THURSDAY BUCKINGHAM PALACE CONFIRMS TMS REPORT ON CHARLES’ SECRET INDIA VISIT 31 OCTOBER, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard The Morning Standard Wishes its readers a Charles and Camilla during a previous visit for treatment | SOURCE: SIHHC B’LURU STOP WAS TO BREAK LONG TRIP TO U.K. Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Friday A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Disengagement complete, troops to swap sweets India, China wrap up troop pullback from Demchok & Depsang; joint verification is on cation process is progressing and talks are currently on PATROLLING will soon begin about the routes, schedule, and at Demchok and Depsang the patrolling size. Each patrolPlains in eastern Ladakh, as ling unit will have a maximum Indian and Chinese troops have of 20 personnel, who will be completed disengagement at carrying their weapons. these friction points along the “The withdrawals are mutuLine of Actual Control (LAC), al and will proceed in phases. sources said on Wednesday To Patrolling may take time, de. mark the de-escalation of ten- pending on the removal of sions and improvestructures set up ment in the overall since the April 2020 mood, the military clashes. Physical personnel will celeverification and surbrate Diwali by exveillance are being changing sweets at conducted in these the traditional areas,” sources points along the said. 3,488-km long LAC. The current disSWEET SPOTS engagement is only “The disengagement is complete Troops will exchange for Depsang and and modalities for sweets at traditional D e m ch o k . A r my points — the five patrolling are being sources said that Border Personnel firmed up between talks regarding paground command- Meeting (BPM) huts trolling in other on each side of the ers,” said an Army stand-off points in source. Troops from Line of Actual Control Eastern Ladakh will both sides have dis- spread out in Eastern continue. Troops engaged and shuf- and Western Sectors from both sides have fled back to their already disengaged designated points as per the from five other friction points, agreement reached between which came up in May 2020 afthe Corps Commanders of In- ter the People’s Liberation dia and China. Army moved in its personnel to The disengagement process these areas after the clashes at involves joint verification on the Finger Four on the North the ground regarding the troop bank of the Pangong Tso. The and equipment pullback to a patrolling limits and buffer mutually agreed distance from zones in these areas found no the face-off sites. Sources told mention in the agreement for this newspaper that the verifi- Demchok and Depsang Plains. M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi JSW-POSCO steel plant at Odisha CM’s home district H E M A N T K U M A R R O U T @ Bhubaneswar THE joint venture of JSW Group and South Korean giant POSCO will set up a mega steel plant in Keonjhar, the home district of CM Mohan Charan Majhi. On Tuesday the two con, glomerates announced plans in Mumbai to set up an integrated steel plant with a production capacity of 5 million tonne per annum (MTPA). A highly placed source said that the joint venture is keen on setting up the plant in the ironore rich Keonjhar district. The pact between the two steel majors was signed after preliminary rounds of talks between the promoters and a high-level delegation led by the chief minister during his investors’ meet in Mumbai recently . Two patches of land have already been identified for the project in the district. While around 2,500 acre is in close proximity of Odisha Tea plantation Ltd (OTPL) at Taramakant area, another 1,956 acre is at Patna, which was initially offered to ArcelorMittal. “The survey of the OTPL land has been completed. One of the two sites will be selected after the visit of a high-level team from the joint venture. If things go as per plan, an MoU will be signed during the upcoming Utkarsh Odisha: Makein-Odisha Conclave 2025 in January the source said. ,” After the BJP came to power, the government has set up a task force headed by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja to accelerate the pace of industrialisation with focus on Keonjhar, one of the major mineral producing districts of the state.  NEW DELHI  J8.00  A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the stopover was to help break the long journey to the United Kingdom from Samoa. “Their Majesties had a short private stopover in India to help break the long journey back from Samoa,” the spokesperson said. They arrived on October 27 and stayed at Soukya International Holistic Health Centre located in Whitefield, Bengaluru PAGES 12 CANADA MINISTER MORRISON SAYS HE NAMED SHAH IN NIJJAR CASE Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi A Canadian minister admitted before a parliamentary panel that he outed Union home minister Amit Shah’s name to a US newspaper as having allegedly ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told members of the national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which first reported the al- DIWALI CELEBRATION OFF The annual Diwali celebration for the Indo-Canadian community at Parliament Hill was abruptly cancelled by Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre. According to the organisers, the Overseas Friends of India Canada, this was communicated to them abruptly without any explanation legations in connection with the murder of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June last year. But Morrison did not share any proof of Shah’s alleged involvement in the case. “The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee. Bilateral relations went into deeper freeze after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently alleged that the Indian government had a role in the killing Nijjar. Both sides expelled six diplomats each. While India accuses Canada of not even sharing a shread of evidence to support its theory the lat, ter claims it has ample proof. TV 5 owner B R Naidu is the new TTD chairman D S U R E N D R A K U M A R @ Tirupati LET THERE BE LIGHT Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra general secretary Champat Rai offer prayers at the Ram Mandir on the eve of the Diwali festival, in Ayodhya on Wednesday. This is the first Diwali after the Ram Lalla idol was consecrated in the temple | PTI New rules in place to analyse, From jail, Lawrence to grade bomb threat to flights lead animal protection M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi THE Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued new rules to deal with the recent avalanche of bomb threats to flights across the country. They include figuring out the pseudonymous or anonymous nature of the social media handle from where the threat emerges, geopolitical analysis and the presence of VIPs on board before determining the nature of the threat, officials said on Wednesday . If the threat is categorised as specific, it would trigger the whole range of established security protocols of diverting an aircraft, sending it to an isolation bay, and conducting fresh anti-sabotage checks of passengers and their belongings. But if it is determined a hoax, the flight will be allowed Quick analysis of threat potential to flights As per the new protocol, the BTAC will establish the identity of the person or outfit making the threat, check its credentials to see if it belongs to a terrorist or proscribed outfit, and ascertain the motive and specific socioeconomic and political situation that could be linked to the threat to proceed normally Hundreds . of hoax calls were categorised as non-specific ever since the new rules kicked in on October 19, avoiding all the hassle, sources said. Before the rules were revamped, all flights that received bomb threats had to be immediately grounded for security check. Over the past few weeks, more than 510 domestic and international flights received hoax bomb threats, mostly through anonymous handles on social media platform X. Recently the National Inves, tigation Agency positioned its cyber wing personnel with the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) and stationed them at each of the major airports across the country . The BTAC is tasked with analysing a bomb or security threat to airline, airport or any part of the civil aviation ecosystem and decide whether it is specific or serious or non-specific or hoax. It adopts a multi-layered approach to assess the credibility of the threats. H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh GANGSTER Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been named in over three dozen cases across Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Mumbai, and Canada, has been unanimously elected as the national president of the youth wing of the All India Animal Protection Bishnoi Samaj. The decision was made during a recent meeting of the Bishnoi Samaj held in Abohar. According to the appointment certificate issued by Inderpal Bishnoi, the head of the Bishnoi Samaj, Lawrence Bishnoi is tasked with ensuring protection of the animals as per the community’s principles. “This is your responsibility to protect animals and environment and carry forward the work and protect the legacy of Amrita Devi Bishnoi and 363 Bishnois, who sacrificed their life to save Khejari trees in Rajasthan in 1730. This kind of incident is not seen around the world,’’ reads the certificate. In a video message, Ramesh Bishnoi, the gangster’s uncle, said that the community has called for his appointment. Lawrence Bishnoi, originally from Dutranwali village in Abohar, is currently lodged in Sabar mati Jail at Ahmedabad. He is considered the prime accused in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and is a key suspect in the killing of former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have accused Lawrence Bishnoi of being involved in the murder of Khalistan leader Hardeep Nijjar. THE Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday announced the new governing board of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), with TV5 owner Bollineni Rajagopal Naidu, popularly known as B R Naidu, as the chairman. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s selection, while widely anticipated, ends weeks of speculation surrounding the composition of the TTD board. With three MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, five from Telangana, three from Karnataka, two from Tamil Nadu, and one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Board includes a diverse group of people. Another member is likely to be appointed soon, with the nomination anticipated to come from the BJP an alliance , partner. Three of them B R Naidu — art director Buragapu Anand Sai, Telangana Jana Sena Party vice-president Bongunoori Mahender Reddy and JSP foundermember Anugolu Rangasri — were recommended by JSP head and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. Jaggampeta MLA Jyotula Nehru, Kovur MLA Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy Madakasira , MLA M S Raju, former Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi, former Chief Justice of India H L Dattu and Bharat Biotech Cofounder and Managing Director Suchitra Ella were among the newly-appointed TTD board members. However, a few supporters of the TDP, JSP, and BJP, who had lobbied actively for positions on the Trust, faced disappointment. A surprise element was the absence of anyone from Tirupati, where TTD is headquartered. ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION Tried and failed, yet ‘Donkey route’ preferred to reach US, greener pastures U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi ON March 8, a flight departed from Almaty, Kazakhstan carrying a young man, a native of Punjab. A few hours later, it landed at the IGIA, where 22-year-old Gurpreet Singh was taken into custody He had been . deported from Turkey For Gur. preet, the situation was not surprising; it was his fifth failed attempt to go abroad in search of a better life. A case was registered, and a probe initiated. As Delhi Police uncovered a nexus of agents, a Punjabi singer was arrested for his role in the syndicate, which lured people with the promise of sending them to the US via ‘Donkey route’ at lower rates. The route refers to an illegal immigration method used for unauthorised entry into a foreign country The term ‘Donkey . route’ originates from Punjabi, describing a person who hops from one place to another like a donkey. One of the relatively cheaper ‘donkey route’ options involves trekking through the dense forests of Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala. Recently there has been a de, cline in the cases of illegal migrants entering the US using the ‘Donkey route’ through Mexico, largely due to increased security measures in Dubai and Turkey . However, the de- The origin of term ‘Donkey route’ The ‘Donkey route’ refers to an illegal immigration method used for unauthorised entry into a foreign country. The term originates from Punjabi, describing a person who hops from one place to another like a donkey. ceptive agents in India continue to dupe people with the promise of sending them to the western countries using the illegal methods. The case of Gurpreet is not isolated. Every year, thousands of Indians fall prey to the enticing picture given by fraud agents. They ultimately get deported after being caught at some country. In April, another man named Parwinder Singh was deported from Turkey. His travel documents revealed that he had left for Mexico via Turkey from the IGIA, but a fake Mexican visa was affixed on his passport during transit in Turkey. He was sent back to India. On Wednesday, the police claimed to have arrested the al- Over 96K Indians deported from US in ’23 The US has recently deported nearly 1,000 illegal Indian migrants after hiring a charter flight. Reports suggest that a record 96,917 Indians were caught trying to cross into the US in 2023. In 2021, the figure was at 30,662. leged passenger’s agent, named Lukesh Kumar, who had facilitated his journey to the US through Mexico for `30 lakh. Recently the US deported near, ly 1,000 illegal Indian migrants after hiring a charter flight. Reports suggest that a record 96,917 Indians were caught or expelled trying to cross into the US in 2023. In 2021, the figures stood at 30,662. The Delhi Police had recently busted a syndicate of fraudsters and unearthed a fake visa factory in Surat. Senior officers say they are tightening the noose around agents who try to dupe gullible citizens.