Monday 07 -1.217 October, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in India’s Net Run-Rate after the Pakistan match photo: ap facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard u s p re z race musk shows up at trump poll rally The Billionaire tech executive cast the polls in dire terms when he appeared alongside Trump, calling him the lone candidate ‘to preserve democracy in America’ Page 9 After an upset loss against New Zealand, Harmanpreet & Co. enjoy relatively smooth sailing against neighbours on the back of a clinical bowling performance.... A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi Beirut sees its ‘worst day’ as Israeli strikes intensify Iran grounds flights amid threat of attack; 50 dead in Gaza, Lebanon l J8.00 Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut on Sunday | AP “significant strike” on Iran, possibly targeting its oil installations or nuclear sites, apart from military infrastructure. Israel has been pounding Lebanon and Gaza since Saturday night. Powerful explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs after midnight on Saturday, killing at least 25 people, authorities in Lebanon saiud. A BBC correspondent in the city described the night as “Beirut’s worst” since Israel started bombing the country two weeks ago. In Gaza, an Israeli strike on a mosque early on Sunday killed at least 21 people, Palestinian officials said. Displaced people were sheltering at the mosque that was struck near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another group of four persons were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town, AP reported. “We are in a new phase of the war,” the Israeli military said in leaflets it dropped over areas in northern Gaza. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones,” it said.  P9 l PAGES 12 Arundhati, Shreyanka excel on bowling day Pakistan opted to bat first in Dubai but Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma were on the money in the powerplay. The pace-spin combo of Arundhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil kept up the pressure, restricting Pakistan to 105/8. India got across the line but lie in fourth place thanks to a vastly inferior NRR. . . P11 Chaos at Marina air show: 5 dead, scores hospitalised gautha m s e lv ara j an @ Chennai The visual spectacle put up by the Indian Air Force at the air show on Marina Beach on Sunday was overshadowed by the gross mismanagement of authorities that left thousands of people struggling to leave the venue and resulted in five deaths. The deceased were identified as D John (56) of Korukkupet, Karthikeyan (34) of Tiruvottiyur, Srinivasan of Perungalathur, Mani (55) of Marakkanam and Dinesh. Hospital authorities are A gen c ie s Iran on Sunday cancelled all flights till Monday amid concerns of Israel’s immediately retaliatory strike on Tehran’s October 1 missile attack on Tel Aviv. While Iranian media quoting officials said the flights have been cancelled due to operational restrictions, Tehran had earlier implemented restrictions on flights when it fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel. Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday intensified its bombardment of southern Beirut and northern Gaza, killing at least 50 people. The day also saw IDF unleash its heaviest bombardment on the Lebanon capital since it escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month. With October 7 marking the first anniversary of Iranbacked Hamas’s gruesome attack, West Asia watchers believe Israel is likely to step up its attacks to target the outfit’s sponsor Iran. Israeli officials have given ample indications in recent days that they are planning a T20 World Cup: India women get the job done against pak awaiting autopsy results to ascertain the cause of the death. As the city witnessed severe heat, with Meenambakkam recording a high of 35oC, the crowd suffered suffocation. Several thousands of people were stranded at the venue for over an hour as traffic came to a standstill. In the melee, over 300 people fainted and at least 43 were treated at a government hospital. At least 200 people were administered first aid at the venue by emergency care staff while others were rushed to nearby hospitals. Emergency staff members at the air show venue on Sunday swiftly carrying an individual on a stretcher to administer first aid | Ashwin prasath Marina comes to a standstill Around 15 lakh people who were estimated to have attended the show were allowed to exit all at once. The crowd, resembling a huge procession made its way to the main junction, jamming up key roads. Even a few of the 40 ambulances had no space to move out NCB, Gujarat ATS bust Bhopal drug factory A N U R A A G S I N G H & D i l ip Singh K s hatriya @ Bhopal/Ahmedabad IN a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Delhi have busted a drug factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and seized mephedrone (MD) and raw materials worth `1,814 crore, authorities said on Sunday . According to sources, the joint team raided a factory in the Bagroda Industrial Area on the outskirts of Bhopal on Saturday and seized 907.09 kg of the banned drug following specific inputs from a person who was recently detained in Surat. A process was underway to manufacture a large amount of the contraband when the raid was carried out, sources added. Two persons identified as Amit Chaturvedi (57) from Bhopal and Sanyal Prakash Bane (40) of Nashik, Maharashtra were taken into custody . Bane was earlier arrested in 2017 in a MD drug seizure case in Maharashtra and served five years in jail. After his release, he conspired with Chaturvedi to manufacture and sell MD to make quick money The factory . was subsequently taken on rent and nefarious operations start- ed a few months ago. The joint raid by the Gujarat ATS and NCB also led to the seizure of around 5,000 kg of raw materials, including chemicals used for manufacturing MD. A preliminary probe suggested that the illegal unit had the capacity to manufacture 25 kg of MD per day officials said. , The Madhya Pradesh police was not officially informed about the raid, said a senior police official. Punjab imposes loan, land Bangladesh New Delhi railway station tops in annual group to hold sale curbs on farmers to Hindu Puja indoors earning, Howrah, Chennai Central follow Durga control stubble burning RAILWAYS’ TOP GROSSERS amid security threats ra j e s h ku m ar thakur @ New Delhi harpreet b a j w a @ Chandigarh Punjab — said to be one of the contributors to bad air in Delhi due to open crop residue burning — has already reported 196 such cases. This season, cases of stubble burning have surfaced 15 days before the start of paddy harvest, which usually begins on October 1. Good news, however, is the state government is taking tough steps: the revenue department is making ‘red entries’ in revenue records of farmers who are reported to be burning the stubble out in the open. These ‘red entries’ will bar such farmers from applying for or renewing arms licences; they cannot sell or mortgage their land to get farm loans. The department has so far made over 30 “red entries” of cultivators responsible for stubble burning. Besides, state cooperative banks have launched Crop Residue Management (CRM) loan scheme. The state government has appointed 8,045 nodal officers to keep vigil. The Commission for Air Quality Management has also formed 26 flying squads for both Punjab and Y e s hi s e l i @ New Delhi Haryana to check these fires. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently said the aim is to make rural credit available easily for farmers to purchase CRM machinery. He said primary agriculture cooperative societies or other entities can facilitate a subsidy benefit of up to 80% on farm equipment. Mann said progressive farmers will be entitled to 50% subsidy on the purchase of farm implements for CRM. Punjab far mers have acquired 8,635 CRM machines. Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said 16,205 sanction letters for the procurement of subsidised CRM machinery have been issued. This year, a budget of `500 crore has been cleared by the Centre for the CRM. With anti-minority sentiments running high in Bangladesh, a prominent Hindu organisation has decided to hold Durga Puja celebrations inside an auditorium. “Considering the volatility of the present situation, Durga Puja in Ramakrishna Mission will be held inside the auditorium as hardliners have issued warnings against making sound,” a senior activist for minorities in Dhaka told this newspaper. The activist said the Hindus are living in a state of fear in Bangladesh after recent incidents of targeted attacks on them and other minority groups. Though the present government has assured protection for puja pandals, none of those accused of attacking the homes and properties of the Hindus have been arrested, the activist said. “We feel the present regime doesn’t want any minorities to exist in Bangladesh. Hindus are being falsely implicated in criminal cases. But can we expect justice to prevail?” Professor Najmul Ahsan Kallimullah, a political commentator based in Dhaka, told this newspaper that, “The minority communities in Bangladesh are a troubled lot today. The present regime considers them as sympathisers of the Awami League.” In some areas, Puja committees have been reportedly asked to pay 5 lakh taka (INR 3.5 lakh) to set up puja pandals. Major gainers Howrah station, with an annual revenue of `1,692 crore stood second and Chennai’s MGR Central, with `1,299 crore earnings in 2023-24 was third Zonewise earners Sixteen stations of Northern Railway were among 100 top earning stations, followed by 15 of Southern Railway, 11 of Central Railway, 9 of East Central Railway. T he N ew D e l h i r a i lw ay station, designated to be developed as a world-class station, has retained its top position among the country’s 100 most earning and busiest railway stations for the financial year 2023-24, according to data released by the Railways. West Bengal’s Howrah station stands second and Chennai’s MGR Central third. These three railway stations among the top 100 have set examples in annual earnings and passenger footfalls together. New Delhi railway station earned more than `3,337 crore during the year, registering 39,362,272 passenger footfalls, followed by Howrah with an annual earning of over `1,692 crore with 61,329,319 passengers and Chennai’s MGR Central with a revenue of `1,299 crore from 30,599,837 passengers. Other railway stations, all categorised as NSG-1 (Non-Suburban Grade-I), which followed the above three are Secunderabad station, generating an annual earning of `12,76 crore from 27,776,937 passengers; Hazrat Nizamuddin with `1,227 crore from 14,537,686 passengers; Lokmanaya Tilak terminal in Mumbai with `1,036 nEXT hARYANA CM WITH less than 24 hours left for the Haryana assembly election results to be announced, the Congress party hopes to celebrate an early Diwali, going by the exit polls. However, it has an uphill task at hand —to nail down a chief mini s t e r ’s n a m e f r o m among multiple contenders and to contain the party’s problem of infighting. The exit polls on Saturday forecast a smooth win for the Congress with most pollsters predicting 55 of Haryana’s 90 seats - comfortably ahead of the halfway mark of 46. Even as the exit polls were out, hectic parleys began in the Congress camp to decide the next Chief Minister. Among the CM hopefuls are Rajya Sabha MP and exUnion minister Kumari Selja, for mer CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son and Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and state Congress chief Udai Bhan, a Hooda loyalist. Bhupinder Singh Hooda left for Delhi on Sunday evening where he will hold a meeting with the party leadership. On Monday, the veteran leader is likely to meet the senior leadership before he returns to his Rohtak residence. His arch-rival Selja, a prominent Dalit face of the party has , not shied away from projecting herself as the CM candidate. Asked who would be the CM if the Congress comes to power, Hooda on Saturday reiterated that there is a laid down procedure in the party, according to which “the opinion of the MLAs will be sought and the high command will decide”. Station Annual earning in ` (Cr) New Delhi 3,337 61,329,319 Howrah (WB) 30,599,837 MGR Central (Chennai) 1,299 27,776,937 Secunderabad (Telangana) 14,537,686 Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) 1,276 1,227 1,692 1,036 14,680,379 Lokmanaya Tilak terminal (Mumbai) Ahmedabad (Gujarat) 1,010 18,260,021 51,652,230 Mumbai CST (Maharashtra) 982 Zonewise no of top earners 16 15 stations of Northern Railway 9 stations of East Central Railway 11 7 of Central Railway Categorisation of railway stations is done every 5 years. The revision of this process for 2024-25 is due crore from 14,680,379 passengers; Ahmedabad in Gujarat with `1,010 crore from 18,260,021 passengers, and Mumbai CST with `9,82 crore from 51,652,230 passengers, as per the data. In addition to these NGS-1 stations, Pune railway station in Maharashtra and Anand Vihar in Delhi also have figured among 100 top earning stations. Pune registered an annual earning of `9,76 crore from 22,256,812 passengers and Anand Vihar re- stations of Southern Railway 6 of Eastern Railway of Northern Central Railway c o rd e d ` 8 , 4 4 c ro re f ro m 12,235,275 passengers. According to the official assessment of earnings, 22 stations of NSG-1 are among 100 top in terms of revenue generation. The data shows that 16 stations of Northern Railway are among 100 top earning stations, followed by 15 stations of Southern Railway 11 of Central Rail, way 9 of East Central Railway , , 7 of Eastern Railway, and 6 of Northern Central Railway . E x p re s s rea d Two stranded foreign mountaineers rescued Lobbying starts in Cong even before results P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Passenger footfall 39,362,272 Two foreign women mountaineers, who were stranded at a height of 6,015 metres on way to the Chaukhamba III peak in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, were rescued on Sunday morning, the District Disaster Management Centre in Uttarakhand said. The mountaineers — Michelle Theresa Dvorak from the US and Fay Jane Manners from the UK — were stranded since October 3. | P8 ‘MLAs, high command will decide’ On whether Selja would become the next CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “This is democracy. Everybody should aspire. You can also aspire. But the MLAs will decide, the high command will decide” bumpycity roads ride for public on There are at least 10 major stretches in the national capital, where walking and commuting can be dangerous because of large potholes, thanks to apathetic attitude of civic agencies. Flyovers and residential areas too are badly damaged despite several promises made by the ruling dispensation in the last three years | P4 `10 cr worth cocaine Muizzu arrives, likely seized from Punjab to sign trade pacts A probe into the `5,620-crore drug seizure, one of the biggest drug busts ever in the national capital, led the Delhi Police Special Cell to the recovery of cocaine worth `10 crore from Punjab’s Amritsar. Earlier in the day, the police said they had arrested a person in connection with the new seizure. Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu arrived in Delhi on Sunday for a four-day State visit to reset the strained ties with India amid a looming economic crisis in the island nation. Muizzu will meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday | P7