FRIDAY 04 JULY, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Congress passes Trump’s spending bill T E H R A N ’ S S TA N D The House on Thursday narrowly passed Donald Trump’s flagship tax and spending bill, which he calls the “big, beautiful bill”, 218 to 214, marking the first major legislative victory of his second presidential term. Democrats unified against the bill as a tax giveaway to the rich paid for on the backs of the most vulnerable in society. “Have you no shame?” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. The slim majority in the House leaves Republicans no room for defections. | P9 IRAN COMMITTED TO NUKE TREATY Iran affirmed its commitment to nuclear treaty, slamming Germany over its criticism of Tehran’s suspension of cooperation with the UN watchdog. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 SNUB TO CHINA Established institution to decide Dalai heir: Rijiju The city govt has requested the CAQM to suspend its order banning supply of fuel to end-oflife vehicles CITES PUBLIC UPROAR, TECH CHALLENGES FUEL SMUGGLING Implementing the ban only in Delhi could lead vehicle owners to obtain fuel from nearby Gurugram, Faridabad, or Ghaziabad, undermining the policy and encouraging an illegal cross-border fuel market RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi IN a snub to China, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the decision on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama would be taken by the established institution. “All those who follow the Dalai Lama feel that the Incarnation is to be decided by the established convention and as per the wish of the Dalai Lama himself. Nobody else has the right to decide it except him and the conventions in place,” said the minister, himself a practising Buddhist. The remarks came after China rejected the 14th Dalai Lama’s succession plan, claiming it’s for Beijing to decide. Rijiju and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh will repKiren Rijiju resent the Government of India on the 14th Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday event in Dharamshala on Sunday . On Wednesday, the Dalai Lama reaffirmed that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust—the non-profit organisation he set up to maintain the tradition and institution of the Dalai Lama—has the authority to recognise his future reincarnation. The Dalai Lama said: “Line will continue after me; no other authority can interfere.” Reacting sharply to this, the Chinese foreign ministry said any future succession plan must have the approval of the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama is the most important institution for Tibetans and the followers of the Nalanda tradition of Buddhism.  NEW DELHI TECH GLITCHES Non-functional Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system at fuel stations, non-working of cameras, sensors and speakers, and failure to detect vehicles due to problems with High Security Registration Plates PHASED ROLLOUT Implementation only in Delhi is ineffective as the government argues for a stage-wise rollout that covers NCR towns to prevent policy evasion To encourage competition, the Centre has proposed to remove entry barriers for firms keen to foray in the TV viewership measurement ecosystem. The I&B ministry has proposed amendments to Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies. Pakistan Hockey teams allowed to play in India The Pakistan Hockey teams for forthcoming Asia Cup tournament in Bihar’s Rajgir and FIH men’s Junior World Cup later in TN’s Madurai are going to be allowed to participate, and visa process for the players has been initiated.  J8.00 PAGES 12 LACK OF INTEGRATION ANPR system is not yet integrated with vehicle databases of neighbouring states like Haryana and UP, creating a loophole for out-of-state vehicles and hampering effective enforcement PUBLIC ANGER The sudden enforcement triggers huge public uproar, and the government believes that the current system lacks operational maturity This pain of Delhi people is completely understandable. We are fully committed to controlling air pollution and working on longterm solutions. Delhi government stands firmly in its commitment to public welfare. Rekha Gupta, CM Fuel ban not feasible, says Delhi govt P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi THE Delhi gover nment has urged the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to defer the enforcement of a recent directive banning fuel supply to end-of-life (EOL) vehicles, citing serious technological challenges and growing public discontent. The request came through a letter sent by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who reiterated the government’s support for air pollution mitigation but called the fuel ban “premature and potentially counterproductive.” The ban, mandated under CAQM’s Direction No. 89 dated April 23, came into effect on July 1 and prohibits petrol stations from refuelling vehicles that are 10 years or older for die- sel and 15 years or older for petrol, as per existing court orders. Sirsa told the media on Thursday that the ban has sparked anger among residents. “People are unhappy. The government is with them,” he said, placing the blame for “rigid norms” on the previous AAP government. According to Sirsa’s letter, the enforcement via Automated Number Plate Reco gnition (ANPR) systems has exposed “crucial operational and infrastructural shortcomings.” These include malfunctioning sensors and cameras, incomplete integration with databases of neighbouring states, and the system’s inability to detect vehicles with missing or faulty High Security Registration Plates (HSRP). This newspaper had highlight- ed these operational and implementation issues in a detailed report on May 30, after visiting over a dozen fuel pumps. The minister also argued that unless the ban is implemented uniformly across the entire National Capital Region (NCR), it risks pushing vehicle owners to procure fuel from neighbouring districts such as Gurugram or Ghaziabad, potentially creating an underground fuel economy . Sirsa said the Delhi government is already executing a multi-pronged pollution control strategy, from massive tree I plantation drives to stricter Pollution EL FULICYBAN PO Under Control (PUC) Y FACES KES norms and trials of HURDLE cloud seeding. The government has requested that CAQM suspend the fuel ban until the ANPR system is fully operational and inte g rated across the NCR. “We are committed to clean air, but it must be done in a practical and just manner,” Sirsa added. The Opposition AAP however, , claimed that public pressure forced the BJP-led government to roll back the ban, calling it a “victory of the people” and an example of the government’s “double standards” on court’s orders. “Congratu1 lations to Delhi people. The draconian order to seize old vehicles had to be withdrawn,” said AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on X. 30 ban s fuel ambitiou faces City’s es for ELVs policy nt challeng rollout. significa its July 1 of lack ahead stations with Petrol ness, and prepared ed staff plaguing t uninforml glitches abou nica doubts ntation, tech raising eme system, essful impl and va its succ Srivasta report Ashish Shukla Prabhat 04 rd ningstanda epaper.mor PICS: PARVEEN NEGI/SAYAN Gill now holds the seventh highest Test score by an Indian batter 18 years since India passed 500 in a men’s Test in England in Indigenous sourcing for 10 proposals: Ministry AoNs were also accorded for procurement of moored mines, mine THE Defence Acquisition Council counter measure vessels, super (DAC) on Thursday granted Accept- rapid gun mount and submersible ance of Necessity (AoN) for 10 capi- autonomous vessels. They are tal acquisition proposals worth aimed at mitigating potential risks about `1.05 lakh crore in all, to to naval and merchant vessels. strengthen the offensive and defenTo provide further impetus to insive abilities of the armed forces. digenous design and development, The council’s meeting, AoNs were accorded under chaired by Defence Ministhe Buy Indian-IDDM (Inditer Rajnath Singh, approved an-Indigenously Designed projects that will be sourced Govt must also Developed and Manufacindigenously. The DAC is focus on R&D tured) category . the highest decision-making The MoD defines Buy (Inon emerging body on defence policy and threats such as dian-IDDM) category as the capital procurement. Its the black swan “procurement of products event of AoN is the first step in the from an Indian vendor that Hamas attack have been indigenously deacquisition process. on 7 Oct 2023 AoNs were accorded for signed, developed and manprocurement of armoured Maj Gen Sudhakar ufactured with a minimum recovery vehicles, Electronic of 50% Indigenous Content Jee ( retd) Warfare System, Integrated (IC) on cost basis of the total Common Inventory Management contract value.” System for the Tri-Services and surThe Armoured Recovery Vehiface-to-Air missiles. These procure- cles help in recovery of armoured ments will provide higher mobility vehicles, including the main battle , effective air defence, improve supply tanks, in difficult terrain and chalchain management and augment lenging weather conditions. They the operational preparedness, the assist with recovery and repair defence ministry said. during combat conditions. M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi RECORD PLAY Shubman Gill registered the highest score by an Indian captain, surpassing Virat Kohli’s 254 n.o. He also became the 1st Indian since Rahul Dravid to score a double ton in England. Dravid’s 217 came in 2002 MASTER & COMMANDER India captain Shubman Gill celebrates his first double century on day two of the second Test against England at Edgbaston. Gill’s 269, along with Ravindra Jadeja’s 89, helped India post 587 in the first innings | AP | MORE ON P11 Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Ghana’s highest civilian award — the Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana. He dedicated it to the 1.4 billion citizens of India, particularly its youth. | P7 TAN GHOSH Def projects worth 1.05 lakh crore get panel’s green light 269 TOP HONOUR PM GHANA’S HIGHEST CIVILIAN FOR in Metro his house (30) slit inside Sunil Mandal RS throat of NUMBE they said. with his CITY IN The body A-907, found dead police said. house number man was on Sunday, floor of Vihar area on the ground was found by efforts training ess and Vihar, awaren ties. h in Pushp the authori pump r, althoug At one manage ism for s, the stationthe mechan vehicle of  aware g overaged  the policy Y detectin ed that NovemMONDA was convinc nce from 1. will comme of July a camber 1 instead told that detect been NEW DELHI tically “I have be automa it will era willd vehicles and . Howpolcombat set overage on the speaker sysced move to ent is seen thisbeen announ N a bold governm dented not yet not the have have ever, I lution, ban an unprece as we e fuel to launch a complet (ELVs). he said. fueling staff tem work : a trial,” the of the tssolution fe vehicles shown same time, heard on end-of-li e, the first-of-i to At the had never e of the ANPR initiativcountry, aims pump The that unawarthat had been at the the s and were kind in ns from vehicles g. policy and speaker the emissio the most pollutin ogy, camera the pump. South Delhi curb the to be at in edge technol but said pump placed are believed cutting- Number Plate by the policy placed at At another about Backed Automatic camera s, the been ties ) ng staff knewcamera has authori includi ition (ANPR tically detect vehino special “Gover nment this policy. Recogn will automa these for enting do. How will the pump. ing them is new system implem can fuel access prevent , efwill be nothing we if the vehicle and block pumps, stations petrol There’s ly check ng at petrol city roads. cles at d operat-, we manual one worker. them offleft before the from refuelli standar taking day old?” asked to the for fuel stations all is not ing fectively just one of Accord re (SOPs) ory display But with ated rollout, a dozen Staff g at over anticip ing procedu be a mandat to ELVs. to highly sailing. A visit d a troublin fuel enting there has denying reveale smooth on in implem need stations signage be trained rs also petrol preparation. among petrol or operato on should are still Station either manual es lack of confusi whom system the drive. in logs, denial instanc There’s many of new rt Destaff, the to mainta such fuel pump e of how standard operatof the Transpo spot to the r, the digital, them to rs unawar Adding ation and missing and report weekly. Howeve member e staff works, res (SOPs). coordin imnt e of partme revealed that u m p s w ing procedu absence and the for is an check p e t r o l p med. stations ible d chaos at the gas ely ill-infor informe s respons raises betweenting agencie complet have been , but no which the “We plemen ng the order, effectively was the system about ess program enforci s about how take off. awaren ted. The system concernus plan will begins, the quesbut it conduc automatic, ambitio countdown unprecedented will this may be s multiple compoAs the s: can its promise or ment involve on tion remain line? The govern out deliver nents. have carriedwith solution at the starting system drive should er ess it stumble fuel ban smooth an awaren behind s at curbing s, to ensuresaid a petWhat’s s attempt n scheme n,” us first previou entatio the MoolDespite n through odd-eve EV incenimplemmanager in Dealers enn, and s pollutio pump Delhi Petrol adoptio l combustion rol fuel concern hurdle. The BS-VI interna raised the area. g on older remain a major chand tion (DPDA) run to test the tives, g are operatin or Associa lack of a trial includin and gine vehicles ELVs n standards y of the over thes functionality, cameras emissio BS II. Majorit TO BS VI and of ANPR operatsystem’ ance DED below to BS III those will ds, BE EXTEN CITIES perform even lower particularly n standar n how things even alerts. s BAN WILL ING NCR audio no idea Vehicle BS-VI emissio camera emissio is plan. BOUR higher have 5.5 regional “We have ether the speaker antly s a larger ban will be ing below y, if the or how the NEIGH part of work out—wh have signific IV vehiclens than an- The policy is also r 1 this year, the cities of to hear, ns properl al. BS will be,” Buddh ing NCR for staff functio PM emissio rule, ort Starting Novembe potenti process , Gautam April nt of new govern the neighbour higher loud enough entire ia, preside ce, Ghaziabad officials. By times vehicles. The Transp the extended to e the from the to , Faridabad the entire of Singhan the announ effectiv ed clarity BS VI d by the Delhi es from ownsys- Gurugram Sonipat, according across the readiness lakh in force demand the subject. to a vehicle and on ANPR said Nischal Soon after has 62 will be nounce ent under directiv Manage Nagar, DPDA. fuel ban, the al glitches Quality the policy Region, depending Delhi aloneThe total numbermost located ment on ng the fuel ns of the Essenife vethe Air 2026, Departm the with technic Capital those areas. wheelers. ssion fordefines end-of-l “Refusi provisio unless an order 44 lakh, will also deploy ment of facing s among petrol ture in vehicles twoNational ), Commi nt and attract Food is around 41 lakh Act diesel and ANPR infrastruc Departme are observed er can tem started concern petrol pump dities y by theent. I including entire NCR ment (CAQM as those years old vehicles, vehicles in the system a list of The Transportof such ELVs (ELVs) than 10 rs. The tial Commo the contrar that raised e on submit visits departm 15 years. of EOL hicles that the incoroperato and ity districts. more It has to passed Supplie s should clarify of end-of-lif maximum pump complained order older than a us data, stations. of Petroleum that are five high-dens where ife is and ent on a 2015 al (NGT) in the at fuel stations violating fuel the Ministry vehicles is to create and Civil governm n of arrest dealers ing erroneo as end-of-l and draws petrol any the Comagainst to the CAQM CAQM, the objective from teams vehicles periods. believe the provisio Essential was generat old vehicles. The policy l Green Tribun tion on flagging d vehicles later take action stations According to vises the use of of the legal ambigu fuel more rectly valid registracarried a story was week. disincenti pliance the Nationa overage fuel out 025 such which ally 2018. violatingGas every non-coms Act to rule things despite newspaper n. n of the RC H 2 Natural banning s roads, e Court in that automatic idea how the This city had L MA moditie implementatio HAN no system TIL the capital’ Suprem in its impleg the situatio the the syse. RAJAST on are also by the now lies across with We have out—whetherns ed enDATA UTTAR revealin n ity upheld ce said Banerje dealers that may e, tech-bas CAQ M The dealers t issues g CNG-ru ban,” will work even functio is NA PRADESH hile, the The differen real-tim d frequen involvin s tested HARYA on: a Meanw confrontations to overcamera if the speaker reporte fuel larly briefly s at2 the mentati nt system. DELHI fuel station refuse a legal conhear, y, with “We had 6,20,96 wary of tem, particu NCR forceme the policy, equipped properl staff to shaws. where speaker 98 after they creates in an IN for tion s flagged . “It ensue autorick Under city will be ogy REGION atput dealers 52 12,69,5 camera e the entire loud enough the pump plate recogni aged vehicles will central the technol ANPR 15 years. When effectiv across tic number on that n. Our to act as 28 27,50,1 to the to the a or how There should d tradicti ible positio 61,14,7 389 tached are older than tion papers enters automa cameras linked will be. run for staff that is vehicle imposs s are not equippe the years, d vehicles vehicles with the registra know process plate to e. As a 3,058 (ANPR) . Over Overage ly ation , we got of several databas been trial tendantment officers fuel attendverified vehicles 220 instant president have Vahan , its registr a life ally with Recent , DPDA system registraenforce ers have resisted s had of those 1,107 roles. Singhania 22,397 station d, and the vehicle was specific ,” said Nischal alert type, and ing suchreported shootthose 1,934 ad kshaws petrol consum scanne its age, fuel rded audio veed in 2023 ga The issue ants perform the Impound years. of a n autoric 4,021 verifies ts, includin nt in Ghaziab fuel’ A pre-reco cing that e, owner inciden pump attenda helmet, no the CNG-ru announ refuelling. 39,273 tion status lawthe a Banerje Plaza. trigger, for ing of g the ‘nopotential for for Bibek to light, d for both would not eligible ed in 2024 near Ansal came functionon tested the s t the intende for enforcin owner. Impound pump these issues of hicle is message is highligh speaker We briefly The provisi vehicle dly stopped After “This staff and the upon hearing g the arrest for ia added. was policy, er issues. ogy where reporte to nts includin nt, technol d to the ANPR system er, Singhan trial runstaff, and-ord the pump attenda d to deny fuel actions, pump attenda neither proper attache s flagged that or ing altogeth why a ce, is y penal train the The pumpis require r Sharma, Memble. dealers just to actuall mplian “That’s camera older than 15 the alert, ” Virinde said. ry—not non-co al nor accepta dissystem the are necessa ensure the ,” he said. es would practic the vehicle, cal) CAQM fail to comply, vehicles verified with had measur l services and ground 200 teams staff ry action. On but to aSuch ber (Techni on the station unwork years. When papers, they whose works If fuel facing regulato rupt essentia h aroundd for imnia, tion owners the scheme Althoug deploye registra of several years l Singha make they risk hand, vehicle ing to refuel dealers Nischa DPDA. fourpetrol how a life owner have been ble,” the other caught attempt For tation, es. ted dent of the petrol pump are plemen skeptical about in and for penalti preside has reques deELVs be steep Bibek Banerjee, is `10,000 remain e they will across DPDA police or civil enwill face the fine to ns an s, of nt effectivng operatio wheeler elers, it is `5,000. es it as to ployme el at fuel stations are 400 identifi ded managi . “Therenew rule is two-whe the system personn e safely no is forwar . the the city. fuel to After ism there’s will be fence the directiv where we deny the alert on standby traffic skeptic pumps enforced. But teams ELV, ment teams lly force How can This will surely from the faces public rule has been especia set to be whether these ent’s enalso ers? enforce teams, drawn clock, on said Policy ban pal custom step toward 24x7,” on clarity le round the and may will These transport departm the the fuel eeded the Munici will the While availab cause chaos e. What of us operate pump police, nt wing, and (MCD), as a much-n air quality, Ownpetrol impleviolenc hailed ing the city’s mixed. since many of a about d the vehilead to if they grab our forcemeation of Delhi by the vehicles Doubts e has been improv the owner we do No clarity on Corpor power to impoun an authorimirespons intained older a Road. also echoedli. “How it to joint public indiscr will Mathurion were have the spot and tow Over 200 Mehrau well-ma policy is collars? This d passed d teams the ers of mentat a pump near customers? deploye clock cle on cars have treatng yard. that the r deploye also will be fuel stawhethe le round the staff at deny fuel to and maydo if argueMany say their still being age. ised scrappi teams major chaos on ment but are nate. can we owner cause will we be availab enforce city to cover rs. that checks simply based the e. What g petrol pump fitness will surely revealed corrido not just to across ” Another violenc ble traffic any d vehicle ed as pollutin rcles survey lead to but to our collars? is applica es tions and A LocalCi of the surveye arguing parts they grab ed in Delhi The policy s & penalti in on cent the move, register city from other lakh y concern the ban the 44 per are against cars are stilllow 62 vehicles g the Securit s, ment of alone has 41 lakh my car of their have clocked g d enforce ed vehicle d owners ELV enterin . Delhi care of of includin country that many n and runs For strict overag ent has enforce also revealeto of the ife vehicles, total number peting conditio I have taken decades. It ents plan refuell ort Departm the arrest of ve- good e. The survey two s. The NCR is around end-of-l g of respond s in other five mileag for over ly, passes all fitness Transp n allowin an end-of-life in the two- wheeler entire per cent vehicle more their in the located that 62 a provisio owners if refuelled at smooth doesn’t emit overage hand dealers. old ELVs with most s. strong will and newer being sell theirto second- of my 15-year- . It rol pump lakh, drawn ment tests, 44 many found or it has s dealers care nsity district Depart states decades hicle is The move taken pump high-de Transp ort at fuel station smoke than rule feels like “I have for over two fitness tests ELVs who station. ns from petrol This The all 800 teams ptable.” order than of such vehicles. s people like me this Maruti ly, passes objectio smoke it “unacce nt also deploy m visitsaction against car govsmooth emit more maximu take Rajnika punishe afford a new who called strictly against ed the pro- runs . where d and are g doesn’t vehicles,” says employsupport the “We can’t ent e but We have govt employee are observe g fuel stations violatin ta- and newer Retired the a list of many a retired governm old Maruti of arrest. in this initiativ unaccep Mehta, s any violatinsubmit CAQM and t l to on our Rajnikant of a 15-year- punishe ernmen arrest is simply It has hanging such a Mehta, owner feels like it s to the um and Natura of a new also in ee and vision like a sword rule but without fuel station Petrole policy is can’t afford one operate petrol y of our staff, don’t know 800. “This me who ned their old The ble. It’s said a cannot Ministr like n,” week. We l plan. work,” have briefed , we still Delhi. they people have maintai regiona this year, the Gas every at head. ning situatio actually n training in- We ura larger er 1 that car but ibly,” he added. from South threate hands-o system will a petrol pump d official part of Novemb owner pointed out the neighbo any vethe r of receive respons of days pump Starting extended to am, Faridato refuel manage and for how say they couple be rs still The dealers law Buddh dealers ons only a Commission ) said the by the petrol pumps ban will cities of Gurugr operato of Gate. Gautam anding are bound comes to Delhi petrol pump structi ust after the ement (CAQM bad, ing NCR levels. the that underst function, . be in Ghazia Most PM2.5 Manag nce to brief back—j a vague will bad, and Sonipat policy will nd hicle antly to ared l capihave onlynew system of on-grou Air Quality confere unprep Nagar, 2026, the lack nationa press ss signific d at n conhow the to a glaring run, staff been installe rs held a the rollout. By April the entire the readine pollutio exabout are- No trial across has ng on pointing media days ago, the documents , manage those force . in dependi the system stations the dark “Two sent usentation process . AccordWhile in pump tal region, infrastructure officials not just funclargely trol agency implem most petrol of ANPR ng to the e is remain suppos ed to g the anis and staff e being fuel plainin the objectiv a system as, accordi how it the CAQM, but to create the initiativ about tivises ing to several a ban ago, this tion. Despite to enforce tically disincen s say d months . Official where nounce that automa ute old vehicles like Delhi, use of in a city ons contrib is critical emissi lar vehicu 5 06 202 TMS reported on June 30, 2025 EXPRESS READ Changes in TRP policy to boost competition  Govt: Oppn okay with supporting impeach motion against judge P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi SIGNALLING the government’s intent to move ahead with the impeachment motion of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that main opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support the motion in the upcoming monsoon session scheduled for July21-August 21. Rijiju said that the government is yet to decide whether the motion would be brought in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For the Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. The requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. He said that the process of collecting signatures would begin after the government decides on the House where the motion will be brought. According to the Judges (Inquiry) Act of 1968, once a motion to remove a judge is admitted in any of the Houses, the speaker or the chairman, as the case may be, will constitute a three-member committee to probe the grounds on which the removal (or, in popular term, impeachment) has been sought. The committee consists of the CJI or a Supreme Court judge, the chief justice of one of the 25 high courts and a “distinguished jurist.” Rijiju said that since the matter involves corruption in the judiciary, the government wants all political parties to be on board. On being asked about the report of the committee, which proved the cash discovery at Justice Varma’s residence, he said that the report of the three-judge panel was meant to recommend future course of action as Parliament can only remove a judge. A fire incident at Justice Varma’s Delhi residence in March had led to the discovery of several burnt sacks of banknotes in the outhouse. 3 JUDICIAL OFFICERS AS DELHI HC JUDGES The Supreme Court Collegium has approved a proposal for the appointment of three judicial officers — Shail Jain, Madhu Jain and Vinod Kumar — as judges of the Delhi HC. Mann rejigs cabinet for 7th time in 3 yrs ED quizzes AAP’s Jain in DJB graft case H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh NEWLY elected Ludhiana (West) MLA Sanjeev Arora was on Thursday inducted into the Punjab cabinet in the seventh reshuffle of the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led AAP ministry in three years. Cabinet minister for NRI Affairs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was removed in the reshuffle. The state will go to assembly elections in 2027. Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administered the oath of office and secrecy to the firsttime MLA in the presence of the chief minister, cabinet ministers, MLAs and AAP leaders. The MLA, previously a Rajya Sabha member, quit the Upper House after winning the bypoll. An industrialist known for his social work, Arora was elected to the Ludhiana (West) seat after the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi. Arora was allocated industries and NRI affairs departments. Tarunpreet Singh Sond, previously in charge of the industries department, will continue to have charge of rural development, labour and tourism. “Sanjeev Arora ji has been given the responsibility of Industry & Commerce, Investment Promotion, NRI Affairs departments. I hope Sanjeev Arora ji will live up to the ex- pectations of the people of Punjab. He will work with full honesty and without any discrimination for the development of Punjab and the welfare of 3 crore people of the state,” Mann said in a post on X. AAP convener and former Delhi chief minsiter Arvind Kejriwal had, during the bypoll campaign, said that Arora would be made a minister if he was elected a legislator. The AAP government had carried out its last cabinet reshuffle in September 2024, and five new ministers were inducted after dropping four. Two berths are still vacant. After he was dropped, Dhaliwal said, “My hard work continues for people’s welfare.’’ Upgrade work of 10 STPs Sanjeev Arora ji has been given the responsibility of Industry & Commerce, Investment Promotion, NRI Affairs depts. I hope he will live up to the expectations of the people Bhagwant Mann, CM The case against former minister Satyendar Jain pertains to alleged corruption in augmentation of sewage treatment plants (STP) by Delhi Jal Board. This is the third case against the AAP leader, which ED has been probing. M U K E S H R A N JA N @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned and recorded statement of former minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case of alleged corruption in the augmentation of sewage treatment plants by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). This is the third case against Jain, which the ED has been probing. Jain had held portfolios like health, industries, power, PWD, home and urban development in the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi. Jain was arrested by the ED in 2022 and later named in the chargesheet filed in court in connection with alleged hawala transactions and possession of disproportionate assets. Recently the ED booked him , in an alleged classroom construction scam case along with Manish Sisodia. The investigation into the latest case pertains to allegations of corruption in the DJB sewage treatment plants, following an FIR lodged by the Delhi gover nment Anti-Cor ruption Branch (ACB). The ACB has lodged an FIR against a Hyderabad-based company Euro, teck Environmental Pvt Ltd, and others, alleging a scam in DJB in the name of upgrada- tion of 10 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). In the FIR, the ACB has said only three JV companies participated in the four tenders issued in October 2022 with a value of `1,943 crore. It said that the tendering conditions were made “restrictive”, including adoption of IFAS ((Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge) technology to ensure that a select few entities could participate. The contracts were awarded to three JVs at “inflated” rates, which caused “substantive” loss to the exchequer and all the JVs sub-contracted the work related to the four tenders to the Hyderabad firm, it noted.