monDAY 18 september, 2023 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard weapons deal kim jong un ends russia tour North Korean leader’s six-day trip had triggered concerns about weapons transfer deals Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l Siraj forces SL to submission 50-over game turns into 50-run affair for India as they win their eighth Asia Cup title F i r o z M i r za @ Colombo It was quite an unusual sight — for the first time in the tournament, the R Premadasa Stadium was packed for the Asia Cup final on Sunday between co-hosts Sri Lanka and India. As the drama started unfolding in the middle, there was another unusual sight — the scoreboard. The wicket section was rotating faster than the runs and by the time the heavens opened up again later Chorus for women’s bill in all-party meet RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR Indian team celebrates after winning the 2023 Asia Cup on Sunday. in the evening, the match was already over; in less than three hours. The 50-over match turned into a 50-run affair after Mohammed Siraj’s inspired spell skittled Sri Lanka out to give India a modest 51- run target. Almost as if Rohit Sharma & Co did not want to go into another reserve day after a delayed start. In a span of 24 balls, Siraj, blew away the Sri Lankan batting. The pacer started with a maiden over and followed it up with four wickets off his next six balls reducing Sri Lanka to 12/5. He ran through the toporder and claimed his first ODI fifer (6/21) in the fifth over as the co-hosts were bundled out in 15.2 overs. India openers did the rest, chasing down the target in just 6.1 overs. With the ODI World Cup on horizon, India couldn’t have asked for a better end to this event — winning Asia Cup after five years.| P11 PAGES 12 India's trophy drought ended After five years, the Men in Blue won their first multiteam tournament, putting an end to the long wait. It should give them a morale boost ahead of all-important World Cup. 16 Mohammed Siraj took five wickets in just 16 deliveries, the joint-quickest with Chaminda Vaas and USA’s Ali Khan, since 2002 Mohammed Siraj bowled seven overs on the trot to take six wickets, helping his team dismiss Sri Lanka for 50 in 15.2 overs | AFP Cong unveils six guarantees Qatar likely to release for poll-bound Telangana naval officers by Nov @ New Delhi THE all-party meeting convened by the government on the eve of the five-day special Parliament session witnessed several parties, including from the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, demanding that the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill be passed during the special session. Speaking to reporters after the all-party meet, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government will take an “appropriate decision at an appropriate time” on the demand. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party also wants pressing issues such as caste census, price rise, and unemployment to be discussed in the special session. The bill seeks to ensure onethird of all seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. STATING that it was her dream to see a Congress government in Telangana, former AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday announced “six guarantees” the party would implement if voted to power in the State. Addressing a gathering at Hyderabad, Sonia said, “We will introduce the Mahalakshmi scheme, offering `2,500 financial assistance to all women, supply of gas cylinders at `500 and free travel for women on TSRTC buses across the State.” She emphasised that these guarantees were designed to fulfil the people’s aspirations a n d p l e d g e d t o d e l ive r on each of them without fail. Her announcement came after the extended CWC meeting, which covered various topics, including State Assembly e l e c t i o n s, p a r t i c u l a rly wari, Sugunakar Pakala, Sanjeev Gupta and Ragesh. EIGHT retired naval officers, T h e s e n av a l p e r s o n n e l who have been in solitary con- h ave b e e n ch a r g e d w i t h finement in Doha for the past spying for Israel on Qatar’s adone year on charges vanced submarines. of passing secrets to A few months Some Israel, may retur n after their arrest in relief home by Diwali, ac2022, Qatar asked Qatar has also cording to an official them to pack their eased the solitary bags andleave for Inin the know. “In the recent past, confinement fiat, dia. However, before and has now there has been hushed they could do so, they allowed talks of a possible rewere placed in solipatriation of these two persons to be tary confinement. eight officers to India kept together in a L a t e r, e s p i o n a g e by Diwali,” the offi- confinement cell. charges were slapped cial said. Until it hap- This has helped in on them. improving the pens one cannot celeQatar has also mental health brate, he added. The eased the solitary of these officers naval officers, who confinement fiat, and as they are facing trial in h a s n ow a l l owe d Doha, have the next have someone to two persons to be talk to, the cour t hearing on kept together in a conofficial said October 3. finement cell. This The officers have has helped in been identified as Navtej improving the mental health Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar of these of ficers as they Ver ma, Saurabh Vasisht, have someone to talk to, the Amit Nagpal, Purnendu Ti- official said. Y e s h i s el i @ New Delhi B K a r theek @ Hyderabad Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge flanked by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi during the second day of CWC meeting at Hyderabad on Sunday | PTI Telangana, Lok Sabha polls, special Parliament session, party discipline and other pressing matters. Leading up to the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress had made five similar promises, including free transportation in State-run bus services and financial benefits, and recorded a victory Now, the party has adopt. ed a similar strategy by introducing the six guarantees tailored to the sociopolitical circumstances in Telangana, in contrast to the existing welfare schemes under the BRS government. Rahul Gandhi accused the BRS government of plundering public funds. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge recounted how Congress, under the leadership of Nehru and Patel, merged Hyderabad State comprising Telangana parts of Karnataka and Marathwada. Not enough storage in Cauvery, can’t release water to TN: Siddaramaiah E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kalaburagi Water requirements of Karnataka CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said the reservoirs in the Cauvery river basin do not have enough storage to release water to Tamil Nadu. “We are filing an appeal before the Supreme Court, briefing it as to why Karnataka could not implement the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA). Karnataka needs more than 106 tmcft of water in Cauvery river if we have to release water to Tamil Nadu. Karnataka needs 30 tmcft for drinking water purposes, 70 tmcft to save standing crops and 3 tmcft for industries. But as on date, we only have 53 tmcft,” he said. Karnataka needs more than 106 tmcft of water in Cauvery river if we have to release water to TN. It needs 30 tmcft for drinking water purposes, 70 tmcft to save standing crops. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah He termed former chief mini s t e r B S Ye d i y u r a p p a ’ s statement that Karnataka has released water to Tamil Nadu as politically motivated. All the previous governments, including Yediyurappa’s, released water to the neighbouring state when they were in power, he added. “In a normal year, Karnataka used to release 177.25 tmcft of water. So far, we have released 37.7 tmcft. Let the former chief minister tell us where we have released 99 tmcft to Tamil Nadu. The CWMA has suggested that we release 500 cusses of water to Tamil Nadu. But we have not released it as we do not have sufficient storage,” he added. Youtubers of Tulsi village in Chhattisgarh at ‘Hamar Flix’ with Raipur collector | Express Tulsi village gained prominence on the YouTube map, thanks to the consistent efforts of Jay Verma and Gyanendra Shukla, who strived to make an ecosystem for content creation in 2016. After witnessing highs and lows in their efforts, the duo overcame challenges and achieved first success in 2018 when they could monetise their video. U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Noida Police have made second arrest in the horrific Greater Noida lift crash case in which eight construction workers were killed, an official said on Sunday . The arrested person Lavjeet Kumar is said to be the prime accused. He worked as general manager (administration--commercial) at Girdhari Lal Construction Company . “He [Lavjeet Kumar] was the signing authority and also responsible for Tower No C 11 and 12. The safety of the lift was under his domain,” the official said. The accident took place around 8.30 am at the underconstruction site of Amrapali Dream Valley Society located , in Greater Noida west. The project was being completed under the supervision of state-run National Buildings Construction Corporation. According to police, the lift came crashing down from the 14th floor of the building. The Noida Police, a day after registering an FIR under relevant sections of the IPC and Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, first arrested Devendra Singh, another general manager of Girdhari Lal Construction, the company hired by NBCC. winter is coming, how prepared is delhi? PM takes Metro ride PM Modi travels in metro on his way to unveil India International Convention and Expo Centre, in New Delhi, on Sunday | Express The government has again announced a ‘Winter Action Plan’ with 15 focus points. But it remains to be seen whether it will have any real impact on the ground | P4 Express read Chhattisgarh village hosts 40 Youtube channels Residents of Tulsi village, around 55 km from Raipur, are like any other villagers. But their flair for content creation using Youtbe makes them different from others. Nearly one-third of residents in Tulsi village, which has population of around 4,000, have taken to YouTube to create compelling content on this social media platform. T h e v i l l a g e h a s ab o u t 40 Youtube channels, with over a dozen of them achieving monetisation. Some of popular channels are ‘36Garhiya’, ‘Alwa Jalwa’, Fun Tapri’, ‘Gold CG04’. Noida lift crash: Another GM of construction firm arrested pollution ‘hamar flix’ E J A Z K A IS E R @ Raipur Prime accused The duo said they believed in their potential and invested time on studying various YouTube channels and experimenting with different content categories. “During tough times, our village people offered resolute support and kept encouraging us,” Verma said. Their initial goal was just to entertain the villagers. Over a period of time around onethird of the Tulsi inhabitants turned active participants in their videos and the village became a hub for Youtubers. The contributors and performers were in the age group of 22-60. It included even an 85-year-old grandmother. unesco tag ‘epochal change’ against norms Santiniketan declared World Heritage site Tricolour hoisted on new Parliament building NMC members fail to disclose assets online Santiniketan – the place where Rabindranath Tagore built Visva Bharati University over a century ago — was bestowed the coveted tag of UNESCO World Heritage site on Sunday. With this, it becomes the 41st World Heritage Property from India. The decision was made during the ongoing extended 45th World Heritage Committee Meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to Archeological Survey of India. Santiniketan has been a part of UNESCO’s tentative list since 2010. The nomination dossier for the inscription was submitted to the World Heritage Centre in January 2021. P8 Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the national flag at the new Parliament building’s Gaj Dwar in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Prakash and Cabinet ministers on Sunday. “It is a historic moment. Bharat is witnessing epochal change. The world is in total recognition of Bharat’s might, power and contribution,” Dhankar said after hoisting the flag. Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi and Arjun Ram Meghwal, attended the ceremony, while Leader of Opposition on the floor Mallikarjun Kharge could not, as he is in Hyderabad for the CWC meeting. P7 It has been three years since the formation of the National Medical Commission (NMC). But its members, including the chairman, have failed to disclose their assets on the website in violation of the NMC Act 2019. Despite repeated RTIs and appeals, the 31-member NMC continues to stonewall the issue. The NMC was formed in place of the Medical Commission of India following criticism from the Supreme Court and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health in 2016 that the medical body that monitored medical education in India was not transparent in functioning. P7