wednesdAY FDA suspends food licences of Cricket Club of India, MIG CC 29 Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended the food business licences of the CCI & MIG CC for violations july, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard US-Israel Ties trump to meet BIBI amid Iran war File pic Violation of food safety, hygiene an issue Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reached the White House on Tuesday for his first in-person talks with Donald Trump since the Iran war began A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi High-voltage debate in Lok Sabha on anti-paper leak bill Govt pushes reforms; Oppn flags systemic failures, calls for accountability P r e e t h a Na i r @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed an acrimonious debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 as the government defended the tougher law as necessary deterrent while the Opposition dismissed it as a belated attempt to salvage the Centre’s credibility after the NEET paper leak controversy . The nine-hour marathon debate mostly shifted beyond the provisions of the bill as Opposition members raised the alleged police action against protesting students and demanded that Union home minister Amit Shah order an SIT probe. However, the Treasury bench maintained that the government had acted swiftly to protect students’ interests by bringing in a tougher law. Opening the discussion, Union minister Jitendra Singh said incidents of question paper leaks and examination-related malpractices have occurred in different states over the years, highlighting the need for a comprehensive national legal framework. The government introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday days after student pro, tests over the NEET fiasco led to Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as Union education minister, to provide for stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and a heftier fine of `50 lakh for paper leaks. The House witnessed noisy scenes after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made MeitY summons Meta over PM post takedown The Centre on Tuesday summoned Meta’s public policy head after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post of July 23—addressing India’s youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks—was restricted by the social media giant. IT Secretary S Krishnan said while Meta has apologised for the mistake, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sought more details. According to Meta, a glitch in its automated content filters restricted the prime minister’s post | P10 l J8.00 l PAGES 12 “The CCI’s kitchen lacked segregation between vegetarian and non-vegetarian food preparation areas, and FDA inspectors also found a large number of cockroaches and flies near food handling and waste disposal areas,” an FDA statement said. It also cited the absence of colour-coded chopping boards, which increases the risk of cross-contamination `2,500 a month Women dole scheme to roll out on Aug 1 A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi speaking in the Lok Sabha | pti If the prime minister wants to win over the Gen Z, then he needs to change his ‘dil ka angle’, not the angle of cameras Priyanka Gandhi CJP warning The CJP on Tuesday warned of a fresh agitation, alleging the Centre was avoiding giving a promised written assurance on withdrawing FIRs against all protesters some strong remarks about new education minister Pralhad Joshi, prompting Treasury bench members to seek an apology The remarks were later ex. punged from records. In a strongly worded speech, Priyanka accused the government of betraying the trust of young Indians. She said Modi and Shah must answer as to who authorised the use of pellet guns and AK-47s on protesting students. Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, who opened the debate from the Opposition side, said the amendments exposed the government’s failure to prevent repeated paper leaks despite the existence of a law. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor argued that India must move away from a high-stress model of exam to a computer-based system, with multiple attempts throughout the year. “The National Testing Agency needs strong professional cadres and accountability must be established,” he said. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said the recurrence of paper leaks across the country underscored the need for a stronger legal framework. Taking a swipe at the Congress, he said the previous UPA government had failed to enact similar legislation despite having the opportunity. He also criticised the Congress’ education record, saying India continued with an outdated system for decades because no new education policy had been introduced during its tenure. Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde said the Centre had acted responsibly by ensuring accountability Pointing out . that Pradhan had resigned, he said the government conducted the NEET re-examination within 37 days and declared the results within 25 days. While DMK MPs argued for abolishing NEET, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav compared police action at Delhi protest to Emergency and said that Pradhan’s exit saved Modi. The Lok Sabha will continue the discussion on the bill on Wednesday p7 . Panel coming to probe charges of police excesses, indicates SC s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi Delhi and other states may proceed with investigation of FIRs; however, no coercive measures ... against the protesting students Supreme Court THE Supreme Court on Tuesday, while hearing a batch of petitions against police excesses, said prima facie a case is made out for an independent and transparent inquiry by a commission to probe police excesses on student protesters in several states and UTs. “Why should there not be an independent probe into these allegations? Whoever has committed excesses, committed atrocities on innocent people, law will take care of them. For that, there needs to be a completely independent and fair investigation. Probe is meaningless if no responsibility is fixed,” said a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant. The court called for framing a protocol to meet situations like the Delhi protests in the future. That apart, the bench restrained states from taking any coercive action against protesters and directed them to release those under 18 on the condition that none of them should have criminal antecedents. Observing that “agitations in a democracy are bound to happen,” the bench indicated it will order the constitution of a high-powered committee to probe incidents of violence in Delhi and elsewhere. It directed the preservation of all CCTV footage, drone footage, body-worn camera recordings, wireless communication and PCR logs. It also told the states to ensure that personal information and digital data of protesters are not placed in the public domain for now. Permanent commission for women in Coast Guard J ava r i a r a n a @ New Delhi CITY UNDER WATER A woman wades through a waterlogged street in East Vinod Nagar on Tuesday, as heavy rain lashed the city, marking it as the rainiest day of the year so far | Parveen Negi | P3 ENDING years of resistance that had drawn sharp censure from the Supreme Court, the Defence Ministry on Tuesday cleared permanent commission for women officers in the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The move brings the maritime force in line with the Army Navy , and Air Force (IAF), where women have long been eligible for full-tenure careers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the policy, alongside a second reform easing ex-gratia to families of personnel missing at sea. The women’s commission policy ensures equal opportunities for career progression right from the ab-initio training phase. It also throws open a window to those already in service. Existing women officers on Short Service Appointment (SSA) will be given the option to convert to Permanent Appointment (PA), while serving PA women officers will be considered for promotion to higher ranks. The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, under which eligible women will receive financial assistance of `2,500 a month. The online application portal will open on August 1. Announcing the scheme after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said it fulfils the government’s commitment to No benefits for strengthen the economic indestate workers pendence of women. The scheme has an outlay of `5,110 Women already crore in the 2026-27 Budget receiving financial and is expected to benefit assistance or more than 17 lakh women. pensions under The scheme is open to womother government en aged 21 to 60 years from schemes will not be families with an annual ineligible for benefits come of up to `2.5 lakh. It will under Lakshmi initially remain in force for Yojna. The scheme three years from the date of also excludes implementation. income taxpayers, Beneficiaries can choose beGST return filers, tween two payment options. government Under the first, `1,500 will be employees. deposited in a recurring or fixed deposit account and `1,000 credited to a CBDC Digital Rupee Wallet, which can be used only for goods and services permitted under the government’s prescribed negative list. Under the second option, the entire `2,500 will be deposited in a recurring or fixed deposit account to encourage longterm savings. Police forced its way in party office, says CPM Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The CPI(M) on Tuesday alleged that a three-member team of the Delhi Police forcibly entered its headquarters, AKG Bhavan, in New Delhi, to arrest Students’ Federation of India leader and former JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh in connection with a fiveyear-old case. The party also claimed Ghosh had been under surveillance as part of an intimidation campaign against student leaders who took part in the Jantar Mantar protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party . Brittas confronts Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas confronted the Delhi Police, questioning its entry into the party office and alleging they were not in uniform and were not wearing badges.