FRIDAY 06 JUNE, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard T U R K M E N I S TA N CUTS 50-YR GAS FIRE ‘GATEWAY TO HELL’ Turkmenistan said on Thursday that it had significantly reduced a gas fire that has been raging for half a century at a site dubbed the “Gateway to Hell”. PAGE 9 TRUMP BANS CITIZENS OF 12 COUNTRIES FROM ENTERING US POLICY TAKES EFFECT FROM MONDAY A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI   J8.00 Court poses 9 questions to K’taka govt; top cops suspended; judicial, CID probes ordered Heads roll as HC takes suo motu PIL on stampede YAT H I R A J U & A S H W I N I M S R I PA D @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka government suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda and four other police officials on Thursday evening, hours after Karnataka High Court registered a suo motu public interest litigation taking cognisance of the stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, which claimed 11 young lives when the crowds were trying to enter the stadium for the celebrations organised by the IPL-2025 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said after a lateevening cabinet meeting that he has ordered the DG & IGP M A Saleem to arrest representatives of RCB; DNA Networks, the event manager, and the KSCA. The Cubbon Park police, under whose jurisdiction DPS DWARKA Using bouncers on students over fees a mental harassment: HC S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Thursday criticised Delhi Public School (DPS), Dwarka, for deploying bouncers to stop students from entering the campus due to a dispute over fees. Justice Sachin Datta said such acts amounted to public shaming and intimidation, which could cause mental harassment and self-worth of a child. “This court is also constrained to express its dismay at the alleged conduct of the petitioner school in engaging bouncers to physically block entry of certain students into the school premises. Such a reprehensible practice has no place in an institute of learning. It reflects not only disregard to the dignity of a child but also fundamental misunderstanding of a school’s role in society,” the court stated. The judge said the use of such force created a “climate of fear, humiliation and exclusion”, one that went against the fundamental ethos of a school. The order came in response to a plea filed by parents after over 30 students were removed from the school rolls on May 9. The action prompted the parents to approach the HC in an already pending petition against the school. However, by the time of the court’s ruling, the school’s legal team i n fo r m e d t h e j u d g e t h at the earlier order debarring 31 students had been withdrawn and the affected students had been reinstated. As a result, the court noted that the issue raised in the parents’ plea had become a “moot” point. Still, it laid down clear directions should the school seek to take similar action in future under Rule 35 of Delhi School Education Rules, 1973. Chinnaswamy Stadium falls, has already registered an FIR against the three. Siddaramaiah cited ‘substantial dereliction of duty’ while suspending Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda; Additional Commissioner of Police, West Division, Vikash Kumar Vikash; Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) H T Shekhar; Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cubbon Park) C Balakrishna; and Inspector of Police (Cubbon Park) A K Girish, with immediate effect. The suspension order stated that the Office of the Commissioner of Police had failed to give a written reply rejecting permission to RCB to hold a victory parade on June 4. The Karnataka government ordered a judicial probe by a one-man commission headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice John Michael D’Cunha, besides a parallel probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Inves- K’taka home minister G Parameshwara and police commissioner B Dayananda inspecting the stampede site at Chinnaswamy Stadium | ALLEN EGENUSE J COURT’S QUESTIONS TO STATE GOVT When and who 1 has taken the decision to hold the victory celebrations and in what manner? What steps 2 were taken to regulate the traffic? What steps were taken to regulate the public/crowd? 3 4 What medical / other facilities were arranged at the venue? Any assessment was made in advance on number of people, who may be present at the time of celebrations? 5 Whether persons injured were given immediate medical attention at the venue? If not why? 6 tigation Department (CID) into the stampede. He said they have given 30 days’ time to the Justice D’Cunha Commission to submit a report. Earlier in the day, a High Court division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice CM Joshi passed the order registering a suo motu PIL while taking cogni- 1,315 metres long steel arch bridge How much time 7 was taken to take the injured to the hospitals? Whether any Standard Operating Procedure has been formulated to manage a crowd of 50,000 and above in any sports event 8 Any permission was sought to organise the event? 9 sance of the fatal stampede, seeking the reasons leading to the tragedy, and whether it could have been prevented. The court also issued a notice to the state government and directed it to submit replies on the further status report based on nine questions (see box) by June 10, the next date of hearing. P5 30,000 tonnes steel used to build the bridge 260 kmph JAMMU & KASHMIR Udhampur Can withstand wind speeds of up to 260 kmph Bridge will enhance connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar | Built to last 120 yrs | Project cost: `1,486 cr 17 spans 133.7m Max. height TOTAL LENGTH 1.3 KM SITUATED AT A HEIGHT OF 359 M ABOVE THE RIVER FILE PHOTO | P8 Organic mandis in Gurugram & Hisar soon THE Haryana government has decided to set up organic mandis in Gurugram and Hisar. Also 10% of land or at least one acre will have to be reserved in every panchayat for natural farming, besides financial help of `20,000/farmer for branding and packaging of products. CM Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday said, “The Guru- Made-in-India Rafale fighter jet fuselages to roll out in 2028 @ New Delhi / Hyderabad CHENAB RAIL BRIDGE H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh PAGES 12 M AYA N K S I N G H & M A N DA RAV I N D E R R E D DY World’s highest railway arch bridge PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate it on Friday  The policy takes effect Monday at 12:01 am and does not have an end date. The travel ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen; apart from restricted entry for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela | P9 gram mandi will cater to produce such as wheat, paddy and pulses, while the Hisar mandi will focus on fruits and vegetables grown through organic methods. A committee will be formed to determine fair price for produce using natural and organic farming practices.” Saini made the announcements at the Natural Farming Conference, organised on the occasion of World Environ- ment Day at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University Hisar. , Dedicated laboratories will be established to test produce from organic farming. The labs will offer testing services free of cost to farmers, Saini said, and announced that 53 acres of land belonging to the agriculture department in Kaithal will be leased to farmers through an auction process. IN a major boost to India’s defence manufacturing sector, French aviation giant Dassault Aviation has joined hands with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) to build a dedicated facility in Hyderabad to manufacture Rafale fighter jet fuselage for global markets. On Wednesday, both companies signed production transfer agreements. The deal is expected to strengthen the country’s aircraft manufacturing skills and support the global aerospace supply chain. The Hyderabad facility will make key structural parts of the Rafale jet, including lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section, central fuselage and front section. The first fuselage sections are ex- KEY PARTNERSHIP TASL said its partnership with Dassault will strengthen India’s position as a key player in the global aerospace supply chain pected to roll off the assembly line in FY2028, with the facility expected to deliver up to two complete fuselages per month. Dassault Aviation’s chairman and CEO Eric Trappier said this is the first time Rafale fuselages will be made outside SECURITY ISSUES UNDERTRIAL KILLED INSIDE COURT LOCK-UP N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi A 24-year-old undertrial prisoner died after being assaulted by two fellow inmates at Saket court’s lock-up on Thursday, police said. An initial probe revealed that one of the accused had allegedly kicked the victim, and smashed his head on a wall. DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan said the assault took place in Kharja number-5 of the court lock-up. Kharja is a special area where undertrials are kept before court appearance. Aman, a resident of Govindpuri, was involved in an attempt to murder case in 2017. He was brought to the lock-up for appearance before the court, the DCP said. Several undertrial prisoners were present inside the Kharja at the time of the incident. Two other undertrial prisoners, Jitender and Jaidev, assaulted the youth, injuring him critically. Aman was immediately rushed to the court dispensary for treatment. He was then shifted to AIIMS, where the doctors declared him dead, Chauhan said. The preliminary probes suggested that Jitender and Aman had an old rivalry between them over an assault in 2024. Aman had allegedly assaulted Jitender and his brother with a knife, police said. All three were lodged in Tihar Jail number 8. The DCP said the rivalry appears to have persisted and escalated during their custody . Police are reviewing the CCTV footage of Kharja to determine the sequence of the incident. The other undertrial prisoners will also be questioned. A team has been formed to investigate the matter, including the response of security personnel at the lock-up. Advocate Vineet Jindal, secretary general of North Delhi Lawyers Association, said, “The shocking incident is a grim reminder of the security lapses in our judicial infrastructure. Such brutality within the premises of a court reflects a breakdown of accountability on the part of jail authorities.” Courts in Delhi have witnessed several killings, including many shootings, in recent years. In 2023, a suspended lawyer in uniform opened fire at a woman allegedly over a financial dispute in Saket Court. ASHWINI LOHANI NEW CHIEF OF PM MUSEUM & LIBRARY Former CMD of Air India and ex-chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani has been appointed as the director of the Prime Ministers Museum and Library | P7 France. “This is a major step in building our supply chain in India,” he added. Sukaran Singh, CEO and managing director of Tata Advanced Systems, said the partnership shows India’s growing role in global aerospace. “Making the entire Rafale fuselage in India proves the strength of our partnership with Dassault and the capability of our aerospace ecosystem,” he added. Dassault Aviation has till now delivered over 10,000 military and civil aircraft (including 2,700 Falcons) in more than 90 countries over the last century. It has deep expertise in design, production, sale and support of all types of aircraft. Tata Advanced Systems Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, has a strong portfolio of joint ventures with global aerospace and defence firms, a statement said. Maoist top gun shot dead in encounter with forces in C’garh E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur IN a big blow to the Maoist leadership, security forces eliminated CPI (Maoist) central committee member Narasimha Chalam alias Sudhakar, 67, in the National park area of Bijapur on Thursday . After neutralising CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju on May 21, the death of another senior leader comes as a severe blow to the banned outfit. Acting on specific intelligence, a joint team of personnel from district reserve guard, STF, and CoBRA launched a coordinated operation on June 5 inside Indravati National Park. “An encounter ensued following which forces recovered the body of CCM member NarSudhakar asimha Chalam, with an AK-47 rifle. He is responsible for a host of violent incidents,” P Sunderraj, IG (Bastar range) told this newspaper. Intelligence inputs hinted about the presence of Gautam along with Telangana State Committee Member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Member Pappa Rao and several other armed Maoist cadres in the area. As the in-charge of the Maoist ideological training school (RePOS), Sudhakar was involved in misleading and radicalising youth with violent and anti-national ideologies. So far this year, 186 bodies of Maoist cadres have been recovered in Bastar region that comprises seven districts in south Chhattisgarh. NEW ALLIANCE Mahua Moitra, Pinaki Mishra in Coalition of the Willing EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi/Kolkata IN a quiet closed ceremony that flew under the radar, and possibly under the political grapevine, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has married Supreme Court lawyer and for mer BJD MP Pinaki Misra. Neither Moitra (50) nor Mis- ra (65) issued any official statement on the wedding but the TMC MP posted a photo of them together, in a way confir ming the news but without divulging the details. Reports said they married in Germany on May 30. The fierce speaker seen sparring in Parliament with trademark fire and flair, traded her punchlines for pallu—and looked every bit the graceful bride in traditional attire, topped off with gold jewellery that did a fair bit of sparkling on its own. Her new husband brought a cool, courtroom calm to the equation—a senior lawyer and ex-MP from Odisha. Despite their prominent roles in public life, the two managed to keep their nuptials out of the limelight. The low-key wedding caught many off guard, especially given Moitra’s recent headline-heavy year, which included a public spat lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the man who accused her in the “cash-forquery” scandal that led to her expulsion from the Lok Sabha last December. The news of their wedding broke after some media outlets accessed the couple’s photograph has been enough to send ripples through political and chatterati circles alike. In a world where personal lives of public figures are often dissected in real time, their decision to keep things private is radical as it is intensely private. Born in Assam, Moitra grew up amid tea estates and privilege, before heading off to the US to study economics and math. Her political journey started in 2008.