Monday India, China made some progress in disengagement, says Jaishankar 04 November, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in India and China have made ‘some progress’ in disengagement, the foreign minister said while interacting with the Indian diaspora in Brisbane facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Fourth us warning to iran b-52 bombers reach west asia Strategic bombers arrive in West Asia to defend Americans and the US interests, a day after Washington announced their deployment in a warning to Iran Page 9 It opens up possibility for other steps: EAM A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi 12 injured as terrorists lob grenade at Srinagar crowd CRPF vehicle was the target; L-G asks forces to crush terror outfits F AYA Z W A N I @ New Delhi A day after Srinagar witnessed the first encounter in two years, militants on Sunday carried out a grenade attack at the crowded flea market in the city , injuring 12 people, including two women. The condition of one person is critical. After the attack, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha directed security officials to use full force and crush the terror outfits. Sources said militants lobbed a grenade towards a vehicle of paramilitary CRPF at Sunday Market near Tourist Reception Centre. The attack happened in the afternoon when the place was crowded with people thronging the flea market to buy woollens and other items. “The grenade missed the intended target and exploded on a road. It caused splinter injuries to those present on the spot,” a police official said. The injured were evacuated to nearby SMHS hospital, where doctors attended to them. Medical Superintendent Dr Tasneem Showkat told this newspaper that of one the injured is in critical condition while the rest are stable. The grenade attack caused panic in the area with the people running helter-skelter. The grenade attack took place a day after an encounter l J8.00 M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that the BJP will implement the Unifor m Civil Code (UCC) in Jharkhand if it wins the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, but would keep the tribals out of the law’s ambit. “Uniform Civil Code will definitely be introduced in Jharkhand, but the tribal community will be kept out of its ambit,” Shah said. “They (The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress) are spreading rumours that if the UCC is intro- PAGES 12 duced in the state, the art and culture of the tribal population will be ruined,” he said. Releasing the BJP’s manifesto, ‘Sankalp Patra’, for the upcoming elections in Jharkhand, Shah alleged that the JMM-led state government has failed to protect the tribal land from ‘intruders’. He said if the BJP forms gover nment in the state, it will bring laws to prevent the transfer of tribal land to infiltrators and take back the land already g rabbed by them.“If the BJP forms government, we will make a law to return the land to the innocent tribals of Jharkhand,” Shah said. Training his guns on Soren, Shah said the chief minister insulted Champai Soren by unceremoniously removing him from the post of CM to satisfy his lust for power. Reacting to Shah’s promise to implement the UCC, Soren vowed that neither the UCC nor the National Registry of Citizens will be implement- Winter session likely from Nov 25, Centre may introduce Waqf bill Forensic team collects samples from the attack site in Srinagar on Sunday | PTI P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi in Khyanyar area of Srinagar in which a top Lashkar commander was killed. There has been a surge in militant violence and attacks in Jammu and Kashmir after the civilian government led by Omar Abdullah took charge as chief minister on October 16. THE winter session of Parliament is likely to commence on November 25 and will continue until December 20, according to sources. During the session, the government will introduce the contentious One Nation One Election and Waqf bills. The results of the Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly elections, which will come on November 23, will also have a significant bearing on the session. Still smarting from the Haryana defeat, the Congress and its allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are pinning J&K Assembly session starts today The legislative assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will meet for a fiveday session on Monday. NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather is set to be the speaker | P8 “The last few days have been dominated by headlines of attacks and encounters in parts of the Valley Today’s news of a . grenade attack on innocent shoppers... is deeply disturbing. There can be no justification for targeting innocent civilians,” Omar Abdullah said. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha spoke to DGP Nalin Prabhat and senior security officials. “Terrorists targeting citizens will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. You have full freedom to crush terror outfits and leave no stone unturned to complete this mission,” Sinha told the senior security officials. their hopes on wresting power in Maharashtra while retaining the Hemant Sorenled government in Jharkhand. The results will dominate the tone and tenor of the session. Sources said the government may also pass a resolution to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, a crucial step towards reinstating constitutional rights and safeguarding the unique identity of the region’s residents. Recently, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the issues related to the Union Territory including early resto, ration of statehood. According to sources, a special joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament will be held on November 26 to mark the 75th anniversary of adopting the Constitution of India. The joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is likely to be held in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan, where the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949, and it came into effect on January 26, 1950. If the government introduces the One Nation, One Election Bill in Parliament, it will face stiff resistance as several opposition-ruled states are opposed to the proposal, saying it is against the Constitution. Anand Vihar among areas in hazardous air category e x press news ser v i c e @ New Delhi ujwa l ja l ai @ New Delhi Cops cling to the bonnet of the car | pti l “In terms of India and China, yes, we have made some progress,” he said, adding that the disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh, agreed by India and China, is a welcome step. S Jaishankar said it could open up the possibility that “other steps could happen” that would improve the ties further. He arrived in Australia on Saturday and will fly to Singapore later Will implement UCC, tribals to be exempt: Shah Two on-duty cops injured as car drags them for 20m Two Delhi traffic police officers were injured when the car they attempting to stop dragged them for over 20 metres in the Ber Sarai area of southwest Delhi, a senior police officer said on Sunday . The incident occurred on Saturday evening at around 7.45 pm at the Ber Sarai traffic light near Vedant Deshika Marg where the cops were on a routine inspection. The police have identified the driver and co-driver of the vehicle. Both are minors. A purported video recorded by an onlooker showed two policemen clinging to the bonnet as the driver of the offending car kept moving his vehicle back and forth. Seconds later, one of the policemen fell on the road, banging his head, as the driver tried to flee the spot. DCP (South-west) Surendra Choudhary said Kishan Garh police station got a PCR call stating that an unknown vehicle has hit traffic officers on duty and fled the scene. “A team was immediately sent to the spot. It was found that the injured personnel had been rushed to Safdarjung Hospital by a PCR van. Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) Pramod and head constable Sailesh Chouhan were found to be in a conscious and stable condition,” the officer said. Indian consulate in Australia to be inaugurated in Brisbane by Jaishankar RUSH season People wait for trains to reach their hometowns ahead of the Chhath Puja festival, at New Delhi railway station, on Sunday | PTI E x p r e ss r e a d 24-year-old woman held over Two suffocate to death in West death threat to Yogi Adityanath Delhi furniture godown fire A 24-year-old woman was on Sunday arrested by the Mumbai Police for sending a death threat to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Fatima Khan, a BSc graduate, hailed from Ulhasnagar in Thane district. Police said the accused is well qualified but was mentally unstable. A major fire broke out in a furniture godown in Kirti Nagar area of west Delhi early on Sunday morning. Two people, who were sleeping in a room on the godown’s terrace when the fire started, died of asphyxiation, police said. Two others were rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital. P3 Delhi’s air hit the hazardous point in many areas on Sunday . The Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 832 mark at Anand Vihar — meaning everyone should avoid all outdoor activity due to the extremely unhealthy air quality . The AQI was recorded 771 in Patparganj area, 641 in Dwarka and 692 at Jhilmil (Shahdara), according to AQI real-time monitoring centre AQICN data. These values are over 50 times more threatening than the WHO-prescribed limit. The government may now have to consider banning BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel fourwheelers, initiate dust suppression measures, and ban all nonessential construction activities in the coming days. The air pollution level now lies in the alarming ‘hazardous’ category (above AQI 400) in most parts of the capital, with PM2.5 levels over 59.6 times more threatening than the World Health Organisa- Gurugram-Delhi Expressway on Sunday tion’s (WHO)-prescribed limit. According to weather analysts, it is likely that wind speed will drop further and, cause more pollutants to settle in. Local factors, including construction activities, heavy volumes of vehicles, and farm fires, would aggravate the situation. At present, the major contributors to PM2.5 pollution are local and regional sources. The transport sector is the most significant contributor at 12.24%, as per the Decision Support System data by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology . ed in the state. Senior BJP leaders including Jharkhand election in-charge Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam Chief Minister and co-election in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma attended the function to launch the ‘Sankalp Patra’. Shah said the BJP will launch ‘GoGo Didi Yojna’ in the state if elected. Under the scheme, `2100 will be transferred to poor women on the 11th day of every month. Besides, free LPG cylinders will be given to poor households on Diwali and Raksha Bandhan, P8 he said.  east delhi Sisters assault ex-DSP for asking them not to honk e x press news ser v i c e @ New Delhi A former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Uttar Pradesh and his family were allegedly assaulted by two sisters following an argument over honking in east Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave area, an official said on Sunday . According to the police, the incident escalated into violent confrontation after Ashok Sharma, a resident of Anekant Apartments, requested the carborne sisters to refrain from honking on Friday night. Police said that the former DSP, who is a cancer patient, was manhandled by the sisters on Saturday. High drama unfolded when police was called to the spot, when the sisters, who live in the same complex, behaved aggressively . “It has been alleged that both the sisters entered Sharma’s house by force and confronted him and his family with a knife, creating a ruckus that drew neighbours to the scene. Some residents, who attempted to intervene, sustained minor injuries,” said the officer. After the confrontation, the sisters fled in their vehicle, reportedly colliding with a scooter and dragging it for some metres, injuring a police man on it. “They (sisters) were chased and apprehended from Noida,” said the officer. The accused were identified as Charvi Jain and Bhavya Jain (both in their early twenties), who were the daughters of a businessman. Around a couple of months ago, the duo had allegedly assaulted their society’s security guard and burnt his skin with hot iron. When the cops had tried to nab the offenders and reached their residence, they refused to open the door and poured dirty water on the police personnel. h u m i l i a ti o n a t h o m e Gone with the spin in less than 10 days: Why India crumbled G o mesh S @ Mumbai INDIA did not have any tangible answer to New Zealand’s, what seemed like, an infinite variety of cricket. If the hosts perished to some immaculate pace bowling under overcast conditions, almost England– like in Bengaluru, and later, on turning tracks in Pune and Mumbai, the batters scratched their heads like students struggling to find solutions to multiple problems. Only Risabh Pant stood among the ruins. The ending seemed inevitable on Sunday. After all, for the nine days of cricket India and New Zealand have had in this series, the visitors outperformed India in almost every single one. The tenth day (of the three-Test series) was no different either as New Zealand became the first team to beat India in three consecutive Tests at home. While Tom Latham’s side was spot on in every move, captain Rohit Sharma’s every move seemed to have backfired. He admitted as much after the loss here. “Something like this will be a low point in my career. I fully take responsibility for that as a 92 New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel (3L) and Devon Conway (L) shake hands with India’s Virat Kohli (2R) and captain Rohit Sharma (2L). Ravindra Jadeja is also seen in the picture (extreme right) | AFp India have been clean swept in a Test series at home (3 matches or more) for the first time in 92 years of their history captain. I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series. With the bat, I have not been good enough,” Sharma said. It all began in Bengaluru when Sharma misread the pitch and opted to bat. The chances of recovery were slim after the 46 all out in the first innings. In search of a win, India opted for a surface that would assist spinners in Pune. However, it was Mitchell Santner who outfoxed the host batters. The second Test loss exposed the struggles of the most experienced batters against spin. In Mumbai, on another rank turner, India went into self-destruct mode. On Sunday, too, the collapse began with Sharma’s miscued pull against Matt Henry. They slumped to 29/5 and eventually fell short by 25 runs while chasing 147. India are in transition where the seniors, including Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, are in the November of their careers. India’s last home series defeat came 12 years ago. The dominance that followed and the fall in the last three weeks would make this one of the lowest phases in the history of Indian cricket.