THURSDAY 22 MAY, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard PRIMA-FACIE MONEY LAUNDERING CASE ESTABLISHED AGAINST SONIA, RAHUL: ED GAZA 82 KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES `2K CR Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, despite a surge in international anger at Israel’s widening offensive. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00 27 killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur-Bijapur region Supreme commander of Maoists eliminated E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur SECURITY forces on Wednesday notched up their biggest strike ever by eliminating the supreme commander of the Maoist movement, along with 26 others, in a fierce encounter in the border region of Narayanpur-Bijapur, about 430 km south of Raipur. Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, the supreme commander of the banned CPIMaoist since 2018, lived and died by the gun. General secretary of the CPI-Maoist, he carried a reward of `1 crore on his head in Chhattisgarh. He was also a Politburo member and headed the CPI’s Central Military Commission. B a s av a r a j u t o o k charge as supreme c o m m a n d e r s eve n years ago from Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy, then aged 71, who stepped down due to agerelated issues. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, he did his BTech from Regional Engineering College, Warangal. Basavaraju was facing several cases in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. His name is being linked with the killing of Telugu Desam Party MLA Kidari Sarvewara Rao of Araku c o n s t i t u e n cy i n A n d h r a Pradesh in September 2018. Union home minister Amit Shah applauded the operation as a major breakthrough in the battle to eliminate Naxalism. In a post on X, Shah said: “In an operation in Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh, our security DELETE TWEETS Unacceptable in any civilised society, says HC S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on commentator Abhijit IyerMitra for making offensive remarks on social media about women journalists, referring to them as “prostitutes”. The matter was heard by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, who did not hide his disapproval of the language used in the posts. A tense exchange took place during the hearing between the judge and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, who represented Iyer-Mitra. At one point, the judge warned that the court was considering asking police to register a criminal case against Iyer-Mitra for his statements. Eventually the court record, ed that while it found the language in the posts entirely unacceptable in any civilised society, Dehadrai assured the court that the objectionable posts would be removed within five hours. The court took this assurance on record. The proceedings are part of a `2 crore defamation suit filed by nine women journalists of a media outlet. They claim that Iyer-Mitra’s repeated use of derogatory language has caused serious harm to their dignity . Representing the journalists, advocate Bani Dixit read out excerpts from the tweets during the hearing, explaining that her clients come from different backgrounds and professions within journalism. She argued that Iyer-Mitra’s remarks amounted to defamation. forces neutralised 27 dreaded Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, general secretary of CPI-Maoist, topmost leader, and the backbone of the Naxal movement. This is the first time in three decades of Bharat’s battle against Naxalism that a general secretary-ranked leader has been neutralised.” Based on intelligence inputs about the movement of Central Committee and Politburo members of the banned outfit as well as senior cadre of Maad division and People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army a team of , District Reserve Guard (DRG) from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Kondagaon was out on an operation to Abujhmad area for past three days, Sundarraj P inspector gener, al of police (Bastar Range), said. In the encounter on Wednesday several senior Mao, ist cadre have been killed or seriously injured in this operation in difficult geographical conditions amid multiple challenges. “So far, 27 bodies of Maoists have been recovered during search operations,” he added. A DRG personnel also died in the encounter. A huge cache of arms and ammunition were also recovered from the encounter site. Search operations are on. The identification of the bodies will be done after the operation is over. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai commended the security personnel involved in the operation. “This fight is not just CHHATTISGARH NARAYANPUR Encounter site BASTAR BIJAPUR ENGINEER WHO ENGINEERED ATTACKS ED made the submission before Special Judge Vishal Gogne during arguments on whether the court should take cognisance. The judge asked ED to provide a copy of the chargesheet to BJP’s Subramanian Swamy, on whose private complaint the case was registered. The court scheduled daily hearings from July 2-8 | P7 SUPREME COURT Waqf isn’t essential to Islam, says govt @ New Delhi SUKMA DANTEWADA Had various aliases — Prakash, Krishna, Vijay, Umesh and Kamlu Expert in imparting military training and handling explosives, including landmines Proud of our forces for this remarkable success. Our govt is committed to eliminating the menace of Maoism and ensuring a life of peace and progress for our people — Narendra Modi, PM REPORTS OF RIFT IN BANNED OUTFIT GANAPATHI MAY GET BACK THE MANTLE There have been reports of rift within the banned CPI (Maoist) owing to which it could not nominate a new secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee following the death of its DSZC head Ramanna in 2019 due to cardiac arrest Following Basavaraju’s death, speculation is rife that the ageing Ganapathi might get back the responsibility of secretary of the Central Committee. Given the rift, he could be an acceptable face within the CPI (Maoist) against Maoists but also in favour of peace and development,” he said. This year, 200 bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far in various encounters in Chhattisgarh, including 182 killed in the Bastar division. PAGES 12 COURT SCHEDULES DAILY HEARING FROM JULY 2 S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y A resident of Jiyannapeta village in Srikakulam district, Basavaraju did BTech at REC, Warangal Joined the banned CPI (Maoist) in 1970s, became its head in 2018  WORTH OF PROPERTIES SOUGHT TO BE USURPED BY SENIOR CONG LEADERS: ED The ED told a Delhi court that a prima-facie case of money laundering has been made out in the National Herald matter A 21-day long Operation Black Forest, a crackdown launched on April 21 at the Karreguttalu hilly expanse, was also commended as immensely successful when 31 Maoists were killed and their major base dismantled. WAQF is not an essential Islamic religious practice though it is an Islamic concept, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday . Waqf means charity, which is part of every religion, and waqf bodies discharge secular functions. Therefore, it is necessary to include nonMuslims in waqf boards, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said in his arguments defending the Waqf (Amendment) Act. “Waqf is an Islamic concept. But it is not an essential part of Islam, unless that is shown. Other arguments fail. The judgments show that charity is part of every religion and can happen for Christianity also. Hindus have a system of daan. Sikhs also have it,” Mehta told a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih in response to a question whether the law infringed upon Articles 25 and 26 (freedom of religion and management of religious affairs) of the Constitution. He said ‘waqf by user’ is not a fundamental right but was created by a statute. If a right is conferred by statute, JAPAN MINISTER’S RICE REMARK LEADS TO HIS RESIGNATION ‘Secular functions’ Waqf means charity, which is part of every religion, and waqf bodies discharge secular functions. So, it is necessary to include non-Muslims in waqf boards, S-G Tushar Mehta said. the right can always be taken away by a statute, he added. He also drew the bench’s attention to the “historic misuse” of waqf by user to claim ownership of public or private lands without documentation. Mehta sought to distinguish between waqf and Hindu trusts and endowment boards that don’t allow non-Hindus to be members. He said Hindu endowment boards deal with religious activity whereas waqf bodies deal with secular activities. “Hindu endowment commissioner can go inside a temple. Pujari (priest) is decided by the state government. Waqf boards do not touch upon religious activity at all,” he said. The agriculture minister was forced to quit on Wednesday because of political fallout over his recent comments that he “never had to buy rice” because he got it from supporters as a gift. | P9 Ashoka univ professor gets interim bail S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi INCARCERATED Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad on Wednesday got partial relief, as the Supreme Court granted him interim bail. It, however, refused to stay two FIRs filed against him for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor. Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh directed the constitution of a SIT to probe the matter. “The SIT will not have officers from Haryana or Delhi,” Justice Kant said. Mahmudabad had moved court challenging his arrest. While directing his release, the bench restrained him from making any posts or speeches on the issue. “He is retrained from making any comments on the crisis recently faced by India, which is a terrorist attack on Indian soil or the counter response given by our nation,” the court said. Taking exception to the language used by Mahmudabad in his posts, the SC said some words could have dual meanings. EXPRESS READ India expels Pak high commission staffer India on Wednesday expelled a Pakistan high commission official on charges of espionage, in the second such expulsion in a week, and asked him to leave within 24 hours. The MEA said that the Pakistani official indulged in “activities not in keeping with his official status”. P7 Massive storm after scorching day throws city life out of gear P R A B H AT S H U K L A A N D S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi THE capital witnessed a dramatic shift in weather on Wednesday evening as a massive dust storm, followed by hailstor m and heavy rain, swept across the region. The sudden shift took place after the “feels like” temperature in Delhi touched a scorching . 50.2oC earlier in the day The storm, which brought gusty winds, hail and rainfall, caused widespread disruptions across the region. Trees were uprooted in several areas of Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad. In some parts, the impact was severe enough to damage property and block roads. Wind speeds between 35 kmph and 79 kmph were recorded in Two persons died while 11 others were injured in separate rain-related incidents | PARVEEN NEGI Palam and Safdarjung, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue a ‘red alert’ for several districts. Metro services were also impacted and widespread power disruptions were reported across the city as strong winds uprooted trees and snapped PUNJAB’S OPEN MARKET BORROWING LIMIT CUT H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh A confrontation is on the cards between the AAP-led Punjab government and the Centre, with the latter cutting the state’s open market borrowing limit by `16,676 crore. Sources said that the state government had sought a limit of `47,076.40 crore. It is learnt that the deductions were made because of unpaid outstanding power subsidy of `5,444 crore, unpaid power subsidy arrears of `4,107 crore, additional borrowing linked to the power sector worth `4,151.60 crore and the previous years’ power sector-based borrowings of `1,976 crore. It may have broad ramifica- tions for the debt-ridden state, which depends heavily on the money it raises through loans each year. The state’s outstanding debt by the end of this fiscal may touch `4.17 lakh crore. The Finance Ministry’s Department of Expenditure informed the RBI about the cut. For the first nine months of the financial year from April to December, the state got approval to bor row `21,905 crore against the demand for `35,307 crore. For this fiscal, the state demanded a gross borrowing limit of `51,117 crore. Sources said 90% of this new limit of open market borrowings will go towards servicing the state’s debt and repaying old loans. overhead electricity cables, affecting areas like Bawana, Narela, Civil Lines, and Burari. Tata Power-DDL and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd reported outages, with Tata Power-DDL suspending supply in some zones as a safety measure against electrocution. Quick Response Teams have been deployed to repair damage, but restoration is being delayed due to fallen trees and traffic snarls. Both companies said they were coordinating with civic agencies to clear debris and restore power. Delhi Airport declared an ‘Aircraft on Ground’ situation and issued an advisory, warning of possible flight delays. “Ten incoming flights to Delhi airport have been diverted. Nine of them have been diverted to Jaipur and one to Mumbai,” said an airport spokesperson. P4 NOSE DAMAGE The damaged nose of a Delhi– Srinagar IndiGo 6E2142 flight with over 227 on board after it hit turbulence mid-air due to inclement weather on Wednesday evening. The pilot managed to land the plane safely in Srinagar at 6.30 pm and all the passengers are safe, the airline said | P4 BOOKER PRIZE Heart Lamp lights up a thousand hearts G AYAT H R I M K U R U P @ Bengaluru IT was a moment that felt like “a thousand fireflies lighting up a single sky” for Banu Mushtaq as she became the first Kannada writer to win the International Booker Prize. Her short story collection Edeya Hanate, translated into English as Heart Lamp by Deepa Bhasthi, won the title for Kannada language literature under the translated fiction category It made Bhasthi the first . Indian translator to win the prestigious award for 2025. Accepting the award at London’s Tate Modern Museum, the 77-year-old author said, “This story is a love letter to my idea that no story is local, that a tale born under the banyan tree in my village can cast a shadow as far as this stage tonight... You have made my Kannada language a shared home, a language that sings of resilience and nuance. To write in Kannada is to inherit a legacy of cosmic wonder,” Banu said. Banu started writing in 1990, the stories curated over 33 years, revolving around the lives of women in South Indian Muslim communities. In- spired by real life incidents, Banu had referred to her experiences as a ‘seed’ that grows with the imagination of the reader, in a previous interview with this newspaper. Banu managed to finally implant the seed in the hearts of all readers—a story every wom- This book is my love letter to the idea that no story is local Banu Mushtaq an could relate to, and every man could empathise with. Max Porter, chair of judges for the Booker prize, called the work as “something genuinely new for English readers: a radical translation” of “beautiful, busy life-affirming stories”. , Deepa Bhasthi, who selected and translated the original works, said, “The story of the world is a history of erasures, characterised by the effacement of women’s triumphs and the furtive rubbing away of collective memory of how women and those on the many margins in this world live and love. This prize is a small win in a long ongoing battle against such violences.”