fridAY 06 december, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard After Aleppo rebels capture 2nd Syrian city Experts divided on potential for more gains ■ Rebels took control of Hama on Thursday days after seizing the country’s commercial hub Aleppo in an offensive against Prez Bashar al-Assad’s forces. ■ A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 aus vs ind Rohit makes bold call, to bat in middle at Adelaide l New Delhi J8.00 l PAGES 12 Fadnavis back as SC eases curbs as Maha cm, Shinde & air quality better Pawar his deputies strict monitoring sought S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Speaker to be named on Dec 9, cabinet expansion next week G o m e s h S @ Chennai And there it was. About 24 hours after KL Rahul told the media in Adelaide jokingly that he had been informed about his batting position but asked not to reveal it, captain Rohit Sharma cleared the air by announcing that he will be moving down the order to pave way for the 32-year-old at the top in the second Test against Australia beginning Friday . “Yes, he (Rahul) will be opening the batting. I’ll bat somewhere in the middle,” Sharma told reporters on the eve of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Leaders are known or recognised for the choices they make, especially for them and the team. Sharma acknowledged that it will not be easy in the middle, but for the greater good of the team this was the best solution. “Not easy for me, but it’s the best for the team,” he said. The significance of this call — to have Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top after their success in Perth — cannot be understated, especially in the Indian cricketing context. Barring the occasional tactical moves, captains or top-order batters, have rarely opted to sacrifice their positions. With Rahul and Jaiswal combining into a potent force in the first Test, Sharma did not want to tinker with it. “We want success. Those two guys at the top, just looking at this one Test, they batted brilliantly I was . at home with my newborn in my arms and I was watching how KL batted. It was brilliant. Maybe, in the future things will be different. I don’t know. Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, he probably deserves that place at this point in time,” Sharma said. l Bitcoin was trading at $69,374 on the day of US elections. Two years ago, it fell below $17,000 after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX While some experts are bullish, others have warned of risks given the recent surge. Lighter regulation from the coming Trump administration, while a good news for the crypto industry, could mean less guardrails | p10 This team is a blend of experience and dynamism, and it is due to its collective efforts that Mahayuti got a historic mandate Narendra Modi, PM I will extend all possible cooperation and backing to the chief minister. We will work as a team Eknath Shinde, Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis after taking oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister | X S U D HIR S URYA W A N S HI @ Mumbai Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday took oath as Maharashtra chief minister for the third time, marking the BJP leader’s return to the top post after a gap of five years. Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers. No other ministers were sworn in. The cabinet is likely to be expanded next week, ahead of the winter session of state legislature in Nagpur. Fadnavis said portfolio allocations have been more or less finalised but a few more rounds of consultations with coalition partners are pending. An announcement will be made later, he said. “The posts may have changed among them, but the direction of work will remain the same. We will also hear out the Opposition if they bring the relevant points. The Speaker’s name will be decided on December 9. Maharashtra will have a very stable government in next five years,” Fadnavis said. express read Farmers from Ambala plan march to city today A ‘jatha’ of 101 farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi at 1 pm on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Thursday. However, the Ambala administration has issued an order, restricting any unlawful assembly of five or more persons in the district. The police in Ambala sounded an alert over the farmers’ plan to march to Delhi. Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed on the Haryana side of the border. AAP legislator sent to 1-day judicial custody The Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday sent AAP’s Uttam Nagar legislator Naresh Balyan to a day’s judicial custody in connection with a case lodged against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Earlier in the day, Dwarka court dismissed the police plea seeking 10-day custody for Balyan. Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain rebuked the prosecution for its approach. | P3 Before taking the oath, Fadnavis visited the Siddhivinayak temple and also took the blessing of his mother. That Shinde would join the government as deputy CM was confirmed only hours before the swearing-in ceremony amid the protracted political drama over his reported reluctance to accept the post. Shinde invoked late Balasaheb Thackeray and his Guru Anand Dighe while taking the oath. Over 42,000 people gathered at Azad Maidan to witness the swearing-in ceremony Prime Minis. ter Narendra Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, and S h iv r a j S i n g h C h o u h a n , besides chief ministers of various states were present at the ceremony . Also in attendance were cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Janhvi Kapoor. From the business world, Mukesh Ambani and Kumar Mangalam Birla attended. p8 The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Commission for Air Quality Management to relax the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) 4 restrictions to stage 2 with the pollution level in Delhi-NCR showing a downward trend. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, however, suggested the CAQM to include some additional measures of GRAP-3 in stage-2 curbs. “Considering the data which have been placed before us, we do not think that it will be appropriate at this stage to allow commission (CAQM) to go below stage 2, perhaps further monitoring on the part of this court is necessary the bench said. ,” The bench told the CAQM that stage 3 curbs would be introduced if the AQI crossed the 350-mark and stage 4 curbs if AQI crossed 400. “While we permit the commission to do so we must record here that if the commission finds that the AQI goes above 350 as a precautionary measures under stage 3 have to be implemented and if AQI crosses 400 on a given day stage 4 measures have to be introduced,” it said. Noting the AQI level did not cross 300 in the last four days, the bench said it was true that at some stage the court would have to leave it to the commission to decide the applicability of stages under GRAP to curb air pollution. The bench would pass further directions on December 12. ‘meteorological, geographical conditions push pollution down’ Uproar in LS over Oppn-Soros link PREE T H A N A IR @ New Delhi There is no doubt that the grand coalition government will take the state to new heights on the path of development Ajit Pawar, Dy CM Portfolio sharing formula Sources said out of the total 43 portfolios, 24 will be kept by BJP as the single largest party with 132 MLAs, while 10 will go to Shinde-led Shiv Sena that has 57 MLAs, and nine to Pawar-led NCP that has 41 MLAs The CAQM said that the air quality in the city improved largely due to meteorological and geographical conditions. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Education on Thursday issued a circular announcing the resumption of physical classes in all government and private schools after the SC allowed CAQM to shift to GRAP Stage 2 restrictions. LOK SABHA proceedings were on Thursday disrupted after the Opposition and Treasury Benches clashed over the latter’s allegation linking Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other leaders with US-based multi-billionaire George Soros. Chaos erupted during the zero hour after BJP member Nishikant Dubey cited reports in a publication based on findings of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which had alleged links to Soros. Dubey said an international conspiracy was hatched to derail India’s success story under PM Narendra Modi. He also alleged that the Congress had sought to halt Parliament on various issues published by OCCRP , including the Pegasus spying row, Admission norms for UG and PG courses tweaked by UGC Rahul Gandhi with other opposition MPs at a protest during the Winter session | PTI questioning the efficacy of Covid vaccines developed in India, and the Hindenburg reports. Dubey said that several Opposition leaders raised the issues flagged in media reports, many of which were published on the eve of Parliament sessions in India. As the House witnessed massive uproar, the Speaker called Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi to raise the issue of violence in Sambhal. Gogoi tried to counter the allegations levelled by Dubey leading to a ruckus. The House was adjourned for the day after the Speaker adjourned it twice at 2 pm and 3 pm. Later, Congress MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded that Dubey must apologise for his remarks. Meanwhile, in an unusual protest, leaders of opposition parties wore black jackets with stickers reading ‘Modi Adani Ek Hai’ and ‘ dani Safe Hai’ on them and raised A slogans on the House premises to demand a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani issue. Rahul Gandhi put the sticker on his trademark white T-shirt. p7 UG and PG aspirants can now seek admission in any discipline irrespective of the one studied in Class 12 or at the undergraduate level (for PG courses)  p7 | Allu Arjun booked for theatre stampede death A j ay T o m a r @ Hyderabad A day after a woman was crushed to death during the premier of Pushpa-2: The Rule, the police on Thursday lodged a criminal case against the film’s star Allu Arjun, his security team and the management of Sandhya theatre. The case was registered under BNS Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 118(1) r/w 3(5)(voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means). DCP Central Zone, Akshansh , Yadav told reporters that the theatre management was required to deploy extra personnel to manage the crowd. “Around 9.30 pm, when people were waiting for the show to begin, Allu Arjun arrived and his security team started pushing people, which created confusion. Taking advantage of the situation, a large number of people entered the lower balcony area along with the actor and his security team, leading to suffocation,” Yadav said. The movie was, however, screened at the Sandhya theatre on Friday. The theatre is one of the landmarks of Hyderabad where stars go for releases. An officer said, “As the shows were previously booked, we have allowed the theatre to continue exhibiting the movie. However, we may seal it if required as part of the probe.” Meanwhile, protests erupted outside the theatre demanding stern seeking against the management and ex-gratia for the family of M Revathi (35). Condition of her 13-year-old son, Sreetheja, is critical. Meanwhile, Allu Arjun’s team expressed grief over the tragedy, saying “... Our team will provide the necessary help to the family .” Cold facts Scientists discover fast-growing glacier in U’khand, to get a name soon N A REN D R A S E T HI @ Dehradun A group of scientists recently discovered a new glacier in Uttarakhand that was found to be rapidly expanding in size. The glacier is located in the Niti Valley, a remote area in the northernmost region of the hilly state, close to the India-Tibet border. Stretching about 10 km in length, the new glacier that is yet to be named lies adjacent to the Randolph and Rekana glaciers and spans approximately 48 sq km. The curious discovery was made by glaciologists Manish Mehta, Vineet Kumar, Ajay Rana, and Gautam Rawat of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun. Their study Manifestations of a Gla, cier Surge in Central Himalaya The site of the new glacier Using Multi-Temporal Satellite Data, was done using satellite data. Their findings show the glacier is currently ‘surging’. “A glacier surge refers to the sudden and rapid increase in the size of a glacier. While it’s challenging to physically access the area, satellite data suggests three primary reasons for this phenomenon,” Mehta, who is a senior geologist at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said. , One reason for this curious phenomenon, Mehta said, could be hydrological imbalance, which occurs when the porosity of water causes the ice layers to weaken and lose stability This, in turn, leads to . the ice sliding downwards. Another reason could be thermal contrast. “The surface beneath the glacier becomes smooth and slippery, increasing the lubrication between the upper and lower layers of the glacier,” he said. The third reason could be sedimentary terrain, he added. “The mixture of water and soil creates a slippery surface, causing the glacier’s layers to slide over each other,” Mehta explained. After attack, Sukhbir Badal back to ‘sewa’ h a r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh A day after he survived an assassination bid, SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday performed ‘tankhah’ duty (religious punishment) as ‘sewadar’ amid tight security outside Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Rupnagar district of Punjab. Badal, dressed in blue ‘sewadar’ uniform, sat at the entrance of the Ananadpur Sahib shrine with a spear in one hand for an hour and then listened to kirtan along with his wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and son Anantveer Singh Badal. The entire family then performed ‘sewa’ of washing utensils in the gurdwara. Sukhbir has Z-plus security cover. Sukhbir is undergoing religious punishment pronounced by the Akal Takht, the temporal body of Sikhs. Besides the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Takht has also asked Badal to perform the service of ‘sewadar’ at Takht Kesgarh Sahib, Takht Damdama Sahib, and Darbar Sahib in Muktsar and Fatehgarh Sahib for two days each. During his penance at the Golden Temple on Wednesday , Badal had a narrow escape as a former Khalistani terrorist fired at him from a close range but missed as he was overpowered by plainclothed cops.