wednesdAY Boeing delivers three Apache helicopters to Indian Army 23 july, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Gaza 21 children dead in three days The head of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City says that 21 children have died across the Palestinian territory over three days “due to malnutrition and starvation”. Page 9 American aerospace major Boeing on Tuesday delivered the attack choppers to the Army as part of a contract to supply six helicopters big push to strengthen defence might A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called it a significant step towards strengthening India’s defence capabilities. “The arrival of the first batch of Apache helicopters is a significant step towards strengthening India’s defence capabilities. These helicopters will enhance the Army Aviation wing’s operational effectiveness in challenging terrains,” Singh said on X | P7 `4,168cr is what the deal with boeing for 6 apache helicopters is worth Oppn stalls Parliament on SIR, double standards, says govt Prez poser: All states get SC’s notice on bill assent timeline P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Parliament logjam continued for the second day on Tuesday amid protests by the Opposition demanding a discussion on the poll roll revision in Bihar. However, the government accused the opposition of employing ‘double standards’ by asking for a debate but still disrupting the House. The Lok Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as Opposition members refused to budge from their demand of discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar ahead of assembly polls later this year. As Congress, TMC and DMK MPs stood up raising placards, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till noon. Parliamentary Affairs Min- ister Kiren Rijiju said it was agreed at the Business Advisory Committee meeting on Monday that Operation Sindoor would discussed and the time had also been fixed. “Only the rule under which discussion will take place needs to be decided. They come here carrying placards and violate the rules, I condemn this,” Rijiju said, adding the government is ready but the opposition was wasting Parliament’s precious time. “They are asking for a debate and we are ready for it. But, they are not allowing the House to function,” the minister said, adding: “These double standards are wrong. On one hand they ask for debate and then create a ruckus like this.” Earlier, INDIA bloc members LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav, RJD MP Misa Bharti, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and others during a protest | PTI led by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi protested at the Makar Dwar of Parliament. The Upper House also saw two adjournments during the Karpoori Thakur’s son leads race for new V-P NDA plans to play the BC card on choosing Dhankhar’s successor R a j esh K umar T hakur Full term for new V-P @ New Delhi A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar suddenly resigned citing health reasons, the NDA weighed options to field a candidate from the backward or extremely backward classes as his successor. Several NDA MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the ruling alliance is leaning toward a nominee from the backward communities. Among the names doing the rounds, Ram Nath Thakur — currently Minister of State for Agriculture and son of former Bihar chief minister and Bharat Ratna awardee Karpoori Thakur — is being seen as a frontrunner. Belonging to the Nai (barber) community, which falls under the ati-pichhara category Thakur’s candi, dacy is seen as a nod to caste dynamics ahead of upcoming elections. Also reportedly in the mix is BJP president J P Nadda. Senior party leaders suggest that a cabinet reshuffle may precede any formal announcement, should Nadda emerge as the chosen one. Other contenders include former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Bihar Governor Md. Arif Khan, former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh. While speculation briefly hovered over Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, JD(U) insiders were quick to dismiss it. “This doesn’t seem to be happening,” a senior party leader said. With the NDA commanding 422 MPs across both Houses, it has a comfortable cushion over His successor shall serve a full term in office. Article 67 says, “The VicePresident shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office.” Poll asap: Article 68 Outgoing V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar 32-day process: The process starts after the Election Commission of India notifies the vacancy. It ends in 32 days with the V-P’s election. The electoral college comprises LS and RS members the 394 votes required to elect the next V-P Government sourc. es indicated a preference for a consensus candidate, with a decision expected after July 26. Dhankhar’s abrupt resignation came hours after he admitted an Opposition-backed motion seeking the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma, currently under scrutiny following a major cash seizure at his residence. Some believe his decision to admit the motion may have conflicted with the government’s own strategy which was report, edly focused on a separate course of action. The Rajya Sabha notice, signed by 63 Opposition MPs and admitted by Dhankhar, instructed the Secretary General to initiate procedural steps — a move seen by some as independent and possibly at odds with the ruling party’s preference of joint motion as it was in the Lok Sabha. Adding fuel to the fire was the absence of ministers Nadda and Tail of AI flight catches fire at Delhi airport, passengers safe E x p ress N e ws S er v ice @ New Delhi A Hong Kong-New Delhi Air India (AI) flight, carrying 158 passengers, caught fire in its tail at the parking gate while the passengers were alighting at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday All passengers . are safe and the flight has been grounded. The Auxilliary Power Unit (APU), a power back-up system inside the tail cone, was the part which caught fire. “The incident happened around 12.30 pm, and smoke was noticed em- According to Article 68, an election to the post of V-P because of his death, resignation, removal or otherwise shall be held as soon as possible after the occurrence of the vacancy anating from the APU exhaust, an opening on the outer portion of the tail,” said a source. Flight AI 315 took off from Hong Kong airport at 8.59 pm (local time) and reached Terminal 3 of Delhi airport at 12.31 pm. AI said Flight AI 315 experienced an APU fire shortly after it had landed. The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking, and the APU was automatically shut down. There was some damage to the aircraft, but passengers and crew members disembarked normally . Kiren Rijiju from the Business Advisory Committee meeting chaired by Dhankhar on Monday “The V-P was visibly upset,” . said a senior Opposition figure, also pointing to a tense moment during a debate when Nadda reportedly remarked, “Only what I say will go on record” — a statement seen by some as undermining the Chair. Nadda later refuted any rift. “Kiren Rijiju and I could not attend the 4.30 pm meeting called by the Honourable Vice President because we were occupied with another important parliamentary engagement,” he said. On the floor exchange, Nadda added, “My remark in the Rajya Sabha was directed at interrupting Opposition MPs — not the Chair.” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, when asked about Dhankhar’s resignation, said: “Only he knows the reason. We have nothing to say on this. Either the government knows, or he knows.” p7 pre-lunch period, before it was finally adjourned within minutes of meeting at 2 PM. Soon after the House met for the day, Opposition members were on their feet demanding discussions on Operation Sindoor in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides on the Bihar SIR issue. Several Opposition members had given adjournment notices for suspending the day’s business and holding an immediate discussion on the Bihar SIR issue. CPI member Sandosh Kumar had given a notice to discuss the “unexpected and unprecedented” resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was chairing the proceedings, informed the House regarding a notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs conveying resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with immediate effect. SC refuses to stay QR code order on Kanwar route S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to stay the fresh “QR” code directive issued by the UP and Uttarakhand governments directing the eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to do so. A two-judge bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh directed the hotel owners along the yatra route to display their licences and registration certificates (RCs) in accordance with the statutory requirements. After hearing the plea filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others, the SC said, “We are told that to- day is the last day of the yatra. In any case it is likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, at this stage we would only pass an order that all respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and RC.” Former AGI and senior advocate, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for UP, argued that the directions were issued as per the FSSAI regulations. Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the petitioners, opposed the submissions, saying that during the yatra, eateries only sell vegetarian items. At this, the SC said that consumer is the king and hence must know if a place was exclusively selling vegetarian items throughout. suchitra kalyan mohanty @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a Presidential reference that seeks the court’s opinion on questions concerning the roles, powers, and timelines for governors and the President in according assent to bills passed by state legislatures. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai and comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar, issued notice to the Centre and all states and sought their responses by July 29 on the question whether timelines could be imposed for dealing with bills passed by assemblies. The court fixed the matter for further hearing to August 29. During the hearing, when senior advocate P Wilson, for Tamil Nadu, submitted that the matter would directly affect his client, who objected to the maintainability of the reference, the CJI said, “The issue concerns not only TN but the entire country Senior lawyer .” K K Venugopal, representing Kerala, raised objections regarding its maintainability too. SUDARSHAN Gopaladesikan, a one-time research assistant at Infosys in Bengaluru, has been appointed as technical director of English Premier League side Newcastle United. Newcastle, one of the richest clubs in world football thanks to their direct links with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced the news on their social media handle late on Monday . On April 8, a two-judge bench comprising justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, while hearing TN’s case against its governor, ruled that a governor does not possess any discretion under Article 200 in respect to any bill presented to them and must mandatorily abide by the advice tendered by the council of ministers. President Murmu moved the court on May 13, with 14 questions challenging the SC’s April 8 verdict that fixed timelines for governors and President to act on bills passed by state assemblies. Targeted by cops & mafia, ASI dies by suicide in MP Prolonged mental harassment by an alleged nexus of police, gambling and sand mafia reportedly led an ASI to die by suicide at his official quarter inside the Godan police station premises of MP’s Datia district. Pramod Pavan (51) was found hanging inside his quarters on Tuesday. EV policy extended till March ’26 to get feedback The Delhi government on Tuesday extended the current Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy till March 31, 2026, or until the notification of a new policy, as the draft of the new policy will undergo public consultation. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held by CM Rekha Gupta. 2 Delhi cops arrested for `75 lakh fraud N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi Faith on the move Vehicles stuck in a traffic jam as ‘Kanwariyas’ move on a road during their pilgrimage in the holy month of ‘Shravan’, near Har Ki Pauri, in Haridwar, Uttarakhand on Sunday | PTI | P4 Infy techie now Newcastle technical director @ Chennai The reference sought, among others, answers on options before a Governor when a Bill is presented under Article 200; and if they are bound by aid and advice of the council of ministers Express read top seat E x p ress N e w s S er v ice Murmu’s reference “... Sudarshan will lead the club’s football data operations, working closely with Eddie Howe (head coach of the men’s first team) and his coaching staff and the club’s performance, medical, analysis, methodology and recruitment teams,” a club press release read. “His role will be dedicated to implementing data-informed practices across all spor ting de par tments throughout men’s, women’s and Academy teams.” Gopaladesikan started off as Sudarshan will lead the club’s football data operations, working closely with Eddie Howe (head coach)... a techie before joining Portuguese giants Benfica where he oversaw the data science pro- gramme. At Atalanta in 2024, he saw the Italian Serie A oufit lift the UEFA Europa League. The Indian men’s national team may not have many takers but several Indians as well as Indian origin people involved in football either work or have worked across top-tier clubs in Europe. Former Arsenal managing director Vinai Venkatesham holds a top management role at Tottenham. Krishnan A Seshadrinathan, currently a member at Rajasthan Royals, previously used to number crunch at Arsenal. Delhi Police cracked a VPN to arrest its two sub-inspectors for allegedly embezzling funds from case property in the northeast district, officials said. The accused had gone to several places, including Goa, after escaping from Delhi and later settled at MP’s Indore, from where they were nabbed. According to police, based on irregularities noticed during the disposal of cases registered at northeast Delhi Cyber police station, three FIRs were registered against the investigating officer posted there, who had been missing since March. A team was for med which found cyber fraud involving `75 lakh illicitly transferred through four separate fraudulent transactions. Based on technical surveillance and inputs, the team traced the accused to Indore and nabbed them. 4th test Shubman Gill hits out at england India captain Shubman Gill accused England of not upholding the spirit of the game as the fallout of the timewasting drama of the third Test continued. India are yet to finalise their XI for the Test | P11