MONDAY CHILLY SPELL, RAIN AHEAD IN NORTH, CENTRAL INDIA, SAYS IMD 03 NOVEMBER, 2025 3-4°C epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard IS THE TEMPERATURE DECREASE EXPECTED IN NORTH, CENTRAL STATES X.com/TheMornStandard UK HORROR 10 HURT IN MASS STABBING ON TRAIN The UK police arrested two suspects after a mass stabbing incident on a London-bound train late Saturday that left as many as 10 people in hospital PAGE 9 THUNDERSTORMS, GUSTY WINDS FROM NOV 4-6 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PM: Cong okayed Tejashwi as CM face at ‘gunpoint’ R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) strong-armed Congress to declare its leader (Tejashwi Yadav) as chief ministerial face of the opposition INDIA bloc at ‘gunpoint’, and asserted that the alliance was headed towards a ‘record defeat’. Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Bihar’s Bhojpur and Nawada districts, PM Modi hinted at an internal rift between RJD and the Congress. “Congress never wanted to announce the CM candidate in favour of the RJD. The RJD secured it by placing a ‘katta’ (country made gun) on the head of Congress,” he alleged. Pointing towards infighting over candidate selection, Modi said, “Let the polls be over. The two allies will be breaking each other’s heads.” Modi cited the RJD era’s legacy of “katta (gun), kroorta (cruelty), katuta (bitterness), kusanskar (poor upbringing), kusashan (misgovernance), and corruption” as a period from which only the NDA had rescued the state. Turning to national issues, Modi referred to the success of Operation Sindoor and the implementation of One Rank, One Pension, saying, “The explosions took place in Pakistan, but the Congress royal family spent sleepless nights.” In Nawada, Modi said that both Congress and RJD were nothing but family-ruled parties. “They have learnt their lessons in the school of ‘jungle raj’. Such elements can never do good for Bihar,” Modi said. The PM, who was visibly pleased with the huge turnouts, said, “Analysts in Delhi would do well to come here and experi- REFORM EDUCATION OVERHAUL IN CITY SCHOOLS PM Narendra Modi addresses a public rally in Arrah on Sunday, ahead of the Assembly elections | PTI JD(U)’s Anant Singh held in murder case Controversial Janata Dal (United) candidate and former MLA Anant Singh was produced in a Patna court on Sunday, hours after his arrest in connection with the murder of Jan Suraaj Party supporter Dularchand Yadav on October 30 | P8 ence for themselves which way the wind is blowing”. Modi said the manifesto released by the NDA last week was honest and put forth a vision for the future. “The jungle raj wallahs have very dangerous intentions. Be aware of them,” said Modi, who also uttered a proverb in local dialect Bhojpuri, a rough translation of which is “the one responsible for destroying the field is now claiming to sow fresh seeds”. He said the people of Bihar had the responsibility not to allow ‘jungle raj’ to return. Later, Modi also held a roadshow in Patna shortly after paying tributes to poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was not present at the roadshow. JD(U) sources said he was ‘busy’. P8 An additional class is set to be introduced in Delhi schools before Class I as part of phased rollout of NEP, sparking mixed reactions from stakeholders | P4  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 According to the IMD, thunderstorms and gusty winds are likely over Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Gilgit-Baltistan from November 4-6 TEMPORARY RELIEF FROM POLLUTION LIKELY The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the Western Himalayan region will receive snowfall and rain in lower areas, leading to a temperature dip of 3–4°C across northern and central states. This pattern is expected to signal the formal onset of winter and may offer temporary relief from severe pollution in parts of northwest India | P7 WOMEN RULE THE WORLD Harmanpreet Kaur and Co create history after winning maiden World Cup title in front of packed home crowd G O M E S H S @ Navi Mumbai ON a day and night when vast swathes of India stopped to see if 16 women would make the country proud — a sentence that hasn’t been written too many times just because of how this country views its women — they delivered on their promise. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, the Women in Blue scaled a peak no India team had done before. India beat South Africa to win their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup title. In a country obsessed with men’s cricket, for a sport that literally had to rely on begging and borrowing to survive during its initial years, the win at home is the biggest. In the larger context, the women’s incredible run would instill belief in every girl who is following a dream of her India women’s team celebrates after winning its maiden ICC World Cup title in Navi Mumbai on Sunday | AP own with a willow and a ball in hand. The team has entered the pantheon of greatness. The struggles of past legends have become part of folklore. India missed the 1988 World Cup in Australia because they did not have the funds. In 1997, the World Cup final was moved to a Mon- day3to get television broadcast as a men’s ODI was slotted on Sunday. In 2005, Bollywood star Mandira Bedi helped the team get sponsors. Cryo engine reignition test successful S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Sriharikota A spectacular evening launch from Sriharikota on Sunday marked another defining moment for India’s space programme as the country’s most powerful rocket, LVM3-M5, successfully carried its heaviestever communication satellite, CMS-03, into orbit. The mission showcased India’s growing prowess in space technology and national security applications — with the satellite set to play a pivotal role in bolstering the Navy’s maritime communications and surveillance capabilities. The 43.5-metre-tall, 641-tonne ‘Bahubali’ rocket lifted off from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 5.26 pm, piercing the twilight sky in a blaze of power and precision. After a 16-minute flight, the 4,410-kg CMS-03 satellite ISRO’s 641-tonne ‘Bahubali’ rocket with communication satellite CMS-03, lifts off from Sriharikota on Sunday | PTI was placed into a Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit with an apogee of 29,970 km and perigee of 170 km. “This launch once again demonstrates the reliability and maturity of LVM3,” said ISRO Chairman V Narayanan. “For this mission, we expanded the rocket’s carrying capacity by 10%. And for the first time, we successfully reignited the cryogenic stage — a crucial capability that will help us launch multiple satellites in different orbits in future missions.” The CMS-03 replaces the ageing GSAT-7, providing secure voice, data, and video links for the Navy’s maritime operations and surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The satellite’s multiband payloads - spanning UHF, S-band, C-band, and Ku-band frequencies — will strengthen maritime domain awareness, naval coordination, and disaster response networks. The highlight of the mission, however, came moments after satellite separation when ISRO scientists momentarily held their breath inside the Mission Control Centre. Narayanan later revealed that they were conducting a first-of-its-kind inorbit experiment — reigniting the C25 cryogenic stage, an achievement that will pave the way for multi-orbit satellite deployments. “ After 100 seconds, we reignited the cryogenic engine and were awaiting confirmation,” Narayanan explained. “This defining experiment will provide invaluable data and flexibility for future missions.” Months of engineering refinements allowed LVM3 to carry 410 kg more than its original 4,000 kg capacity ISRO achieved . this by enhancing the thrust of the cryogenic engine, optimising telemetry systems and reducing the heat shield weight. City air takes a hit, several areas record ‘severe’ level, average stays ‘very poor’ Fake currency seized from MP madrasa, 2 held P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal A suspected inter-state fake Indian currency notes (FICN) racket was busted with the arrest of two men in Maharashtra’s Malegaon town. One of them was working as the Hafiz of a mosque in the communally sensitive Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. While around `10 lakh worth FICN were seized from the possession of the arrested duo in Maharashtra, a subsequent search by police at the mosquecum-madrasa in Khandwa district, led to the seizure of FICN reportedly totalling over `19.78 lakh on Sunday . The men arrested in Malegaon on October 30, were identified as Zubair Ansari and Nazim Ansari. They hail from Burhanpur district of MP . Zubair was employed for the last three months as a Hafiz at a mosque in Pethia village in Khandwa. “From recent news reports we came to know about the arrest of the two men in Maharashtra. The residents of Pethia village told the local police in Jawar about Zubair’s whereabouts,” Khandwa district police superintendent Manoj Rai told this newspaper on Sunday . A fresh Western Disturbance is set to impact north and central India this week, bringing a marked drop in temperatures, rain, and snowfall LIGHT FOR SOULS Christians offer prayers for the departed souls of their loved ones on the occasion of All Souls Day at a cemetery in New Delhi on Sunday | PARVEEN NEGI THE capital’s air quality deteriorated once again on Sunday , with 17 monitoring stations recording ‘severe’ pollution levels as a sharp drop in wind speed curbed pollutant dispersion, official data showed. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 366 on Sunday, a rise from 303 the previous day . The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) indicated that winds from the northwest fell below 8kmph during the evening and night. The city’s ventilation index remained under the 6,000 m²/s threshold, conditions that are unfavourable for dispersing emissions. AQEWS warned that the situation is likely to persist through November 4. Wazirpur recorded the highest AQI at 416, followed by Burari Crossing at 403. 20 stations in the city reported ‘very poor’ air with an AQI above 300, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app. The agency’s AQI scale labels 0–50 as ‘good’, 51–100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 as ‘moderate’, 201–300 as ‘poor’, 301–400 as ‘very poor’ and 401–500 as ‘severe’. Meteorological factors added to the problem, said experts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) noted a minimum temperature of 16.8°C, 1.5 notches above the season’s average, and a maximum of 30.7°C, near the seasonal average on Sunday P3 . URBAN STOREYS Delhi govt sets the ball rolling for two decks of Ring Road PROJECT TIMELINE Weeks 1–6 Preliminary surveys, junction mapping 7–12 Green clearance, land acquisition studies 13–18 Conceptual design and traffic modeling 19–24 Submission of DPR with engineering and financial frameworks A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE Delhi government’s Public Works Department has started the process of a massive development of Mahatma Gandhi Road, popularly called inner Ring Road, which will create one full deck of the whole stretch of the road above the existing road. So far, successive governments have chosen to make a network of flyovers or elevated stretches to decongest its busy intersections. Once the project is complete, Delhi residents will have two decks of the Ring Road for its entire length of about 55 kilometres with multiple exit and entry points. The entire corridor has been divided into six development phases, covering Delhi’s most vital arterial stretches. The government hopes that this project will enhance connectivity, decongest major intersec- tions, and promote sustainable urban transport through elevated corridors over the existing Ring Road. US-based multinational infrastructure consulting firm AECOM has been tasked to undertake the feasibility study and traffic analysis and prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the corridor’s complete transformation. The consultancy work is structured across three progressive stages, including reconnaissance and surveys, preliminary design and environmental clearance, and DPR finalisation over a 24week timeline. PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said, “Mahatma Gandhi Road is not just a transport corridor, it is Delhi’s backbone. Our mission is to make it smarter, safer, and faster. This project marks a decisive step toward creating a connected and efficient capital.” The team reached the final in South Africa the same year. Sunday wasn’t a cakewalk. For over 97 overs, India were challeng ed, pushed and dragged by South Africa, but India persisted. They hung on. Destiny had other plans this time. Take for instance Shafali Verma. She came in as an injury replacement and played the innings of her life. Deepti Sharma, the other protagonist, was the perfect foil with the ball. There was Richa Ghosh whose counter-attacking 34 gave the hosts the finishing touch with the bat. The effect of this win will be felt elsewhere. In the rooms in each house. This can even lead to a change in India’s mindset, even if it’s just a trifle. This could encourage more parents to have girl children and lead them to a playground unafraid. On a night like this, one can only dream. For this night of nights ought to turn dreamers into believers. P11 Didn’t discuss PM SHRI in cabinet, admits Kerala CPM E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ T’Puram CPM state secretary M V Govindan on Sunday admitted that there was a lapse in not discussing the PM SHRI scheme in the Cabinet or within the LDF before signing the memorandum of understanding with the Union government. “It is true that the Cabinet and the LDF did not discuss the matter and take a decision. It was a lapse. I am admitting it,” Govindan said. Following criticism from the CPI, the LDF government had recently decided to put the PM SHRI (PM School for Rising India) scheme on hold until a Cabinet sub-committee reviews it and submits a report. Govindan said he, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and the party’s national leaders had intervened to resolve the issue. “I have been saying from the beginning that the LDF will discuss all matters, take a decision, and move forward together. That has now proved true,” he said. O n a d i f f e r e n t i s s u e, Govindan slammed Opposition parties for questioning the state government’s claim of eradicating extreme poverty . “It is an achievement that came through a process spanning several years. However, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and some experts seem to think it was something accomplished overnight. Now that the project has gained global attention, Satheesan cannot stand it and has begun levelling allegations,” he said. Govindan urged Satheesan to travel across the state to identify individuals living in extreme poverty . EXPRESS READ Woman Naxal with `14L reward surrenders in MP A wanted female cadre of the CPI(M) hailing from Chhattisgarh has surrendered before police in Madhya Pradesh’s Naxal-affected Balaghat district. The female outlaw identified as Sunita, who carried a reward of `14 lakh, laid down at the Choriya police camp in Lanji police station area, the MP police said in an official statement on Sunday.