saturdAY 18 july, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard PM Narendra Modi inspects the engine room of the train in Jind on Friday | PTI I n f r a at ta c k india’s First Hydrogen-Powered Train flagged off in haryana Airport, bridges struck in Iran Deadly US strikes overnight hit an airport, a railway station and two bridges in Iran, killing three people, Iranian state media reported on Friday Page 9 Zero emission, yet massive power A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi JPC seeks to temper higher education bill Suggests key changes in draft, curbs on govt’s sweeping powers P R E E TH A N A IR @ New Delhi With the Centre preparing to move the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 for passage in the monsoon session of Parliament, a Joint Parliamentary Committee has sought safeguards against excessive centralisation, recommended stronger consultation with states, and protection of institutional autonomy . According to the draft report circulated among members, the panel recommended changes to key clauses that drew sharp criticism from multiple quarters, including NDA allies, for granting the Centre sweeping powers to override policy disagreements, supersede regulatory bodies, and control funding. The Bill proposes an overhaul of the higher education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, and the National Council for Teacher Education to create a single, unified regulatory commission. While Clause 47 allows the Centre to supersede the Commission or any Council with Presidential approval, the panel recommended that ‘supersession’ should be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances, for a limited duration and as a last resort. NDA-ruled Andhra Pradesh, Only ones who marry once to be allowed to stay in MP: CM A n u r aa g S i n g h @ Bhopal “Only those who marry once will have the legal right to reside in Madhya Pradesh,” the central Indian state’s Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav, said Friday, making a pitch for the enforcement of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. Addressing events in the Tikamgarh district of the Bundelkhand region and the Katni district in Mahakoshal, he stressed, “Shouldn’t there be a single law for everyone? Why should the law be different for a Hindu and for a Muslim? The law should be equal for everyone, and there should not be any discrimination.” “If Ram marries just once in his lifetime, why should Rahim be allowed to get married three or four times? Muslim women are also our sisters. Now, only those who marry once will have the legal right to live in Madhya Pradesh,” he added. This marked the second time in three days that he has invoked the Hindu-Muslim ‘Ram versus Rahim’ analogy to advocate for the UCC. He had made a similar ‘Ramchandra versus Rahim’ comparison while discussing marriage at an event in Indore on Wednesday . The CM’s fresh remarks came a day before a special state Cabinet meeting in Bhopal’s Jagdishpur village was likely to clear the UCC draft in the form of a Bill to be introduced in the five-day monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha starting on July 20. Report on bill to sack PM, CMs put off The JPC examining the bill on removal of the prime minister and chief ministers detained on serious charges, on Friday decided to defer the adoption of a draft report when voting was underway on the panel’s recommendations. AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule had submitted their dissent notes but withdrew them after the panel decided to defer the adoption | p7 several universities, opposition and other stakeholders have characterised the provision as “critical vulnerability” as it allows the Centre to dissolve the regulator entirely without adequate safeguards. In its recommendation, the panel said, “Clause 47 be comprehensively reviewed and the expressions 290 “unable to dis- charge functions” and “persistently made default” shall be defined through objective, measurable, and verifiable criteria in the Act or the rules, to eliminate ambiguity, ensure transparency, and prevent arbitrary invocation of the power of supersession.” It further said that the Clause 47(2)(a) shall be amended may be read as, “The Chairperson of the Commission, or the Presidents of the Councils and other members of the Commission or the Councils, as the case may be, shall, as from the date of ‘supersession’, cease to hold their respective office and desist from exercising all the powers, functions and duties under the provisions of this Act, and their office shall deemed to have been as vacated.” While Clause 45 empowers the Centre to issue binding directions on questions of policy, the panel called for objective thresholds, procedural safeguards and transparency requirements governing the Centre’s power. It proposed adding the words “for the purposes of this Act” to the provision allowing the government to assign additional functions, to restrict its scope. The JPC also recommended increasing the number of state government nominees on each of the three councils under the Commission to three. l J8.00 l The indigenously designed train features 10 coaches and a 3,200 hp propulsion system, making it one of the most powerful and largest hydrogen-powered trains in the world. Most hydrogen trains currently operate with only 2-4 coaches. The new train runs on hydrogen fuel cell tech, produces zero emission and can accommodate 2,600 passengers PAGES 12 MUKESH RANJAN and Nitin Ra w at @ New Delhi In a surprise move, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) removed Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha on Friday nearly 11 months be, fore his scheduled retirement, and appointed Intelligence Bureau special director Anurag Kumar for a three-year term. A home ministry order said, “With the approval of the competent authority, Anurag Kumar, IPS-AGMUT cadre of 1994 batch, is hereby appointed as Commissioner of Police, Delhi, with effect from the date of assumption of charge and until further orders.” The ministry also directed Golcha, a 1992-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer, to report to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor for further posting after handing over charge to his successor. Kumar assumed office later in the day at the Delhi New commissioner a seasoned security hand Kumar, a 1994-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer, was appointed a day after being repatriated from the IG to his parent cadre. Before his transfer, he was serving as Special Director in the IB. In the rebranded ‘Bronze match’ at the World Cup’s penultimate game, England face France. A look at the game.  Mbappe, Kane, Jude and the golden boot 3rd place playoff: France vs England 2.30 AM* (*IST Sunday) A d i t i Ray C h o w d h u r y @ New Delhi This match has historically seen coaches play fringe players. This one could see the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham start because of what's at stake: the Golden Boot. Both Mbappe and Lionel Messi have the same goals but the latter is the leader on account of his more assists. Trump to attend final US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the White House said — his first appearance at event Farewell for Didier: Coach Didier Deschamps, who has coached France since 2012, will step down after this match. He has reportedly demanded his players nothing less than full focus SPECULATION that Sharad Pawar’s NCP(SP) is set to join the BJP-led NDA and merge with the Ajit Pawar faction intensified after senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil held key meetings with BJP general secretary Vinod Tawade, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat claimed the picture would become clear within the next eight days. Highly placed sources said Sharad Pawar has personally entrusted Patil, his confidant, with negotiating the terms of NCP(SP)’s entry into the NDA and the merger of the two NCP factions. Sources said Patil and Jitendra Ahwad could be inducted as cabinet ministers in Maharashtra, while Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel could be inducted as cabinet ministers at the Centre. However, Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar and NCP national president, has opposed the move fearing it would end her family’s control over the party and jeopardise the political future of her sons, Parth and Jay . The BJP, however, is not inclined to accommodate NCP (SP) separately in the Maharashtra NDA government, a senior BJP source said. Instead, it is pushing for a merger of the two NCP factions, with the merged entity continuing as a key NDA ally The idea is . to keep the NCP base of Maratha and other non-Brahmin voters intact. Sharad Pawar The BJP has given the green light (to the merger), but NCP national president Sunetra Pawar has raised the red flag, saying it will end their career jaya n t h jac o b @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday squarely rejected claims by former Japanese minister Hideki Makihara that New Delhi was responsible for delays in the MumbaiAhmedabad high-speed rail project, describing his remarks as a personal opinion that was “at considerable variance with facts” and asserting that the flagship India-Japan venture is progressing as planned. Makihara had alleged that India’s handling of the Shinkansen project was marked by broken commitments and poor negotiations. “What stood out in international meetings and negotiations was the sheer reckless- the government over a series of administrative decisions taken under Golcha’s tenure. Among the issues flagged were changes in the process for posting SHOs, large-scale transfers of personal security officers attached to VIPs, and the handling of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest. Moreover, the Red Fort blast last year was viewed as a significant security lapse despite the recovery of a large cache of explosives from Faridabad earlier the same day in an operation by the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Police. After 60 yrs, MCD has an eatery rulebook Consolation match Today’s match Police headquarters. Golcha’s abrupt exit comes less than a year after his appointment on August 22, 2025, replacing S B K Singh, which had followed an attack on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during a public meeting. Sources said the decision followed mounting concerns within The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has approved a new set of operational guidelines for eating establishments, introducing a risk-based inspection system and uniform hygiene standards in the first major overhaul of its regulatory framework since the Health Trade Bye-laws were framed in 1964. An order issued by the Public Health Department of the civic body said the guidelines have come into effect immediately and will be implemented across all zones of the MCD. Under the revised framework, approved by mayor Pravesh Wahi on Friday, routine inspections will be based on the type of food business, Govt raps former Japan minister’s Big buzz on Pawar take on delay in bullet train project s u d h i r s u r y w a n s h i & Rajes h k u ma r t h ak u r @ Mumbai/New Delhi maximum speed that the train can attain on JindSonipat route | p8 Anurag Kumar replaces Golcha as police chief NCP merger bid party joining NDA 75 kmph ness of the Indian side, repeated over and over. They just don’t keep promises,” he said. He went on to criticise the Indian leadership overseeing the project, saying, “They keep pushing their own self-interest right up to the very end. The minister in charge was especially awful—if the top guy’s like that, there’s no way to have any decent dealings.” In his pushback, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed them as unrepresentative of the bilateral engagement. “It is an individual opinion and at considerable variance with facts,” he said. Japan, he added, will supply the next-generation E10 series Shinkansen trains in the early 2030s, as the rolling stock is still under development. “First section will be opened in 2027 itself. Both sides agreed to start the operations with Indian high speed train. The signalling equipment has been ordered accordingly... No Japanese offer was received in this context. The project execution is in line with the common goal of starting the high speed train at the earliest,” Jaiswal said. They keep pushing their own self-interest to the end. I feel 100% that the reason this hasn’t moved forward is on the Indian side — Hideki Makihara, Former Japanese minister category of establishment, past compliance, complaints and other factors involving public health risks. Under these guidelines, highrisk establishments will face more frequent inspections from designated officials, while outlets with a strong compliance record may be inspected less often. Surprise inspections will continue wherever required. The new guidelines also recognise modern food business formats that have emerged over the years, including cloud kitchens, takeaway and delivery-only kitchens, food kiosks, chef carts, food courts, base kitchens and rooftop dining facilities. Each category has been assigned separate operational standards based on its scale and risk profile. Continued on P3 E x p r e s s Re a d Minor boy from K’taka shoots girlfriend dead A minor boy allegedly shot his 16-year-old girlfriend dead with a country-made firearm in Bengaluru South’s Kanakapura Taluk on July 10 after he found her texting another boy on social media. To cover up the crime, the accused buried her body in their agricultural field. The two were in a live-in relationship. p5 5 suspected operatives of Pak-based JeM held The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested five more alleged operatives in a suspected terror-radicalisation module linked to Pakistan-based Jaish-eMohammed (JeM), taking the total number of arrests in the case to 13. The fresh arrests were made from Siddhpur, Vadgam and Bharuch. Top BJP leader Finance remains thorn A key factor delaying consensus within the NCP (Pawar) faction is its reported demand for the finance portfolio in the Maharashtra government, a department previously held by Ajit Pawar before it was taken over by Fadnavis following Pawar’s death SITsubmit interim report to the SC on Ram temple may The SIT probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple may submit an interim report to the SC on July 20 in compliance with its directions, sources said | p8 goodbye legend He left us but we’ll have lots of good memories m i c h ae l h o l d i n g IT is obviously a very sad day . We all know that no one lives forever. We all know these things are inevitable. But at the same time, when you have these occurrences, it shifts you a bit. It’s not someone that is a distant past friend. It’s someone that you have known for many, many years and still have some sort of contact with over the years. So it’s a bit tough at times. No, I obviously didn’t play with Sir Gary. He was before my time, but he was always around cricket. He was always around whenever we had tours. There are always cocktail parties everywhere you went with cricket teams. And he was always in attendance at those cocktail par- ties in Barbados and some of the other islands because, of course, he travelled around the Caribbean whenever cricket was going on. And of course, he was on tours. He came to Australia. He was down there during Kerry Packer as well. So people of my generation, who did not play with him, still had a lot of close contact with him. I also spent a brief bit of time with h i m wh e n there was the 20/20 tournament with Stanford in the Caribbean. I s p e n t ab o u t 1 0 months with him on that. I didn’t last Sir Garfield Sobers 28.7.1936—17.7.2026 very long. But even so we had contact. We spoke, and even if I didn’t speak to him personally, I would see his friends who were close to him and we’d exchange views. I can’t say that he inspired me in any way. There’s no way I could ever think of doing anything that he did, anything as good as he did it. So it was not a matter of inspiring me with my game. I went out there trying to play as best as I can for the West Indies. I didn’t think about Gary Sobers when I was out there. I couldn’t match anything he did. He did a lot of great things for the West Indies, for Barbados, for individuals he came across. We’ll have lots of good memories. The writer is former WI great As told to Firoz Mirza