THURSDAY 30 JULY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard Gulveer Singh (L) poses with his silver medal late on Tuesday | AFP X.com/TheMornStandard GULVEER SECURES SILVER AS BOXERS CONTINUE DOMINATION PROXY WAR IRAN ALLY DRAWS IN SAUDI, US FORCES Twenty fighters and six Iranian advisers killed as Riyadh blames Iraqi militia for drone attacks on oil sites. Fresh strikes have raised fears of all-out war again PAGE 9 Gulveer Singh became the 1st Indian to win a CWG medal in men’s 10,000m. Pugilists seal six medals in a day REIGNING ASIAN CHAMP PUTS ON CLINICAL SHOW A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  Gulveer, the national record holder, clocked 27:49.78 seconds to claim silver in men’s 10,000m, finishing behind Australia’s Ky Robinson late on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Narender Berwal joined Ankush Panghal, Sakshi Chaudhary, Arundhati Choudhary, Jaismine Lamboria and Sachin Siwach in the semifinals to confirm 6 medals in boxing on Wednesday alone | P11 PAGES 12 Amidst ruckus, Lok Sabha 34 absent teachers on passes anti-paper leak bill Day 1 get DU memo Rahul targets govt over alleged police excesses against student protesters Delhi Police files FIR over abusive posts against PM N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi speaking in the House on Wednesday | PTI P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AMID repeated disruptions and heated exchanges, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, even as the House descended into chaos after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged Union home minister Amit Shah was responsible for the police action against student protesters. Under the amended law, probe into paper leak cases must be completed within two months. It also raises the punishment for individuals involved in paper leaks to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to `50 lakh. The bill was passed by voice vote after a stormy 10-hour long debate in which the government defended the amendments to the anti-paper leak law with stricter punishment, asserting that the measure was taken as it is “open to learning from experiences”. The proceedings turned acrimonious after Rahul alleged Shah “put pellets into the blood of our students” during the police action on protesters marching to Parliament on July 20 and claimed the home minister was absent from the House because he was “scared”. The remarks invited protests from Treasury benches forcing Speaker Om Birla to intervene. Birla told Rahul to confine his address to the bill. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju termed the remarks “highly objectionable” and demanded an apology. Some of Rahul’s comments were later expunged. Replying to the debate, Union minister Jitendra Singh categorically denied that bullets had been fired at students. “When there were no bullets fired, the question of ordering it does not arise. The authority to order firing rests with the district magistrate, not a minister,” he said, accusing Rahul of making irresponsible allegations without understanding administrative procedures. Rahul also took aim at the RSS, alleging it exercised control over the education system. Hailing the protesters, he said they showed greater courage than their parents in standing up against the government. “These children, brave, imaginative and powerful, stood there and faced everything that was thrown at them.” Defending the government, Jitendra Singh said it acted swiftly after the NEET paper leak controversy and 52 FIRs had been registered since the anti-paper leak law came into force in 2024. He claimed death by suicide linked to paper leak came down in recent years. P7 Call for probe Rahul Gandhi demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah be sacked and called for an SC-monitored probe into police ‘brutalities’ This (students’ protest) was not anger, not violence, not hatred; this was an expression, deep expressions of the youth of this country, of the future generation of this country Rahul Gandhi, LoP, Lok Sabha Dipke: Stop harassing CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the government should stop harassing the students who participated in Jantar Mantar protests | P8 THE Delhi Police has registered a case over the alleged circulation of objectionable and defamatory content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar and has asked the concerned social media platform to remove the posts. It has been registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit, which investigates cyber-related offences and functions under the Special Cell. Police also issued notices directing the platform to remove or disable access to the identified accounts and URLs while preserving the relevant data, logs and subscriber information for evidence. The notice names six social media handles. The FIR has been registered under Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 353(2) (circulating false information, rumours or alarming news, including through electronic media) and 356(2) (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. According to the notice, “The circulation of such objectionable and defamatory content has caused serious harm to the reputation, dignity and public image of the Prime Minister.” It stated that the continued availability of the content has the potential to disturb public order, create unnecessary political controversy and erode public trust. It added that such acts facilitate the misuse of social media platforms for defamation, objectionable content and cyber-enabled offences. Dossiers on 216 suspects sent to all district police units for checks E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi CPM OFFICE VISIT BY POLICE CAUSES FRICTION IN RS Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J P Nadda defended the Delhi Police that entered the CPI(M) office in Delhi on Tuesday, while Opposition leaders called it attack on democracy. P7 AS part of the investigation into the incidents of violence at Jantar Mantar during the student protests, particularly the July 20 Parliament march, the Delhi Police has sent dossiers of 216 suspects to all district police units for verification. The exercise is aimed at ascertaining details about the individuals and determining their specific roles in the violence. The West district has received the highest number of dossiers, with 26 individuals to be verified, followed by NorthEast (23), South (22) and Central (21). The remaining dossi- Protesters under lens Police say the verification process will help establish which suspects were present at the scene Police are analysing facial recognition system-enabled CCTV recordings and social media videos from Jantar Mantar ers have been distributed across South-West (18), SouthEast (17), East (15), New Delhi (14), Shahdara (12), Outer North (11), North and Rohini (nine each), North-West (eight), Outer district (six) and Dwarka (five), taking the total to 216. Sources said the suspects were identified using multiple forms of evidence, including CCTV footage, videos recorded during the incident, social media activity mobile phone loca, tion data and other digital and technical inputs. The field verification is being carried out to ensure there are no gaps in the probe and that every lead is thoroughly examined. I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi CONTROVERSY erupted at the University of Delhi on Wednesday after 34 teachers of the Faculty of Technology were issued memorandums seeking explanations for allegedly being absent during the first oneand-a-half hours of the first day of the 2026-27 academic session, even as the university welcomed its new batch of undergraduate students. Issued by the Faculty of Technology administration, the memorandum stated that the teachers were absent between 9:00 am and 10:30 am on July 28, the opening day of the new academic session, “without prior intimation/approval from the competent authority”. Calling the matter serious, the administration directed the faculty members to submit a detailed written explanation for their absence by 5:00 pm the same day The memoran. dum further warned that failure to respond within the stipulated time, or submission of an “unsatisfactory explanation”, could be treated as a “serious administrative lapse” and may invite action under the relevant provisions of the University of Delhi rules and regulations. The communication was marked “Most Urgent.” MEKEDATU DAM Central water panel returns K’taka report S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA UNIVERSITY ADAMANT, FACULTY UNHAPPY @ Chennai AMID a war of words between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the controversial Mekedatu project, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has returned the detailed project report (DPR) submitted by Karnataka for executing the reservoir project across Cauvery, saying the proposal does not conform to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award and the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgement. As per documents available with this newspaper, the CWC returned the DPR to Karnataka on June 29 for suitable alterations, as the state had proposed to expand the volume of water that could be stored for consumptive use by 2.2 tmcft. A Tamil Nadu official said the CWC’s findings validate the state’s long-standing objections to the project, saying “Mekedatu project was an attempt to impound nearly 80 tmcft of runoff generated in the intermediate catchment, which is part of Tamil Nadu’s share.” While the opening day at the university was marked by the arrival of freshers on campuses and their orientation programmes, the action against faculty members shifted attention to growing tensions between the university administration and teachers. The administration had directed the absent faculty members to submit a detailed written explanation for their absence by 5:00 pm on the same day. The move triggered sharp criticism from the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and sections of the teaching community , who described the action as arbitrary and an attempt to intimidate faculty members. In a statement, teachers’ representatives said they were “strongly opposed” to the issuance of memorandums to the 34 faculty members, calling the decision “arbitrary and autocratic” and contrary to academic values. They demanded that the memorandums be withdrawn. EX-PM FINALLY SC quashes Centre’s 2021 CLEARED IN Office Memorandum that COAL SCAM CASE okayed post facto green nod E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case, 11 years after a Delhi special court turned down the closure report of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that gave Singh a clean chit. “We are satisfied that there were no compelling reasons for the learned sessions judge to turn down the closure reports by the CBI and to take cognizance. Consequently, we allow the SLP and set aside the impugned orders... and close the matter on merits,” said a three-judge bench MANMOHAN headed by Chief Justice of SINGH India Surya Kant. The coal scam refers to the allotment of coal blocks through a screening committee instead of competitive auctions between 2004 and 2009. In March 2015, months after the CBI filed its closure report in the case granting Singh a clean chit, a Delhi special court summoned the former PM as an accused over an alleged irregular allotment of Talabira-II coal block to Hindalco. The trial judge had said there was prima facie evidence against Singh, who was coal minister at the time of the scam. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict on Wednesday, quashed a 2021 Office Memorandum (OM) that allowed the Centre to grant retrospective environmental clearances to projects that had commenced without the green nod. Starting any project without prior environmental clearance is against the rules, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi noted. “Starting any project without prior environmental clearance is against the rules. Even if the government wishes to frame a rule allowing clearance to be granted later, it must issue a formal notification under the law; this cannot be done merely through an office memorandum,” the bench noted. However, the court gave some leeway to the government and held that the judgment will apply prospectively and the projects granted green nod earlier will remain undisturbed. “The 2021 OM was deemed violative of Article 14 (Right to equality) and Article 21 (Right to life) of the Constitution, failing the test of proportionality and reasonableness,” the bench said, adding that the government is restrained from issuing future administrative orders for environmental clearances in a postfacto manner. In 2021, the Centre had issued an office memorandum. Under this, provisions were made to grant environmental clearance later even to those projects that had already begun work without prior clearance. The Supreme Court, while quashing it, said the office memorandum is against the law, because such a major change can be made through a legal notification, not through an administrative order. EXPRESS READ Police issues restriction plan for Kanwar Yatra India’s UN envoy addresses assembly in Arabic One Naga village guard killed in gunfight with CRPF Delhi Police has issued an advisory for the Kanwar Yatra. Movement of heavy transport vehicles, except city buses, will remain restricted from July 29 to August 12 on GT Road (Apsara Border to Yamuna Bridge), Wazirabad Road (Bhopura Border to Signature Bridge), Vikas Marg, Pusta Road, etc. At the UN Security Council, India’s Permanent Representative P Harish addressed part of his speech in Arabic, reaffirming New Delhi’s support for Palestine and its commitment to a two-state solution. Harish cautioned against allowing geopolitical concerns to overshadow the humanitarian crisis. A member of the Naga Village Guard was killed and five others injured during a gunfight with a CoBRA team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Manipur’s Noney district on Wednesday. A Naga organisation reacted by announcing a shutdown of highways and railway projects. Tiger conservation efforts bring unexpected benefit to sloth bear habitats, says national study J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi INDIA’S sloth bear population and the area of suitable habitat for the species have both increased, according to the first comprehensive national habitat suitability assessment. The results reveal that suitable habitat for sloth bears increased by 10.7% and the population rose by 17% between 2018 and 2022. Much of the newly suitable habitat is located within tiger reserves, reflecting the wider impact of the tiger conservation efforts. Released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Global Tiger Day, the report, “Habitat Suitability Assessment for Sloth Bears Across Tiger Landscapes in India”, states that the positive impact of tiger conservation efforts is also benefiting the sloth bear, which plays a crucial role as an ecosystem engineer and seed disperser in tropical forest ecosystems. According to the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), the area occupied by sloth bear habitat within tiger landscapes increased from 170,094 sq km in 2018-19 to 188,357 sq km in 202223. Using predictive MaxEnt modelling, the assessment estimated about 231,899 sq km of suitable habitat across the Eastern Ghats dominate global bear habitat list Central India-Eastern Ghats landscape remains the global stronghold for sloth bears, with 176,870 sq km of suitable habitat, 74% of it outside protected areas. The Western Ghats account for 35,250 sq km. country Of this, 28% lies with. in protected areas, while 19.6% or 45,441 sq km falls inside tiger reserves. The remaining suitable habitat is spread across reserved forests, territorial forests and other forested landscapes outside formally protected areas. Dr Qamar Qureishi, former scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India, said the findings reflect an annual increase of about 3.33% in habitat area and a 5% annual increase in the abundance index based on sloth bear photographs, calling the trend encouraging. The report warns that rising human pressure has become the main factor affecting habitat suitability. It says addressing habitat fragmentation and human-bear conflict outside protected areas will be crucial for long-term conservation.