tuesdAY 07 january, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in Over the holidays I had time to reflect. I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister after the party selects its next leader... Last night I asked the president of the Liberal Party to start that process facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard b’desh tribunal 2nd warrant against Hasina International Criminal Tribunal on Monday issued arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina and 11 others for their alleged role in enforced disappearances. Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 Trudeau, Just-out of office J ayan t h J acob @ New Delhi Justin Trudeau on Monday announced his resignation as both the Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Canada’s ruling Liberal Party , putting an end to days of speculation amid rising discontent with his leadership. He will, however, remain in office until the Liberal Party selects a new leader. Pressure has been mounting on him from within the party and outside to step down. Trudeau has been accused of using allegations against India to divert attention from escalating domestic challenges, including a struggling economy and growing dissent within his party . The resignation of close ally Chrystia Freeland as deputy prime minister and finance minister in December last year also dealt a significant blow. Freeland’s departure was reportedly due to policy disagreements, particularly over his approach to possible US tariffs under Donald Trump and his overall economic strategy In September, . his government was weakened after the New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh withdrew support. Under Trudeau, Canada’s relations with India soured over his government’s alleged support to Khalistani separatists and his claims of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani radical in Canada. He has held the prime minister’s office since 2014. Justin Trudeau Resignation may fuel calls for early polls Justin Trudeau’s resignation is expected to fuel renewed calls for an early election to put a government in place swiftly to deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration in the US. Trump has proposed a 25% tax on all Canadian goods entering the US. Going by opinion polls, the Liberal Party is likely to suffer a major defeat in the upcoming polls in Canada HMPV cases in Big Maoist strike in 20 mths, 8 jawans killed India: Much ado about nothing Eja z ka i s e r @ Raipur 5 cases reported so far; needless scare, assure healthcare experts K a v i ta B aj e l i - D at t @ New Delhi India reported five cases of the globally circulating human metapneumovirus (HMPV), which is seeing an outbreak in China, causing worldwide panic as it comes five years after the Covid-19 pandemic. While two children each tested positive for the virus in Bengaluru and Chennai, one such case was reported in Ahmedabad. The government said HMPV is self-limiting. Health minister J P Nadda said the virus was first identified in 2001 and has been circulating ever since. “There is no reason to worry he said. ,” 2001 bug State governments in Kar nataka, Tamil Nadda says no reason Nadu, Maharashtra and to worry; it was first Delhi issued guidelines identified in 2001 for its prevention. Virus is self-limiting While two infants were and manageable, says detected with HMPV in health ministry Bengaluru, with no inKarnataka, TN, Delhi, ternational travel hisMaha issue advisories tory, one case was reported in Gujarat. Later Cover mouth and nose in the day two children , while sneezing/ tested positive for coughing, wash HMPV in Chennai. hands, wear masks “The ICMR has detected two cases of HMPV in Karnataka. Both cases were identified through routine surveillance for multiple respiratory viral pathogens, as part of ICMR’s ongoing efforts to monitor respiratory illnesses across the country ,” the government said in a statement. WHO’s former chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on ‘X’, “According to @ICMRDELHI, #HMPV accounts for about 3% of respiratory pathogens detected in the laboratory network, testing ILI and SARI cases. Influenza A & B, SARSCoV2 & RSV are other circulating viruses.” Hosps told be on alert, govt issues advisory p4 Security forces cordon off a crater at the blast site on the Bedre-Kutru road in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh | Express Eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a civilian driver were killed in a powerful blast triggered by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in strife-torn Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur. The blast was carried out on Monday when a joint team was returning from anti-Maoist operations. This incident marks the first major attack by Maoists since April 26, 2023, when 10 jawans were killed in an IED blast in Dantewada. According to Sun- ‘Unprecedented’ 5.1L applied for new voter cards in 20 days: CEO Under vigil Poll officers have been directed to prioritise the scrutiny of all such forms submitted in the past month. ... Timing coincides with the promise of DBT schemes. It is possible fake papers are being used... CEO officials A s h i s h S r i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi The Chief Electoral Office (CEO), Delhi, on Monday reported an “unprecedented” surge in voter registration forms, with over 5 lakh submissions in the past 20 days — equivalent to the total forms typically received in an entire year. CEO officials attributed the spike to the AAP’s Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna, which promises `2,100 monthly assistance to registered women voters. The officials said they expect the trend to continue as Congress unveiled a similar scheme earlier in the day The BJP may come up . with a Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) scheme. Election officers have been directed to prioritise the scrutiny of all such forms submitted in the past month. The voter registration spree began on December 16, and the poll body has received 5.1 lakh Form-6 applications since then. “This trend of unprecedented increase of Form-6 and that too after 20 days of the last date of receiving claims and objections is unexpected and needs greater scrutiny CEO officials said. ,” People can apply for voter registration till the announcement of the assembly election. P3 Sullivan powers nuclear deal on his farewell visit J AYA N TH J A C O B @ New Delhi THE US is in the final stage of removing all hurdles that kept the civil nuclear deal between the two countries a non-starter, outgoing US NSA Jake Sullivan said here on Monday . As part of the move, the US will remove Indian entities, including the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, from its restricted list. India and the US had decided to cooperate in civil nuclear energy in July 2005, following a meeting between then prime minister Manmohan Singh and US president George W Bush. The India-US civil nuclear agreement was signed in 2008. However, there was no tangible progress in the civil nuclear energy sector as India pushed a ‘liability law’ while the US kept Indian nuclear entities in its restrictive list. The US opposed India’s nuclear liability law, which held the supplier of N-plants also accountable for any potential nuclear accident, saying it deviated from the global norm of holding only the operator liable for mishaps. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (left) with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi, on Monday | pti Hic, hic, hurray Kerala CPI raises a toast to comrades K S SREE J ITH @ T’Puram IN a pragmatic decision to adapt to changing times, the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has freed its cadres from the age-old taboo over consumption of alcohol. It, however, comes with a rider — don’t overdo it. Party workers, and leaders, can drink in moderation as long as their high spirits don’t tarnish the reputation of the party . In a new code of conduct approved by the party state council, the CPI has advised its leaders and cadres to “refrain from habitual drinking” and “not to tarnish the reputation of the party by being in a drunken state in public places”. Till now, there was a blanket ban on CPI workers consuming alcohol. However, CPI’s fraternal organisation, the CPM, con- tinues with its rigid stand against alcoholism. The CPM expels cadres once it’s proved they have consumed alcohol. It was in its 1992 special national organisational conference held in Thrissur that the CPI passed its first code of conduct. The party has revised the stand after 33 years. The new code of conduct, in possession of this newspaper, however, clarifies that abstinence from alcohol is the CPI policy . If we take a tough stand against consuming alcohol, how will we get cadres? Times have changed. We can’t ban it; but we can control it and reduce its impact CPI leader darraj P, Bastar range inspector general of police, the IED blast targeted a vehicle carrying the security personnel, leaving a 15-ft wide and 6-ft deep crater. The explosion was so intense that it tossed the vehicle high into the air, ripping it into pieces. It is believed that the rebels had planted around 40 kg of explosives beneath the road. The DRG personnel were on their way to the base camp from Abujhmad to Dantewada via Bijapur in the ill-fated vehicle. It is believed that the Mao- UGC draft guidelines ists were aware about the return of the forces along the route. Brigadier (Retd) B K Ponwar said, “It was not a cowardly attack but a guerrilla attack carried out at the weakest point of the security forces. It’s an unfortunate incident that was avoidable.” He emphasized that the basic rules of warfare should not be flouted, especially in a virtual war zone. Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai has ordered a probe. The state government aims to eliminate the influence of Maoists by March 2026. New norms propose that those with at least 10 years of senior-level experience in industry, public administration, public policy, or in PSUs can become vice-chancellors of universities. The draft guidelines also seek to revise criteria for faculty appointments, says Dharmendra Pradhan | P7 express read 2 advocates appointed as Delhi HC judges: Govt Two advocates — Ajay Digpaul and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar — were on Monday appointed as judges in the Delhi High Court, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on ‘X’. The names of Digpaul and Shankar were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium in August last year. P3 HC grants 6 wks to govt on Union Carbide waste The Madhya Pradesh HC on Monday granted six weeks to the state government to act on the disposal of Union Carbide factory’s waste in Pithampur. On December 3, 2024, the HC had directed to remove the waste from Bhopal factory and send it to Pithampur within four weeks. P8