SATURDAY 04 CHURCH OF ENGLAND NAMES FIRST FEMALE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY OCTOBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard MOROCCO REFORMS PROTESTERS SEEK DISMISSAL OF GOVT 2018 The group leading Morocco’s mass protests called for the govt’s dismissal, following days of unrest that have seen the deaths of three people. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 WHEN SARAH MULLALLY WAS APPOINTED THE FIRST WOMAN BISHOP OF LONDON TO LEAD 85 MN ANGLICANS IN 165 COUNTRIES As the principal leader of the Church of England, Sarah Mullally, 63, will now lead 85 million Anglicans across 165 countries. She will replace Justin Welby, who resigned last year over a child abuse cover-up scandal. Mullally is a former cancer nurse who worked as the UK government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England in the early 2000s. She became a priest in 2006 | P9 Stern Army, IAF warning to Pak India won’t show restraint next time, says Army Chief; Pak lost 12-13 aircraft during Operation Sindoor MANDAR PARDIKAR THAYIL JACOB SONY GEORGE 7 M AY 1 9 2 8 - 3 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 TJS, THAT LEGEND DOWN THE CORRIDOR T HERE are journalists, and then there are journalists who get that rare prefix, ‘legendary’. TJS George belonged to this second order, an endangered tribe these days. Its list of card-holding members got rarer still when the man passed away today at age 97. , Behind him trails a career in letters that has spanned about as long as the life of the Indian republic, and as varied. From his erudition in Carnatic music that birthed a book on MS Subbulakshmi, and others on VK Krishna Menon as well as Nargis, it also contained landmarks in good old-fashioned print journalism, such as being the founding editor of Asiaweek in Hong Kong back in the 1970s—an act of pan-Asia ecumenism that would have resonated well today . That such an eminence was a living presence in the offices of The New Indian Express till the other day was a matter of honour and delight equally for all of us here. It was only in June 2022 that he laid his pen to rest after writing his last column, the Sunday Point of View, in his inimitable, no-holds-barred style—sharp, ironic, fearless. Over 25 years, he contributed 1,300 columns for these pages. Politicians, judges and powerful people feared and respected his pen, and treaded carefully around him. He was famously unpredictable. In our Bangalore office, when a VVIP dropped by wanting to meet him, we would exSANTWANA change nervous glances. If it BHATTACHARYA was his column-writing EDITOR hour—always longhand, pen on paper—he would refuse to meet them, however important they might be. Siddaramaiah, the current chief minister, had a taste of that brusqueness when TJS admonished him in a humorous, schoolmasterly way on one such visit—for wasting time in a newspaper office instead of working among the people! No one took offence. Once at a function in Mysore, SM Krishna, then External Affairs Minister, vacated his seat for TJS when he saw him standing, but characteristically he refused. Such was the awe he inspired among Union ministers, high court judges, chief ministers. Even when his columns were scathing, the powerful usually held their peace—it was only their sycophants who protested. He had opinions, he took stands, and never wavered, even when it led to sedition charges in earlier years. The only man he openly admired was our founder, Ramnath Goenka. “I have no god,” he would often say. A non-believer, or rather a believer only in humanity, and in journalism as a calling. He taught generations of journalists the importance of precision in language, and of calling a spade a spade. Outside the newsroom, George had deep interests in cities and food. He was fascinated by urban planning—often comparing the systematic grid of New York, where he and his beloved wife Ammu lived during his UN years, with the chaos of Bangalore’s house numbering. In his last few years, he spent his winters in Coimbatore, leaving the chaos of Bangalore behind him, to “best idlis, dosas and coffee”. ULTIMATUM SUNDAY DEADLINE FOR HAMAS TO AGREE TO TRUMP DEAL US President Donald Trump said that “all hell will break lose” if Hamas doesn’t agree to his peace deal to end the war in Gaza by Sunday evening | P9 India flags PoK rights violation amid unrest M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi This time we will take a step forward and act in a manner that will make Pakistan think whether it wants to remain on the world map or not Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi We have clear evidence of one long-range strike with over 300 kms range hitting an AEW&C or SigNit aircraft, along with five hi-tech fighters - F-16 and JF-17 Air Chief A P Singh TWO service chiefs on Friday used strong language to put Pakistan on notice, a day after Union defence minister Rajnath Singh said any misadventure from across the border in the Sir Creek sector will invite a decisive response. Addressing soldiers in Rajasthan, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said Pakistan should stop sponsoring terrorism on its soil if it wants to retain its place on world map. “India practised restraint during Operation Sindoor 1.0, but this time we won’t. This time we will take a step forward and act in a manner that will make Pakistan think whether it wants to remain on world map or not,” he warned. In Delhi, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh told the media ahead of the annual Air Force Day that the IAF destroyed around 12-13 aircraft during the Operation Sindoor, which included Chinese-made JF17s and F-16s procured from the US. He described Islamabad’s claim of India’s losses as fanciful stories (Manohar Kahaniyan). Recalling the widespread destruction of Pakistani military assets both in the air and on the ground during Operation Sindoor in May he said, “radars at , least in four places, command For over a week now, largescale protests led by the Awami REACTING strongly to the on- Action Committee (AAC) have going unrest in Pakistan-occu- swept across PoK, with Rawalapied Kashmir (PoK), India on kot, Mirpur, Kotli and Neelum Thursday called on the interna- Valley among the worst-hit. The tional community to hold Paki- region has witnessed a complete stan accountable for its “hor- shutdown, with businesses rific human rights violations” closed and transport services and systemic exploitation of paralysed in what has been dethe region under its ilscribed as the largest legal occupation. civil uprising in PoK in External Affairs Minrecent years. istry spokesperson RanThe AAC has accused dhir Jaiswal condemned the Shehbaz Sharif govthe Pakistani military’s ernment of denying funbrutal crackdown on damental rights to the protesters across multipeople of the region, deRandhir Jaiswal manding an end to what ple areas of PoK. “We have seen reports on it calls institutional disprotests in several areas of Pa- crimination. The protests have kistan-occupied Jammu & also raised calls for the abolition Kashmir, including brutalities of 12 reserved seats in the PoK by Pakistani forces on innocent legislative assembly allocated to civilians. We believe this is a Kashmiri refugees living in Panatural consequence of Paki- kistan—seen by many as a tool stan’s oppressive approach and to manipulate regional politics. systemic plundering of reThe situation is volatile, with sources from these territories,” reports confirming at least 10 Jaiswal said. protest-related deaths and a “Pakistan must be held ac- near-total suspension of intercountable for its horrific human net and mobile services to suprights violations,” he said. press the unrest. J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi and control centres at two places, runways damaged at two places, three of their hangars in three different stations damaged… we have signs of one C-130 class of aircraft and at least 4-5 fighter aircraft (in one strike), most likely F-16s, because that place happened to be F-16 base with whatever was under maintenance at that time.” Besides, one SAM (Surface to Air Missile) system was destroyed in Pakistan. “We have clear evidence of one longrange strike of more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control System) or a SigNit aircraft. Along with that five hi-tech fighters between F-16 and JF 17 class (were shot down) — this is what our system tells us,” the Air Chief said. He refused to reveal India’s losses during Op Sindoor. “Let them find out,” he said. EXPRESS READ AKSHAY KUMAR ‘Bring cybercrime in school syllabus’ Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar on Friday said his teen daughter was asked to send her nude photo while playing an online video game on her mobile, but she showed presence of mind and shut off the device. He also urged CM Devendra Fadnavis that cybercrime should be a part of the school syllabus. | P8 EDU MINISTRY ‘Zoho Office Suite to manage docus’ The education ministry on Friday ordered its officials to adopt the Zoho Office Suite for managing official documents. The ministry said, “All official documents, spreadsheets and presentations shall henceforth be created, edited and shared using Zoho Office Suite.” IDOL IMMERSION A yr after Bahraich riots, NSA against 8 A year after communal clashes rocked Bahraich, the National Security Act has been invoked against eight accused lodged in jail on charges of murder. Clashes erupted after some locals asked for music to be turned off during a Durga idol immersion procession. Parity with NCR as new draft liquor policy likely this month A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi DELHI is all set to implement its new excise policy The final . draft may be ready in a month, following stakeholder consultations at a high-level committee chaired by PWD Minister Parvesh Verma, according to sources. For now, the government has extended the old excise policy till March 31, 2026, to ensure continuity until the new framework is rolled out. The sources said that the new policy would allow premium liquor brands to be sold across all liquor shops in the ORANGE SKY city They are currently limited . to a few outlets, resulting in consumer complaints and revenue losses. “The idea is to bring Delhi on par with NCR in terms of availability and pricing of premium liquor,” a source said, adding the move is expected to plug revenue leakage and check the outflow of buyers to Gurugram and Noida. The committee also discussed the possibility of reducing the legal drinking age for beer, but officials familiar with the deliberations said that no KARUR RALLY STAMPEDE HC slams Vijay for ‘poor US Senators question the hiring leadership’, forms SIT practices of TCS, 9 other firms People watch a fire burn at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo, California. A big explosion around 10 pm local time on Thursday produced a large orange blaze that could be seen from miles away | AFP R S I V A K U M A R @ Chennai S A N A L S U D E V A N @ Chennai H-1B hires replacing American employees? The Senators specifically asked TCS and other tech firms to clarify why they continue to hire foreign tech workers despite widespread layoffs in the US tech sector and whether American employees were displaced by H-1B hires TWO US Senators have shot off a letter to the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), raising concerns about its hiring practices in the US and questioning its rationale for filing thousands of H-1B visa petitions after allegedly laying off local staff. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Richard Durbin also questioned Cognizant, Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, and Walmart, seeking details of their recruitment practices and wage parity between H-1B visa holders and American employees. In their letter to TCS CEO Krithi Krithivasan on September 24, Grassley and Durbin flagged “troubling employment trends” in the tech sector. “Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the tech sector’s unemployment rate was “well above” the overall jobless rate,” read the letter addressed to Krithivasan. Among Indian tech firms, TCS is the biggest beneficiary of H-1B visa with 5,005 approvals so far in 2025. “With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that (you) cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions,” the senators added. TCS had recently announced that it would lay off 12,000 employees globally in line with its plans to increase its investment in artificial intelligence. EXPRESSING “agony” and “anguish” over the death of 41 people during the September 27 roadshow of TVK leader Vijay at Velusamypuram in Karur and the failure of the Tamil Nadu government in taking stringent action against those responsible for the tragedy the , Madras High Court on Friday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident. North Zone Inspector General (IG) Asra Garg will head the SIT, which was ordered to begin the investigations forthwith. The HC also strongly condemned Vijay and TVK for violations during the rally and the manner in which they reacted post the event. “The leader (Vijay) has vanished and disappeared from the place of occurrence. Unfortunate to record that such a leadership is of poor quality,” Justice N Senthilkumar said. He “strongly condemned” TVK for flouting the conditions set for conducting the event. The judge passed NO TO CBI PROBE, RALLY ON HIGHWAY The Madras High Court has rejected the pleas for a CBI probe into the Karur tragedy, saying that investigation is at a nascent stage. The HC also directed the TN government not to allow meetings on the state or national highways till the state frames SOPs. the order to set up the SIT while disposing of a plea by PH Dinesh of Chennai seeking directions to the home secretary and the DGP to take action against those responsible for the deaths and forbear authorities from giving permission for roadshows by political parties until a standard operating procedure is framed for such events. consensus was reached. On August 4, CM Rekha Gupta announced the establishment of a committee to a transparent and socially secure excise policy, headed by Verma. The committee reviewed the excise policies of several states to adopt best practices. She said that the new policy would incorporate several excise reforms, including scientific testing of liquor quality , digitisation of the sales system, strict action against illegal sales, and transparency in the licencing process. Bus marshal bites off DTC conductor’s finger, held N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi A DTC bus marshal was arrested for allegedly biting off a conductor’s finger during a fight over the route in southwest Delhi, police said on Friday. A PCR call was made on September 28 at 7.46 pm at South Campus police station by a bus conductor regarding a quarrel. The caller, identified as Jitender Kumar Puniya, complained that bus marshal Man Singh of DTC bus number 392 had physically assaulted him, resulting in his finger being bitten off. The fight broke out as the bus driver and marshal wanted to take the electric bus (route number 392 from Noida Sector 62 to Dhaula Kuan) via the Lajpat Nagar Ring Road flyover, while the conductor insisted on taking the parallel road instead. Due to this, the bus got stuck in a traffic jam. After reaching Dhaula Kuan Terminal, a quarrel broke out between them, during which Jitender sustained injuries.