INDIA, PHILIPPINES ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WEDNESDAY 06 India and Philippines upgraded their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership following high-level talks between the two on Tuesday AUGUST, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard YUNUS SETS BALL ROLLING FOR FEB POLLS Bangladesh interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday announced that the next general election will be held in February. PAGE 9 EYE ON COUNTERING CHINA’S HEFT IN REGION A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 The announcement follows high-level talks between PM Narendra Modi and visiting Philippine President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr. At the heart of the deal lies a shared commitment to deepen defence, economic, and digital cooperation set against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, particularly with China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea | P7 Kalp Kedar Temple Gartang Gali THE DHARALI VILLAGE THAT GOT WASHED AWAY NEAR AN ARMY CAMP AT HARSHIL Bhaironghati Gangotri UTTARAKHAND Kedar Kund CUMULATIVE RAINFALL (IN CM) AS OF 8.30 AM IN UTTARKASHI DISTRICTS Station Aug 4 Aug 5 Barot Bhatwari Dunda Mori Purola 0.5 3 1.3 0.2 1.5 1.8 1 0 1.8 1.2 Uttarkashi 0.8 2.7 A view of the Dharali market in Uttarkashi right after the flash floods triggered by cloudbursts at Kheer Gad area of Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand on Tuesday afternoon. On left is a topographical image of the same location to show the disaster site WIPED OUT Uttarkashi vulnerable to flash floods: IIT paper Jammu: The Indian Himalayas are vulnerable to extreme weather events, including cloudbursts, extreme precipitation, flash floods, and avalanches. Occurrence of extreme weather events is frequent for locations at elevation of 1,000-2,000 metres, according to a 2023 paper at IIT Jammu. Uttarkashi lies at an altitude of 1,160 metres N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun THREE devastating cloudbursts within a span of three hours on Tuesday unleashed unprecedented havoc in Uttarakhand’s Dharali village in Uttarkashi district, claiming at least four lives and leaving more than 50 others reportedly missing. Rapidly flowing water and debris swept through the Himalayan village on way to Gangotri after the cloudbursts resulted in flashfloods that barrelled through homes, trees and cars, trapping scores of people. RESTORATION SC set to hear J&K statehood plea on Friday S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on August 8 a plea seeking directions to the Centre for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir in a timebound manner. The petition was filed last year by college teacher Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and activist Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, arguing that the failure to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir violates the idea of federalism. The plea sought restoration of statehood within two months. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran saying the matter is shown as listed on August 8 and requested the bench that it not be deleted from the day’s cause list. The CJI accepted the request. On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370, even as it ordered that assembly elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024 and its statehood be restored “at the earliest”. The petitioners submitted that despite the court’s directions, no steps were taken by the Centre to provide a timeline for restoring statehood. Remaining a Union Territory is causing grave losses to the development of J&K and affecting the democratic rights of people, it added. P8 Part of Dharali village in Uttarkashi buried as cloudbursts result in flash floods; four killed, more than 50 missing; Army, NDRF roped in Officials said flash floods in the Kheerganga river led to the village being literally washed away Local villagers fear the ac. tual number of fatalities could be significantly higher. Dharali is the main stopover on way to Gangotri, the origin of the Ganges, and home to many hotels, restaurants and home stays. At least half the village was buried under slush, rubble and water, officials said even as rescue personnel battled the elements in the ecologically fragile heights to contain the damage of the afternoon. Eyewitnesses de- scribed horrific scenes as a deluge of water and mud surged towards the village around 1.45 pm. Contiguous buildings, including three and four-storey houses, fell like a pack of cards as the surging waters washed over them. “Everything is finished,” a voice is heard in a video of the cloudburst that went viral. The devastation was not confined to Dharali alone. A second cloudburst struck in the evening right in front of the Harshil Army camp, causing extensive damage. A third cloudburst occurred at Sukhi Top, leading to the formation of a temporary lake near the Army camp. This new water body poses a significant threat to towns situated along the Bhagirathi river. The Sukhi Top incident resulted in closure of the road to Harsil. Jai Prakash Singh Pawar, district disaster management officer for Uttarkashi, told this paper, “We received information about extreme rainfall from a person at 1.45 pm. Immediately, the Army, police, and SDRF were deployed for relief operations.” The flash floods came in the wake of cloudbursts somewhere in the catch- Harivansh cites Jakhar, rules out discussion on SIR, EC functioning PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi Notices under Rule 267 IN an apparent indication that the government is unwilling to meet the Opposition’s demand for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Tuesday cited former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar’s December 1988 ruling which opposed discussions on the decisions made by Election Commission (EC). “Until and unless you change the Constitution and bring the EC under your purview, we cannot comment on EC actions,” he quoted Jakhar as having said in Harivansh said notices under Rule 267 have rarely been accepted. Not a single one was admitted between 2000 and 2004, only four between 2004 and 2009, one of 491 during 2009–’14, and six of 3,152 from 2014 to Budget Session of 2025. the Lok Sabha. The Deputy Chairman’s comments came as he rejected 34 notices submitted by Opposition MPs and most of them seeking suspension of business under Rule 267 to immediately take up the issue. Referring to statistics, Harivansh also underlined how rarely notices under Rule 267 have been accepted. He said not a single notice was admitted between 2000 and 2004, only four between 2004 and 2009, one out of 491 during 2009-14, and just six out of 3,152 notices from 2014 to the Budget Session of 2025. The Opposition, however, continued to press for a discussion, accusing the government of using the SIR to target specific communities and influence electoral rolls ahead of upcoming polls. Last week, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had also mentioned the ruling by Jakhar that Parliament cannot discuss the EC functioning. Earlier, Speaker Om Birla too referred to it. However, it is being mentioned in RS for the first time. P7 ment area of the Kheer Ganga river, an official said. District Magistrate Prashant Arya acknowledged a possibility of a rise in the toll. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who was in Andhra Pradesh and rushed to Dehradun, said he has directed officials to conduct rescue operations on a war footing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his condolences. Home minister Amit Shah said three ITBP teams and four NDRF teams have been dispatched to help the Army in rescue operations. EXPRESS READ Aadhaar must for issuing income certificate: L-G Lt-Governor VK Saxena has okayed a proposal of the Delhi government to make Aadhaar mandatory for issuing income certificates, as per a Raj Niwas note issued on Tuesday. The move aims at eliminating any irregularity in issuing income certificates, it said. The L-G has also advised the revenue department to widely publicise the decision | P4 Uproar over NCERT social science book’s Raj map A controversy has erupted after a map featured in NCERT Class 8 social science textbook depicted present-day Rajasthan as part of the erstwhile Maratha Empire. The map depicts vast portions of present-day Rajasthan, including Jaisalmer, Mewar (present day Udaipur), Bundi and Jaipur under the Maratha Empire in 1759. | P7 DON DOUBLES DOWN Substantially high tariff in 24 hrs: Trump D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi A day after India launched a blistering counterattack on the repeated targeting by Washington for its trade ties with Moscow, US President Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his threat to raise tariffs on Indian goods “very substantially” in the next 24 hours. Last week, Trump had announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods plus an unspecified penalty tied to India’s trade with Russia. This, he said, would go up because India was not listening to his advice to stop buying oil from Russia. India has categorically clarified that it will, like any major economy, take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security . “India has not been a good trading partner... so we settled on 25%, but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil, they’re fuelling the war machine,” Trump They (India) will give said in an interview on Tuesday . us zero tariffs... But Trump also said that he will that’s not good introduce a small tariff on pharenough, because of ma products and gradually raise what they’re doing it to 250%. Currently pharma has , with oil, not good been kept out of the purview of Donald Trump Trump’s reciprocal tariff. The US is the largest buyer of Indian pharma goods with $13 billion exports to the country , accounting for 54% of India’s total pharma exports. The Indian government has not officially reacted to Trump’s latest remarks. On Monday, soon after Trump’s announcement, the Ministry of External Affairs put out a strongly worded statement calling out the double standards of the US, which imports goods worth billions of dollars from Russia. Clearly India is in no mood to spoil its strategic rela, tions with Russia. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is set to travel to Russia this week to press for faster delivery of the remaining S-400 air defence systems and review new defence procurements. `67,000 CRORE DEFENCE PROPOSALS APPROVED The proposals include a maintenance contract for Russian-origin S-400 missile systems that played a key role during Op Sindoor. HANGMAN’S HOAX From martyrs to meals: Delhi’s ‘phansi ghar’ is actually a ‘tiffin ghar’ A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi WHAT was once unveiled with great solemnity as a British-era phansi-ghar (gallows chamber) inside the Delhi Assembly has now been revealed to be what it always was... a tiffin room. Back in 2022, then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had inaugurated the room with solemn nods to India’s freedom struggle. A plaque dated August 9, 1942, was installed. Visitors were told this was a place of blood and sacrifice, where the British hung revolutionaries. Fast forward to this week, Speaker Vijender Gupta decided to do a little fact-checking. He was armed with a 2011 architectural map. Gupta stood in the House and declared, “No gallows ever stood there, nor does one exist now.” That rope contraption? A dumbwaiter. That ominouslooking trapdoor? Just a wooden lift for transporting food. In short: Not a place of execution. Just a glorified food elevator. It is a matter of record that a plaque has been installed there, bearing the date August 9, 1942, and it was inaugurated as a tourist attraction, with the claim that a gallows once existed there. Gupta explained, “The room was a tiffin room. That’s not a gallows—that’s where your snacks came up.” And like that, the phansi-ghar became a parantha-ghar. The BJP was quick to pounce, accusing the former AAP government of misleading the public and turning a food service nook into a freedom struggle museum. They demanded an apology from Kejriwal. In response, AAP’s Jarnail Singh whipped out a ChatGPT response to back the gallows theory, prompting more confusion than clarity ChatGPT, naturally . , had quoted a former Speaker who also once called it an execution chamber. To which BJP’s Parvesh Verma said: “Even ChatGPT is confused.” LoP Atishi wondered aloud why the Assembly was debating trapdoors and tiffin lifts when Delhi was battling real problems. Her point was drowned in a sea of shouting across the benches. As the two sides squabbled, a visiting delegation from the British Parliament sat watching. One can only imagine what they were thinking. Gupta went on to debunk another popular legend: the mysterious tunnel from the Assembly to the Red Fort. No such thing, he said. Just good old-fashioned ventilation. “It’s called ducting,” he explained. “They used to leave space underground to let air pass. Even Parliament has it.” Just bureaucracy and bun-maska The Speaker used logic to drive the final nail: Where there is an Assembly, how can there possibly be “gallows”? The “Viceroy’s Room” is now the Deputy Speaker’s room. There’s a smoking room. Members’ rooms. No sign of a noose anywhere — just bureaucracy and bun-maska.