FRIDAY ED ATTACHES PROPERTIES WORTH `11.14 CR OF DHAWAN, RAINA 07 NOVEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard N Y M AY O R MAMDANI VICTORY SPEECH ANGRY: DON US President Donald Trump has mocked New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, referring to him as ‘whatever the hell his name is’. PAGE 9 Shikhar Dhawan Suresh Raina STARS ENDORSED KNOWINGLY, SAYS AGENCY A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  PAGES 12  J8.00 The ED’s probe has found that the former cricketers ‘knowingly’ entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities for the promotion of 1xBet and its surrogates. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to attach a commercial land in Delhi of Dhawan worth `4.5 crore and mutual fund investments of Raina worth `6.64 crore | P7 Pune land scam puts Ajit Pawar’s son in trouble Govt bid to delay S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai IN a major embarrassment to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, his elder son Parth on Thursday faced charges of grabbing 40 acres of prime land in Pune at a throwaway price of `300 crore against the market rate of `2,000 crore. The land in question is part of ‘Mahar Vatan’, which was distributed by the government to landless Dalits for cultiva- Secretary Vikas Kharge into tion on the condition the scam. An FIR was that it can’t be bought also registered against or sold. Yet, Parth manboth the buyer and the aged to acquire the land seller, and a revenue deparcel from Gaikwad partment official was families. placed under suspenWhile Ajit Pawar sion for waiving stamp claimed he had no idea duty and land registraParth Pawar about the land deal, tion fees. Chief Minister DevenJust a few months dra Fadnavis ordered a high- ago, Parth and his relative, level probe by Additional Chief Digvijay Amarsinh Patil regis- tered an infotech firm called Almada and passed a resolution on April 22 to develop an IT park in Pune. Almada then submitted a proposal to develop an IT park on that 40-acre parcel of land, saying it will generate thousands of jobs. Almada paid just `500 as fees for the land title, against `25 crore as real stamp duty and registration fees. Uddhav raps Fadnavis Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray attacked the Fadnavis government for the land scam. He said while farmers are struggling, the ministers’ children are grabbing the prime land at throwaway prices. “Earlier, scams against DCM Eknath Shinde’s group were coming out; now, Ajit Pawar is on target from the BJP, Uddhav alleged Courier boy among 3 held for staging iPhones theft EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi Voters wait in a queue to cast votes at a booth in Danapur in Patna during the first phase polling on Thursday | PTI RECORD 64.7% TURNOUT IN 1ST PHASE OF POLLING BIHAR COMPARISION OF BIHAR ASSEMBLY VOTER TURNOUT PHASE 1 POPULATION DISTRIBUTION BY SOCIAL GROUP(%) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (top) and others after casting their votes in Patna; RJD’s Tejashwi with Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi | PTI 3 Hindu ST 23.3 PHASE 1 Hindu SC Highest voting (%) Samastipur 70.63% Begusarai 47.2 69.27% Hindu OBC Lowest voting (%) Patna 57.93% 15.5 Hindu Others 0.03 Non-Muslim and non-Hindu 11 Muslim Source: NFHS 2019-21 62.57 61.79 56.91 52.73 56.27 51.51 44.47 46.5 2005 2020 2000 1995 1990 1985 1980 1977 1972 1969 1967 43.24 2015 FEB 45.83 OCT 42.6 2010 50.51 LOWEST UNSTOPPABLE EXPRESS READ Take a bow as Sheetal matches the able-bodied Singing Vande Mataram a must in Raj madrasas C H A N D R A P R A B H U @ Chennai SHEETAL in English translates to ‘cool’, ‘calm’ and even ‘peaceful’. Employing the bow with her leg and string pulled by mouth, she is all of the above while releasing the arrow. Sheetal Devi doesn’t have hands to pull and shoot but compensates with other limbs and whatever means she can to pursue her passion — archery . The para-archer who has broken quite a few glass-ceilings in her short but astonishingly successful career set another gold standard on Thursday She . became the first para-archer in the country to secure a place in the junior able-bodied India team for the Asia Cup Stage 3 to be held in Jeddah next month. Any player would have been satisfied with a para-world archery championships gold. But Sheetal has not stopped with para-Olympic and para-World Championships medals. Because of her exceptional talent, she was adamant on competing with able-bodied archers. She shifted her base from Katra in Jammu to Patiala and started training with renowned coach Gaurav Sharma. She was very clear — she wanted to model herself with her hero Oznur Cure Girdi of Turkey who also , competes with able-bodied archers. “I didn’t make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback. Today, that dream is one step closer,” she wrote on social media. Sharma later gave an insight to her resolve and resilience. She competed alongside 60 archers over four days. “She was coming back from a month’s break and we wanted to take part in some competition,” said the coach. “We did not think beyond that. All she wanted was to perform well. She worked hard and her qualiP11 fication is a result of it.” CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over the Centre’s repeated attempts to seek adjournment of the hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021. The matter was slated for hearing on Friday. On Thursday additional solicitor gener, al Aishwarya Bhati moved a request for adjournment on behalf of Attorney General R Venkataramani, citing the latter’s international arbitration commitments. Making a sharp observation, Gavai said it looks like the government is trying to avoid the bench headed by him since he has only a few days left for retirement. Gavai will demit office on November 23. Mentioning the matter before the bench, Bhati said the case is important and requires the A-G’s assistance and hence the adjournment request be accommodated. “We have accommodated you twice already How many more? . If you want it after November 24, tell us then. Very unfair to the court. Every time you seek accommodation for international arbitration. You have a CJI irked by repeated adjournment pleas A request for adjournment was made on Monday as well, when Attorney General R Venkataramani raised a preliminary objection saying the matter needs to be referred to a larger bench. However, the CJI rejected it, saying it should have been raised at an earlier stage battery of lawyers and then you file midnight applications seeking reference to larger benches!” said the bench, also comprising justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul M Pancholi, adding that the court does not expect the Union “to indulge in such tactics”. The bench eventually asked senior advocate Arvind Datar representing one of the petitioners, to continue with his submissions on Friday and accommodate the A-G’s submissions on Monday “If he (A-G) . does not come, we will close the matter,” the CJI said. MEXICO FIRST WOMAN PREZ GROPED, FILES COMPLAINT A video captured a drunk man groping country’s first woman President Claudia Sheinbaum during a fiveminute time-saving walk from National Palace to the education ministry. | P9 JNUSU ELECTIONS LEFT MAKES CLEAN SWEEP, CAMPUS TURNS RED AGAIN I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi 57.29 57.28 @ New Delhi Bhojpur 58.27% HIGHEST 62.04 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y Muzaffarpur 70.96% 52.79 1957 THE first phase of the Bihar assembly election on Thursday recorded a voter turnout of 64.66% at the close of polling in 121 constituencies in 18 districts, marking a largely peaceful exercise. This is the highest turnout since 1951 in Bihar. Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said polling was conducted at 45,341 booths, including 36,733 in rural areas. The election follows a special revision of electoral rolls, which now lists 7.24 crore voters — around 60 lakh fewer than before the exercise. Wo m e n v o t e r s turned out in large numbers, outpacing men at several booths. Many first-time voters also flocked enthusiastically to polling stations, officials said. A minor incident occurred when Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha’s convoy was attacked with slippers and stones in Khoriari village, Lakhisarai. Sinha, who is contesting from Lakhisarai, alleged that RJD supporters were behind the attack and demanded the deployment of special forces. Local residents said the protest reflected anger over poor roads and civic neglect. In another incident, CPI(ML) candidate from Manjhi, Satyendra Yadav, faced stone pelting in Saran’s Jaitpur area. No injuries were reported, said A d d i t i o n a l D G P Ku n d a n Krishnan. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cast his vote in Bakhtiyarpur, while RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav voted in Patna, asserting that ‘badlaav hoga’ (there will be change). Rabri Devi, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, and MP Misa Bharti also cast their votes early in the day . Rabri Devi extended good wishes to both her sons as they contest separately from Mahua and Raghopur. For the first time in 20 years, voters in Naxal-hit Bhimbandh of Munger participated in polling. Voting had been suspended there since 2005 following the killing of SP C Surendra Babu and seven policemen. The RJD alleged deliberate power cuts in Mahagathbandhan strongholds to slow down voting, a charge the CEO dismissed as baseless. Prominent candidates in this phase include Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (RJD–Raghopur), Samrat Choudhary (BJP–Tarapur), Maithili Thakur (BJP–Aliganj), Khesari Lal Yadav (RJD–Chhapra), and Ritesh Pandey (Jan Suraaj–Kargahar). P8 1962 R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna Phase 2 : Nov 11 Phase 1 Convoy of Deputy CM attacked in Lakhisarai; RJD claims ‘discrepancies’ in its strongholds 1951 POLICE has cracked a case of fake robbery of latest iPhones and other mobile handsets and arrested four men. The arrests include the complainant in the case, who worked as a courier delivery agent, and claimed that he was robbed of the consignment of phones at gunpoint. Police have recovered the entire cache of 25 handsets, which are valued at `20 lakh. The accused have been identified by cops as Ashish Kumar, 25, Tanveer, 32, Shamim, 27, and Aman, 29. According to officials, Kumar, who is employed as a courier agent at a retail mobile outlet, made a PCR call on Tuesday and complained that , two unidentified men on a scooter intercepted him near Vikas Marg flyover while he was on his way to Karol Bagh to deliver phones. He alleged that the duo threatened him with a firearm and snatched a backpack containing 25 cellphones, which included 14 iPhone 17s, 10 OnePlus devices, and one Vivo handset, police said. Police registered a case of robbery based on Kumar’s complaint at the Shakarpur police station. The police team noticed several inconsistencies in his statement. Kumar subsequently broke down and confessed to have staged the fake robbery in connivance with his aides to misappropriate cellphones, DCP (East) Abhishek Dhania said. Investigation revealed that the group had planned to fake the robbery, sell the stolen phones, and divide the proceeds among themselves. The entire consignment of mobile phones and two scooters used in the incident were recovered from their possession, he said. hearings to avoid my bench: Gavai Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar announced on Thursday that the national song Vande Mataram would be sung daily in madrasas in the state— just like in all government-run schools and colleges—to mark its 150th anniversary. Tadasha Mishra picked as new J’khand DGP Tadasha Mishra, a 1994-batch IPS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as the acting DGP of the state. She takes over from Anurag Gupta, whose appointment as the police chief had remained shrouded in controversy. THE Left Unity has emerged victorious in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) election, winning all four central panel positions with clear margins over their right counterparts. Aditi Mishra, who belongs to the All India Students’ Association (AISA), secured the top post of president of the union with 1,861 votes, defeating Vikas Patel of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who received 1,488 votes. The win restores the Left’s dominance on the campus after the ABVP had managed to win the joint secretary’s post last year, which was a first for it in a decade. After the results were declared, Mishra said, “It is not just a win, it is a reaffirmation of the JNU’s political character.” Reacting to the victory the president of , the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Invalid which is part of the Left Unity Adarsh M votes key , Saji said, “The Left Unity panel, compris- While the Left ing AISA, SFI and DSF, has registered a Unity won sweeping victory securing all four central decisively, , panel posts by significant margins. K on two posts Gopika Babu, SFI’s candidate for the post the margin of of vice president, won by an impressive victory was margin, marking a major political achieve- less than the ment for the Left progressive movement combined of inside the campus.” blank ballots, Babu garnered 3,101 votes, while Tanya invalid votes, Kumari of ABVP trailed behind with 1,787 and NOTA votes. She is a PhD scholar at the Centre choices. for Study of Law and Governance. In a contest for the post of general secretary, Sunil Yadav of the Left Unity triumphed with 2,005 votes, edging past Rajeshwar Kant Dubey of the ABVP, who polled 1,901 votes. For the post of joint secretary, the Left’s Danish Ali further strengthened the sweep by winning the post with 2,083 votes, defeating ABVP’s Anuj Damara, who managed 1,797 votes. The ABVP had won the post of joint secretary in 2015. For the next decade, the Left swept all four central panel seats. Last year, the ABVP had briefly broken the streak with another win of the joint secretary’s post. P3