SATURDAY 05 OCTOBER, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard APPLE SAYS IT WILL MANUFACTURE ENTIRE iPHONE 16 LINEUP IN INDIA PREZ RACE OBAMA TO JOIN KAMALA CAMPAIGN Weeks after launching its iPhone 16 series, Apple said that it will manufacture its entire iPhone 16 lineup, including premium devices, in India Former US Prez will stump for Kamala Harris in key swing states, adding his star power to the Democrat’s White House bid in the final month before poll. PREMIUM DEVICES TO ROLL OUT THIS MONTH A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 Modi convenes urgent Cabinet meet to discuss West Asia crisis RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi AMID rising global tensions over the prospects of an IsraelIran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) to discuss the evolving situation and its potential impact on India. According to sources, a significant portion of the discussion focused on fuel and crude oil supplies, with Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman putting the status on trade with other countries. The committee deliberated on whether the rising international fuel prices, influenced by the situation involving Iran, could affect India’s oil sector. A source said the Ministry of Finance ruled out any immediate adverse implications for India. The CCS meeting, held late on Thursday evening, lasted over 20 minutes, during which various aspects of the unfolding situation were discussed. Apart from ministers, officials from Home Affairs, External Affairs, Finance, and Defence were also present. The ministers deliberated on the potential for trade relations with countries affected by the conflict, noting that India’s trade interests could be hit. Prime Minister Modi urged ministers and officials to maintain heightened vigilance and to closely monitor developments. He stressed the need to ensure the safety of Indian nationals working in West Asia. According to estimates, over 30,000 Indians are currently in Israel, while there are about 10,000 Indians are in Iran. NEW DELHI Jaishankar-led team to attend SCO meet in Pak J8.00 This marks the first instance of Apple producing its premium devices outside China. The company said Indian-made iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models will be rolled out this month. These will be available for local customers and will also be exported. “Apple is now manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India,” it said | P10 PAGES 12 28 MAOISTS KILLED IN SOUTH BASTAR E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur First Indian foreign minister in nine years to visit the neighbour amid frosty bilateral ties Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S and condemnable, but it is not Jaishankar will lead the Indian surprising,” said Jaiswal. delegation for the upcoming Bilateral ties became frosty SCO Summit in Islamabad, after Indian Air Force jets making him the first Indian bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed foreign minister to visit Paki- training camp in Balakot deep stan in nine years. “Jaishankar inside Pakistan in February will lead the Indian delegation 2019 in response to a terror atfor the SCO Summit for Islama- tack on a CRPF bus in J&K’s bad on October 15-16,” said Pulwama. Months later, J&K’s Ministry of External Affairs special powers under Article spokesperson Randhir 370 were read down. Jaiswal on Friday . Pakistan retaliated by Foolproof The last time an Indowngrading diplosecurity dian external affairs matic ties with India. Pakistan minister went to PakiDuring his recent s t a n w a s S u s h m a minister Mohsin UN General Assembly Naqvi said Swaraj’s visit in 2015. address, Jaishankar personnel from said, while many counThere was no clarity the Army, on whether India will tries get left behind have any bilateral Rangers, FC and due to circumstances Punjab police talks with other Shangbeyond their control, hai Cooperation Or- will be deployed some make conscious to ensure ganisation (SCO) choices with disasfoolproof members as Jaiswal trous consequences, said Jaishankar is security for the pointing to Pakistan SCO guests, travelling to Pakistan as a prime example. “A reports Dawn only to attend the sumdysfunctional nation mit. During the SCO coveting the lands of foreign ministers’ meeting in others must be exposed and Goa in 2023, Pakistan’s foreign countered,” he said. minister Bilawal Bhutto had He was rebuffing the false travelled to India along with 11 equivalence Pakistan Prime journalists from his country . Minister Shehbaz Sharif Significantly Indian fugitive sought to draw between Kash, and radical Islamist Zakir Naik mir and Palestine in his UNGA is in Pakistan since the past address the previous day Later, . few days. He also met Pakistani defence minister Rajnath Singh Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said India could have extended on Thursday . much more aid to the neigh“We are not surprised that a bour than the IMF’s $7 billion fugitive from Indian justice has had it mended its ways. Bastar inspector general of police Sundarraj P inspecting the weapons recovered from Maoists after an encounter on September 25 in Narayanpur | EXPRESS Major encounters in Bastar this year MARCH 27: 6 Maoists killed in Bijapur APRIL 2: 13 Maoists killed in Bijapur APRIL 6: 3 Maoists killed along C’garhTelangana border APRIL 16: 29 Maoists killed in Kanker APRIL 30: 9 AUG 29: 3 Woman MAY 23: 7 SEPT 3: 9 Maoists killed at inter-district border Narayanpur-Kanker Maoists killed on borders of KankerNarayanpur Maoists killed on inter-district border Narayanpur-Bijapur Maoists killed on inter-district border Dantewada-Bijapur JUNE 6: 7 SEPT 25: 3 Maoists Maoists killed on Narayanpur, Dantewada and Kondagaon June 15: 8 Maoists killed in Narayanpur killed In Narayanpur OCT 4: 28 Maoists killed on inter-district border DantewadaNarayanpur 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 Friday constituted an independent special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations that animal fat was used to prepare laddus at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh. The new SIT substitutes the Andhra Pradesh government’s probe panel constituted on September 26 to look into the row. A bench of Justices B R Ga- Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said there is no question of privatising the railways, asserting that providing affordable service to all is the ministry’s focus. The minister said the railways is working to ensure that people can travel up to 1,000 km in comfort in less than `400 | P7 90 Assembly seats in Haryana potboiler, BJP & Cong battle it out The fate of CM Nayab Singh Saini, LoP in the Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat of Congress and 1,027 other candidates will be decided on Saturday as elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly will be held with over 2 crore people eligible to vote | P8 Lookout notice against bizman in Delhi drug haul’s Dubai connection The Delhi Police has issued a look out circular against an Indian-origin Dubai-based businessman, who is suspected to be involved in the drug cartel whose contraband worth over `5,000 crore was busted in the capital a couple of days back, an officer said on Friday | P4 SC questions L-G’s ‘tearing hurry’ in MCD panel poll P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi ‘Prima facie wrong’ THE Supreme Court on Friday questioned the “tearing hurry” on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor’s office for holding the polls for the sixth member of the MCD’s standing committee and “interfering” with the electoral process. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan also asked L-G VK Saxena not to hold the election for the post of chairman of Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee till the next hearing. The court expressed concern over the exercise of power under Section 487 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act. The rule permits the L-G to intervene in the The SC bench said it could see there was politics involved. “The exercise of power under Section 487 of the DMC Act and the way elections were held in the absence of mayor was prima facie wrong, it said. MCD functioning. However, the court questioned the legitimacy of using this power to influence the electoral process. “Where do you (L-G) get the power to interdict the electoral process?” the bench asked, noting that such actions could jeopardize democracy . The bench issued a notice to the L-G office, seeking a response within two weeks on a plea filed by Mayor Shelly Oberoi. The plea 65 2020 40 2021 51 2022 30 2023 20 2024* 185 (*till Oct 04) vai and K V Viswanathan said the fresh probe team shall have two CBI officers, two Andhra Pradesh police officers, and a senior official of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The two CBI officers would be nominated by the agency’s director while the two officers from the Andhra Pradesh Police would be named by the state government. The FSSAI chairperson would nominate a senior of- Vaishnaw says no privatisation, asserts rlys set for transformation Arvind Kejriwal and his family members at AAP MP Ashok Mittal’s residence at 5 Ferozeshah Road on Friday | PARVEEN NEGI 2019 SC forms new SIT to probe laddu row EXPRESS READ 5 FEROZESHAH ROAD Maoists killed in last five years AT least 28 Maoists were killed in a fierce gun battle with the security forces close to the forested NendurThulthuli area along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Narayanpur in south Bastar on Friday . Bastar range inspector general of police Sunderraj P said the troopers have recovered 28 bodies so far. The count could go up further. “Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the region, a joint team comprising District Reserve Guards and Special Task Force launched parallel search operations. While the encounter began around 1 pm, intermittent exchange of firing continued till late in the evening. Search operations in the region are underway,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief told this newspaper. A large cache of assault weapons, including AK-47, self-loading rifles, explosives, besides other items of Maoists were recovered from the site, the police said. There was no report of any injury sustained by the forces. The recovered bodies will be identified after the safe return of the security forces engaged in the operation. Dantewada and Narayanpur are among the seven Maoist-affected districts in the Bastar zone. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the operation and said the ‘double engine’ government (BJP government in the state and at the Centre) is determined to eliminate the menace. As many as 185 Maoist fighters have been neutralised by security forces this year alone (see table). Besides, 663 others have been arrested and 556 surrendered since January in the conflict-ridden Bastar zone. Since 2019, as many as 277 new camps of central armed police forces were set up to fill the security vacuum in the Maoist-affected areas of the state. challenges the September 27 polls, in which the BJP won a seat on the standing committee unopposed. AAP councillors had abstained, leading to the BJP victory. The court stressed that it was forced to take up the matter due to the L-G’s use of power under Section 487. Senior advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the L-G, raised objections to the petition’s maintainability, arguing that elections can only be contested through election petitions. In her petition, Oberoi argued that the L-G’s office had overstepped by asking the municipal commissioner to preside over the polls, a role that traditionally belongs to the mayor. “We have serious doubts about the legality and validity of your (L-G’s) powers,” the bench said. Jain, counsel for the L-G’s office, said he was raising a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the petition because the elections can only be challenged by way of an election petition. He submitted that the mayor postponed the election to October 5 in violation of the court’s direction of filling the vacancy within a month. ficer to be a part of the SIT, it said. The SIT shall work under the supervision of the CBI director, the bench added. The SC said it hasn’t gone into the merits of allegations and counter allegations on alleged adulteration of the laddus. “We won’t allow the Supreme Court to be used for political drama. There are sentiments of crores of people throughout the world,” the bench said. The court said its order to set up a fresh probe panel should in no way be construed as any reflection on the independence or the fairness of the officers of the SIT constituted by the state government. “We are passing order regarding entrustment of this matter to an independent agency consisting of the aforesaid members only to assuage the feelings of crores of people/ devotees having faith in the deity,” the bench said while disposing of the petitions seeking a court-monitored probe.
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