NEW DELHI 17 AUGUST 2025 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in CODE GREEN The Nonsense of Negging PLUS: 12 PAGES Blues in the Wind MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Anuja Chandramouli Neha Sinha Akhilism of Wearable Utilitarianism US prez nudges Putin towards peace deal at summit, lines up Monday talks with Zelenskyy EXPRESS READ Govt raps SC verdict on timelines for Guv, Prez Imposing fixed timelines on governors and the President to act on bills passed by an assembly would amount to one organ of the government assuming powers not vested in it and lead to a “constitutional disorder”, the Central government told the Supreme Court in its affidavit on Saturday | P7 ‘Lake burst triggered U’khand flash flood’ A landslide-induced lake outburst triggered a chain reaction among several small lakes, resulting in a massive flash flood that devastated Dharali village in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district on August 5, reveals an internal preliminary report submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The report was prepared in consultation with the ISRO. | P8 Aircraft suffers tail hit while landing in Mumbai An IndiGo aircraft operating its Bangkok-Mumbai flight suffered a tail strike while attempting to land at the Mumbai airport on Saturday, prompting aviation safety regulator DGCA to order an investigation into the incident, sources said. Both the pilots of the Airbus A321neo have been derostered pending investigation, they said. ED launches searches against TN minister The ED conducted searches at seven locations linked to TN Minister for Rural Development and DMK leader I Periyasamy and his family in Chennai and Dindigul districts on Saturday in connection with a money laundering case. The DMK said that it was an attempt to divert attention from ‘vote chori’. | P4 AMMA SPEAKS Fazal Attraction: Ali’s Many Acts Love is the Essence of Every Religion Uproar over Sisodia’s ‘whatever it takes’ to win Punjab remarks wrote to the EC seeking action against Sisodia. Jakhar alleged A political storm has erupted that the AAP leader advocates over a viral video featuring AAP winning elections “by hook or Punjab-in-charge and former by crook,” promoting undemoDelhi Deputy CM Manish Siso- cratic methods. He appealed to dia, saying that his party will do the poll panel to take immedi“whatever it takes” to win the ate cognisance of the matter, 2027 Assembly elections. In re- initiate a swift investigation, sponse, both the BJP and the and take strict punitive and leShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) gal action against Sisodia and have launched a complaint with the AAP for their open declarathe Election Commission re- tion of winning elections garding his remarks. through corrupt, unconstituAddressing a women’s wing tional, and illegal means. workshop on August Ja k h a r h a s d e 13 in Mohali, Sisodia Jakhar seeks manded that an FIR said that women had be registered against FIR against voted enthusiasticalSisodia and he be disAAP leader ly to form the AAP qualified from conSunil Jakhar has government in Puntesting any future called for an FIR to jab. Compared to 2022, elections and be be filed against more women will vote barred from giving for AAP in 2027 polls, Sisodia, along with public speeches, as a demand for his he said, adding that, his statements pose a disqualification “We have taken a serious threat to the from future pledge to make ‘Rangsanctity of elections elections. He la Punjab,’ and we are and social unity . argued that SAD president Suwo rk i n g t ow a r d s Sisodia should be khbir Singh Badal making every family prohibited from also appealed to the wealthy and prospermaking any EC to take action ous in the state. To achieve this, we will political or public against Sisodia “for speeches, as his trying to incite fratersupport everything statements pose nal bloodshed in Punfrom self-help groups a threat to the jab even as he called to small startups, lointegrity of polls. for cancellation of the cal shops, and small bail granted to Sisobusinesses through government schemes. We will dia in a corruption case in view bring women to the forefront. of the provocative utterances .” These women’s teams will take made by the latter recently Referring to the clip, Badal these achievements door to door and work on them. The said this was proof enough that real goal is to win the 2027 elec- the AAP was going to vitiate the state’s atmosphere unless tion,” he had said. the poll panel took firm action Sunil Jakhar, president of BJP’s state unit, on Saturday against it. H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh J AYA N T H J A C O B A N D P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi A high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday produced no ceasefire in Ukraine but shifted the diplomatic narrative toward a possible peace deal — one that remains vague, contested, and fraught with uncertainty . For India, caught in the crosshairs of the looming US penalty tariffs over Russian oil imports, the suspense now tilts slightly toward hope. The nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, the first face-toface meeting between the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, ended with Trump calling for a direct peace pact between Kyiv and Moscow, bypassing the ceasefire route long advocated by Ukraine and its Western allies. “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, and not a mere Ceasefire,” Trump said on social media. Calling Russia a “very big power” and Ukraine “not”, Trump urged Kyiv to “make a deal”, suggesting that continued resistance might be futile. He said he would host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday and if that went well, , would schedule a follow-up meeting with Putin. “Potentially millions of people’s lives will , be saved,” he said. High Command, Higher Ground Sheila Kumar Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Nanditha Krishna Some positives for India as Trump open to secondary tariff rethink Hegemony by the Water’s Edge He (Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40% of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot…And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it Donald Trump US President Donald Trump (C) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press meet in Alaska | AFP India welcomed the summit terming the pursuit of peace is commendable. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India appreciates the progress made in the Summit. The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.” Zelenskyy, while cautious, said after a long call with Trump that Ukraine was ready for “constructive cooperation” and supported the idea of a trilateral summit. But Moscow was non-committal. In a post-summit interview with Fox News, Trump indicated that land swaps and security guarantees were part of the informal talks. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal... Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no,” he said. For India, the lack of a definitive ceasefire or framework complicates matters. But it doesn’t close the door. T r ump had earlier announced a 25% secondary tariff on Indian purchases of Russian oil, set to take effect on August 27. But in remarks after the summit, he signalled the measure might be delayed. IT’S A DUD NATIONAL MEDICAL REGISTER IS NO MORE MANDATORY cent of doctors had enrolled @ New Delhi on the platform by May . In a written reply to a THE government’s ambi- question in the Lok Sabha tious National Medical Reg- by Samajwadi Party MP ister (NMR), launched last Aditya Yadav, MoS (Health) year with the aim of creat- Anupriya Patel confirmed ing a centralised and on August 8 that dynamic database NMR registration of modern medicine was no longer manpractitioners in the datory “The applica. country has failed to , tion for issuance of take off. Less than a NMR is voluntary,” year after it was she stated in Parliamade mandatory, m e n t . Ya d av h a d IMA’s the Union Health posed his question concerns Ministry has quietly based on a report The Indian rolled back the republished in this Medical quirement, declarnewspaper earlier Association ing registration as this year, which had raised voluntary . highlighted the poor The NMR portal, concerns about response to the reglaunched on August the redundancy istration drive. 23, 2024, by Union of the process, As per an RTI rehealth minister J P and urged the ply received by KerNMC to Nadda, was billed as ala-based ophthala big leap to ensure streamline the mologist and RTI system transparency and activist Dr K V Babu, verification in Inonly 996 doctors had dia’s medical workforce. registered on the NMR porThis paper on May 1 was tal as of August 8 — of over the first to report that the 13 lakh doctors in India.“This NMR portal was largely un- move is welcome. But it does successful in registering not absolve National Medimodern medicine practi- cal Commission (NMC) of tioners. Less than one per its failure,” Dr Babu said. K A V I TA B A J E L I D AT T ASTRONAUT TO MEET PM AFTER HIS RETURN TO INDIA TODAY Shubhanshu Shukla is set to return to India on Sunday after his historic visit to the International Space Station (ISS) and is expected to meet PM Modi soon after. | P3 “Because of what happened today... I don’t have to think about that right now. I may have to think about it in 2–3 weeks,” he told Fox News, implying that the tariff deadline could quietly lapse. “It’s still fingers crossed. But we are ready to deal with any eventuality in our national interest,” said a source. However, Trump’s additional claim that India had “already stopped buying Russian oil” raised eyebrows. New Delhi made no such announcement and continues to defend its sovereign right to energy diversification. P7 Special NCERT module on Partition gets Cong’s goat P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi A political row broke out on Saturday over a new special module by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), which holds the Congress leadership, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Viceroy Lord Mountbatten responsible for Partition of India. The module, released by NCERT to mark ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’, drew the ire of the Congress, which demanded that the module be set on fire as it presents a distorted history . Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Is 1938 mentioned or not in the NCERT module? In 1938, the Hindu Mahasabha’s national conference in Gujarat announced that Hindus and Muslims could not live in one country. Is 1940 mentioned in the module?” he asked. In 1940, Jinnah adopted the Hindu Mahasabha’s idea at the Muslim Three elements “On August 15, 1947, India was divided. But this was not the doing of any one person. There were three elements responsible...: Jinnah, who demanded it; second, the Congress, which accepted it; and third, Mountbatten, who implemented it. But Mountbatten proved to be guilty of a major blunder,” the NCERT module said League’s Lahore session. “It was mooted in 1938 by the Hindu Mahasabha, and Jinnah repeated it in 1940,” he said. “Burn the document if all this is not mentioned in it. Partition happened due to the nexus between Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League. Generations will not forgive them,” he said, adding that Mahasabha-Muslim League coalition governments in Bengal, Sindh and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after 1942, led to Partition. Responding to the Congress’ allegations, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Rahul Gandhi’s ‘appeasement politics’ mirrors Jinnah’s divisive ideology. “NCERT has brought the truth of Partition to textbooks. The Rahul-Jinnah party is rattled because their role is exposed,” Bhatia said. NCERT published two separate modules — one for Classes 6 to 8 and another for Classes 9 to 12. These are supplementary resources in English and Hindi, not part of regular textbooks, and are meant to be used through projects, posters, discussions and debates. The module quotes Jinnah as saying he never thought Partition would happen. “Later, even Jinnah admitted that he had not expected Partition to happen. He told his aide, ‘I never thought it would happen. I never expected to see Pakistan in my lifetime’,” it said. 3, including LSE grad, nabbed for extortion bid N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi THREE people, including a London School of Economics (LSE) graduate, have been arrested for allegedly trying to extort `2 crore from a city-based businessman to repay their debts, police said on Saturday. The accused hatched cyber fraud plans in Thaliand and used the name of a gangster to extort the money, DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan said. The accused have been identified as Sumit (42), from West Punjabi Bagh; Prince (35), from Roshanara Road; and Nitish (31), a resident of Moti Nagar, the DCP said, adding that Nitish holds a master’s degree from LSE. Sumit, who is in the jewellery business, is known to the complainant and his family, Valsan said, adding Prince is a class 9 dropout. Two mobile phones used to generate crypto QR code and to make the international Whatsapp call have been found from their possession. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they were financially broke. To instill fear, they used the name of a gangster. They hatched the plot in India and went to Thailand to buy international SIM card. Acting on an extortion complaint at DBG Road police station, a case has been registered. The complainant said he had received a threatening WhatsApp call from an unknown international number. The caller, identifying himself as a gangster, demanded `2 crore and sent a QR code for cryptocurrency payment. The complainant alleged that caller also warned that his children would be killed if the demands were not met, the DCP said. New ‘injury replacement’ rule for domestic cricket G O M E S H S @ Chennai IN what could be a major rule change for the upcoming 202526 domestic season, the Indian cricket body has made provisions for ‘serious injury replacement’ for multi-day redball cricket. This rule change comes after the ICC announcement in June that full-member nations will trial replacement players for domestic first-class cricket. Unlike the past where a likefor-like replacement was allowed only for concussion sub- HOW IT WORKS When a player suffers an external injury (fracture, deep cut, etc.) within the playing area and gets ruled out of the match, the onfield umpires have the authority to determine extent of the injury. They can consult match referee and doctor to determine The team manager submits a request for a like-for-like replacement as soon as possible to the match referee The referee determines whether it is a valid replacement or one team gets an advantage before approving stitutes, if a player suffers an external injury on the field they can be replaced by the respective teams. This change, along with a few others, was The names should be from nominated substitutes unless it is a keeper briefed to the umpires during a seminar in Ahmedabad ahead of the season. “The serious injury must have been sustained during play and within the playing area described in clause 1.2.5.2 above. The injury must have occurred due to an external blow and result in fracture / deep cut / dislocation etc. The injury should render player unavailable for remainder of the match,” the new playing conditions document reads. Last month when Rishabh Pant fractured his foot and could not be replaced during the Manchester Test between India and England, it sparked a debate on the subject. Dhruv Jurel kept wickets but was not allowed to bat.