SATURDAY 07 SEPTEMBER, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard The Morning Standard wishes its readers a HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION President Joe Biden’s son pleaded guilty in a tax evasion trial, without reaching the deal he had sought with prosecutors. The 54-year-old admitted nine counts related to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes over the past decade, money that prosecutors said he splurged instead on luxury living, sex workers and a drug habit A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI J8.00 US District Judge Mark Scarsi set sentencing for Dec 16. Biden faces up to 17 years in prison and a fine in excess of $1 million | P9 PAGES 12  Now, call to change Bangladesh’s flag and Tagore-authored anthem Admit 7 students as per DU seat allocation: HC tells Stephen’s Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Friday directed St. Stephen’s College to admit seven students who were allocated seats through Delhi University’s admission process. The HC decision followed petitions from students who argued that their admissions were not completed in time despite securing seats in the BA Economics (Hons) and BA Programme courses. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while delivering the verdict, emphasised that the college must adhere to DU’s seat allocation system. “As the university’s seat calculation remains valid, the college is instructed to admit the petitioning students according to the seat allocation policy from the previous academic year. This will allow them to join classes after completing the formalities as per rules,” the HC said. The petitioners contended that, despite being allotted seats by DU, their admissions were left incomplete. The college, however, opposed the university’s common seat allocation system, saying it could only admit students within its sanctioned capacity . The HC had previously granted provisional admission to six students, acknowledging that they had successfully cleared the CUET exam. The HC noted these students, despite their merit, were left uncertain about their future. But the college challenged this order before a division bench, which temporarily barred the students from attending classes. Another student approached the HC, seeking admission under ‘single girl child quota’, which reserves one seat in each programme for eligible candidates.  From left: Jammu & Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, Home Minister Amit Shah, MoS Jitendra Singh | PTI BJP promises 5 lakh jobs, terror-free J&K Article 370 has become history, will never return: Shah F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THE BJP on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, promising to root out terrorism, create five lakh jobs for youth, facilitate return of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, and bring out a white paper to fix responsibility of those involved in the emergence of militancy . The document, titled Sankalp Patra, was released by Union home minister Amit Shah at a press conference in Jammu. it contains 25 promises that include developing the J&K economy through tourism, construction of 10,000 km of new rural roads, women’s financial security and selfreliance, addressing the illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi settlements, among others. The manifesto also promises steps for the reconstruction of Hindu temples and shrines. Shah arrived in Jammu on Friday for a two-day visit. In a snub to the National Conference, which is seeking restoration of Article 370, Shah asserted that the special provision has become a history and can never be restored. According to the manifesto, abrogation of Article 370 has ensured peace and prosperity in the region with visible reduction in terrorism, border shelling and militancy Remov. al of Article 370 has led to complete integration of J&K with India, it said. “In the poll manifesto, we have made a lot of promises. Our big promise is creation of a peaceful, secured, developed and prosperous J&K. We are close to the goal. If we get a mandate, I want to tell the people of J&K that its youth will also contribute to the development of country and J&K. Youth in a true sense will work to make J&K a paradise,” Shah said. Shah also criticised other parties for mindlessly demanding restoration of statehood, noting that he has made a commitment on the floor of Parliament that it would be restored at an appropriate time after the polls. “The demand of statehood restoration by parties is to mislead the people. I have said in Parliament that statehood will be restored. I have accepted it on the floor of Parliament,” he added. P7 Reduced electricity, water bills BJP promises a ‘rebate’ on outstanding electricity/ water bills; `3,000 yearly travel allowance to college students; and tablets/ laptops to students in remote areas No talks with Pak, says Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday clarified that India is not in favour of talks with Pakistan until it stops supporting terrorism. “Talks and bombs cannot go together,” he emphasised AMID the continuing uncertainty in Bangladesh after prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled on August 5, a section in the country is lobbying to get the national flag and the national anthem changed. The flag was designed by Narain Das and the anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla, written by the Bard of Bengal Rabindranath Tagore. “A lot of interest that has been generated about changing the national flag and anthem. Brig General (Retd) Abdullahil Amaan Azmi was among those who recently proposed this,” Prof Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, a political commentator in Bangladesh, told this newspaper. Brig Gen Azmi is the son of Ghulam Azam, the former ameer (chief) of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami. He was among the victims of forced disappearance under Hasina’s regime and was released recently . “The Bangladeshi flag has no symbol depicting Islam, like a crescent, nor does the anthem depict the 1971 freedom struggle. So, a lot of Bangladeshis are now open to the idea. For all one knows, suddenly a new flag and a new anthem could come into play a source in Dhaka said. ,’’ “The Awami League is facing an TATKAL IN 40 SECS BOMB THREAT FLIGHT TO FRANKFURT DIVERTED TO TURKEY E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi A Vistara flight en route to Frankfurt from Mumbai was diverted to Erzurum Airport in Turkey due to a bomb threat onboard on Friday Flight number UK27 made a . precautionary landing at Erzurum Airport at 7:05 pm (IST). According to a Vistara spokesperson, the authorities were immediately alerted and security agencies took a complete mandatory check of the aircraft. The passengers and cabin crew onboard were safely evacuated. “Vistara flight UK 27 operating from Mumbai to Frankfurt on September 6, 2024 has been diverted to Turkey due to a security concern that was noted by our crew while onboard. The aircraft has safely landed at the Erzurum Airport. As per protocol, the relevant authorities were immediately alerted and we are fully cooperating with the security agencies to Alert cabin crew Vistara flight UK27 en route to Frankfurt from Mumbai was diverted to Erzurum Airport in Turkey due to a bomb threat. A cabin crew found a written bomb threat in one of the toilets of the plane and alerted about the security threat onboard, according to sources. complete the mandatory security checks. At Vistara, the safety and security of our customers, crew, and aircraft remain our highest priority the spokesperson said. ,” According to sources, a cabin crew member found a written bomb threat in one of the toilets of the plane and alerted about the security threat onboard. The airline on social media platform said, “Flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt (BOM-FRA) has been diverted to Turkey (Erzurum airport) due to security reasons and has landed safely Please . stay tuned for further updates.” Deadlock in Cong-AAP alliance talks in Haryana P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AAP MLA joins Cong THE alliance talks between the AAP and the Congress for the Haryana Assembly elections appear to hit a roadblock as both parties failed to make any headway in the seat-sharing formula. While the Congress is adamant in sharing only singledigit seats to its INDIA bloc partner, the Arvind Kejriwalled party was unwilling to climb down from its demand of 10 seats, said sources. The alliance talks began after Rahul Gandhi expressed keenness in sealing an alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the polls. According to AAP sources, the party will go it alone in 50 of the 90 assembly seats in Haryana. “The AAP is planning to contest 50 of the 90 seats. The party may announce its first list on Sunday,” said a senior AAP leader. AICC Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria told reporters that the party will give a small number of seats to AAP. “It will Former minister and AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam joined the Congress in the presence of general secretary KC Venugopal on Friday. “Attracted by the Congress programmes under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Gautam has decided to join the Congress,” Venugopal said. P4 be in single digits,” he said. The alliance talks have also created a rift in the party as most of the state leaders are against the move. Speaking to the media on Friday, Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala said that the Congress is in a commanding position and an alliance with AAP is not required. “The high command is looking at the alliance with a national perspective. However, the state leaders are not in favour of the alliance. We have expressed our views,” he said. Earlier, Kumari Selja had also ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the AAP P7 . EXPRESS READ Plea seeking ban on Netflix series withdrawn A PIL seeking a ban on OTT series ‘IC-814: The Kandahar hijack’ for allegedly not revealing the real identities of the hijackers was withdrawn from the Delhi High Court on Friday. The petitioner’s counsel said since Netflix has now issued a disclaimer carrying the “names of the terrorists” in the series portraying the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit, he did not wish to press his plea. P3 MODI KI PATHSHALA existential crisis ever since Hasina left, so they have no say in this. With little or no trace of the founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman left — after his statues were razed and museums vandalised during the recent uprising — changing the flag and the anthem will not be much of an issue,’’ said another source in Dhaka. It could be a matter of time before a Presidential ordinance is issued to make the two far-reaching changes. Just when the Hasina government fell, the police uniform and logo were changed as it had the election symbol of the Awami League (a boat). The interim government is likely to bring in more changes to build a new narrative, which is in sync with what the hardliners are preaching and the influence they have begun to exercise, the source added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the winners of the National Teachers’ Award 2024, in New Delhi on Friday | PTI Proceedings against startup founder quashed E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru THE High Court of Karnataka has quashed the proceedings initiated by the Railway Protection Force against Gaurav Dahake from Aurangabad, an IIT graduate, who set up a startup a few years ago to help people book Tatkal tickets within 40 seconds. Justice M Nagaprasanna quashed the proceedings while allowing a petition filed by Dahake, questioning the crime registered against him under Section 143 of the Railways Act. The court noted that the petitioner neither procured nor supplied rail tickets. All that he did was create an extension to the IRCTC website, which speeded up the process of getting Tatkal tickets confirmed. The process is said to have reduced the 7-minute confirmation time to just 40 seconds. It would undoubtedly benefit the public. Unless the ingredients of Section 143 are met, the crime itself could not have been registered, the court said. The petitioner set up the website buyhatke.com to help people save money during online transactions by serving as a product price comparison online browser extension. In August 2017, he developed Tatkalforsure software, which auto-fills details of travellers intending to book Tatkal tickets on the IRCTC site. To get confirmation, the traveller had to wait for seven minutes and through the web extension of the petitioner, it would take only 40-45 seconds. All was well for three years when the petitioner was doing it for free. Eventually, to prevent misuse of his software by booking bulk tickets, the petitioner restricted it to 10 tickets a month. He built a security system to block accounts that booked bulk tickets. He began to charge `30 per ticket from February 2020 and claims to have paid all taxes. Charging `30 caught the attention of the Railways, which summoned the petitioner. Later, a case was registered against him. PARALYMPICS India hits golden six with Praveen’s record jump I N D R A N E E L D A S @ Chennai THE world of sport is unique. The stories it springs up are even more fascinating. Praveen Kumar is no different. He was born with a shorter leg and had battled an inferiority complex because of it as a youngster. Yet, his passion for sport drew him towards volleyball where he needed to jump more and had to rely on one leg (right) to get the lift. He had no idea then that one day he would be competing at the Paralympics and win medals for the country . Praveen’s life took a providential turn in 2018 when he first visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. He met coach Satyapal Singh, a Dronacharya Award recipient and he introduced Praveen to high jump. There were quite a few challenges though. Praveen’s height was not ideal for the high jump. At 168 cm, he was considered short for a sport that thrives on height. Yet, coach Satyapal felt he would excel in the sport because of his leg strength. “He used to play volleyball and had Praveen Kumar exceptional leg strength. He used to cycle 12 kms daily from his home to school and stadium, which strengthened his legs,” the coach told this newspaper from Paris. Born to a family from a mod- est background, in Govindgarh near Greater Noida, Praveen loved sport as it used to be a distraction from his disability Be. cause of his passion, his family took him to Nehru Stadium where he met the coach. On Friday after winning gold , with an area record jump of 2.08 m in the T44 category, his second after silver at the Tokyo Paralympics, he said that credit should go to the coach. “I want to credit my coach Satyapal sir, my sponsors and my physio for the success.” The gold was India’s sixth at the event. In Tokyo, he became the youngest medallist at the age of 18. The record was later broken by armless archer Sheetal Devi, who won bronze in the mixed team compound open archery a few days ago.