saturdAY 26 october, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard king charles says let us learn from the past King Charles on Friday indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Page 9 pilgrims panic Bomb threats to four hotels in Tirupati D S u r e n dr a K u m a r @ Tirupati A series of bomb threats sent by e-mail to four hotels in Tirupati on Thursday triggered widespread panic in the temple town. The threats targeted three hotels along the Tirumala bypass road and another at the Ramanuja Circle, leaving residents and pilgrims anxious. Under the supervision of Tirupati DSP Venkata Narayana, several police teams launched an intensive search operation at the targeted hotels. Special teams, including bomb squads and snif fer dogs, were deployed to inspect each hotel thoroughly. No explosives or suspicious items were found. Speaking to mediapersons on Friday DSP Narayana said that , vigil has been stepped up. He explained that teams have been mobilised to carry out searches and assured the public that no explosives were found during their inspections. Hotels in the city have been advised to remain vigilant for suspicious activity or unclaimed items. Thousands of people travel to Tirupati every day to offer prayers at the Srivari temple in Tirumala. Trump ahead of Kamala: survey A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi The muddled Trudeau government has decided to slash its immigrant intake by about 20% from the next year so as to right-size its population. While Trudeau had earlier announced he would allow 5 lakh immigrants each in 2025 and 2026, he admitted that after the pandemic, “between addressing labour needs and maintaining population growth, we didn’t get the balance right.” As per the new plan, 3.95 lakh J8.00 l PAGES 12 NIA bounty on Bishnoi’s Anmol brother M u k e s h R a n j a n @ New Delhi Continuing its crackdown, the NIA has announced a `10 lakh reward for providing information leading to the arrest of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol, who has been named in the two chargesheets filed in a case registered in 2022 under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Anmol’s name drew attention recently in the ongoing investigations in Mumbai, particularly related to activities involving a political party. He has also been wanted in a shooting incident that occurred outside actor Sal- man Khan’s residence in Bandra earlier this year. Agency officials said the announcement is part of the NIA’s efforts to apprehend individuals involved in organised crime and related activities. They said the NIA has announced the reward and urged the people to provide information on Anmol’s whereabouts, as his arrest could lead the agency to have insights into broader ‘gangster-terror’ networks involved in illicit operations across the country . The move comes almost nine months after the NIA seized sev- eral illegal arms and ammunition, along with incriminating documents, digital devices and cash, in a massive multi-state crackdown in three cases relating to conspiracies and activities of the banned Babbar Khalsa Inter national (BKI) and the Lawrence Bishnoi’s crime syndicate, officials said. As many as 32 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and Delhi, as well as Chandigarh, were raided in January this year by multiple NIA teams. The cases in which the NIA swooped down in January were related to the terror activi- ties being carried out by the BKI, a banned terrorist organisation, and the terrorist-gangster networks operating in the country . The network of the nexus is allegedly involved in many sensational crimes, such as the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala as well as religious and social leaders like Pardeep Kumar, besides large-scale extortions from businessmen and professionals. Nine months ago, NIA seized illegal arms along with digital devices and cash, in a massive multi-state crackdown in three cases relating to activities of BKI and Lawrence Bishnoi’s crime syndicate, officials said. Disengagement to be complete by Tuesday Regular patrolling along LAC expected to resume on Wednesday inked on Monday troops pullout , and dismantling of the tempoThe disengagement of troops rary structures star ted on from the two remaining friction Wednesday The whole process is . points in eastern Ladakh—Dep- expected to complete by next sang and Demchok—is in full Tuesday and coordinated patrolswing and is likely to be complete ling from the next day after by October 29, sources said. Giv- ground verification. ing clarity on its progress on the “Both sides will inform each ground, Army sources told other about their patrols to this paper on Friday that ward off any faceoff and patrols are likely to unsavoury incidents. Also, resume from October 30. surveillance mechanisms Both sides are moving will be set to keep an eye fast on the recently on everything,” said reached agreement to desources. escalate tensions on the Officials said the curLine of Actual Control rent batch of agreements (LAC), where Indian and is exclusively for the disChinese troops were engagement of Depsang Tents and shades locked in a face-off since and Demchok and does are being 2020. Explaining the not talk about patrolling removed. The process, sources said vehicles are also limits and buffer zones temporary structures being shifted back in the areas where disenin batches are being knocked down. gagement has already Adhering to agreements taken place. Army sources between the two sides, The ag reement on Indian troops have beDepsang and Demchok gun to pull back equipment to is expected to lead to the forces rear locations in these areas. reaching their pre-Galwan posi“The tents and shades are be- tions of April 2020. ing removed with continuous The ties between India and verifications being done. The ve- China had nosedived following a hicles are also being shifted back fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in batches,” sources said. in June 2020 that marked the While the agreement between most serious military conflict bethe Corps Commanders was tween the two sides in decades. M aya n k S i n g h @ New Delhi Charm offensive German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a joint press conference at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday | Shekhar yadav | P7 Fewer indians to get visa power as canada cuts target M AYANK SIN G H @ New Delhi l Republican candidate Donald Trump has taken a narrow lead over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead of Nov 5 elections, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. It said Trump is now leading Harris by two percentage points, 47% to 45%. Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen lent his star power to Harris | P9 new permanent residents will be allowed in 2025, down from 4.85 lakh in 2024. The revised targets for 2026 and 2027 are 3.8 lakh and 3.65 lakh, respectively . The announcement comes months after student visas were cut by almost 35%, as compared to the previous year. Besides, student visas were capped at 3,60,000 for two years. Cumulatively, Trudeau’s announcement is expected to affect Indians in a big way. India had around 3,19,000 students studying in Canada in 2023. The cut in student visas primarily impacted Indians, who constitute more than 41% of Canada’s international student population. In a post on X, Trudeau said, “We’re going to have fewer temporary foreign workers in Canada. We’re bringing in stricter rules for companies to prove why they can’t hire Canadian workers first.” This move is expected to complicate job opportunities for immigrants settling in Canada. As per Statistics Canada, the country had 2.8 million temporary residents, including workers and students, in the second quarter of 2024. Thick smog and haze envelope a construction site in the city on Friday | Shekhar Yadav Centre asks states to be on high alert The Centre has written to states on serious health challenges air pollution poses, and has asked them to discourage stubble burning, and reduce firecrackers during festivities. In a letter to the chief secretaries, DGHS Dr Atul Goel has also asked the states to advise people to minimise exposure to polluted air and restrict outdoor activities such as games and sports | P3 E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The national capital woke up to a blanket of smog on Friday morning with a sharp dip in air quality. Areas such as Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, India Gate and Jhilmil Industrial Area reported the Air Quality Index (AQI) values between 218 and 288, placing them in the ‘poor’ category . This signals another wave of respiratory issues for Delhi residents, compounded by the onset of winter and upcoming festive celebrations. The air quality remained “very poor” in areas like Alipur, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Aya Nagar, Bawana, Burari, Dwarka, IGI Airport (T3), Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Okhla, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, RK Puram, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, Shadipur, Sonia Vihar, and Wazirpur. The AQI stood in the ‘very poor’ category in the last four days. On Monday, the AQI stood at 310. On Tuesday air quality fur, ther dipped and was recorded at 385 and on Wednesday the AQI stood , at 354. On Thursday the air , quality was recorded at over 330 in most areas of the city . According to a forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the daily average AQI is expected to stay in Lokayukta police question Siddu’s wife in MUDA case EXP R ESS NEWS SE R VICE @ Mysuru Patrolling troops will carry weapons For better coordination and smooth operations, each side will inform the other about the size of the patrolling team and the schedule. Also, the patrolling troops will carry weapons including rifles, sources said Both sides to go back to pre-2020 sites Under the recent agreement, both Indian and Chinese troops will fall back to the positions they had held before April 2020. They will now resume patrolling the same areas they used to do till that date Smoggy Capital’s ‘very poor’ air likely to worsen over the weekend Air Quality Index Scale Good 0-50 Moderate: 51-100 Poor: 101-200 Unhealthy: 201-300 Severe: 301-400 Hazardous: 401-500 Land scam the “very poor” category in the coming days owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions. The PWD has implemented measures like water sprinkling in various areas, and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has activated Stage-II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The prominent pollutant on Friday was PM-10 and PM-2.5, according to official data. PM-10 is a particulate matter that is 10 micrometre or less in diameter. These tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the air can be inhaled into the lungs. The Lokayukta police on Friday questioned Kar nataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathy in the alleged irregularities in allotment of 14 sites to her by MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority). She is accused No 2 in the case. Mallikarjuna Swamy Sid, daramaiah’s brother-in-law, was questioned last week. An FIR was filed against Siddaramaiah and three others following a special court order to submit a report after conducting a probe into a complaint filed by activist Snehamayi Krishna of Mysuru. Sources said a team led by Lokayukta Superintendent of Police T J Udesh questioned Parvathy in the morning. Parvathy was interrogated for three hours and the questions focused on her decision to return the 14 sites to MUDA, the manner in which sites were allotted, and land acquired from her for formation of a residential layout, sources told this newspaper. The Lokayukta police also questioned her regarding allegations of a sub-registrar visiting her house to complete the land registration and cancellation procedures. The Lokayukta SP issued a notice on Thursday asking Parvathy to appear in person for questioning. indonesia prez gives cabinet military training Prabowo Subianto hosted his cabinet at an army academy where ministers dressed in camouflage fatigues, stayed in tents and were ordered to march | P9 39 lakh MGNREGA workers deleted in 5 months; 6.7 cr out of Aadhaar payment system Pr e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Over 39 lakh registered workers were deleted from the Centre’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGA) in the current financial year (from April to September), according to a report by civil society organisation LibTech India, released on Friday As per LibTech’s previous . year’s report, more than eight crore workers were removed from the MGNREGA registry during FY2022-23 and 2023-24. In another worrying trend, the data showed that over 6.7 crore workers nationwide have become ineligible to seek work under the rural job scheme for not complying with the mandatory Aadhaar seeding. The data points out that regardless of extended deadlines, 27.4% of all MGNREGA workers and 4.2% of active workers are currently ineligible for the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS). In January 2023, the Centre mandated the nationwide implementation of ABPS. Following public outcry and pressure from civil society organisations, the deadline for ABPS implementation was extended multiple times. However, since January 1, 2024, ABPS has been made mandatory . While Assam has the highest percentage of active workers (22%) ineligible for ABPS, Kerala has the lowest. As for all workers, Maharashtra has the highest ineligible percentage of workers (66.3%) while Andhra Pradesh has the lowest. In another critical finding, employment opportunities under MGNREGA dropped significantly compared to the previous year, from 184 crore to 154 Concern over suspension of work in Bengal The report highlighted the suspension of MGNREGA works in West Bengal since December 2021. “The ongoing legal case in the Calcutta High Court further complicates the situation, emphasizing the urgent need for intervention to restore the program’s functionality in the state.” crore person-days. Moreover, the data shows a steep decline in person-days generated compared to the previous financial year, reflecting a 16.6% decrease. While Tamil Nadu and Odisha registered the steepest declines in person-days, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh saw increases. “This drop suggests not only a shrinking participation base but also a potential shortfall in the delivery of employment op- portunities to those who need them most. The persistent implementation challenges, particularly with Aadhaar-based payments and worker eligibility for ABPS, continue to exacerbate these issues,” it said. While there were marginal worker additions, they were overshadowed by the significant number of worker deletions. “This raises concerns about the efficacy of the system,” it said.