THURSDAY 14 AUGUST, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard GAZA INDIAN REFINERY SHIPS DIESEL TO CHINA FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2021 ISRAEL MAKING INCURSIONS: HAMAS CARGO LOADED FROM VADINAR, GUJARAT A Hamas official says Israeli forces are making incursions into Gaza City, after the military okayed a framework for a new offensive in the territory. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai Amid pushback, spl bench to hear stray dogs issue Matter to be heard today; CJI B R Gavai acts after uproar against two-judge bench order CHIEF Justice of India B R Gavai on Wednesday evening constituted a special bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N V Anjaria to hear the stray dogs issue, after a two-judge bench’s order for blanket removal of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR led to a nationwide uproar. The larger, three-judge bench will hear the matter on Thursday . Earlier in the day the , CJI said he would look into it after a pending Special Leave Petition that also dealt with the stray dogs issue was mentioned before him by lawyer Nanita Sharma. Referring to a May 2024 order passed by an SC bench relegating petitions relating to stray dogs to the respective high courts, the lawyer said the stray dogs issue needs clarity because two benches of the apex court passed conflicting orders in the matter. “There is an earlier judgment of this court, of a bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, which says there cannot be indiscrimi- J8.00  PAGES 12 IOA APPROVES 2030 BID The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has picked up 100 stray dogs so far and converted 20 animal birth control centres into shelters | P3 @ New Delhi  COMMONWEALTH GAMES SET FOR INDIA RETURN 100 STREET DOGS RELOCATED: MCD S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y NEW DELHI  According to reports, Nayara Energy loaded the cargo at Vadinar terminal on July 18 and the shipment departed hours before the European Union announced new restrictions on the refinery. The vessel was initially bound for Malaysia but made a U-turn in the Strait of Malacca and was anchored for 12 days. It has since updated its destination to Zhoushan, China. | P10 nate killing of canines and that compassion for all living beings has to be there,” Sharma, appearing for the Conference for Human Rights (India), told the CJI-led bench, also comprising Justice K Vinod Chandran. The lawyer brought to the court’s attention the overlapping nature of these matters and the possibility of conflicting directions. The recent order to permanently relocate all stray from streets to shelters was passed by a bench comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan on August 11 on a suo-motu case. The order said dog shelters would have to be augmented over time and directed civic authorities in Delhi and NCR to start with creating shelters of around 5,000 canines within six to eight weeks. The two-judge bench also warned of strict action against individuals and organisations that may try to create any obstruction in the relocation drive. It said contempt proceedings would be initiated against those concerned, in case of any move to defy the order. The 2026 Glasgow CWG is a scaled down Games because of circumstances. If we get 2030 CWG, it will be full fledged one just like we did in 2010 PT Usha, IOA president The Special General Meeting was short but very fruitful. Now that we have the go ahead of the General Body, we will be putting in the proposals R Iyer, IOA CEO TWENTY years after 2010, India is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. The Indian Olympic Association formally approved the bid during its Special General Meeting on Wednesday . With Canada, the other contender, backing out, the possibility of India hosting the event brightens. This will also help elevate its image as a capable host for multi-discipline events and improve its chances of hosting Olympic Games in 2036. The nod from the IOA general body was required because IOA is the governing body of the Commonwealth Games Association in India with IOA president PT Usha as its chief. As reported by this newspaper in March, the CGA president had sent a formal letter of intent showcasing India’s strong ancient cultural and historical heritage and technology-driven future to reimagine the Games for a new generation. The expression of interest was supported by letters from various ministries of the Gujarat government. Usha confirmed the news after the meeting at the IOA Bhavan in New Delhi and said that the house approved the bid unanimously at the SGM which met after the CEO’s appointment was ratified last month. However, unlike the letter of intent that said Ahmedabad would be the host city she said that there are , places like Bhubaneswar and Delhi. August 31 is another deadline by which India should submit various documents for bidding. The letter of intent submitted in March specified Ahmedabad as the host city and a delegation from the Commonwealth Sport had visited Gujarat last month where the IOA Chief Executive Officer too was present. If India gets to host the CWG, it will be bigger than the Glasgow Games next year. IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer said that SGM was very cordial and decision unanimous. ‘CONSEQUENCES’ TRUMP’S THREAT TO RUSSIA OVER WAR US President Donald Trump says there will be “severe consequences” if Russia’s Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to end the war after Friday’s summit. | P9 Poll rolls can’t be static, says SC bench S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y Residual powers of ECI on special roll revision @ New Delhi T H E S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday said the electoral rolls cannot be static and were bound to be revised periodically disagreeing with the sub, mission of a petitioner that it had no basis in law, while hearing challenges to the validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, in his submission, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had surprisingly invented a new document requirement for eight crore voters. “Even if I’m in jail, I can’t be removed from the roll without due process. Here, 65 lakh removed voters The bench pointed to the ECI’s residual power to conduct any exercise as it deemed fit. It referred to Section 21(3) of the RP Act, which says “the EC may at any time, for reasons to be recorded, direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit.” were not disqualified on any such grounds. The ECI has carried out mass exclusions. Who gave the ECI the authority to do this?” he asked. A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, said, “But the electoral list cannot remain static. A one-time exercise is only for preparing the original list and it must be revised.” Sankaranarayanan added that the ECI has begun the process in West Bengal, too, without consultation. “I appear for the state and for main petitioner ADR. Four constitutional provisions on electoral rolls haven’t been addressed yet. The right to be on the roll is sacrosanct.” To this, the court observed that the expansion of the number of documents by the ECI is voter-friendly “Look at . the number of documents by which you can prove your citi- zenship — up from seven to 11,” the bench said. The bench added that despite arguments that non-acceptance of Aadhaar was exclusionary, it appeared the large number of documents was “actually inclusionary”. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for a petitioner, alleged malafide intent on the part of the ECI, alleging it removed the searchable feature of draft rolls just a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on Karnataka elections. But the court refused to entertain it saying it was not aware of any such press conference. The arguments were inconclusive and would continue on Thursday . SC forms probe team on nexus between Noida officials, realtors Soon, Group A jobs, `7 cr for int’l sports medallists S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y THE Delhi government is in the process of rolling out a policy that aims to provide Group ‘A’ jobs to sportspersons who win medals in international events, besides rewarding them with a cash prize of `7 crore, Minister for Home, Education, Power and Urban Development Ashish Sood said on Wednesday Sincere efforts . are afoot to ensure the best possible facilities for these athletes, he added. Speaking at the 26th edition of the ‘Delhi Dialogues’ programme hosted by TMS, the Minister said, “Since the Delhi government only offers jobs in the Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ categories, we have approached the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission to consider our proposal, which recently got the state cabinet’s approval.” A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi @ New Delhi THE Supreme Cour t on Wednesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh Police to conduct a preliminary inquiry into alleged collusion between Noida officials and builders over inflated land acquisition compensation to farmers. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi formed a new SIT, comprising three IPS officers, which will replace the earlier SIT. The bench was hearing a case wherein it had ordered an SIT probe while dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of a Noida law officer, following allegations of compensations to land owners beyond entitlement. The SC directed a restraining order on project development in Noida without prior Environmental Impact Assessment and approval of the report by the court’s green bench. The new SIT shall immediately register preliminary inquiries and proceed to inquire into the points highlighted by the previous SIT and forensic experts, as well as the Economic Offence Wing of the state police to be associated with it, ordered the bench. Asking the Chief Secretary to post a Chief Vigilance Officer in Noida, who should be from the IPS cadre or on deputation from the CAG, the court posted the matter for hearing after eight weeks. IN DEEP WATERS Rickshaw pullers wade through a waterlogged road after rainfall, in Guwahati on Wednesday | PTI | IMD RED ALERT, P7 EXPRESS READ Rudy defeats Balyan in Constitution Club polls DUSU polls on Sept 18; `1L bond sparks protest SC cancels wrestler Sushil Kumar’s bail Former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy retained his post as General Secretary (Admin) of the Constitution Club of India, defeating fellow BJP leader Sanjeev Kumar Balyan. | P3 The DU Students’ Union polls will be held on September 18. Voting for day classes will take place from 8:30 am to 1 pm, and evening class students vote between 3 pm and 7:30 pm. | P4 The SC on Wednesday cancelled Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s bail in the murder case of former junior national wrestler Sagar Dhankar, and ordered him to surrender within a week. | P4 He said that sportspersons trained with state-provided facilities, after winning medals, shift to neighbouring states, where they are offered Group ‘ ’ jobs. A The government has already approved rewards for medallists, as those winning gold medals will now be given `7 crore, silver medallists `5 crore and those winning bronze `3 crore will be granted. Earlier, Olympic and Paralympic medal winners were awarded `3 crore, `2 crore and `1 crore, respectively, for winning Gold, Silver, and Bronze. P4 Tammy Bruce, US Department of State Relationship with India, Pak unchanged: US J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi AMID its deepening strategic salience with Pakistan, the US on Wednesday said there is no change in its relationship with either India or Pakistan. “Our relationship with both nations remains unchanged, and our diplomats are committed to both countries,” said US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce while responding to questions about the growing US-Pakistan security engagement. The comments came in the wake of Pak Army chief Asim Munir’s recent visit to the US and concerns over his reported nuclear rhetoric during closed-door meetings. Munir’s trip—his second in less than two months—featured a series of high-level meetings with senior US military and political officials. It followed a private luncheon with President Donald Trump in June and reflects growing US-Pakistan security alignment, particularly in counterterrorism. Referring to the conflict between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, the State Department spokesperson said: “We had an experience with Pakistan and India. When there was a conflict that could have developed into something quite horrible.” Bruce added it is good news for the world that the US is working with the two nuclear-armed nations. P7 GLOBAL PLASTICS TREATY O India backs ‘weak’ plastic treaty draft with no cap on production N the eve of the penultimate day of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty, talks are in deadlock — and India has thrown its weight behind the petrochemical-producing Like-Minded Countries (LMC), accepting a weakened draft text that drops production caps and chemical controls as merely a “starting point” for talks. “We have some serious concerns on the text proposed by you, as we see many fundamental elements (scope) missing from the text,” said Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), and head TMS in Switzerland S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA @ GENEVA of India’s delegation. “Having said this, we consider this as a good enough starting point to further our work… We also urge other member states to have trust in your leadership and express their concern during the consultation process.” The new draft, released by Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, ahead of THE scheduled plenary on Wednesday retains voluntary measures , on product redesign, recycling, and waste management but deletes a previous article on production limits and omits all reference to chemicals of concern. The only nod to production appears in the preamble — a symbolic gesture far from the binding commitments sought by more than 100 countries. India’s alignment with the LMC, led by Kuwait and includ- ing Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Malaysia, places it firmly in the camp resisting upstream measures that target the root cause of plastic pollution — the sheer vo l u m e o f p l a s t i c b e i n g produced. The bloc has consistently opposed any global phaseout list, production caps, or trade restrictions on plastic CONTINUED ON P5 products.