Delhi revamp illegal buildings, fire safety norm breach City Makeover A nu p V e rma @ New Delhi The governmernt is trying to redevelop a 376-year-old marketplace that has outlived empires, survived the making of modern India, and remained the beating heart of Old Delhi through every chapter of its history . Barely 1,400 yards long, Chandni Chowk stretches from the Red Fort—whose ramparts become the nation’s stage every Independence Day as the Prime Minister addresses the country—to the 17th-century Fatehpuri Mosque. Few streets in India have witnessed so much history and fewer still continue , to carry lakhs of people daily . When Mughal emperor Shah Jahan founded Shahjahanabad in 1650, Chandni Chowk was planned as the commercial heart of his new capital. The avenue was designed by his favourite daughter, Jahanara Begum, who imagined a broad boulevard with a canal flowing through its centre. The water collected in a square pool that reflected the moonlight, giving the market its enduring name— Chandni Chowk, the Moonlight Square. The centuries changed almost everything except the street’s purpose. The charm waned. The havelis slowly became shops, warehouses, offices and hotels. Chandni Chowk grew into one of India’s largest wholesale and retail markets, famous for its textiles, jewellery, spices, old eateries and Paranthe Wali Gali. Every day lakhs of people , come for business, shopping, religious visits and tourism. With the crowds came famil- iar problems. Narrow lanes struggle to accommodate pedestrians, cycle rickshaws and delivery vehicles. Parking is scarce. Public conveniences have never kept pace with the growing number of visitors. The old city remains full of life, but also of congestion. Earlier attempts to bring order to its streets never fully succeeded. That is the challenge now before the government. CM Rekha Gupta began with a symbolic decision: the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation, created to conserve and redevelop Old Delhi, was renamed the Indraprastha Virasat Punarvikas Nigam. Continued on P4 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Expressing serious concern over rampant unauthorised constructions in Delhi-NCR and recent fire incidents, the Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and civic authorities in Uttar Pradesh for failing to comply with its earlier directions, warning that senior officials would be personally liable if effective action was not taken on the ground. The SC was particularly crit- ical of the MCD for not acting on its May 20 directions to seal, demolish or take other action permitted under law against unauthorised structures. Summoning senior MCD officials to appear in person, the SC said it had issued specific directions on the congested Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar areas, where illegal structures were to be demolished immediately to avert possible disasters. “We are particularly concerned with the conduct of MCD with regard to non-compliance of directions issued by the court in 2024 and specific directions of May 20, which were issued as to what was required to be done by the authorities,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General S D Sanjay , who appeared for the MCD. The ASG told the court that a detailed status report would be filed before the next hearing on August 4. The bench, however, remained unconvinced, observing that no “slackness” by civic authorities would be tolerated. The court warned that it could initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against civic bodies that continued to ignore its earlier directions.