TUESDAY 21 JULY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard CORE SECTOR OUTPUT GROWTH AT FIVE-MONTH HIGH OF 5% IN JUNE NUCLEAR SITES IRAN SAYS IT IS IN ‘FULL-SCALE WAR’ Core sector output grew 5% year-on-year in June, driven by robust growth in iron ore, power and cement production, official data showed Iran said it is fighting a “full-scale war” with the US, as Washington expanded strikes across the Islamic republic, including to a city hosting nuclear power plant Among the nine sectors, iron ore recorded the sharpest growth of 43.9% in June, followed by electricity and cement at 9.8% each. Steel output rose 4.6%, while coal production increased 1.4%. On the other hand, natural gas (-7.4%), refinery products (-4.7%), crude oil (-4.2%) and fertilisers (-3.3%) contracted during the month, the data showed | P10 PAGE 9 IRON ORE SECTOR REPORTS 44% GROWTH A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 CJP PROTEST May 15, 2026 CJI Surya Kant makes ‘cockroach’ remark while criticising individuals turning to activism to attack institutions Govt’s emissary J P Nadda meets CJP leaders as protest march to Parliament turns violent; several protesters injured in baton charge CENTRE BLINKS AS CJP PROTEST TURNS MASSIVE N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi Security personnel use batons and tear gas on agitators during a protest march at Sansad Marg in New Delhi | PARVEEN NEGI & PTI Union minister J P Nadda meets CJP’s Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka | EXPRESS Oppn stalls House over 1 NEET-UG paper leak Delhi High Court sought a comprehensive medical report from Safdarjung Hospital on Sonam Wangchuk’s health after his wife moved court alleging he was forcibly kept there P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi THE Monsoon Session of Parliament got off to a tumultuous start on Monday as protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak rocked both Houses and spilled onto the streets, setting the stage for a combative session. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments as Opposition MPs demanded discussion on the baton charge on protesting students and action against those responsible for the alleged leak of the medical entrance test paper. They also targeted the government over the alleged Ram temple donation row. In the Lok Sabha, proceedings were adjourned four times amid slogan shouting and placard displays by Opposition members. The protests began soon after the House assembled at 11 am for Question Hour, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn proceedings until noon. The protests followed a morning meeting of INDIA bloc floor leaders, where the Opposition decided to jointly raise issues concerning students. The DMK and AAP did not attend the meeting. The Rajya Sabha, too saw multiple adjournments after the Opposition members protested against the police action against protesters. 2 Key metro stations, such as Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House and Patel Chowk were shut. There was commotion and sloganeering at these stations 3 Education Minister Pradhan met Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s office in the Parliament House. However, it was not immediately known what transpired in the meeting 4 Amid the uproar in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced a Bill to replace an ordinance that increased the strength of the Supreme Court from 34 judges to 38 5 The bill to make insult to Vande Mataram a punishable offence could not be introduced in the Rajya Sabha due to the protests TRIPURA SHOCKER DGP found hanging at police HQ washroom pulse or blood pressure. We immediately began administering TRIPURA Director General of CPR. A team of doctors did evePolice (DGP) Anurag Dhankar rything possible, but as he was found hanging in the wash- could not be revived, we deroom of his official chamber at clared him dead at 12.48 pm,” the Police HeadquarBhowmik said. ters in Agartala on “The cause of death Monday, and was dewill be known after clared dead minutes post-mortem,” he later at a hospital in said. the city . Opposition par“I am deeply ties demanded an shocked and saddened impartial probe into by the tragic demise the circumstances of Anurag, IPS, Direcleading to the death. tor General of Police, CPI(M) leader and 1994 batch Tripura, who was the Leader of OppoIPS officer found hanging in the sition (LoP) in the washroom of his offiThe 1994 batch IPS Tripura Assembly, cial chamber today,” officer was 60, and Jitendra ChaudTripura Chief Minishury said an officer , is survived by his ter Manik Saha said. like Dhankar, who wife and son. Saha added that Dhankar was due to had faced many Dhankar was immediretire in 11 months. challenges in his caately rushed to Agar- He served in Tripura reer and successt a l a G o ve r n m e n t for around 18 years f u l l y n av i g a t e d Medical College & in various positions them, would not Govind Ballabh Pant and was appointed take his own life Hospital, where docwithout major reathe state’s DGP tors declared him sons. State BJP in May 2025 brought dead. president Abhishek Dr Pradip Bhowmik, Head of Debroy assured that there will the Department of Medicine at be a magisterial-level probe the hospital, told media that and the truth surrounding the DGP was brought around 12 Dhankar’s demise will be out pm. “We could not detect a shortly . P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati IN one of the biggest mobilisations against the Union government in the last 12 years, the streets of Lutyens’ Delhi came to a halt on Monday when a massive crowd of protesters marched towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dhar mendra Pradhan over alleged question paper leaks. The scenes inside Parliament were equally tumultuous, but it was on the streets of New Delhi that the youth’s angst met the belligerence of police. The protest venue, Jantar Mantar, was cleared by evening, but the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said that its founder Abhijeet Dipke and three others—Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo— are still continuing the sit-in protest in front of Kerala House. Wangchuk, whose hunger strike entered the 23rd day, wrote an open letter in the evening, saying he will continue his fast over police actions. The police resorted to lathicharge and burst teargas shells to disperse protesters—who drew from across the country and all strata of life—on most roads leading to the Parliament complex. Para-military personnel, in riot gear, joined cops to prevent protesters from reaching Parliament. The government snapped internet services. A video surfaced in the morning, showing workers erecting metal barricades to restrict the agitators. However, when the crowd swelled and tried to move ahead, police used force and fired teargas shells. Many protesters said they were brutally assaulted by police. According to the RML Hospital, 65 medico-legal cases were in till 7 pm. The scale of the protest prompted the government to approach the protesters for talks it had resisted since the protest started at Jantar Mantar on June 20. Union minister J P Nadda and CJP members Das and Ranka held a meeting, during which CJP members raised three demands: immediate release of Wangchuk, resignation of Pradhan and `1 crore compensation for all NEET aspirants who had committed suicide. Nadda assured them he will put across their message to the party’s top leadership. In the evening, the Delhi Police appealed to protestors to refrain from indulging in any unlawful activities. In a post on X, it said, “Delhi Police appeals to all protestors to maintain peace, exercise restraint and cooperate with the police in ensuring peace and public order.” However, by 9:30 pm, CJP Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, returned to the protest site with supporters. FULL COVERAGE ON P3 & P4 May 16 CJP founded by Abhijeet Dipke on social media June 6 Dipke reaches Delhi from the US, secures permission from police and convenes the first protest at Jantar Mantar June 12 Dipke joins protests in Lucknow June 13 Protests in Amritsar draws a massive turnout June 14 Hyderabad and Bengaluru, too, join the stir June 20 CJP begins demonstration at Jantar Mantar June 28 Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk joins the protest and begins an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar July 18 Police forcibly shifts Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar to Safdarjung Hospital on day 21 of his hunger strike July 20 CJP calls for ‘March to Parliament’ on the first day of the Monsoon session DMK MLA held for threatening Vijay EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Thoothukudi VILATHIKULAM DMK MLA GV Markandayan was arrested and remanded by the Thoothukudi District Crime Branch (DCB) police on Monday for making alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay during a thanksgiving meeting organised by the party in Kovilpatti, Thoothukudi, on Saturday . Acting on the complaint lodged by Thoothukudi TVK district sec- retary Balasubramanian, the DCB registered an FIR against Markandayan on charges of criminal intimidation, intentional insult and promoting enmity under BNS Sections 352 (bailable), 351(3) and 353(2), which are non-bailable and carries punishment up to seven and three years of jail, respectively . Strongly condemning the arrest, DMK president MK Stalin accused the ruling government of political vendetta and said that former DMK ministers and party SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL HC seeks all medical reports of Wangchuk U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Monday sought a “comprehensive” medical report from Safdarjung Hospital on Sonam Wangchuk’s health after his wife Gitanjali Angmo alleged that No urgent he was “forcibly” kept there by po- hearing lice to prevent him from taking part The High Court on in the protests. The HC also asked the in-charge Monday refused of AIIMS and other consulting and urgent hearing of a treating doctors to be present dur- PIL to declare the removal of activist ing the the next date on Tuesday . During the Monday’s hearing, the Sonam Wangcuhk Centre told the court that the state from Jantar Mantar had an interest in ensuring that to Safdarjung Wangchuk’s health or life was not Hospital “illegal”. The plea sought compromised. A division bench of Chief Justice the “constitutional Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and protection of the Justice Tejas Karia asked the hospi- protesters”. P3 tal director to file all details, including Wangchuk’s pathological reports analysed at three places. “We direct that all the pathological reports based on the sample analysed at Safdarjung Hospital, AIIMS, and a private laboratory shall be filed in an affidavit and sworn by director of hospital,” the court said. The court was hearing an appeal filed by Angmo against an order passed by a single judge bench of the HC on Sunday. The bench said that it would pass an order on her petition on Tuesday It also directed her to file the medical . reports cited by her. Appearing for the Centre and Delhi Police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that while citizens had the right to protest, that does not give someone a right to say he would commit suicide until his demand is met. “When the consequence of your deterioration of health or a potential loss of life has an impact on the law and order, that is where the state’s interest comes in,” he said. EXPRESS READ Cargo ship attacked in Ukraine, 4 Indians dead legislators were “continuously being hunted down” for pointing out the mistakes and misdeeds of the TVK regime. On Monday despite opposition , from DMK cadre, a police team, led by DCB inspector P Janaki, detained Markandayan from his residence and escorted him to SP office for inquiry “DSP Kannan . questioned him for seven hours,” said sources, adding that the MLA will be produced before the IV Judicial Magistrate, following a health check. Four Indian nationals were killed and another critically injured after the merchant vessel, MV Golden Leo, was attacked while departing Ukraine’s Odesa port, the External Affairs Ministry said on Monday. According to the MEA, the vessel had 17 crew members on board, including five Indian nationals, when it came under attack on the evening of July 19. P7 12 more die as rain continues to batter J&K Twelve more people died in rain-related incidents in the Jammu region on Monday, which took the death toll from flash floods and other rain-related incidents in the state in two days to 22. The Northeast also suffered human losses on Monday due to rains. Five people died in the Assam floods, while a child died in a landslide in Meghalaya. P8 FOOTBALL WINS Messi ends World Cup in tears as La Roja say two cheers EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE THERE was no fairytale ending. There was no surreal comeback. Sunday evening stood still in time as the tears rolled down his face. On one end of the New York/New Jersey Stadium, Lionel Messi stood transfixed, wondering if this was the end of his Argentina journey after a mostly angelic month at the World Cup where he bent time and space like only he could. Next to him, amid a crestfallen bunch of colleagues, the Spanish were just getting started with the celebrations. A second star on the jersey The victorious Spanish team with the FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday. (Right) Lionel Messi sheds tears after match | AP a just reward for the side that had most played like a team throughout the 40 days in US, Mexico and Canada. There is a certain irony because in the land where stars are venerated and deified — it was no surprise that Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise, Vini Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland routinely made head- lines in the country of Hollywood — the nation with an ethos for the collective burnt the brightest when the competition got serious. The final itself went on predicted lines as the Europeans, whose only previous win came in 2010, suffocated Argentina before killing them slowly and softly In extra-time, they fi. nally put Argentina out of their misery Ferran Torres crashing , the ball into the roof of the net in the first-half of extra-time. In the end, it was no surprise that the South Americans had as many red cards as shots on goal after 120 minutes. P11