mondAY 08 september, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard l a r g e s t at ta c k Ukraine govt building hit japan pm to resign following party’s defeat in july election Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital on Sunday, marking the largest aerial assault since the war began ldp was eyeing early leadership election A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 Pic: PTI l New Delhi l J8.00 l The resignation came one day before Ishiba’s party was to decide whether to hold an early leadership election, which would have amounted to a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved. In July, Ishiba’s ruling coalition failed to secure a majority in the 248-seat upper house in a crucial parliamentary election, weakening his government’s stability | p9 PAGES 12 Last push by NDA, INDIA bloc ahead of V-P election Both sides strive to shore up their numbers, eye cross-voting gains India win Asia Cup, seal WC spot 2026 World Cup bound As hosts of the previous two World Cups in 2018 and 2023, India were automatic qualifiers. This time, though, they had to win this or they would have found themselves playing a tricky qualifying tournament next year. They can now plan and attack that tournament with 11 months to go An utterly efficient India beat South Korea 4-1 to win their fourth Asia Cup. A look... India go aerial to find some joy Both China and South Korea man-marked the Indian players. To reduce that effect, India went long to bypass midfield and transfer pressure. This ploy worked a treat Forwards come to the party Earlier in the tournament, the forward line was generally profligate. They were snatching at chances as composure was a worry. They addressed those issues as the likes of Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Abishek sounded the board after some teething troubles PM to visit Punjab, Himachal on Sept 9 to assess flood loss to evaluate the situation. After conducting an aerial AS Punjab and Himachal survey of flood-hit zones in Pradesh grapple with devastat- Pathankot, the PM is expected ing floods, Prime Minister to hold a meeting with officials Narendra Modi is scheduled to of Punjab government. visit the states on September 9 to Modi is likely to stress the urtake stock of the situation. The gent need to strengthen emP u n j a b g o v e r n m e n t h a s bankments along the Sutlej, estimated that the loss from the Beas, Ravi, and Ghaggar rivers, disaster amounts to which have weakened `13,289 crore. over the years due to ilIn Himachal Pradesh, legal mining and lack Modi will visit Kangra of maintenance. and is expected to conAccording to the duct an aerial survey to sources, on Saturday, assess the situation the two central intercaused by cloudbursts ministerial teams `13K crore and flashfloods. He is held a meeting with damage also likely to hold a the officials of the meeting with the Mann government state delegation headhas estimated officials, said a state ed by Chief Secretary that the loss BJP leader. KAP Sinha, which inamounts to Punjab BJP presicluded other adminisdent Sunil Jakhar `13,289 crore. The trative secretaries. highest loss has said that the Prime The state officials been incurred by Minister is deeply submitted a report to concerned about the rural development the central teams. and panchayat flood situation and is These teams had department closely monitoring it. visited Ferozepur, Faamounting to “He is visiting Punjab z i l k a , G u rd a s p u r, `5,043 crore. on September 9 to perPathankot, Amritsar, sonally assess the loTaran Taran and Kacal conditions and understand purthala districts and interactthe ground realities to provide ed with the affected people and maximum assistance to the learnt about their grievances. A people of the state.” senior official said that the exHe said that two central gov- act extent of damage would be ernment teams, which have vis- known only after the floodwaited the state to assess the dam- ters recede. age, are set to submit their The Punjab and the Himachal reports to the central govern- Governments have been dement after their tour. Union manding a special relief packAgriculture Minister Shivraj age from the Centre to compenChouhan was earlier sent sate people for the losses. H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh didate, B Sudershan Reddy. YSRCP has 7 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and 5 in Lok Sabha. with just a day left for TuesWhile BRS chief K Chanday’s Vice-Presidential elec- drashekar Rao is yet to disclose tion, both the ruling BJP-led his preference for a candidate, NDA and the Congress-led op- party insiders believe the reposition have intensified ef- cent turmoil within the BRS is forts to boost their numbers. likely to tilt the scales in favour The NDA, which was the first of the NDA nominee. to announce candidate for the The BRS, BJD, and YSRCP V-P poll on August 17, has since have supported the Narendra been engaging with its MPs Modi government in passing to ensure victory for crucial bills in Parliaits nominee, C P ment in the past, but Radhakrishnan. opposition strategists On his part, the are not ruling out adRadhakrishnan has ditional votes from concluded his camcross-voting by some paign by meeting all MPs from these parMPs of the alliance, ties. “Though we do t r ave l l i n g a c ro s s not expect major surstates and in Delhi. prises, we expect to Although the final improve our performC P Radhakrishnan result is a foregone ance this time. We conclusion in favour have reached out to of NDA’s nominee, all the three independeyes are on fence sitent MPs as well,” said ters and neutral para senior opposition ties, including Naveen leader, who did not Patnaik’s Biju Janata wish to be named. Dal (BJD) and K As the principal Chandrashekhar partner of the NDA Rao’s Bharat Rashtra and the party responSamithi (BRS), which sible for nominating B Sudershan Reddy are yet to show their the consensus candihands. The BJD has date for Vice Presiseven Rajya Sabha MPs while dent, the BJP is not taking any the BRS has four. chances and has asked all its Congress sources told this MPs to reach Delhi by Monday paper that they don’t expect ahead of Tuesday’s election. It any surprises in Tuesday’s vot- has also begun training the ing, as most southern parties MPs to ensure they cast their appear to be inclined towards votes correctly and avoid any supporting the NDA nominee. technical errors. A senior BJP Sources said the Opposition leader said first-time MPs are reached out to YSRCP chief Ja- especially given thorough traingan Mohan Reddy for support ing in the voting process and but he conveyed his unwilling- taught how to handle the secret ness to back the opposition can- ballot papers. p7 RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR & P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi integrated BAMS, MBBS course to be of over 5 yrs ka v ita bajeli - d att @ New Delhi Oppn MPs to practise with ‘mock poll’ P reetha N air @ New Delhi Opposition MPs would be briefed on Monday on the procedure to vote in the September 9 Vice-Presidential polls, sources in the INDIA bloc said on Sunday . They said a ‘mock poll’ would be conducted for the MPs in the Central Hall of the old Parliament House at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the V-P poll. To ensure smooth voting and to avoid invalid votes, the Congress has also appointed coordinators to conduct training sessions with its allies. Though Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was to host a dinner for the opposition MPs on Monday evening, it has been cancelled in view of the flood situation in the country . Meanwhile, in a fervent appeal to MPs, joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy on Sunday exhorted them not to let party loyalty guide their choice and asserted that by entrusting him with this office, they would be ensuring that the Rajya Sabha stands as a true temple of democracy . In a 12-minute-long video message, Reddy told the MPs that he seeks their support not for himself but for the “values that define us as a sovereign democratic republic”. THE Centre’s proposed new integrated MBBS-BAMS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) course at JIPMER in Puducherry will be a degree course spanning more than five years, with a one-year internship leading to the dual degrees, an RTI reply has revealed. The proposal, which has been prepared by Auroville Foundation and announced with great fanfare by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and AYUSH, Prataprao Jadhav, on May 27, also states that the syllabus for phase 1 is ready and is prepared on the competency-based curriculum (CBME) proposed by the National Medical Council (NMC), a statutory body that regulates medical education, medical professionals, institutes, and research. However, key regulatory bodies including the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), which decide on new courses and syllabi, were not involved in the proposal, as per RTI documents. This paper was the first to report on the Centre’s push for the integrated medical course that would combine MBBS and BAMS. Following the report, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), representing over four lakh medical practitioners, strongly condemned the move to “mix different systems of medicine unscientifically” and demanded that the government withdraw the “regressive proposal” in public interest. Despite the announcement by the Union Minister, JIPMER refused to share any details of the course after Keralabased activist Dr K V Babu filed an RTI. Moreover, Auroville secretary Dr Jayanti S Ravi, who acknowledged in her January 25 letter that discussions were held over the last several months with Dr V K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, AYUSH, and others, had also failed to share comments on the integrated course with the Union Health Ministry despite repeated reminders. Speaking to this paper, Dr Babu said: “There is no provision under any law in India to award MBBS and BAMS degrees together after any course. From files availed using RTI, it seems the government is supporting the proposal to award a dual degree of MBBS and BAMS by the Auroville Foundation in association with JIPMER and some satellite centres... There is nothing to suggest that the regulatory body in this case, NMC, had ever discussed it with other regulatory bodies, which is mandatory under the statute.” press clusive Express read Toxic gas leak kills three workers in MP factory, leaves one critical deluge Relentless rain Unleashes havoc across Capital Two years apart, Delhi reeled under Yamuna floods, 2023’s historic deluge and 2025’s fresh surge, exposing fragile defences, displacements and governance lapses | P4 Three workers died and another was hospitalised after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a chamber at a lubricant factory in Pithampur Industrial Area of Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district on Sunday. Police said the factory failed to report the incident. Action will follow after the autopsy report, officials added. Maoist carrying `10L bounty killed in gunfight with forces in J’khand A Maoist, Amit Hansda alias Aptan, a zonal committee member of CPI(Maoist), carrying a bounty of `10 lakh on his head, was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district on Sunday, police said. The encounter broke out on Sunday morning in the forests of Panchlataburu hills, they added. trailblazers Devi Awards honour Odisha’s fab fourteen E x press N ews S er v i c e @ Bhubaneswar SPEAKER of Odisha Legislative Assembly Surama Padhy on Sunday called upon women to step forward and make their mark in every sphere of the society Pre. senting the 33rd Devi Awards, instituted by The New Indian Express, Padhy said women are the cornerstone of the society “A society truly ad. vances when its women are respected and given opportunities,” she said. She said real development of women is possible through their participation and inclusion in education, health, employment, social security and politics. When women become self-reliant and experience economic growth, it lends speed and strength to devel- nmc sidelined? Devi awardees seen alongside Odisha Speaker Surama Padhy, TNIE CEO Lakshmi Menon, Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla, and Resident Editor for Odisha Siba Mohanty at the award ceremony in Bhubaneswar on Sunday | DEBADATTA MALLICK opment and progress of the entire country, starting from individual families. “I hope women will step forward and make their mark in every sphere of society,” Padhy added. The fourth edition of Devi Awards in Odisha honoured 14 trailblazing women from a crosssection of the society, who have stood out through their achievements, excellence and impact. They include conservation architect Vijaya Amujure, the first girl from the primitive Didayi community to crack NEET Champa Raseda, disability activist Gargi Bhat- tacharya, farmer and preserver of Shree Anna (millets) Raimati Ghuria, ENT specialist Dr Smruti Swain, globally-acclaimed Odissi exponent Sujata Mohapatra, entrepreneur and innovator Minushri Madhumita, scientist Jyotirmayee Dash, social activist Nibedita Lenka, chef Madhusmita Soren, lacquer doll craftsperson Kanakalata Das, the valorous forest guard who captured 17 poachers Khirabdi Seth, award winning Ollywood actor and philanthropist Archita Sahu and Odisha’s sprint queen Srabani Nanda. Editorial director of TNIE Prabhu Chawla, TNIE Group CEO Lakshmi Menon and resident editor, TNIE Odisha, Siba Mohanty were among those present. Odisha Lit Fest concludes with diversity of ideas and discussions | P5 CELESTIAL SPECTACLE Blood moon seen during the lunar eclipse, in New Delhi on Sunday | pti Child’s credible testimony enough to uphold conviction in rape: HC P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi If the victim is the sole witness to the incident, a conviction can be sustained if her testimony is found to be credible and reliable Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri Convict lured her with food The convict, Tonny, worked at a wood workshop near the child’s school. He enticed her into the shop with food and then repeatedly raped her A man who lured a 10-year-old girl with chowmein and ‘kachori’ before raping her has lost his appeal against a 12-year jail term, with the Delhi High Court ruling that the child’s testimony alone was enough to uphold his conviction. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri, while dismissing the appeal on September 3, said the survivor’s statement was consistent and reliable, and that the defence had failed to discredit her during cross-examination. “The settled position of law is that even if the victim is the sole witness to the incident, a conviction can be sustained if her testimony is found to be credible and reliable. If the tes- timony of the child victim inspires confidence and is reliable, the conviction can rest upon it,” the court observed. The case originated from an FIR registered on August 4, 2017, based on the statement of a 10-year-old victim. According to the FIR, the convict, Tonny, worked at a wood workshop near the child’s school. He enticed her into the shop with food and then repeatedly raped her. He also threatened to “drown her in a drain or cut her like a piece of wood” if she spoke of the abuse. The judge noted that the child’s testimony inspired confidence and stood firm throughout, which formed the basis for sustaining the 12-year sentence awarded by the trial court.