SATURDAY CHINA PLAYS DOWN REPORTS OF FLU OUTBREAK, SAYS IT’S SAFE TO VISIT 04 China’s foreign ministry said there is no massive flu outbreak in the country and that its hospitals are not overwhelmed by the influx of flu patients JANUARY, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard SOUTH KOREA YOON USES GUARDS TO FEND OFF COPS Investigators abandoned their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, citing safety concerns after a standoff with his security. PAGE 9 HMPV A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  IS LIKE ANY OTHER RESPIRATORY VIRUS WHICH CAUSES COMMON COLD PAGES 12 INDIA ALERT, CLOSELY MONITORING SITUATION ■ ■ The National Centre for Disease Control under the Union health ministry said it is closely monitoring influenza cases in the country, and is in touch with international agencies in the wake of reports of an outbreak of the Human Metapneumovirus in China Officials said there is no substantial increase in flu infections in India Modi unveils Delhi Dangal, takes ‘AAPda’ jibe at Kejriwal AAP retorts, lists its policies to counter BJP onslaught A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi PM Narendra Modi with Union ministers and L-G VK Saxena at inauguration ceremony of development projects | SHEKHAR YADAV R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle for ‘Delhi-Dangal-2025’ by launching a series of developmental projects and slamming the AAP as Delhi’s ‘ APda’ (disaster). A Criticising the former Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial former residence, Modi said, “I, too, could have built a ‘Sheeshmahal’ (palace) for myself, but my dream was to build ‘pucca’ houses for my fellow countrymen”. He asserted that EXPRESS READ Ex-BJP MLA convicted for leading mob attack A city court has found former BJP MLA Neel Daman Khatri and his aide guilty of rioting and assaulting public servants during violence in Narela. The court observed that Khatri, leveraging his influential position, led a mob that pelted stones at government officials during a demolition drive on November 14, 2014. P3 Fate of Kerala nurse on death row uncertain The fate of Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala on death row in Yemen, is uncertain as efforts to contact the family of the Yemeni national she is accused of killing are yet to succeed. “We have been reaching out to Tribal leaders and others for getting a way through to the family,” said Subhash Chandran, Nimisha’s lawyer. P7 CLASH OF EMOTIONS Late on Day 1 of the final Test in Sydney, emotions took centre stage when Jasprit Bumrah was visibly upset with Australian opener Usman Khwaja for taking too much time to face the ball. Sam Konstas, at the non-striker’s end, got involved as tempers flared before Bumrah had Khwaja’s wicket off the last ball of the day | AP | P11 he has helped fulfill the dreams of over four crore people by providing them with houses over the last 10 years. The PM said while the Centre strives to improve education for Delhi’s youth, the state’s ruling dispensation merely spreads blatant lies and mismanagement of funds for the sector. “Funds allocated under the ‘Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan’ were not even utilised for children’s education.” On the upcoming assembly elections, he exuded confidence in BJP’s victory “AAPda will be . ousted, and replaced by BJP.” Inaugurating and laying the foundation for several projects in Delhi, including the handover of keys to beneficiaries of new flats, Modi observed, “Some individuals, deeply entrenched in corruption, have exploited Anna Hazare’s movement as a front, leading Delhi into its current crisis.” He called upon the people to uproot the ruling AAP. “Delhi is saying in unison — we will not tolerate this disaster; we will bring about change. The people are determined to fight this crisis with a resolute call for government change.” P3 Govt notifies draft rules for digital privacy Children under 18 years will require parental consent to create social media accounts R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi CHILDREN under 18 will require parental consent to create social media accounts, according to the new draft regulations for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. If data fiduciaries—entities that process data— transfer Indians’ personal data abroad, they will have to strictly comply with some additional rules set by the Central government. The draft, titled Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2025 and released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) on Friday, provides for the government and its agencies to process Indians’ personal data in order to give subsidies, benefits, services, certificates, licences, or permits. The draft, which outlines how companies and government agencies should handle digital personal data, is open for consultation till February 18. As per the draft rules, any company or organisation using personal data must seek the individual’s consent. They must clearly inform the individuals (data principals) about the purpose of data processing. Also, they need to provide a detailed description of the goods or services that will be offered. The draft norms say data fiduciaries must implement reasonable security measures to protect personal data, such as encryption, access control, monitoring for unauthorised access, and data backups. In the event of a data breach, the data processing entity must promptly notify all affected individuals. Under the new regulation, children below 18 years will need their parents’ consent to create social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. When collecting a child’s personal data, the data fiduciary must obtain verifiable consent from the parent. To ensure this, the company must verify the parent’s identity and age using reliable sources, such as government-issued IDs or digital locker services. PROTESTS erupted on Friday in Pithampur, a day after the Madhya Pradesh government transported the toxic waste from Bhopal’s defunct Union Carbide factory to the treatment-storagedisposal facility (TSDF) in the town for incineration. Backed by local leaders of the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, the protest turned fiery when two agitators, identified as Raj Patel and Rajkumar Raghuvanshi, sustained burn injuries after at- tempting self-immolation by pouring petrol on themselves. Videos of the incident suggested that one of them set himself afire while the flames engulfed the other, a senior police official told this newspaper. The police are probing if someone other than the two lit the flame. They were admitted to the Choithram Hospital in neighbouring Indore. A group of protestors also tried to move towards the TSDF where the incineration is sched- FOGGY CHILLY CAPITAL, GRAP III INVOKED An extreme cold wave condition continued amid a thick layer of fog on Friday morning, with the CAQM asking authorities to enforce GRAP III restrictions. | P4 India raps China over Ladakh ‘counties’ J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi NEW Delhi has lodged a “solemn protest” with Beijing against its creation of two new counties last month in Hotan prefecture, as parts of these regions fall within the Union territory of Ladakh. New Delhi also conveyed its concerns to Beijing about China’s plan to build a massive hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo river, which flows into India. The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brah- maputra as it exits Tibet and flows south into Arunachal Pradesh and Assam before entering Bangladesh. In a strong response, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the creation of new counties will not affect India’s long-standing and consistent position on its sovereignty over the region, nor will it legitimise China’s “illegal and forcible” occupation of the area. “We have seen the announcement pertaining to the establishment of two new counties in Hotan Prefecture of China. Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India’s Union Territory of Ladakh,” he said, adding: “We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area.” China’s state-owned media Xinhua reported on December 27 that the gover nment of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the establishment of two new counties in the region — He’an County and Hekang County. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the State Council approved them, it said. As for the dam, “The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed,” Jaiswal said. “We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests,” he added. SBI RESEARCH Rural poverty fell to record low of 4.86% in FY24: Report NO MENTION OF PENALTY CLAUSE The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules don’t mention penalties that were approved under the 2023 Act, which had a provision to impose a penalty of up to `250 crore on data fiduciaries in case of personal data breach DATA OF INACTIVE USERS TO BE DELETED If a company collects your data for a specific purpose but you don’t use it for a certain period, then it must delete your data. However, before deleting the data, the company must notify you 48 hours in advance 2 attempt immolation as protests against Union Carbide waste disposal intensify A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal HOURS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the AAP government as an “AAPda” (disaster) on Friday Arvind Kejri, wal hit back by labeling the BJP as an “enemy of the poor.” The former CM criticised the PM’s speech, saying that in his 43-minute address, Modi spent 39 minutes attacking the people of Delhi and the government they elected with a massive mandate. Kejriwal claimed that AAP’s policies represented a “crisis” for BJP but were a lifeline for the masses. He urged the PM to address his own party’s crises like a lack of leadership, vision, and agenda, instead of blaming the people and their government. Kejriwal stated, “The BJP is facing its own ‘AAPda’—a crisis of incompetence, irrelevance, and indifference.” He accused the Centre of failing to deliver results in Delhi, stating, “If you ask me to list the accomplishments of AAP over the past ten years, it would take me more than two or three hours. In contrast, the Centre failed to achieve anything noteworthy Had . they succeeded, the PM would have highlighted those achievements in his speech today .” CM Atishi also took a jibe at the PM, saying he could have built 30 universities if the Delhi government could come up with three and could have developed 5,000 mohalla clinics in comparison to the 550 set by AAP. uled. However, police barricades stopped them from reaching the waste treatment plant. Meanwhile, CM Mohan Yadav said, “The waste has only been dumped at the treatment plant, no instructions have been issued to start its incineration. In pursuance of the Supreme Court and MP High Court’s order, it has been decided to dispose of the waste lying for 40 years scientifically. The disposal process will begin after clearance from expert committees.” EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mumbai One of the sites suggested to former PM Manmohan Singh’s family for his memorial | PARVEZ SULTAN GOVT AWAITS FAMILY’S WORD ON MEMORIAL SITE PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi TWO adjoining sites measuring about 2,000 sq ft each within the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in the Capital await approval from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s family to house his memorial. They are yet to pick one. After the visit of senior officials of the ministry of housing and urban affairs, the staf f on Wednesday cleaned up the spots and pruned the grass there. According to the officials, an estimate of construction has been prepared and the allotment formalities will be initiated once they get word from Singh’s family . Spread over about 45 acres, the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal complex is sandwiched between Ring Road and Salimgarh bypass along the Yamuna bank. The two sites are next to the memorial of P V Narasimha Rao. They are surrounded by paved pathways and flanked by the memorials of former presidents and prime ministers Zail Singh, Shankar Dayal Sharma, R Venkataraman, K R Narayanan, Chandra Shekhar and I K Gujral. The 1 2 4 3 5 6 SPOT THE SITES 1. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s memorial 2. P V Narasimha Rao’s memorial 3. R Venkataraman Samadhi 4,5: Vacant sites suggested to Manmohan Singh’s family for building his memorial 6. I K Gujral’s memorial Sthal also has Sadaiv Atal, a memorial park where former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated. The staff posted at the Sthal was expecting a visit by Singh’s family on Friday How. ever, no information was available about the visit till late evening. This newspaper had on Thursday reported that the government had decided to allocate land to a trust to be set up for the construction and maintenance of Singh’s memorial after receiving approval from his family . “The trust to be set up in Manmohan Singh’s name will build the memorial. The response of the family is awaited. The allotment formalities can only be initiated after the constitution of the trust. It may take about a week. This has been the practice. In the case of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a trust in his name had already existed. A senior official of the ministry was on Thursday entrusted with the task to inform the family about the possible location of Singh memorial,” said officials. The Cong ress veteran passed away on December 26 and his funeral took place three days later at Nigambodh Ghat. After Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sought space for a memorial, the Union Cabinet set the ball rolling. In 2013, the then government had resolved not to allow separate memorials for dignitaries near Rajghat because of scarcity of space. HIGHER consumption in the lowest 0-5% decile and government support programmes have significantly brought down poverty in India — both rural and urban — an SBI research report released on Friday said. Rural poverty crashed to 4.86% in FY24 from a high level of 25.7% in 2011-12, while urban poverty dropped to 4.09% from 13.7% in the same period, the report noted. In FY23, rural and urban poverty rates were 7.2% and 4.6%, respectively . “The sharp decline in rural poverty ratio is on account of higher consumption growth in lowest 0-5 per cent decile with significant government support and such support is important as we also find that change in food prices has a significant impact on not just food expenditures, but overall expenditure in general,” the report said extrapolating the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey released by the Ministry of Statistics & Prog ramme Implementation. The survey showed that consumption inequality in both rural and urban areas declined during the August 2023-July 2024 period compared to a year ago. According to Soumyakanti Ghosh, group chief economic advisor at SBI, urban poverty could decline further. “At an aggregate level, we believe poverty rates in India could now be in the range of 4-4.5% with almost minimal existence of extreme poverty,” the report said.