RAINED-OUT NORTH PLEADS FOR MERCY THURSDAY 04 SEPTEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard KIM JONG UN GROOMS DAUGHTER FOR BIGGER ROLES North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has brought his young daughter on his most significant foreign trip in years, a trip to China. PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 ANANYA HOMELESS, BUT NOT HOPELESS Yamuna: The river that feeds and ruins N I T I N R AWAT @ New Delhi UNDER a makeshift plastic shed near the Old Iron Bridge, 10-year-old Ananya Singh sits with her notebooks borrowed from friends. A Class VI student at a government school in Gandhi Nagar, she lost all her textbooks when the Yamuna overflowed its banks last month. “I lost my books in the flood that came 15 days back in August. I passed my recent unit test thanks to the notes my teachers gave me. They are very supportive and also concerned about our studies.” Her father, Kamal Singh, an e-rickshaw driver, looks weary but hopeful. With four children enrolled in a gover nment school in Kailash Nagar, he knows the importance of education. “I am not educated, nor is my wife, but my kids are very keen about education. I feel proud when I see Ananya doing well in her academics. We’ve lost our kids’ books and dresses in the recent flood. I wrote to the teachers and authorities, and they assured me they will provide them,” he said. Ananya says her teachers have promised to arrange the missing study materials. For now, their house on the riverbank remains sealed off, leav- P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi ing the family to live in cramped and uncertain conditions. A few lanes away, 15-year-old Dev, a Class X student from the Yamuna floodplain, is also trying to keep his education alive. Unlike Ananya, he managed to save his books and uniform, but going to school is nearly impossible. “My father ran a small jaljeera stall, but he stopped due to his health issues. I managed to save my study materials, but I won’t be attending school. We were first busy moving our belongings to a safer place. And now I am running a small egg stall to support my family,” he explained. The burden weighs heavily on him, but Dev is determined to hold on to his studies. “I want to pass my 12th exam with good marks, and then I will decide what to do about my career. Right now, I have to support my family he said. ,” Across the Yamuna Khadar, families displaced are living in relief camps. “There is no roof over our heads, and the children can’t sleep at night amid the rain. How can they focus on their studies,” asked Seema Devi, a mother of three children aged between 6 and 13. The flood may have swept away books, but not the determination of kids like Ananya and Dev, or their parents. P3 & 4 AS the Yamuna swelled past the danger mark this week, the water swallowed not just homes but also the livelihoods of thousands of families dependent on farming across Delhi’s floodplains. Nearly 10,000 families, mostly migrants from Bareilly and Badaun in UP, reside along the river. Over the decades, they transformed fertile floodplains into vege t abl e f a r m s t h at supplied city markets. Today those fields lie , submerged. “We have seen the destruction of our harvest,” said Mahesh Kushwaha, pointing to his drowned crops. Mahesh’s family has farmed Yamuna Khadar near Mayur Vihar since 2002. “This year, we will have no income. But we still have to pay rent, or face harassment.” The farmers are mostly sharecroppers, paying around `20,000 per bigha as rent to local “owners”. The Delhi Development Authority, however, insists that the land belongs to the government. The dispute has left the community vulnerable—facing eviction notices, routine demolitions, and now, the fury of floods. At makeshift relief camps near the river, despair mixes with resilience. Families dragged tractors, livestock, and what belongings they could save, only to find space scarce. Small shops once run from jhuggis—selling groceries, snacks, or barber services—have shifted into the camps. A barber said that business had collapsed. “People don’t have money. We sell goods and services on credit. We don’t know if anyone can pay, but it would be wrong to deny basics at such a time.” With the harvest gone, many families will rely entirely on relief rations. Some have tried daily-wage work, but with limited options, most return to the riverbanks. “The Yamuna gives us both life and destruction,” another farmer said. Farming is the only skill most families have. HIMACHAL PRADESH In Kullu, two persons, including a National Disaster Response Force jawan, feared dead as two houses collapse PUNJAB Punjab was officially declared a disaster-affected state on Wednesday, with 37 deaths reported and 3,55,000 people affected across 1,655 villages. Approximately 4,32,000 acres of farmland have been submerged, causing losses to crops and livestock | P8 JAMMU AND KASHMIR Heavy rain led to the deaths of a woman and her daughter, while 40 people were left trapped in a flooded village in Akhnoor. Major rivers, including the Chenab and the Jhelum, are flowing above the danger level. Thousands of people have been evacuated 5% & 18%: Just two GST Peace talks with Kuki-Zo inconclusive slabs from September 22 outcome” and that a fresh round of talks would take AHEAD of Prime Minister place, with the date and venue Narendra Modi’s expected vis- to be decided later. Sources said it to the ethnic violence-hit the ministry’s Northeast advistate of Manipur later this sor, A K Mishra and Intellimonth, the Union home gence Bureau officials PM’s ministry held a meeting held discussions with Manipur representatives of on Wednesday with representatives of the Kukithe Kuki-Zo insurvisit Zo insurgent groups and gent groups. It is worth noting the Manipur government to finalise the terms for renew- that the SoO pact, origiing the Suspension of Opera- nally signed in August 2008, has been a cortion (SoO) pact, sources said. However, they maintained nerstone in rethat there was “no concrete ducing hostili- 5% tax for daily use items; no GST for individual health, life insurance P U S H P I TA D E Y & D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE 56th GST Council meeting held here on Wednesday cleared all the proposed changes in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), including the two-rate tax structure. Taxes on most daily use items, which were earlier in the 18% and 12% slabs, have been cut to 5%. Many goods in the 28% slab were also brought down to 18%. All these rates will come into effect from September 22. Addressing the media after the meeting that went past 9 pm, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said efforts have been made to not just reduce the rates on items for the common man but also ease the compliance burden for businesses. “We have corrected inverted duty structure problems, resolved classification-related issues, and ensured stability and predictability in GST. There has been a rationalisation of rates—slabs have been reduced to just two. We are also addressing issues of compensation cess, simplifying registration, return filing, and refunds,” the finance minister said. Goods which have moved to the 5% slab from 18% or 12% rates include hair oil, toilet soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bicycles, tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles. Many food items including namkeen, bhujia, sauces, pasta, instant noodles, chocolates, coffee, preserved meat, cor n flakes, butter, ghee, etc have also been put under 5% slab PRESS INTAKE Use your clout with Putin on Ukraine, India urged | P7 Raje meets Bhagwat as 3-day RSS meet begins in Raj | P8 K’taka Cong MLA slammed over comment on journo | P5 Not just GST rate rationalisation, this is structural reform, easing compliance — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, J&K CM Omar Abdullah, and others at the 56th GST Council meeting | PTI BASIC FOOD ITEMS TO GET CHEAPER OPPN STATES WARY OF REVENUE LOSS Basic food items have been exempt from GST: paneer, ultra-high temperature milk, and all Indian breads—roti, chapati, and paratha—will attract nil rate. Life-saving drugs too will be exempted Before the Council meeting, opposition-ruled Himachal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Telangana met to formalise their strategy to demand revenue protection from the existing 12% or 18%. The rates on middle-class aspirational goods such as washing machines, TVs (all sizes now at 18%), small cars, motorcycles up to 350cc have been reduced from 28% to 18%. Taxes on agriculture goods such as tractors, horticultural and forestry machines, harvesting/threshing machines, composting machines, etc have been cut from 12% to 5%. Premium on individual health and life insurance have been cut to zero from 18%. Rates on 33 life-saving drugs and medicines have also been cut to zero; several others medicines have been reduced from 12% or 5% to zero. There will be a special rate of 40% for sin and super-luxury goods, including caffeinated or flavoured carbonated beverages with added sugar. Welcoming the decisions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The wide ranging reforms will improve lives of our citizens and ensure ease of doing business for all, especially small traders and businesses.” The overall revenue loss to the government is calculated to be around `47,700 crore. P10 STARLINK GETS PROVISIONAL SPECTRUM The Elon Musk-led company has received provisional spectrum to begin trial satellite broadband services in India, ahead of a full-scale commercial launch | P10 Fadnavis, Rupala lead race for BJP president’s post B A L A C H A U H A N @ Bengaluru AS the BJP prepares to elect its new president, names of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and former Union minister from Gujarat, Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, emerged as top contenders for the hot seat along with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. According to sources, who didn’t wish to be named, Fadnavis has been given a heads-up that he may be asked to step down as CM after the Bihar elections. “The message has been conveyed but there is no discussion yet on his future role. He is likely to be considered for the BJP chief post. He is young, has the support of RSS and the confidence of the party leadership,” said sources. Though Rupala is a Fadnavis (top) new entrant into the list, and Rupala his candidature gained traction as he too is backed by the RSS and is said to be trusted by the party top brass. His proximity to PM Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, is well known. Rupala’s anti-Kshatriya comments during Parliament elections in 2024 did cast a cloud on his political career but he is a “loyalist, and a trusted conduit between the Sangh and the party leadership”, said sources. The name of Pradhan is among the contenders. His late father Dr Debendra Pradhan was a life member of the RSS and had joined the BJP in 1980. EXPRESS READ M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi ties between Kuki-Zo armed groups and security forces. However, its renewal was halted after ethnic violence erupted between the Kuki and Meitei communities in May 2023, leaving Manipur deeply fractured. Many in the corridors of power believe that extending the SoO pact could be one of the most important confidence-building measures in the troubled state. Sources indicated that if the prime minister visits CAA deadlines: MHA extends cutoff date Manipur in the second or third week of this month, the renewal of the SoO pact could signal a significant outreach to the tribal Kuki-Zo community and is viewed as a step towards restoring normality . The ministry resumed talks with the Kuki-Zo SoO groups on June 9 this year after a twoyear hiatus to renegotiate the SoO pact under stricter ground rules. One of the conditions includes reducing the number of SoO camps from 14 to seven, relocating them away from Meitei-dominated areas. The MHA has extended the cut-off date for entry under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) to December 31, 2024, allowing members of minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, to stay in India.