TUESDAY 15 APRIL, 2025 11th epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT FOR THE WASHINGTON STATE-BASED COMPANY X.com/TheMornStandard TRUMP US’ FIRST SPACEFLIGHT WITH WOMEN CREW SEMICONDUCTORS TARIFF NEXT WK US President said he would announce new tariffs on semiconductors “over the next week,” as he continues to impose levies to address trade issues. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00 PAGES 12 Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched his fiancee Lauren Sanchez into space Monday with an all-female celebrity crew that included Katy Perry 10-MINUTE-LONG FLIGHT TOOK OFF FROM TEXAS The New Shepard rocket blasted off on the quick up-anddown trip from West Texas. The fringes of space beckoned some 65 miles (105 kilometers) up, promising a few precious minutes of weightlessness. Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, invited the others for the 10-minute flight, packing on star power with Perry and Gayle King | P9 India intensifies Now, Waqf Act bid to extradite protests spread to South Bengal fugitive Choksi Smuggling of Chinese drones soaring in TN ARSON ATTACK SIDDHARTH PRABHAKAR @ Chennai GOLD, wildlife, and narcotics have been the usual contrabands seized by Chennai Customs, but, of late, smuggling of Chinese drones into Tamil Nadu from Southeast Asian and Gulf countries through airports and seaports is on the rise. This is due to the soaring demand for the equipment in the grey market, sources said. According to a 2022 February notification of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, import of drones is completely banned in fully assembled Completely Built-up form, fully disassembled Completely Knocked Down form, or partially assembled Semi Knocked Down form, barring exceptions provided for Research and Development, Defence and security purposes. Sources say in the last financial year, Chennai Air Customs has seized at least 200 Chinesemade drones worth more than `2 crore from passengers who arrived by air from Singapore, Malaysia and UAE. Data sourced through RTI shows that this is a significant increase from the 67 drones seized in 2019-20 and 30 in 2023-24. This might just be the tip of the iceberg, say sources, pointing to the seizure of 4,240 toy drones worth `2.34 crore by the Chennai Seaport Customs on February 12. RTI data show drones are smuggled through Bengaluru airport too. Multiple cases have been busted by Delhi Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence teams across the country. Most of these drones have been sourced from DJI, a Chinese firm.  Blue Origin declined to say how much the flight cost or who paid what. The trip came two months before Sanchez and Bezos marry BLUE ORIGIN LAUNCHES ALL-WOMAN CELEBRITY CREW ON SPACE FLIGHT S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @Kolkata Team to travel to Belgium to seek custody of arrested diamantaire named in PNB scam HONOURING BABASAHEB WITH GRACE President Droupadi Murmu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister J P Nadda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Sonia Gandhi during a ceremony to pay tribute to B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, in New Delhi on Monday. There was a generous show of courtesy and grace from all sides at the event | PTI As promised, T’gana first off the blocks on SC sub-quota EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE GROUP-1 @ Hyderabad TELANGANA on Monday became the first state in the country to implement SC categorisation, with the state government issuing GOs notifying the Telangana Scheduled Caste (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act, 2025, its guidelines as well as roster points. “On the auspicious day of the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, the Telangana state government paid the best tributes by bringing into force a great Act of social justice addressing a long overdue demand of classification of SC sub-castes,” Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said in a post on social media. In its August 1, 2024 verdict, the Supreme Court had upheld the power of states to Break-up of 15% SC quota 1% reservation for 15 castes (3.2% of SC population) legislate separate quotas within the SC category. The same day, the chief minister declared in the state assembly that Telangana would lead the nation in legislating sub-categorisation. The Telangana Scheduled Caste (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act creates three distinct bunches within the existing 15% SC reservation based on population and socio-economic indicators. Group-1, consisting of 15 castes with 3.2% of SC population, will get 1% share in the quota pie; Group-2 with GROUP-2 GROUP-3 9% 5% reservation for 18 castes (62.74% of SC population) reservation for 26 castes (33.96% of SC population) 18 castes and 62% population get 9% share, while Group-3 with 26 castes and 33.96% population have been awarded the remaining 5%. This restructuring follows long-standing demands for equitable distribution of reservation benefits among all SC sub-castes, particularly from the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS). A one-man commission under Justice Shameem Akhtar drafted the bill which was passed during the recent Budget session of the assembly on March 17. J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE Indian government has intensified efforts to extradite fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi following his April 12 arrest in Antwerp, Belgium. Sources said a multi-agency Indian team is likely to travel to Belgium to push for Choksi’s extradition in connection with the `13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. The process will need to pass through Belgium’s domestic legal system. Earlier this year, India submitted an extradition request under a 2020 bilateral treaty after learning that Choksi was residing in Antwerp. Belgian authorities executed an Indian arrest warrant after the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office deemed the foreign warrant enforceable. The arrest was carried out as Choksi was allegedly preparing to move to Switzerland. Choksi seemed to have submitted “forged documents” to obtain residency, concealing his Indian and Antiguan citizenship. “He is being detained and further judicial proceedings are awaited and as per the local law, access to his legal counsel has been assured,” sources said. “The India and Belgium treaty... covers fraud, money laundering, cheating and economic crimes related to taxa- File picture of Mehul Choksi. He is in Antwerp after being denied bail | ANI tion and revenue — many of them relevant in case of Mehul Choksi. We are working on the extradition process and we have already shared all the necessary documents with the Belgium authorities,” sources said. The ED and CBI have been pursuing Choksi’s extradition. Choksi had fled India in 2018. Both Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of over `13,500 crore in 2018. PNB had filed a criminal complaint naming Choksi, Modi, and the managing director of Gitanjali Gems, for orchestrating the fraud. Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Agarwal said the grounds for an appeal would be that Choksi is “not a flight risk, is extremely sick and undergoing treatment for cancer”. P7 CLASHES erupted between police and Indian Secular Front (ISF) members protesting against the Waqf (Amendment) Act at Bhangor in South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal on Monday when police put up a barricade to stop the protesters from marching towards Kolkata. A large police force was deployed to bring the situation under control. “What started as a demonstration escalated and took a communal colour,” said an eyewitness. The situation in violence-hit Murshidabad was tense, yet under control after three days of protests. Many shops have reopened and families displaced by the clashes have started to return home. Jafrabad, Suti, Dhuliyan, Shamsherganj, and Jangipur are the areas worsthit by the violence. In Jafrabad, a large number of houses and shops belonging to Hindus were reportedly set ablaze, forcing many to flee. Temples were vandalised during the unrest. The Calcutta High Court had to instruct that Central forces be deployed in Murshidabad along with the state police. Police vehicles set on fire by members of Indian Secular Front | PTI No-parking of End-of-Life Vehicles Modi dares Cong to make Muslim president on roads, move to ‘free public space’ H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE Delhi government has issued guidelines for 55 lakh End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV), prohibiting public space for their parking. These vehicles cannot be parked on streets, roads, or parking lots. Owners must park their vehicles inside their premises. If such vehicles are found in public spaces, a penalty of `5,000 to `10,000 will be imposed. In addition, the transport department is also planning to deny fuel to these vehicles in the coming days. The notice issued by the department says, “The government has deregistered 5.5 million over-aged vehicles (diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and petrol/CNG vehicles more than 15 years old). The list of such vehicles can be accessed by visiting the transport department site. There is a complete prohibition on parking over-aged vehicles, including in areas just GUIDELINES 1 55 lakh End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) can’t be parked on streets, roads, or parking lots 2 Owners must park their vehicles inside their premises 3 Penalty of `5,000 to `10,000 on violations 4 ELVs are diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and petrol/CNG more than 15 years old outside residences, which are considered public places.” On March 6, Transpor t Minister Pankaj Singh announced a plan to check unregistered vehicles, which the government claimed is one of the main contributory factors to traffic congestion in the national capital. After finalising the initiative, Singh had directed the transport department and traffic police to take immediate action against vehicles operating without proper registration. Additionally orders were is, sued for petrol pump operators not to supply fuel to unregistered or unfit vehicles. “If they don’t comply with the orders, they will also face penalties,” the minister said. The transport department has asked the owners of all such vehicles to either keep them inside the residential complex in a private parking space or obtain a no-objection certificate to move them out of the NCT of Delhi within one year of their expiry date. No NOC shall be issued after one year of the expiry of an overaged vehicle. The owners can also get their vehicles scrapped at any nearby registered vehicle scrapping facility . PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday strongly defended the Waqf Act and attacked the Congress opposition to it as nothing but the party’s appeasement policy . Addressing a rally at Hisar in Haryana on the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, he dared the Congress to select a Muslim as its president or allocate 50% of tickets to Muslim candidates if it truly cared for the community . Before the rally Modi laid the , foundation stone of the new terminal building of the Maharaja Agrasen Airport worth over `410 crore and flagged off a commercial flight to Ayodhya. He reiterated his promise ‘INSULTED AMBEDKAR’ ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ PM Modi said that the Congress insulted B R Ambedkar during its rule, orchestrated his electoral defeats, and conspired to exclude him from the system. After his death, the Congress also tried to erase his legacy and suppress his ideas, the PM claimed, adding that the grand old party spread the virus of vote-bank politics in the country. On implementing Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand, PM Modi accused the Congress of having double standards on secularism. “The Constitution talks about a secular civil code, but Congress never implemented it. Today, UCC has been implemented in Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, the Congress is opposing this,” he said. that even those wearing slippers would fly in aeroplanes, saying that the vision is now being realised countrywide. Modi accused the Congress of turning SCs, STs, and OBCs into “second-class citizens” when in power. He cited the case of Karnataka, where the government turned the reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs into an appeasement tool, granting reservations in government tenders based on religion. He said that the Constitution has no such provision. The PM said the Congress appeasement policies significant- ly harmed the Muslim community, benefiting only a few and leaving the rest of society uneducated and impoverished. On the availability of vast tracts of land under Waqf boards, the PM said that they were meant to benefit the poor, destitute women and children but were exploited by a handful of land mafia. He claimed that the mafia was encroaching on lands belonging to SCs, tribals and backward classes, leaving the Pasmanda Muslim community without any benefits. Defending the new Waqf Act, he said the amendments would end such exploitation, ensuring that Waqf Boards cannot touch tribal lands. He described this as a major step in protecting tribal interests. EXPRESS READ 300kg of crystal meth worth `1.8K cr recovered Salman gets fresh death threat, security tightened In a joint operation, the Gujarat ATS and the Indian Coast Guard have seized over 300 kg of methamphetamine worth `1,800 crore which were dumped into the Arabian Sea by Pakistani smugglers who fled across the international maritime boundary on being chased, officials said on Monday. Methamphetamine is also known as “crystal meth”. | P8 An unidentified person has threatened to blow up actor Salman Khan’s car with a bomb and assault the Y-Plus-protectee by entering his residence, prompting Mumbai Police to tighten security and register a case. The unidentified person sent the message to the traffic police WhatsApp helpline on Sunday morning, officials said on Monday. DIVINE TOUCH Prayer and devotional songs ahead of every match: LSG’s traditional touch F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Lucknow THERE are different rituals teams perform before a series or a season. And sometimes before every match. There are beliefs each team has. Lucknow Super Giants is one such team this IPL to follow a more traditional and pious path to invoke the spirits. Unlike other franchises, Lucknow Super Giants perform a Puja at the South Corridor, South Block here at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow followed by Ganesh A a r t i b e f o r e eve r y match. Even when Lucknow were to f ace Chennai Super Kings on Monday . The soothing voice of famous singer Anuradha Paudwal fills the air with devotional songs spreading positivity. “Yes, we perform Puja before every home match here at the venue,” Vinay Chopra, LSG’s chief executive officer, told this daily The practice is an attempt . to inculcate Indian tradition in the league. The puja is perfor med in the presence of whosoever is available in the team management. It’s not that other teams do not perform Puja or follow religious rituals. But most of them perform it at the beginning of LSG skipper Rishabh Pant on way to half century against CSK on Tuesday | AFP the season. Take for instance, Punjab Kings, whose home games are being hosted in relatively newer venue Mullanpur, Chandigarh. They organised a Havan (a sacred fire ritual) at the venue with head coach Ricky Ponting, players and other support staff attending the customary practice. “Yes, we hold religious rituals ahead of the tour nament seeking blessings of God. A prayer will also be org anised before PBKS’s first game in Dharamsala,” a PBKS spokesperson told this daily . Given the importance of the Monday’s game, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan has also accompanied the team to Lucknow. When asked about any customary practice the team follows at Chepauk, he said, “I am a devotee of Ganesha so I offer prayer everyday . There are individuals who like to pray before matches and they do so but collectively as a team we do not offer prayers.” LSG might be different in this sense but the pious beginning in following Indian traditions is certainly a commendable step. On the ground though things did not go the way they would have wanted. The visiting team restricted them to just 166 runs in their allotted 20 overs. CSK overhauled the target in the last over. The Lucknow team is fourth on the IPL points table.