THAILAND LAUNCHES AIRSTRIKES AT CAMBODIA AS TENSION REIGNITES TUESDAY 09 Thailand launched airstrikes along the disputed border with Cambodia on Monday as both accused the other of undermining the ceasefire DECEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ZELENSKYY ‘WORK NEEDED TO END RUSSIA WAR’ One Thai soldier, 4 Cambodians killed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said after talks in Geneva with the US that more work is needed to end his country’s war with Russia A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI   J8.00 Longstanding border disputes between the two neighbours erupted into five days of combat in July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians. US President Donald Trump pushed the Southeast Asian neighbours to sign a truce agreement in October, but tensions have continued to simmer. The latest round of clashes has killed one Thai soldier and 4 Cambodians | P9 PAGES 12 Delhi’s Dil Beats for its Devis Presents Presenting Partner December 15, 2025 6 pm ITC Maurya, New Delhi CHIEF GUEST DEVI AWARDS Goa nightclub owners flee to Thailand, staff detained in city EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi GOA Police has detained an employee of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, which caught fire on Saturday night, from the national capital. The police also claimed that Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, owners of the nightclub who live in Delhi, flew to Phuket on Sunday morning. The nightclub employee has been identified as Bharat Kohli, a resident of the Sabzi Mandi area in north Delhi. He will be taken to Goa for interrogation. Goa Police found in the preliminary probe that Kohli was responsible for overseeing daily operations at the nightclub. According to the Goa Police, a team was sent to Delhi from Goa to conduct raids on the addresses of the Luthras, but they were found to have flown to Phuket in Thailand. Goa Police has taken steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of the Central Bureau of Investigation to apprehend the Luthras at the earliest. GILL BACK IN ACTION Shubman returns to team after neck injury as India take on South Africa in first T20I today | P11 Shri Nitin Gadkari Shrimati Rekha Gupta Chief Minister of Delhi NEHRU INSULTED VANDE MATARAM: PM MANUFACTURED ROW: CONG Modi: Cong split nat’l song for political gain J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi INITIATING a day-long discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha on Monday Prime Minister Naren, dra Modi accused the Congress of breaking the national song “into pieces” under the guise of social harmony and continuing what he called “the politics of appeasement.” He also targeted former PM Jawaharlal Nehru for agreeing with suggestions that Vande Mataram could ‘antagonise’ Muslims. Modi cited a letter Nehru wrote to Subhash Chandra Bose after a protest by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Lucknow in October 1937. Quoting from it, he said Nehru had argued that he had “read the background of the song” and believed it could “spark anger amongst Muslims.” Modi said the Congress later convened a session in “Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Bengal” to review the use of the national song. “But on October 26, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram,” Modi said. “They broke it into pieces under the mask of social harmony… Under pressure of politics of appeasement, Congress agreed to divide Vande Mataram. This is why Congress also bowed to the demand for partition,” he said, adding: “History is a testament to the fact that Congress knelt before the Muslim League.” Modi accused the Congress of maintaining the same politics of appeasement even now. The PM recalled that Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1905 about Vande Mataram becoming so popular that it has emerged as national anthem and wondered that why was injustice meted out to it. “What were those forces that were so powerful to overrule the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi?” he asked. The PM also cited the Emergency, saying Vande Mataram completed 100 years at a time when “the nation was chained” and “the Constitution was throttled.” “Those who lived and died for patriotism were pushed behind bars,” he said. “The Emergency was a dark chapter. Now we have the opportunity to restore the greatness of Vande Mataram.” Tracing its origins, the prime minister said the poem was written when the British were “unleashing various forms of oppression” after the 1857 uprising and promoting God Save the Queen. “Through Vande Mataram, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay responded with great strength and resolve. The British divided Bengal in 1905, but Vande Mataram stood like a rock and inspired unity the ,” PM said. P7 TMC OBJECTS TO ‘ BANKIM DA’, PM SHIFTS TO ‘BABU’ The reference to Vande Mataram author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as ‘Bankim da’ drew objection from TMC MP Saugata Roy, who suggested the suffix “babu” be used while referring to Chatterjee. Modi accepted the request without hesitation. “I will say Bankim Babu,” he said Actor Dileep free in sex assault case P R A M D A S @ Kochi IN a verdict that stirred up disbelief, agony and pain among a large section of people who had supported the survivor, the Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court on Monday acquitted actor Dileep in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case, after concluding that the prosecution failed to establish the conspiracy charge. The Kerala government said it would appeal against the verdict. Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese held that the evidence did not conclusively link Dileep (P Gopalakrishnan), the eighth accused, to the alleged plan to abduct and assault the survivor. The prosecution had argued that Dileep had masterminded and financed the crime as an act of personal vengeance. But the court refused to accept it. Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017, and later given bail. While the conspiracy charge against him collapsed, the court found six accused—N S Sunil alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh V P Salim H alias Vadival , Salim, and Pradeep—guilty of abducting and sexually assaulting the survivor inside a moving vehicle on Feb 17, 2017. @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday stayed the the Allahabad High Court’s March 17 ruling which held that mere grabbing the breasts of a minor victim and breaking the string of her pyjama to bring down her lower garment are insufficient to draw an inference that the accused were “determined to commit rape”. A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the final hearing of the case will be held in January The bench in. dicated that it would lay down guidelines for the trial court in connection with POCSO cases. Senior advocate Shobha argued that the Allahabad HC had remarked in another case that “the victim invited trouble by first drinking liquor”. Calcutta HC and Rajasthan HC have also observed similar things, which are “totally insensitive, legally unsustainable and sends a wrong message to the society”. Powered by DEVI AWARDS Powered by FIVE IAS OFFICERS PICKED AS SROS FOR BENGAL SIR Original version of Vande Mataram was truncated at the behest of Nehru PM Narendra Modi Whatever complaints you have against Nehru ji, make a list... we’ll have a debate Priyanka Gandhi PM TRYING TO REWRITE PAST, SAYS PRIYANKA P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi IN a counterattack to Prime Minister Modi’s Lok Sabha speech, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday charged the BJP with committing a “big sin” by stoking a manufactured row over Vande Mataram, calling the debate a deliberate diversion from real issues and a political ploy ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls. Participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on 150 years of Vande Mataram, the Wayanad MP listed the “chronology” of the national song and cited correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose to rebut Modi’s charge that the Congress indulged in politics of appeasement over Vande Mataram. She said Modi had referred to Nehru’s October 20 letter to Netaji but “conveniently omitted” Bose’s earlier letter dated October 17. “Netaji had written, ‘My dear Jawahar… reference to Vande Mataram. We shall have a talk in Kolkata and also discuss the question in the Working Committee, if you bring it up there. I have written to Dr Tagore to discuss this matter with you when you visit Shantiniketan,’” she said. Priyanka further said that while Modi quoted only one line from Nehru’s response, the full context shows the Congress’s stand had been clear. Nehru had written: “There is no doubt that the present outcry against Vande Mataram is a manufactured one by the Communalists.” The EC on Monday appointed five more IAS officers as Special Roll Observers (SROs) to intensify the second phase of SIR in West Bengal. The second phase of the three-tier process will begin after the draft roll is published on Dec 16 | P8 Gupta takes entire cabinet to Golden Temple darshan Punjab to go to polls in over a year With Punjab going to Assembly elections in just over a year, Gupta and her cabinet offered prayers at the Durgiana and Valmiki temples in Amritsar as well. Sikhs raise Bhullar issue with Gupta The Sikh religious leadership raised the issue of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar with CM Gupta. Nine ppeople were killed in the bomb explosion. HARPREET BAJWA AND ANUP V E R M A @ Chandigarh/New Delhi CM Rekha Gupta took her entire cabinet to Amritsar on Monday in a politically significant move, with Manjinder Singh Sirsa being most visible by her side as she paid obeisance at Sri Harmandir Sahib at the Golden Temple. When she and her cabinet landed at the Shri Guru Ramdas International Airport on Monday Amritsar district pres, ident of the BJP Harvinder Singh Sandhu came to receive them, from where they went to the Golden Temple. Gupta, along with Sirsa, performed the act of cleaning utensils in the periphery of the shrine. Gupta recounted how her government had organised a threeday event last month at the Red Fort, commemorating the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The Gur- mat Samagam, jointly organised by the government and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, saw the participation of six lakh devotees. With the Assembly election in Punjab just over a year away , Gupta explained to Punjabis how her government had cared for the Sikhs. She emphasised that the success of the Red Fort event was entirely due to the “blessings of Guru Sahib”, especially days after the bomb blast. “It is for this reason that I have come to Sri Harmandir Sahib with my entire cabinet to offer my gratitude,” she said. Cong suspends Sidhu’s wife over ‘`500 cr’ remark EXPRESS READ Arms smuggling module linked to Pak-based handler busted; 6 held H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh The Punjab Police on Monday claimed to have busted a cross-border arms smuggling module with links to a Pakistan-based handler and apprehended six persons, including a juvenile. Six firearms—five .30 bore pistols and a 9mm PX5 pistol—have been recovered. Stranded passengers at IGIA in New Delhi on Monday | PARVEEN NEGI Navy deploys four more ships to Sri Lanka for relief supply S L A L I T H A , PA R V E Z S U LTA N & S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi As part of Op Sagar Bandhu, launched for humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka, Indian Navy has deployed four more ships—INS Gharial, Landing Craft Utility (LCU) 54, LCU 51 and LCU 57—for supplying relief material. INDIGO is limping back to normalcy after a turbulent week as it claimed on Monday to have restored flight operations across 138 destinations. Still, disruptions continued with over 250 flights cancelled from Delhi and Bengaluru airports. At Delhi, the airline cancelled 134 flights—75 departures and 59 arrivals. An IndiGo spokesperson said, “We operated over 1,800 flights on Monday up , from 1,650 on Sunday highlighting recovery ,” . Union Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha on Monday “The IndiGo crisis , was due to problems in its crew rostering and planning.” Blaming IndiGo for the disruption, he said action will be taken against those responsible. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, while refusing urgent intervention, acknowledged the scale of the issue: “Lakhs of people are stranded at the airports. We know that the government of India has taken timely action,” said Chief Justice Surya Kant. The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear a PIL by affected passengers on December 10. P4 & P7 SC measures to check insensitive process in POCSO cases S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y Presenting Partner GUEST OF HONOUR Un Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Powered by Powered by Presents Aviation minister flags crew rostering fault AFTER a political backlash erupted over her “`500 crore for chief minister’s chair” remark, Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, has been suspended from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect. Her suspension order read: “Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu is suspended from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect.” The decision was taken by Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring days after she claimed that it costs `500 crore to become Punjab CM. She had also criticised her party colleagues. LoP in the Assembly agreed with Warring’s decision. “It is the right decision taken at the right time. You cannot make such baseless allegations,” he said, adding that she did not wish well for the party . Navjot Kaur wrote on X: “I am shocked to see the twist given to a straight comment saying that our party has never demanded anything from us...”