Monday 10 march, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard syria Over 1,000 killed in clashes Death toll in two days of clashes between Syrian forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad rose to over 1,000; nearly 800 civilians killed Page 09 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 The rear fuselage for Light Combat Aircraft Mk1A, produced by private firm Alpha Tocol Engineering, was handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Bengaluru on Sunday HAL receives first pvt sector-made rear fuselage for LCA MK1A Singh termed the handing over as a milestone in India’s defence manufacturing Already manufactured 12 LCA MK1A rear fuselages, which are on the aircraft in the manufacturing line With this supply, a major structure module produced by an Indian private partner will be integrated into the LCA Mk1A aircraft, enabling HAL to meet additional delivery commitments for IAF from 2025-26 onwards | P5 From Dubai with love: One for the ages Opposition sharpens knives as Parliament India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final to win the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time since 2013 s w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai THIS generational team finally has global gold to rubber-stamp their status as the greatest ODI side this country has known. Rohit Sharma, three-and-a-halfyears after he was entrusted with the task of bringing about a cultural reset, has now two ICC titles, the only Indian captain apart from MS Dhoni, who won three, to do so. It’s significant because for all the cricketing commerce they had commanded, the trophy cabinet hadn’t kept pace. From 1984, about the time when the the country began to learn the spelling of the sport, till the beginning of 2024, this team had three ICC crowns (excluding the one they shared with Sri Lanka). You can count all those near misses but finishing second best is no good when you are — or want to be — the apex predator (the walls of the Louvre are adorned with some of the greatest artists but there’s a halo around Da Vinci). India have gone big since last Indian team celebrates after winning the ICC Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday | afp June. Tournaments across formats in three continents have now resulted in two of the biggest prizes this sport has to offer. It’s important to state here they had an advantage over other seven teams in the tournament. Even if coach Gautam Gambhir labelled them as ‘cribbers’, India are the only team who were afforded the luxury of picking a squad for one venue (Mohammed Shami himself called it an ‘advantage’). But they have maximised the conditions on offer to devastat- Paradigm shift: CPM plans to invite pvt capital to PSUs in ‘New Kerala’ ANI L S @ Kollam The 24th CPM state conference will go down in Kerala history as the party meeting where the CPM made a ‘capitalistic shift’ in its approach towards private capital. The state conference witnessed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pitching for a New Kerala, with plans to attract private capital even in public sector units. That is in addition to an array of resource mobilisation moves aimed at countering the state’s financial restraints. On the organisational front, there were no major surprises as incumbent state secretary M V Govindan continues in the post. This is the first time Govindan has been elected through a party conference, as he took over as state chief when Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stepped down in August 2022 due to ill health. With back-to-back elections approaching, it is going to be a challenging second term for the 71-year-old leader. The relatively uneventful meet which saw the delegates unitedly showering praise on Pinarayi, once again under- M V Govindan stays as State secretary On the organisational front, there were no major surprises as incumbent state secretary M V Govindan continues in the post. This is the first time Govindan has been elected through a party conference, for he had taken over as the state chief when Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stepped down due to ill health in August 2022. scores the Kannur strongman as the party’s sole leader, both at state and national levels. The conference not only reiterated his supremacy in the party but confirmed that, in all likelihood, he will be the one to lead the party in the next assembly elections. Speaking to this newspaper, Govindan made it clear that a third term for the LDF is the prime goal before the party . The state conference, which concluded in Kollam on Sunday also elected an 89-member , state committee and a 17-member state secretariat. Going by the precedent set last time, the state leadership has infused more young blood. Women’s representation, too, went up by one. Higher Education Minister R Bindu, Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar and MLAs M Rajagopal (Trikaripur), K Santhakumari (Kongad) and D K Murali (Vamanapuram) are among the 17 fresh faces in the state committee. Health Minister Veena George has been made a permanent invitee to the state committee. Senior woman leader and ex-health minister K K Shailaja, also a central committee member, made a surprise entry into the secretariat. She replaced P K Sreemathy, who was dropped due to age. Notably ex-LDF convener E P , Jayarajan, who had invited the party’s wrath over meeting BJP leaders, remains unscathed. ing effect. In the process, they have done something no winning team has done in the 21st century history of a men’s ICC event; using spin to win an entire event. India’s slower bowlers, bowled 163.3 legitimate overs. Their pacers, between them, accounted for 80.5 overs. This sort of skewed nature towards one bowling type was exacerbated further in the final when their four spinners bowled 38 off the 50 overs. After the spinners restricted the Black Caps to 251, their batters, predictably found gaps in the Matt Henry-shaped hole that was the Kiwi bowling. What was so striking about India’s march to the final, and the win under the stadium’s imposing Ring of Fire, was the absurd lack of jeopardy . Like, hello. Winning ICC titles aren’t supposed to be like this. For Indian fans raised on generous dollops of fear, glorious failure and a sense of yearning for much of the last 20 years, these last three weeks has pretty much been a throwback to that wild seven week ride in the winter of 2023. There, India fell shot when they could smell the paint on the finish line. In Guyana and now, Dubai, they have gone someway to correct it. Dopamine to address a battered mind, body and soul. Express read DRI seizes drugs worth `33 cr from Maldives The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) declared on Sunday that it, in collaboration with the Indian Coast Guard, seized nearly 30kg of hashish oil worth nearly `33 crore from a tug-barge heading towards the Maldives. Dhankhar admitted to AIIMS with chest pain Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar was admitted to AIIMS hospital on Sunday with complaints of uneasiness and chest pain, sources said. PM Modi and Union minister J P Nadda visited the hospital and enquired about his health. session begins today P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi A face-off is likely as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren WITH the Opposition parties Rijiju said last week the govset to corner the Centre on the ernment is keen on the early alleged manipulation of elec- passage of the Waqf Bill as it toral rolls, Waqf Bill, delimita- will solve many issues of the tion and the Trump adminis- Muslim community . tration’s tariff claims, the Another issue that may rock Parliament session starting the session is the duplicate Monday is likely to be rocky . Electoral Photo Identity Card On Sunday, the Dravida numbers. The TMC has taken Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) the lead in flagging the issue, MPs met and passed a following which the resolution to raise DMK to oppose Election Commission the delimitation and said it would take cordelimitation alleged ‘Hindi impore c t ive m e a s u re s Chief minister MK sition’ issues in Parwithin three months. Stalin met DMK liament. The DMK The TMC has also ralMPs ahead of also plans to coordilied other opposition Parliament’s nate with other parparties to raise the isBudget session ties, insisting that the sue in Parliament. from Monday, population-based deT he Opposition urging them to limitation will result will also raise the isoppose in a decline in Lok sue of fresh violence delimitation. DMK Sabha seats not just in Manipur, as Home leaders will also try fo r t h e s o u t h e r n Minister Amit Shah to rally support states but also for othis to move a statutory and will raise ers including Odisha resolution seeking issues of fund and West Bengal. Parliament approval disparity and Hindi The session may for President’s Rule imposition | P5 also see a showdown in Manipur. over the Waqf AmendAlso, Finance Minment Bill, which the govern- ister Nirmala Sitharaman is ment is looking to pass in this scheduled to table the budget session. Last week, the Union for Manipur, for Parliament’s cabinet approved 14 amend- approval. ments proposed by a joint parJairam Ramesh said Conliamentary committee, headed gress will raise the threat of by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal. reciprocal tariffs by US PresiC o n g r e s s l e a d e r J a i r a m dent Donald Trump and called Ramesh said INDIA bloc lead- for a bipartisan collective reers will hold consultation with solve to deal with the threats. other parties to oppose the The second leg of the Budget Waqf bill. session will end on April 4. After AI, IndiGo faces flak over wheelchair aid SHE K HAR SIN G H @ New Delhi maestro’s pride of place Legendary music director Ilaiyaraaja’s ‘Valiant’, the first ever western classical symphony by an Indian composer, debuted at London’s Eventim Apollo Theatre on Sunday. The music director was joined by renowned Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra besides western classical symphonies. The orchestra was conducted by Mikel Toms | X | P7 Sixteen days on, one body found in Telangana tunnel Railway plans Kumari to Kashmir train service 4,000-km line express news service express @ Hyderabad AFTER 16 days of rescue operations, one body has been recovered from the debris inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) Tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkunool, where a collapse on February 22 trapped eight workers. According to rescue officials, the deceased, identified as Gurpreet Singh from Punjab, an erector operator with Robbins India, was found trapped in a machine inside the collapsed section of the tunnel. His body was sent to Nagarkurnool civil hospital for post mortem, a senior official said. A special rescue team from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) located the body . SCCL General Manager Vaidya said the body was found on Saturday, and excavation efforts were immediately initiated. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) had identified two potential spots, Vaidya said. Cadaver dogs brought in from Kerala had confirmed the presence of human remains at these locations on Friday . “We spent two hours removing steel plates before finally retrieving the body on Sunday evening,” Vaidya said. It may be recalled that the eight workers got trapped inside the SLBC tunnel on February 22, and rescue operations have been ongoing for 16 days. B AN B U SE LVAN @ Chennai Rail passengers, tourists and pilgrims from Tamil Nadu will soon be able to make an affordable and seamless train journey to the picturesque valleys of Kashmir. The Southern Railway is planning to introduce the Amrit Bharat Express that will connect either Kanniyakumari, the southernmost town of India, or Rameswaram, the tip of the Indian peninsula, to Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The new train service would run for a length of over 4,000 kilometres. The Amrit Bharat rake has a high-speed push-pull configuration, equipped with engines at both ends, capable of reaching speeds of up to 130 kmph. It has been designed to offer Vande Bharat-like comfort for non-AC passengers. This initi- ative comes as the 111-km Katra-Banihal section, the last leg of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, is set to be inaugurated next month. At present, the only way for visitors from the state to reach Kashmir is either by road or by air. Describing the proposal as an ambitious project of the railways, of ficial sources revealed to TNIE that, “At the policy level, the decision has been taken to provide a train link to Srinagar/Baramulla either from Kanniyakumari or Rameswaram. A Vande Bharat trial run from New Delhi to Srinagar was conducted recently and the line is likely to be thrown open for operation soon. The decision on introducing the AB Express from Kanniyakumari/ Rameswaram to Srinagar will be finalised once the line is inaugurated,” said a Southern Railway official. The AB express will operate on heavily congested routes, improving interstate connectivity, particularly for migrant workers. The Southern Railway has been allocated two rakes of the Amrit Bharat train, with the first one likely to be introduced on the Shalimar route, while the second rake’s r o u t e i s ye t t o b e finalised. In this backdrop, the Railway Board last month directed the transfer of four WAP-5 locomotives from Ghaziabad’s loco shed (Northern Railway) to the Royapuram electric loco shed. These locomotives, capable of operating at speeds of up to 160 kmph, have been cleared to run at 130 kmph, ensuring efficient and timely service. Currently, the Himsagar Express operates from Kanniyakumari to Katra, covering a distance of 3,785 kilometres and serving pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi Temple. The new 327-kilometre single railway line from Jammu Tawi to Baramulla, passing through Udhampur, Katra, Banihal, Qazigund and Srinagar, will provide direct rail connectivity to the Kashmir Valley from the rest of the country . Introduced in 2024, the Amrit Bharat Express consists of 22 coaches, including 12 sleeper coaches, eight general coaches and two luggage coaches. The prototype of the AB rake, which underwent 12 major upgrades, was unveiled by Railw ay M i n i s t e r A s h w i n i Vaishnaw in January this year at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Days after an 82-year-old woman was reportedly injured at the Delhi Airport due to Air India’s failure to provide a pre-booked wheelchair, another similar incident has surfaced – now involving IndiGo Airlines. IndiGo is facing backlash over its alleged failure to assist an 83-year-old passenger, Susama Rath, upon her arrival at the Delhi Airport. Rath, who was travelling from Bhubaneswar on IndiGo’s 6E 5061 flight on March 5, was allegedly left to navigate the airport by foot despite having pre-requested wheelchair assistance. Dr Bishnu Prasad Panigrahi, Group Head Medical Strategy & Operations at Fortis Healthcare and Rath’s son-in-law, took to social media to express his outrage. He accused the airlines of negligence and insensitivity flagging ‘lack of concern , for elderly passengers’. In response, IndiGo claimed that wheelchairs must be prebooked at least 48 hours before departure. The airlines claimed no such request was reflected in Rath’s booking but extended an apology for the inconvenience. “Dr Panigrahi, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude for allowing us to address this on the call,” it posted on X. railways ‘measures in place to step up safety’ In the aftermath of the February 15 stampede at New Delhi station and Railways’ claims of amends, we assess the urgent changes that are required for passenger safety | P4