wednesdAY Pawar, 84, hints at retirement from parliamentary politics 06 november, 2024 The NCP (SP) chief on Tuesday said that he was contemplating whether to seek another Rajya Sabha term after his current tenure ends in 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in Will continue to work for the people ■ facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard israel ■ netanyahu fires defence minister Israel’s popular defence minister Yoav Gallant was dismissed in a surprise announcement that came as the country is waging wars on multiple fronts SEVEN A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 times Pawar won the Lok Sabha polls; he entered Rajya Sabha in 2014 The decision not to seek Parliamentary position does not mean a complete retirement from the social sphere, Pawar clarified | P8 “I will not be in power, but will continue to work for the people, work for the drought-affected regions, marginalised segments of society,” he said, adding that he will now focus on installing a new leadership to sell US votes to elect its 47th President Govt in HZL 2.5% A g en c i e s Republican vice presidential nominee J D Vance and his wife Usha Vance arrive to vote at the St Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church on Tuesday | AP/PTI digital arrests MHA blocks 6 lakh mobile numbers, 709 applications E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi In a decisive action to deal with cases involving ‘digital arrests,’ the government has deactivated around 6 lakh mobile numbers so far, officials said on Tuesday . In addition to the mobile numbers, the I4C under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has blocked 709 mobile applications of different kinds. As many as 1,10,000 mobile handsets containing specific IMEI numbers identified to be involved in cyber fraud have been blacklisted. Cyber security agencies have frozen around 3.25 lakh fake bank accounts involved in cyber fraud, officials said. These actions followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his ‘Man Ki Batat’ radio programme in which he had cautioned people against ‘digital arrests’ and cyber frauds. The PM had said that those who commit digital arrests first gather all your personal information and then create an atmosphere of fear. “They will scare you so much over the phone that you won’t be able to think. Then, they will show you a sense of urgency They create . such psychological pressure that a person gets scared and becomes a victim of digital arrest,” he had said. Officials dealing with cyber fraud and cases of digital arrest said the 14C has also contacted states’ police, as the agency has been directed to monitor digital arrest cases on a case-to-case basis. The Special Secretary Internal Security (SSIS) has been assigned the task of keeping an overview of such cases being dealt with by Central and state agencies. PM Modi, in his 115th episode of the monthly radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’, had advised citizens to be cautious against digital arrests. He also gave the mantra ‘Ruko-SochAction Lo’ to avoid becoming victims of cyber fraud. MILLIONS of Americans on Tuesday headed towards polling stations across the United States to elect the 47th President between Republican leader Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in an election billed as one of the most consequential contests for the White House in decades. Voting across the country began at 6 am local time. New Hampshire was the first state where polling started. According to US media reports, the early hours of voting were smooth with scattered reports of extreme weather, ballot printing errors, and technical problems causing delays. The early votes included record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner. Over 82 million voters across the US had already voted before the main election day. These votes were sent in either by mail or by visiting the polling station in person. According to an Associated Press report, Republican voters were casting early ballots at a higher rate than in recent previous elections. Both Harris and Trump are fighting for every vote, especially in the seven key battleground states of Arizona, Ne- Results could take several days Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign chief Jen O’Malley Dillon said results may take several days, as vote tallies will come in at different times across states, and close results could delay a final call. “We may not know the results of this election for several days,” she said vada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. The race remained stubbornly deadlocked for weeks, with some of the election forecasters giving 60-year-old Vice President Harris an edge over former President Trump, 78, in some of the key battleground states like Pennsylvania. After casting his vote in Florida, Trump said said if he lost the elections, he would be the first one to acknowledge it if it’s a “fair election”. This is the first presidential vote since Trump lost to Joe Biden four years ago. P9 Right to take over pvt property not total: SC Not all pvt property can be taken over for common good: 7:2 verdict S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Postulating rigiD economic theory The Supreme Court in a 7:2 ruling on Tuesday held that states were not empowered under the Constitution to take over all privately-owned resources for distribution to serve the “common good”. A nine-judge bench of headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, however, said states can stake claim over private properties in certain cases. With this, the court settled the Property Owners Association vs State of Maharashtra case, which is one of the oldest pending before the court. While Justice B V Nagarathna partially concurred with the majority, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia wrote a dissenting verdict. The question before the court was whether “material resources of the community” in Article 39(b) could include privately owned property . The case also involved chal- “In Bhim Singhji, Justice Krishna Iyer cited Karl Marx to observe that taking over large conglomerations of land is necessary to make Article 39 a ‘constitutional reality’... (It) amounts to endorsing a particular economic ideology for our economy,” the CJI said lenges to Chapter VIIIA of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976 introduced in 1986. The chapter allowed the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board to acquire certain “cessed properties” for restoration with the consent of 70% of the residents. The majority verdict authored by the CJI criticised the opinion of Justice Krishna Iyer in a 1978 case, where the latter ruled that all privately owned resources can be acquired by the state for distribution under Article 39(b). “The doctrinal error in the Krishna Iyer approach was, postulating a rigid economic theory, which advocates for greater state control over private resources, as the exclusive basis for constitutional governance,” the verdict said. However, Justice Nagarathna found the observations against Justice Krishna Iyer harsh and unwarranted. The bench said the vision of the framers of the Constitution to establish economic democracy and trust the wisdom of the elected governments was the “backbone of the high growth rate of India’s economy... To scuttle the constitutional vision by imposing a single economic dogma which views the acquisition of private property by the state as the ultimate goal would undermine the values and principles of our Constitutional framework,” the verdict said. SC upholds U.P. Board of Madarsa Edu act, nullifies HC order Wrong call The court said the HC had ended up throwing the baby out with the bathwater by striking down the entire law on the ground that conferment of higher edu degrees were not constitutional S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004, and set aside the Allahabad High Court’s order declaring the Act unconstitutional. “We have upheld the constitutional validity except for a small extent. , The HC erred in holding that the statute is bound to be struck down if it violates secularism,” a threejudge bench led by the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said. The court, however, held that the Madarsa Act, to the extent it regulates higher education, including the degrees of Fazil and Kamil (bachelor and postgraduate level degrees given by madrasas), is in conflict with the UGC Act and hence unconstitutional. The court said a statute could be declared ultra vires only on two grounds — being beyond the legislative competence or violating fundamental rights or any other Constitutional provision. As for regulations relating to the quality of the education, the state is empowered to enforce them. The Act does not directly interfere with the day-today administration, the bench pointed out. UPSC drowning deaths: HC panel for unified command of civic agencies s h e k h a r s i n g h @ New Delhi Gujarat accident A temporary structure that collapsed at a construction site on the MumbaiAhmedabad Bullet Train corridor in Gujarat’s Anand district, killing three persons on Tuesday. The incident took place at Vasad village | ANI There is an urgent need for unified command and improved civic planning in a city struggling to support its rapidly growing population, a report by a committee formed by the Delhi High Court has said. In response to a petition from the advocacy group Kutumb, represented by lawyer Rudra Vikram Singh, the HC mandated the formation of the committee on August 2. It has been tasked with probing the circumstances leading to the drowning of three UPSC aspirants in the basement of RAU study circle’s building during severe flooding on July 27. Besides, it will also examine the city’s infrastructure, and inves- tigate unregulated coaching institutes in the area. Comprising key officials such as Delhi’s Chief Secretary , Commissioner of Police, and representatives from the MCD, NDMC and DDA, the panel submitted its findings to the court on Tuesday . The committee identified four core issues. A multiplicity of administrative bodies has led to a confusing command str ucture, complicating accountability and decision-making. The overlapping responsibilities among agencies create maintenance issues across Delhi’s roadways and storm-water drains. A major recommendation involves transferring 22 of the city’s largest drains to the Irrigation & Flood Control Department (I&FC) by November 30, to establish centralised control over drainage. Furthermore, the committee advises that MCD, NDMC, DDA, and Delhi Cantonment Board take responsibility for side drains, while I&FC oversees main drains. The move aims to eliminate the confusion from a divided management. “The mixing of sewage and storm drains poses severe maintenance challenges,” the report stated, adding that unauthorised colonies and unregulated development around natural water bodies have led to weak drainage networks that struggle during heavy rains. to raise `5K cr M O N IKA YA D AV @ New Delhi THE Centre on Tuesday announced its plan to divest up to 2.5% of its stake in Hindustan Zinc through an offer for sale (OFS) set to commence on November 6. The floor price for this offering has been set at `505 per share. The government is likely to raise `5,000 crore through the OFS. The government plans to sell approximately 5.28 crore shares amounting to 1.25% of the equity, with an option to add another 1.25% of equity The offer . will be available for non-retail investors starting November 6. These investors will have the opportunity to express their interest in carrying forward any unallocated bids to the following day November 7. , Retail investors will have the opportunity to submit their bids on November 7. According to OFS regulations, only retail investors and employees will be permitted to place their bids on Thursday Non-retail investors . who place their bids on Wednesday and opt to carry forward any unallocated bids to the following day will also have the option to revise their bids. Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta, is a major producer of zinc, lead, and silver. Based in Udaipur, the company operates various mines and smelters, focusing on mining practices, resource conservation, and maintaining its position in metal production. The government holds 29.5% in the company . dtc bus mows down delhi cop, another Two people, including a Delhi Police constable, were run over by a DTC bus after the driver lost control of the vehicle due to a technical snag near the Monastery Market | P3 Express read Case against ex-minister in Jal Jeevan Mission case Legal hurdles are mounting for former Public Health Engineering Department Minister Mahesh Joshi as the Rajasthan ACB has registered a case against him and 20 others for alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission. In a separate development, former minister Shanti Dhariwal faces renewed legal challenges. Folk singer Sharda Sinha passes away at AIIMS Popular folk singer Sharda Sinha, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS-Delhi, died on Tuesday night. She was 72. Sinha, a Padma Bhushan recipient synonymous with folk songs in Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Maghahi languages, was on ventilator support after her health deteriorated due to multiple myeloma. hard talk Yechury gone, CPM moves towards Karat line to keep off Congress on core issues A N I L S @ T’Puram Withdrawing from the line proffered by former CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury , the Left party’s current leadership feels it should distance itself from the Congress on core issues such as neo-liberal policies and stance against communal politics. The draft of the Political Review report, presented before the three-day central committee meet that concluded on Monday, is also highly critical of the CPI for promoting the INDIA bloc at the cost of the Left parties. The draft says the INDIA bloc can continue as an Opposition platform but the CPM should protect its electoral interests in its traditional strongholds such as Kerala and West Bengal, adding that the party must work out its tactics and adopt a statespecific approach. Post-Yechury, the CPM has been taking a guarded approach towards furthering any ties with the Congress. The draft leans more towards the Kerala CPM-backed Prakash Karat line that insists on keeping the Congress at bay With Karat be. ing the Politburo coordinator, the draft has chosen to toe a more hardline approach. “The INDIA bloc, as a loose platform that seeks to gather secular Opposition parties, mainly for uniting and pooling anti-BJP votes, should continue. Its main focus of work will be Parliament and periodical elections,” says the report, add- ing that the CPM cannot be part of any broad alliance with the Congress especially in Kerala and West Bengal. The draft report also flags the dangers of the INDIA bloc occupying the Left’s political space. “We should counter any tendency to substitute the independent role and activities of the Party with the INDIA bloc. We must also be clear about the class character of the main party in the INDIA bloc - the Congress,” says the draft. According to the draft, any blurring of the CPM’s distinctive policies and identity will be detrimental to its growth in the country. It also notes that the BJP has made headway in Kerala, at the CPM’s expense.