NEW DELHI 09 AUGUST 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES Few is More When More is the Most THE BRAIN GAME BRIGADE MAGAZINE The Prodigal Polymath Anand Neelakantan Prabhu Chawla Ravi Shankar Debashis Chatterjee Gopalkrishna Gandhi Shankkar Aiyar Ajai Sahni The Inheritance of Loss EXCLUSIVE VOICES Fur the Record Trail by Trial on the Mountain Road ‘I Have Never Felt Like I was One Thing’ Choosing Heaven Every Day Different strokes on delimitation in TN, Punjab Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 57th Convocation of IIT Delhi, flanked by Education Minister Pralhad Joshi | PTI 18-yr-old swept away in drain amid heavy rain EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AN 18-year-old youth was allegedly swept away in a drain after he lost his balance in southeast Delhi’s Sarita Vihar amid heavy rainfall, police said on Saturday . The incident took place on Friday evening when the victim was returning home from Noida, police said. Two PCR calls were received on Friday at 8.31 pm at Kalindi Kunj police station and at 8.54 pm at Sarita Vihar police station regarding the incident, police said. The victim has been identified as Ankit. The incident took place when he slipped near the drain and was swept away by the strong flow of water, DCP Hemant Tiwari said, adding that search operations were underway . Rescue operations were launched with the help of the District Disaster Management Authority East rescue team and Delhi Fire Service. On Friday, the city witnessed heavy rainfall, bringing it to a standstill as roads went under water, traffic impacted and residential colonies were inundated. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi interacts with students in Prayagraj on Saturday | PTI Question Dard, data, ideas, Modi daulat pitch tells Gen Z by Rahul I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow ADDRESSING the 57th convocation of IIT Delhi on Saturday Prime Minister Narendra Modi ex, horted graduating students to question ideas accepted without a thought while stressing that they should not stop at questioning but summon the courage to find solutions too. Challenges, he said, become opportunities for only those who innovate boldly . Returning in person to IIT-D after a virtual address during the pandemic, the prime minister told the Class of 2026 that an IIT education’s true value lies beyond degrees, CGPA or placements. “Your degree tells the entire world that you know exactly how to solve highly difAmidst all this ficult problems,” he said. rapid change, The PM recalled IIT-D’s remember my hostel rivalries among Kuwords: the maon, Aravali, Karakoram, one who Vindhyachal, Nilgiri, Kailash and Himadri, and locontinuously cal favourites like Jia learns is the one Sarai’s poha and Satpura who will win mess parathas, saying campus memories would enerNarendra Modi, Prime Minister gise them amid future responsibilities. He advised students to keep their curiosity alive in life. “The fundamental reason for the success of many alumni was that they boldly identified those crucial questions which the world had stopped considering as questions.” The university conferred degrees on over 3,000 graduating students, including 587 PhD scholars, during the ceremony which also saw , the first graduating batches of Bachelor of Design, Executive MBA, MSc in Biological Sciences and MA in Culture, Society Thought. , Of the 587 PhD graduates, 245 were women, on which PM Modi said it would have been “a little nicer” to see one or two more daughters on that list, before correcting himself: “not one or two, but far more.” CONGRESS MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described India’s youth as the country’s “greatest strength”, asserting their power was unmatched and unparalleled. Addressing the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ event in Prayagraj, he told students and competitive exam aspirants: “You are the power and pride of India. When I say this, I am talking about every Indian citizen.” The Congress leader said nations like China, America and Russia were often called major global powers, yet their strength paled in comparision to the potential of Indian youth. In a nearly 20-minute adToday, education dress, he took a jibe at the certificates have education system, noting that families spent hardno meaning in earned money on BA and India because MA degrees that failed to they cannot give generate employment. Only a dozen out of every 1,000 you jobs. All youngsters, he claimed, sedoors of cured permanent jobs. employment “This evening, I want to are closed speak to you about dard (pain), data, and daulat Rahul Gandhi, LoP (wealth),” Rahul said. He argued that all doors of employment were “closed”, blaming a decline in manufacturing, difficulties in securing loans, exam paper leaks and artificial intelligence replacing jobs for hurting young people’s prospects. Despite waterlogging and muddy patches at the venue, the event drew a sizeable crowd. On the recent student protests across the country, Rahul said the youth had “lit a light in the darkness” by confronting their fears and, in doing so, helped change the nation. “We will never resort to hatred or violence. We will change the system with love and affection,” he said, urging the audience to follow the same path. Students present at the venue raised concerns about hostel problems and competitive examinations. P R A B H A K A R TA M I L A R A S U A N D H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chennai/Chandigarh ON a day the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) opened its cards on the controversial delimitation exercise, supporting it, as many as 37 Opposition MPs boycotted an all-party meeting in Chennai on delimitation chaired by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Saturday . While SAD has just one MP in the Lok Sabha, the DMK with 30 MPs, AIADMK 4, DMDK 1, MNM 1 and PMK 1 boycotted the all-party meeting. The DMK and AIADMK said their stand on the issue remains the same and blamed the TVK government of violating procedures in calling the meeting. Both parties added that they would not support any move that would affect the state’s representation in Parliament in terms of percentage, emphasising the exercise should not be based on population. In his pushback, TN education minister Rajmohan said those who chose not to participate had displayed “selfish politics” and could be acting in the interests of their new political friends, implying that the DMK is moving closer to the BJP . In Punjab, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal said, “the SAD demands a fair and equitable delimitation that ensures equal representation to all states.” He added that his party supports the Union government’s proposal for a uniform increase of 50% seats across all states. The statement came a day after Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. P7 & P8 SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS After detailed deliberations on key issues before Parliament, the SAD demands a fair and equitable delimitation that ensures equal representation to all states Sukhbir Badal Change in stance SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the party had earlier opposed delimitation based on 2011 Census, but after deliberations decided to support the Centre’s proposal Woman dead as Merc, WagonR collide head-on EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi A 70-year-old woman was killed after a Mercedes collided headon with a WagonR on Saturday morning in Narela. Police said WagonR was thrown back due to the impact and hit a threewheeler loading van parked nearby. Police said Urmila, a resident of Mamurpur in Narela, who was present at the spot, got caught between the two vehicles and died on the spot. The body has been sent for post-mortem, police said, adding that the driver of WagonR sustained minor injuries and was given medical aid. After preliminary probe, they arrested the driver of Mercedes and lodged a case of fatal accident. Sources said the Mercedes driver seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and a medical test has been conducted on him. The test report will ascertain his condition at the time of the incident and further necessary action will be taken accordingly, police said. Sources said the father of the accused is posted with Haryana Police. A relative of the victim said, “The incident took place at around 8 am when my maternal aunt had gone to feed pigeons. The car collided with another vehicle. The impact was so severe that my aunt got caught between the vehicles and died.” RIVER IN FULL FOAM Boats lie along the Yamuna banks as toxic foam floats on the water during monsoon at Kalindi Kunj on Saturday | PTI India opts for France-led FCAS to enter sixth-generation fighter race No UPI user fee for you, govt assures consumers J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi THE government on Saturday reiterated that consumers will not have to pay any fee for making UPI payments and that a vast majority of merchant transactions will continue to remain free, even if merchant discount rate (MDR) is introduced in the future. The clarification comes after Parliament passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to amend Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act (PSS Act), enabling introduction of MDR on UPI transactions. INDIA has begun efforts to join France’s sixthgeneration fighter programme, choosing its Future Combat Air System (FCAS) over the rival BritishItalian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), as it seeks a foothold in next-generation combat aviation. In its Action Taken submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, the defence ministry said it had “initiated efforts in a concerted manner to co-join” FCAS, a programme spearheaded by the French government. The disclosure, contained in the committee’s Twenty-Fifth Report for 2025-26 tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday provides , clarity on a choice the ministry had left open in March. It had then told the committee that the Indian Air Force was looking to join one of the two competing sixth-generation fighter programmes. The move comes as major military powers race to develop combat aircraft designed around stealth, artificial intel- No clarity on nature of participation There is no clarity yet on the precise form of participation in FCAS, including whether it is seeking an observer role, a development partnership, production workshare or access to specific tech. The panel has sought a “status report, roadmap, timeline” on the sixth-gen programme in its next submission ligence (AI), advanced sensors, electronic warfare and mannedunmanned teaming. Unlike conventional fighter programmes, sixth-generation systems are being developed as a “system of systems”, with the crewed fighter expected to operate alongside unmanned aircraft, remote carriers and other networked assets while receiving and sharing data across the battlespace. The technology has growing relevance for India as China expands its air-combat capabilities. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force operates the J-20 and J-35 stealth fighter and is developing a wider ecosystem involving unmanned systems, long-range weapons, airborne sensors and electronic warfare capabilities. It has also flown two prototypes of its sixth-gen fighters. The choice of France also comes against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding bilateral defence ties. FCAS was originally conceived by France, Germany and Spain as a broader combat system comprising a new-generation fighter, unmanned remote carriers, advanced sensors and a combat cloud. The fighter was intended to eventually replace France’s Rafale and the Eurofighter. It was, however, was hit by disagreements between French company Dassault Aviation and Airbus over the division of work, development leadership and intellectual property . ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU @ New Delhi Centre rubbishes ‘external pressure’ jibe The government rejected reports that external pressure had influenced its decision to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act (PSS Act). “Some of the media reports have suggested external influences may be driving policy changes. This is completely false.” The government said the amendment does not impose any charges on UPI transactions. Any MDR, if introduced, would apply only to a limited set of merchant transactions above a specified threshold and at a nominal rate, significantly lower than MDRs applicable to debit and credit cards. “All person-to-person transactions will continue to be free of charge,” the gover nment said in a statement, adding that the vast majority of merchant transactions would also remain free. Once the amendment comes into force, the UPI and Services Steering Committee, head- EXPRESS READ Don’t fall for ‘rent a boyfriend’ offers: Hyderabad top cop Punjab CM asks governor to allow parole to Beant killer The Hyderabad Police has warned city women and young adults against a “Rent a Boyfriend” scam being promoted through social media platforms. Police commissioner said on Saturday that cyber criminals were using fake profiles and attractive advertisements to lure young people into the scam. P4 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wrote to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Saturday, asking him to grant 10 days’ parole to Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case. The reason for the parole is given as Hawara’s wish to visit his ailing mother. P3 ed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), will decide on the MDR, if any . The amendment is an enabling provision aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of UPI, rather than an immediate move to impose charges on users or merchants., the government said. A similar clarification was issued by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday followed , by the Payments Council of India (PCI) on Friday . The Centre argued that with UPI transaction volumes expanding rapidly, the payment infrastructure needs investment in cybersecurity, fraud prevention and technology . MANIPUR TAKES A MAJOR STEP TOWARDS PEACE CM Y Khemchand Singh has announced opening of national highways for free movement for every one. Nagas have welcomed the decision | P8