WEDNESDAY HARMANPREET & CO SEEK THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP TROPHY 20 AUGUST, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR ‘ROUGH SITUATION’ IF TALKS FAIL: DON As the BCCI announced the squad for the Women’s ODI World Cup to be played in India, a look at the Harmanpreet Kaur-led squad... Amid a flicker of hope for peace, US President Donald Trump has warned of a “rough” situation should the talks between Russia and Ukraine fail. NO SHAFALI, RENUKA RETURNS AFTER LONG BREAK A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI Ex-judge Reddy is Oppn’s VP pick The Opposition believes that Reddy’s candidature is a ‘masSETTING the stage for a keen terstroke’ as it will blunt the contest for the upcoming Vice NDA‘s move to upset the ruling Presidential election, the Oppo- DMK government in Tamil sition INDIA bloc on Tuesday Nadu. The DMK was in a tight named former Supreme Court spot after the NDA picked Radjudge B Sudershan Reddy as its hakrishnan, a seasoned BJP joint candidate to face NDA leader from Tamil Nadu nominee Maharashtra Gover- with an RSS background, as its nor C P Radhakrishnan VP candidate. on September 9. An Opposition leader Calling the election said Reddy’s nominafor the country’s secondtion will unsettle the highest office as an ‘ideChandrababu Naidu-led ological battle’, ConTelugu Desam Party, a gress president key ally of the BJP at Mallikarjun Kharge, the Centre. “Though the while announcing Red- Sudershan Reddy TDP has already exdy’s candidature, tended support for the termed him as one of India’s NDA candidate, the party will most “distinguished and pro- be under pressure as Sudergressive jurists”. Before his ap- shan Reddy commands goodpointment to the Supreme will in the state,” said a leader Court, Reddy had served as a d d i n g t h a t t h e f o r m e r Chief Justice of the Guwahati Judge also has also worked High Court and as a judge of closely with the previous the Andhra Pradesh High TDP government. Court. He retired as a judge of Reddy’s candidature has also the Supreme Court in 2011. put fence sitters such as P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge with other opposition leaders after announcing their Vice Presidential candidate | EXPRESS K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party in a dilemma, said a senior leader. “It will be difficult for the BRS and Jagan Mohan Reddy to go against our candidate now,” he said, adding that INDIA parties will reach out to these neutral players. The YSRCP, however, has already declared its support for the NDA nominee. P7 He is a propoor man, in many of his judgments... he favoured the poor and protected the Constitution Mallikarjun Kharge  J8.00 In deep waters : Commuters stranded as a couple of buses break down near Kurla in Mumbai on Tuesday | PTI Water enters homes near Rain disrupts rail ghats as Yamuna inches & road traffic in closer to evacuation level Mumbai, 7 killed P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi SEVERAL low-lying pockets along the Yamuna spilt over on Tuesday morning, flooding homes near the ghats and forcing the district administration to open relief camps, even as the river inched toward the evacuation threshold in Delhi. With water seeping through lanes in Yamuna Bazaar and adjoining areas, officials deployed civil defence volunteers with food, medicines, and mattresses for people. Camps were set up early in the day to accommodate those who had to abandon their houses, and officials urged residents in vulnerable areas to remain on alert. By 8 am, the Yamuna at the Old Railway Bridge stood at 205.79 metres, above the danger level of 205.33 metres and just short of the 206-metre mark at which evacuations begin. The level had breached the danger threshold on Monday afternoon at 205.55 metres. However, by 8 pm, the level had receded to 205.63 metres, S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai with forecasts from the Central Water Commission predicting TORRENTIAL rains unleashed widespread it to fall to 204.49 metres by devastation across Maharashtra, claiming Wednesday evening. seven lives and damaging over two lakh hec“The Yamuna water level is tares of standing crops. rising mostly due to high volOn Tuesday chief minister Devendra Fad, umes of water released from navis convened a virtual meeting with all dithe Wazirabad and Hathnikund visional commissioners, where he instructed bar rages every hour,” an authorities to provide immediate relief, inofficial from the central flood cluding shelter, food, and essential suproom said. According to the plies, to those stranded due to floods and flood control department, incessant rainfall. the Hathnikund barrage “So far, seven people have lost their was discharging about MONSOON FURY lives due to the heavy rain, and several 38,361 cusecs, and the rivers have breached their danger levWa z i r a b a d b a r r a g e els. Alerts have been issued to residents around 68,230 cusecs per in affected areas. In Sambhaji Nagar district hour. Inflows typically take 48– alone, 800 villages have been impacted, with 50 hours to travel down to the approximately two lakh hectares of agriculcapital, meaning even modertural land suffering crop losses. A detailed ate releases can keep the river panchanama will be conducted, and compenelevated for days. sation will be disbursed to those affected,” On the ground, residents reFadnavis stated. sponded unevenly to the adIn response to the IMD’s yellow and orange vancing water. Those in the alerts for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, most low-lying homes shifted and other regions, the state government on to government tents, while othTuesday directed local administrations to ers chose to remain, saying the close schools and colleges as a precautionary water inside their houses was measure amid forecasts of heavy to very still ankle-deep. Some families heavy rainfall. Severe waterlogging caused moved essentials to the terrace. CM INSPECTS LOW-LYING AREAS | P3 traffic disruptions across the city . India, China signal cautious reset amid trade, border talks Wang to visit Pak today After his India trip, Wang will travel to Pakistan on Wednesday to hold the annual strategic dialogue with Pakistan’s deputy PM and foreign minister Ishaq Dar, to be held from August 20 to 22 NSA Ajit Doval, who led the border talks, highlighted the calm since last year’s disengagement. “Borders have been quiet, there has been peace and tranquillity...” he said EAM leaves for Russia External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday reached Moscow. During his 3-day trip, he will attend key meetings and also hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov HC summons DGP, Home Secy over Nainital polls A team of the MCD’s veterinary department was allegedly assaulted in north Delhi’s Rohini area on Monday by a group of “dog lovers” who forcibly released the captured stray dogs and vandalised the van. After a complaint was filed in this regard, the police scrutinised the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area and apprehended a local resident. Efforts are on to identify and nab the other suspects. | P4 The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the police for failing to act on incidents of firing and kidnapping witnessed during the recent panchayat elections in Nainital and summoned the Director General of Police (DGP) & the Home Secretary in the case. This comes just three days after a sharp rebuke from the court spurred the police to file FIRs against multiple individuals in connection with the case. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi | X J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi IN a sign of thaw in IndiaChina ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday assured External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that Beijing will resume critical exports to India, including fertilisers, rare earth minerals, and tunnel boring machines, addressing three longpending Indian demands. The move, seen as a confidence-building gesture, came just ahead of the 24th round of India-China border talks in New Delhi and was followed by Wang’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaishankar is learnt to have underlined the expectation of stable, uninterrupted supply chains for essential inputs during the discussions, which he had raised with the Chinese side earlier as well. Sources said Wang responded positively, committing to facilitate these vital goods. After the visiting Chinese foreign minister called on him, Modi said the relations between the two countries have improved. Modi “welcomed the steady and positive progress in bilateral ties since his meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, guided by mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity in, cluding the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra,” an Indian readout said, adding that Modi “reiterated India’s commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question.” Accepting the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend the upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin, Modi said he looked forward to meeting Xi again. “Stable, predictable, and constructive bilateral ties will contribute significantly to regional and global peace and prosperity he said. ,” National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Wang held the 24th round of border talks under the framework of the Special Representatives mechanism. Amid the renewed diplomatic exchanges, sources clarified there was no change in India’s position on Taiwan. “India has always maintained a relationship with Taiwan focused on economic, technological, and cultural ties — that has not changed,” a source said. India has been supporting the one-China policy thought its reflection in joint statements remained by and large absent after Chinese started issuing stapled visa to Indian nationals in Arunanchal Pradesh in 2008. AMENDMENT Bill on J&K reorganisation in LS today M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi THE government will introduce The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, which will have a new provision for removal of the Chief Minister or a minister who is arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges. The amendment bill will only be introduced and scheduled to be sent to a joint committee of the Parliament for scrutiny . The amendment in the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was required as there was no provision of a legal framework for removal of the Chief Minister or a Minister in such cases, sources said. According to them, the objective of the bill is to make ministers holding office accountable. The draft amendment bill says that a minister, who is facing allegations of serious criminal offences, arrested and detained in custody “may thwart or hinder the canons of constitutional morality and principles of good governance and eventually diminish the constitutional trust reposed by people in him”. Sources said that if a minister is detained in custody for 30 consecutive days, he or she “shall be removed from his office” by the Lieutenant Governor on the advice of the CM. LOSS RECORD 383 AID WORKERS KILLED IN 2024, HALF IN GAZA A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hot spots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the war, the UN humanitarian office said on Tuesday. | P9 Shreyas out, Gill made Surya’s deputy Shubman Gill was named as vice captain in one of the biggest talking points in the 15-man squad the BCCI named for the Asia Cup next month in the UAE. A look... BUMRAH IN, SHREYAS OUT Jasprit Bumrah whose last T20I was the World Cup final last year earns a recall into the side for the continental event. Shreyas Iyer continues to miss out. ASIA CUP RUNS FROM EXPRESS READ Dog lovers attack MCD team in Rohini, one held PAGES 12 Beijing to resume key industrial, agri supplies to India Borders now quiet: Doval People wade through water at Yamuna Bazar in New Delhi on Tuesday | PARVEEN NEGI  A key debate in the lead up to the selection was if opener Shafali Verma will get a place. But her lean run in the T20I series vs England and with India A in Australia meant she did not make the cut. Seamer Renuka Singh Thakur, who had been out of action due to injury, will make a comeback in the ODIs against Australia and feature in the World Cup. | P11 SEP 9-28 GILL TO OPEN There were some murmurs that the red-ball captain wouldn’t be part of the team but he makes it in a new role as vice-captain. TWO MYSTERY SPINNERS Varun Chakravarthy, who excelled in the same conditions in the Champions Trophy, makes it back. He will have Kuldeep Yadav for company. RIDING ON HOPE GST overhaul could bring down car prices by up to 10% A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi THE proposed next-generation GST overhaul could bring down car prices by up to 10% if the tax rate is reduced from 28%to 18%, according to analysts. As part of the wider reforms to boost economic growth, the Centre has proposed moving from four tax slabs to a simplified two-rate system: 5% for es- sential items and 18% for most other goods. Luxury and sin products could face a steeper levy of around 40%. “Cars currently are under the 28% GST band and if GST is rationalised to 18%, then prices for entry-level cars can come down by 8-10%. Players like Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors which have a strong entry-level portfolio are likely to be the key beneficiaries,” Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental research at SBI Securi- ties, told this newspaper. At present, vehicles are taxed under multiple slabs combining GST and cess. Small cars are taxed at 28%, whereas large cars (above 4 metres in length and 1200cc in engine size) are taxed (including cess) in the range of 43-50%. Global financial firm HSBC estimates that the proposed tax reforms could result in an 8% drop in the prices of small cars. Bigger cars, too, could also become cheaper in the range of 3-5%. HSBC added that this could mean a loss of around $4-5 billion in GST collections for the government. Meanwhile, the prospects of tax cuts have put carmakers in a tight spot as buyers are now holding on to their purses, deferring their purchase plans.