wednesdAY 10 december, 2025 Australia bans under-16s from social media in novel crackdown epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Zelenskyy A raft of the world’s most popular apps and websites face US$33 million in fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16 works on revised plan to end war Onus on internet firms to check user age The Ukrainian president on Tuesday prepared to send revised proposals to end the war started by Russia’s invasion as he met with Pope Leo XIV. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 The Australian government said unprecedented measures are needed to protect children from “predatory algorithms” filling phone screens with bullying, sex and violence. The laws came into effect on Wednesday across Australia. Social media companies bear the sole responsibility for checking users are 16 or older, with some saying they’ll use AI to detect a user’s age | p9 Vote theft anti-national act, says Rahul punjab Crisis in Cong deepens as Sidhu wife hits out at Warring Alleges ECI undermining electoral process; says law can be changed to hold poll panel accountable P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi The biggest antinational act you can do is vote ‘chori’. Because when you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country — Rahul Gandhi, LoP in Lok Sabha ‘Oppn just looking for excuses’ Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said SIR has been held in the past as well but the Opposition blames it for their defeats and refuses to introspect | P7 Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp attack against the ruling party accusing it of committing the “biggest anti-national act” by orchestrating ‘vote theft’ in collusion with the Election Commission and undermining the idea of India. Participating in a discussion on election reforms, Gandhi also outlined a slew of electoral reforms to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process. Making suggestions, he called for providing machine-readable voter lists to all parties one month before elections, taking back the law that allows destruction of CCTV footage after 45 days, giving access to EVMs, and changing the law that allows the election commissioners “to get away with whatever they want to do”. In his 30-minute speech, he posed three questions which he claimed show the BJP is “directing and using” EC to damage India’s democracy . “The biggest anti-national act you can do is vote chori (theft). Because when you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country, you de- stroy modern India, you destroy the idea of India. Those across the aisle are doing an anti-national act,” Gandhi said, gesturing towards the treasury benches. He cautioned the election commissioners that law can be changed retroactively to hold them accountable. “Let me remind them: don’t worry we are , going to change the law, and that too retroactively. And we are going to come and find you,” he said. Demanding an answer from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress leader asked why the Chief Justice of India was removed from the selection panel for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. Why are the prime minister and home minister so keen on choosing who the election commissioner is going to be, he asked. Lashing out at the government for altering the law with regard to CCTV footage to enable vote theft, the former Congress chief said, “Why was a law put in place that allows the EC to destroy CCTV footage 45 days after the election? It is not a question of data. It is a question of stealing the election.” SC asks ECI to flag intimidation of BLOs during SIR exercise S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi 5 spl SIR observers for Bengal The joint secretaries of the ministries of Defence, MHA, I&B, Dept of Economic Affairs, and Dept of Rural Development will arrive in West Bengal on Thursday to oversee SIR work. They have been appointed by EC as special roll observers diamantaire Microsoft to invest $17.5 bn in India over 4 yrs Belgium top court rejects Mehul Choksi’s extradition plea R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H @ New Delhi Belgium’s Supreme Court has dismissed fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi’s plea challenging his extradition to India in a `13,850 crore scam, CBI said on Tuesday He had ap. proached Belgium’s top court on October 30, challenging the October 17 order of the Antwerp Court of Appeals, which had termed India’s extradition request “enforceable.” The spokesperson for Court of Cassation, Advocaat-general Henri Vanderlinden, said, “The court rejected the appeal. So, the decision of the Court of Appeal stands.” Earlier, the Antwerp court had ruled that Choksi, the main accused in the `13,850 crore PNB scam, faced “no risk” of being denied a fair trial or subjected to illtreatment if sent back. On October 17, a four-member indictment chamber of the Antwerp Court of Appeals upheld an earlier order issued by the pre-trial chamber of the district court on November 29, 2024. It found no irregularity in the arrest warrants issued by a Mumbai special court in May 2018 and June 2021, ruling them “enforceable” and clearing the way for Choksi’s extradition. Dismissing Choksi’s appeal, the Court of Appeals held that the businessman failed to provide “concretely plausible” evidence of a “genuine risk” of torture or denial of justice. Choksi had stated that the Indian system is not as per international law. Expressing concern over reports of Booth Level Officers (BLO) being threatened in West Bengal and other states, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India to take action to protect BLOs. While issuing directions on the security of ground-level electoral staff, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also warned states against non-cooperation in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “Bring to our notice instances of lack of cooperation, hindrances to work of BLOs and we will pass appropriate orders,” the bench told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission. “Deal with the situation or it will cause anarchy CJI Kant told Dwivedi. ,” The bench said the directions regarding the protection and management of BLOs will apply on a pan-India basis. The directions came during the hearing of a batch of pleas by various states including West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and others over challenges faced during teh voter roll revision. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in New Delhi | pti To support India’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing $17.5 billion to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI first future — Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft US tech giant Microsoft has announced $17.5 billion (`1.58 lakh crore) investment in India over the next four years to help build the infrastructure, skills, and capabilities needed for the country’s AI future. The firm’s CEO Satya Nadella, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called , it “the largest investment ever in Asia”. Modi and Nadella discussed India’s AI roadmap and growth priorities, Microsoft said. The US firm’s investment in India focuses on three pillars—scale, skills, and sovereignty—aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of building a comprehensive ecosystem that drives AI innovation and access at a national scale. Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia, said the new investment will be used to continue scaling the company’s cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling initiatives, and ongoing operations across India. How Air India managed to escape crisis S La l itha @ New Delhi PLANNING in advance helped Tata-owned Air India Group to ensure that both Air India and Air India Express sailed through smoothly after DGCA’s revised crew roster came into effect from November 1. This is in stark contrast to the shoddy management by IndiGo, which resulted in 1,232 cancellations last month that cascaded into a full-blown crisis from December 1. Back in October, when the Union civil aviation ministry finalised the winter schedule (October 26, 2025 to March 28, 2026) for all domestic airlines, IndiGo was permitted to oper- big minI-auction onon16list names dec for ipl A total of 350 cricketers — 240 Indians and 110 overseas players — will go under the hammer in Abu Dhabi. Quinton de Kock, Steve Smith among stars to vie for 77 slots. KKR have the biggest purse | P11 ate 15,014 departures per week, the maximum permitted for any airline. Air India and Air India Express were allotted 4,277 and 3,171 flights, respectively, per week. Sources in Air India said the the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) were a huge challenge as literally everything had to be changed. Also, Air India was trying to rebuild its image after the Ahmedabad disaster. Air India began recruitment of Captains and Flying Officers quite early, said a source. “We went all out to recruit pilots ...we understood the new roster would require a massive increase in operational crew,” sources said. IndiGo on Monday told DGCA that a software glitch was also a contributory reason for the crisis. Air India had figured this two months ago. “When it was made known clearly to all of us that the new rules will fully come into effect by November 1, we began work on it by October. The software involved in it is very complicated. It took us two months to ready it,” an AI source said. p7 H A R P R E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh INDIA bloc leaders led by DMK’s Kanimozhi & Priyanka Gandhi of Congress submit the notice to Om Birla, LS Speaker | X 107 MPs submit notice to impeach Madras HC judge e x press news servi c e @ New Delhi/Chennai AS many as 107 INDIA bloc MPs, led by DMK, submitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday, seeking impeachment of Madras High Court judge G R Swaminathan for his order of December 1 and 3 directing Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities at Thirupparankundram to allow lighting lamps on a pillar (deepathoon) near a dargah on the hill. The impeachment notice accused Justice G R Swaminathan — of the Orders and Madurai bench of Madras HC — of actions of conduct that “raises serious ques- Justice G R tions regarding impartiality, trans- Swaminathan parency, and the secular function- is disruptive to ing of the judiciary.” It alleged social harmony “undue favouritism” towards senior Kanimozhi, advocate M Sricharan Ranganathan DMK MP and lawyers from a “particular community,” besides deciding cases on “particular political ideology” against the constitutional principle of secularism. Copies of the notice were also sent to President Droupadi Murmu and CJI Sanjiv Khanna. The delegation included Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav, T R Baalu, Kanimozhi, Supriya Sule and others. On December 3, Justice Swaminathan had allowed a group of petitioners to light the lamp on the pillar near the dargah, and directed CISF protection to them. Police stopped the group from lighting the lamp, leading to a furore, prompting the Tamil Nadu government to move the Supreme Court, which admitted TN’s plea. Goa fire interpol asked to issue a Blue Notice Waterlogging and pedestrian safety to drive new infra push Major components of project PWD to spend `21 cr on drain & footpath overhaul Work to be completed before next monsoon IndiGo will face action for mass disruption of flights triggered by crew rostering failures Ram Mohan Naidu, Minister express read India, Brazil sign MoU for tech innovation in navy Top US diplomat meets Misri, strategic agenda in focus A landmark tripartite MoU was signed between the Indian Navy, Brazilian Navy, and Mazagon Dockyard Ltd on Tuesday to boost defence research collaboration and tech innovation, the Navy said. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker met Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday, with both sides focusing on advancing the strategic agenda set by Trump and PM Narendra Modi during their February meeting. Cops had requested CBI to seek the notice against the Luthra brothers who had fled to Thailand after the fire incident | P8 A day after former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, wife of cricketerturned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, was suspended from the Congress for her “anti-party” remarks, crises in the state party deepened on Tuesday when she again hit out at the state leadership. She accused Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring of misleading the high command. Senior Congress leader and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa served a legal notice on Kaur, asking her to apologise for “defamatory’’ remarks against him. In the notice, Randhawa’s advocate alleged ‘`500 cr that on December suitcase 7 and 8, Kaur for CM of made “false, base- Punjab’ less and defama- The former tory statements” MLA had against his client kicked up a during media in- storm on teractions, which Monday were broadcast when she and reported. said the “You alle ged person who that my client in- hands over dulged in corrup- a suitcase tion while serv- containing i n g a s t h e `500 crore in-charge of Ra- becomes jasthan for the the chief Indian National minister Congress. These of Punjab. statements were made without any evidence or basis and were intended to malign my client’s reputation,” the notice read. He added that Kaur’s statements amounted to defamation under Section 356 of BNS, 2023. On the legal notice, Kaur said, “Currently I am reverting , to Randhawa. He was a follower of my husband and is now speaking against me. I will pay him back in the same coin.” She claimed that he could not even ensure his wife’s victory and accused him of openly selling tickets for crores of rupees in Rajasthan. She said she has sent evidence of this to the Congress high command. Foundation stone laid for 10 km drain upgrade Construction of RCC drains ranging from 1.2m x 1.2m to 2.2m x 1.6m Development of durable footpaths to improve pedestrian safety Increase in storm water capacity to end monsoon flooding Enhanced lastmile connectivity and convenience A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE Delhi government has initiated a major infrastructure overhaul to reshape the KaralaKanjhawala region. The storm water drain and footpath redevelopment project on Guru Golwalkar Marg will address chronic issues of waterlogging, unsafe pedestrian movement and damaged roadside infrastructure, long-standing problems faced by residents of Outer Delhi. The project spans the full stretch from Jain Nagar to Kanjhawala Chowk and further up to Mungeshpur drain. The government will construct new RCC drains, establish continuous footpaths, repair worn-out road edges and upgrade the entire civic corridor covering 10 km, with 5 km on each side. PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Tuesday laid the foundation stone to kick off the work. The key components of the project included construction of RCC drains ranging from 1.2m x 1.2m to 2.2m x 1.6m, development of continuous, durable footpaths to improve pedestrian safety, substantial increase in storm water capacity to end monsoon flooding and enhanced last-mile connectivity and overall public convenience. “Outer Delhi has lived with overflowing drains, broken footpaths and monsoon flooding while earlier governments made hollow promises,” he said and asked the executing agency to complete the project before the upcoming monsoon, replacing the earlier 12-month deadline. The government has been working to remodel a large section of the city’s stormwater drain network under jurisdiction of PWD, Irrigation & Flood Control Department and MCD to address recurring waterlogging and flooding during the monsoon. 2,064 km of stormwater drains PWD, Irrigation & Flood Control Department and the MCD have drawn up detailed plans and begin issuing tenders for the revamp. The PWD currently maintains about 2,064 km of stormwater drains, accounting for nearly 55% of the drainage.