WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Cloudflare snag hits X, ChatGPT & New Jersey Transit systems for hours; services back HAMAS PROTESTS BACKS DON’S GAZA PLAN, BIBI APPLAUDS The UNSC on Tuesday gave its backing to President Trump’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza, with Netanyahu applauding the approval. PAGE 9 STRAINED TIES India-B’desh women series postponed G O M E S H S @ Chennai AMIDST diplomatic strain between the two countries, the women’s cricket series between India and Bangladesh slated for December has been postponed. Interestingly this comes a day af, ter for mer Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was handed a death sentence by a tribunal court in the country for alleged crimes against humanity. Earlier in August 2025, India had also postponed men’s bilateral series to September 2026. The women’s series would have been the first assignment after winning the World Cup for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. As per the ICC Future Tours Programme, Bangladesh women were supposed to tour India for a white-ball series against India in December. “As far as the Bangladesh series is concerned, it is postponed,” a BCCI source told this daily. No official reason was given but it is understood that the tense diplomatic relations between the two nations could have led to the decision. The interim government in Dhaka has been demanding the extradition of Hasina who has been in India since fleeing the country last year. On the other hand, Bangladesh teams have visited India for multi-nation sporting events including the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup in August and women’s Cricket World Cup in October this year. EXPRESS READ Army chief visits Sikkim, meets CM Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi met Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang in Sikkim on Tuesday. The meeting focused on national security, militarycivil fusion and welfare measures for the veterans of Sikkim were discussed during the meeting, said Tamang. E-passport launched, old version valid till ’35 The government has introduced a next-generation “e-passport” that combines both paper and electronic elements in amjor tech-upgrade. A senior official of the MEA on Tuesday said old legacy passports will continue to remain valid till 2035 or until their expiry. P7 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI J8.00  PAGES 12 BJP may retain Speaker, JD(U) Home Nitish to resign today RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR AND R A M A S H A N K A R @ New Delhi/Patna AMID hard bargaining among NDA allies over plum portfolios in the new Bihar ministry on Tuesday the Speaker’s post is ex, pected to stay with the BJP while , Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may retain Home despite the BJP pressing him to part with it. Sources said on the names of two prominent BJP leaders for the position of Speaker have already been considered, one of whom will be finalised at Wednesday’s BJP legislature party meeting in Patna. While earlier it was speculated Nitish will resign as head of the outgoing govt on Wednesday to start the formal process of forming a new government, which will take its oath of office the following day that Chirag Paswan’s party might get a deputy CM’s post, it now appears that the BJP would pocket both deputy CM posts, with the party considering appointing new faces for that position. Initially, the JD(U) wanted the Speaker’s post. It however, yielded and then pitched for a deputy CM’s post. 43 Maoists arrested in joint operation across AP MADVI HIDMA Soon after the encounter in which Madvi Hidma was killed, security forces on Tuesday arrested 43 Maoists in a joint operation at Vijayawada, Eluru, and Kakinada Dreaded Maoist Hidma killed in encounter in AP Five others, including his wife, gunned down by security forces near C’garh-Andhra border EJAZ KAISER & DHARMENDRA R E G A N A @ Raipur / Visakhapatnam DREADED Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, the mastermind behind some of the deadliest Naxal strikes including the 2010 Tadmetla attack which killed 76 security personnel, was killed in an encounter near the Chhattisg arh-Andhra Pradesh border on Tuesday . Security forces gunned down Hidma (51), his wife Madkam Raje, and four other Naxalites in Maredumilli forest in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district. The other slain Maoists were identified as Deve, Lakmal alias Chaitu, Malla alias Mallalu, and Kamlu alias Kamlesh, officials said. Speaking to media persons, Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Chief Mahesh Chandra Laddha said ASR district police launched a combing operation at Papikonda National Park at 6.30 am on Tuesday, which led to the encounter. A native of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, Hidma was also known as Hidmanna, Hidmalu, and Deva. He joined the CPI (Maoist) in 1991 as a Bal Sangham member, and rose through the ranks to become commander of Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army Battalion No 1, secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, and Central Committee Member in 2023. Hidma, who had a cumulative bounty of over `1 crore across states, orchestrated numerous attacks in the past two decades. According to Chhattisgarh intelligence officials, every major Maoist attack in the state had his imprint. Despite repeated appeals by the government to surrender, Hidma remained committed to the violent ideology. Last week, his mother Punji Madvi also asked him to lay down arms, but it did not yield any results. Hidma and his close aides were on the run after security forces stepped up pressure in Naxal strong holds, forcing them to leave their traditional hideouts, sources said. “The end of Hidma’s chapter is a breakthrough to wipe out the Maoist outfit. The few Naxal cadres now have no option except to shun violence and join the social mainstream,” said Sundarraj Pattlingam, Bastar Range IGP P5 . ‘Breathing a privilege?’ Toxic air fuels stir amid confusion over pollution curbs E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi AS Delhi grapples with another week of hazardous smog, confusion over emergency curbs, unfulfilled government promises, and rising public anger on the streets underscore the national capital’s struggle to address its annual pollution crisis. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday dismissed claims that Delhi-NCR had entered Stage-IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), terming them “misleading”. It clarified that the region remains under Stage-III. Current curbs include a ban on non-essential construction  A widely used Internet infrastructure company said that it has resolved an issue that led to outages impacting users of everything from ChatGPT and the online game to New Jersey Transit system early Tuesday. Other platforms that experienced outages included social media site X, Shopify, Dropbox, Coinbase, and the Moody’s credit ratings service. Cloudflare, based in The San Francisco, provides internet infra that protects websites from online threats. Last month Microsoft had to deploy a fix to address an outage of their Azure cloud portal that left users unable to access Office 365, Minecraft and other services. P9 Citizens protest polluted air at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday | ADITI RAY CHOWDHURY and demolition, restrictions on diesel generators, tighter industrial checks and intensified road-cleaning measures. By contrast, the Stage-IV would mandate a near-complete halt to construction, stop entry of polluting trucks, and could force closures of schools and non-essential businesses. Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI worsened from 351 on Monday to 374 on Tuesday, with forecasts indicating that air quality will remain in the ‘very poor’ category through the week. Marking the second protest in recent days against worseing air quality citizens and stu, dents were drawn to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday. Participants, including senior citizens and young children, decried the health risks they face daily . Many accused authorities of prioritising “perception management” over transparent pollution data. P3 Prem Kumar, an eight-time BJP MLA from Gaya Town, is the frontrunner for the post of Speaker. Potential candidates for the deputy CM include Mangal Pandey, who has the backing of the RSS and served as health minister in the outgoing government, and Sanjiv Chaurasia or Vijay Kumar Sinha. After a three-hour meeting JD(U) leaders had with home minister Amit Shah, a formula for ministerial berths was agreed in principle. Apart from the CM, the ministry will have 16 from the BJP, 14 from JD(U), three from Chirag’s LJP(RV) and one each from Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha. Nitish visited Gandhi Maidan to inspect preparations of the oath-taking ceremony on November 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and others are expected to attend. P8 VIDEO OF NABI GLORIFYING SUICIDE ATTACK 1 MORE J&K DOC & WIFE DETAINED AL-FALAH UNIVERSITY FOUNDER IN ED NET IS terror suspect beaten by inmates in Sabarmati jail the explosive-laden i20, had also been associated with the university Siddiqui’s arrest came after . “probe and analysis of evidence” IN sweeping operations span- seized during search operations ning the NCR and the Valley in- at the university premises. , vestigative agencies on Tuesday In a parallel crackdown in arrested the founder of Al-Falah Kashmir, the Counter IntelliUniversity Awad Ahmed Siddiq- gence Kashmir detained Dr ui in a money-laundering probe Umer Farooq Bhat, a governand detained a Srinagar-based ment doctor posted at the Super doctor and his wife in connec- Specialty Hospital at SMHS, and tion with the ‘white-collar’ ter- his wife Shahzada Akhtar durror module. The developments ing coordinated raids across Sricome amid the release of a nagar, Kulgam and Anantchilling viral video of Red nag. The searches were Fort suicide bomber Dr conducted under warRED Umar-un-Nabi. rants issued by a desigFORT Siddiqui’s arrest folnated NIA court in conATTACK lows the ED raids connection with an FIR ducted at over 25 locaunder sections of the tions linked to Al Falah group BNS and UAPA. Officials and its Faridabad-based Al Falah said the couple was allegedly University. The agency also involved in online unlawful acseized `48 lakh in cash during tivities in coordination with the searches that began around handlers across the border. Five 5.15 am, according to sources. mobile phones, SIM cards, other His arrest follows two FIRs digital items and documents filed by Delhi Police against the were seized. university for cheating and alPolice allege Dr Umar used his leged forgery of accreditation position to mask activities that documents. Investigators said are “detrimental to public order that the university became a fo- and national security” and cal point of scrutiny after multi- Akhtar is suspected of radicalisple doctors linked to the institu- ing women and has links with tion were arrested in connection Dukhtaran-e-Milat, a banned with the Red Fort terror attack outfit. Hospitals in J&K have inithat killed 13 people and injured tiated locker inspections followmany others. Dr Nabi, who drove ing arms recoveries. P4 D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA N I T I N R A W AT, S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H , F AYA Z W A N I & H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ New Delhi/Srinagar/Chandigarh @ Ahmedabad ‘Martyrdom operations’: Nabi video A self-recorded video of Dr Umar-un-Nabi has come to light, in which he can be heard calling suicide attacks as ‘martyrdom operations’. In the video, he attempted to justify attacks through religious interpretations. Meanwhile, the I&B ministry on Tuesday issued advisory to all private satellite TV channels against telecast of “sensitive” content related to the Red Fort terror attack. THE Sabarmati Central Jail was rocked on Tuesday after ISISlinked terrorist Dr Ahmed Mohyuddin Syed was severely beaten by three undertrial inmates. The clash took place at around 7 am, leaving the recently arrested terrorist with serious eye and facial injuries. The incident led to an internal probe and an FIR. The fight unfolded inside a barrack when a verbal confrontation escalated into a violent assault, with the accused allegedly using a belt-like strap. Syed, a medical graduate from China who had been arrested recently for planning large-scale attacks and experimenting with cyanide-based poison, was rushed to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Gaurav Agrawal, SP of Sabarmati Central Jail, told this newspaper: “We have registered an FIR following the assault on Dr Ahmed. The complainant was attacked by a dark-complexioned, bearded inmate along with two others. They used a belt-like strap. The terrorist suffered an injury near his eye and was rushed to the Civil Hospital.” The reason behind the brawl remains “unclear”, and jail authorities are currently questioning the three accused inmates. This intense beating puts the spotlight back on the security of highrisk prisoners within Gujarat’s most sensitive jail block. Guv-TMC MP spat intensifies, Bose moves HC Lawrence’s Anmol brother being extradited, may land in city today S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata H A R P R E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh THE Raj Bhavan on Tuesday filed a defamation case in the Calcutta High Court against Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee for making “ d e r o g a t o r y ” r e m a rk s against West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, escalating the ongoing conflict. It also lodged criminal complaints against the MP from Sreerampur under various sections of the BNS. It is yet to be confirmed if the complaints have been registered as an FIR. In response, Banerjee said, “I will also move the court tomorrow (Wednesday). The Governor acts like a BJP worker and with approval from Amit Shah, he has filed cases against me,” he said. On Sunday, Bose warned of legal action against Banerjee for his remarks on the previous day The confronta. tion intensified on Monday when Bose requested that cops deploy bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, and the disaster management team to search the Raj Bhavan premises for possible arms and ammunition. ANMOL Bishnoi, the younger brother of notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, is being deported from the US and is expected to land in Delhi on Wednesday. The deportation was confirmed to the family of Baba Siddique, the former Maharashtra minister who was shot dead in Mumbai on October 12 last year. Anmol is a key figure, described as his brother’s “principal overseas handler”, who directs extortion rackets and c o o rd i n at e s a s s i g n m e n t s through encrypted channels. Zeeshan Siddiqui, Baba Siddique’s son, confirmed the development. “I got an email today mor ning from the US informing that he (Anmol) has been removed by the federal government from the United States,” Zeeshan said. “So I immediately informed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.” The official email sent to the family by DHS-VINE Service reads: “This email is to inform you that ANMOL BHISNOI has been removed from the United States by the federal government. The offender was removed on November 18, 2025.” 2024 IN APRIL LAST YEAR, ANMOL’S GANG FIRED ON SALMAN KHAN’S RESIDENCE INVOLVED IN KILLING OF SIDHU MOOSEWALA Anmol Bishnoi is alleged to have coordinated from abroad the plot in the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. He is also wanted for the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s home in April last year. US TELLS BABA’S SON OF ANMOL’S EXPULSION ■ ■ NCP leader and Baba Siddique’s son Zeeshan Siddique said that he had received an email informing that Anmol had been “removed” from the US Baba Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead on October 12, 2024, in front of his son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra Zeeshan, whose email is registered in the victims’ notification with the US, said, “We want to know who was behind my father’s murder. Anmol did it on orders of someone else.” Anmol is from Fazilka, Punjab, and wanted in at least 18 cases. He is alleged to have coordinated from abroad the plot in the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. He reportedly had a hand in providing weapons and logistical support. The NIA has listed Anmol among ‘most wanted’ and announced a reward of `10 lakh for any tip leading to his arrest. Anmol fled the country on a forged passport, traveling through Nepal, Dubai, and Kenya before reaching the US.