TUESDAY 20 JANUARY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard S PA I N AT LEAST 39 DEAD IN RAIL COLLISION Spanish police said on Monday that at least 39 people were confirmed dead in a high-speed rail collision on Sunday night. Recovery ops are still on PAGE 9 Reveal logical discrepancy list in WB: SC NO CLEAN CHIT FOR VIJAY IN KARUR CASE A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow TAKING cognisance of the tragic death of Yuvraj Mehta, 27-year-old techie in Noida on Friday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a probe to be conducted by a three-member special investigation team (SIT). Earlier, the state government removed Noida Authority CEO M Lokesh from his post and put @ New Delhi/Kolkata EXPRESS READ Maha inks MoUs for `14L crore in Davos Maharashtra government on Monday signed 19 MoUs for investment commitments worth `14.5 lakh crore and over 15 lakh jobs on its first day for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. NEW DELHI  J8.00 Noida Authority CEO M Lokesh was removed on Monday | EXPRESS KASHMIR REFERENCE Don’t fuel terror in our neighbourhood, EAM warns Poland J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday sent a blunt message to Poland, calling on it to adopt “zero tolerance” towards terrorism and to avoid actions that could “fuel the terrorist infrastructure” in India’s neighbourhood. The remarks seems to reflect New Delhi’s unease over a reference to Kashmir in a Poland -Pakistan joint statement issued after Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s visit to Islamabad in October that went against India’s stated position on the issue. Speaking in his televised opening remarks during talks with Sikorski in New Delhi, Jaishankar underlined India’s long standing concerns on cross-border terrorism. “You are no stranger to our region and are certainly familiar with the longstanding challenge of cross-border terrorism,” he said. Jaishankar also criticised what he described as the “selective targeting” of India by Western countries over energy ties with Russia. “In the recent past, both in New York and in Paris, I have candidly shared with you our views,” he said. “I have repeatedly underlined that the selective targeting of India is both unfair and unjustified. I do so again today .” Sikorski said he agreed with Jaishankar’s assessment, acknowledging the “unfairness” and “selective targeting” of India, particularly in the context of criticism linked to India-Russia relations. He is on a three-day visit to India, ahead of the European Union leadership’s visit to New Delhi. him in the waiting list. The SIT has been asked to submit a comprehensive report within the next five days, which will be headed by ADG Meerut zone, with the divisional commissioner, Meerut, and the chief engineer of the Public Works Department, being other members. Adityanath also directed officials to identify accident- NITIN Nabin, 45, on Monday emerged as the unopposed candidate for the BJP national president. A formal announcement on his election will be made on Tuesday A five-term Bihar MLA . and currently the party‘s national working president, Nabin will be the youngest to occupy the top seat. He will succeed veteran leader J P Nadda. His candidature was backed by top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. On Monday in line with organisa, tional rules, outgoing party chief Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over Nabin’s nomination papers to K Laxman, the returning officer for the election, at the party’s central office. Thereafter, Arunachal CM Pema Khandu and BJP leaders from Bihar, Andhra, Maharashtra, Assam, and Jharkhand submitted papers in his support. In all, 37 sets of papers fa- THE Delhi High Court denied bail to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar on Monday in a case related to the custodial death of Unnao rape survivor’s father, while also refusing to suspend his 10-year jail term in the case. Justice Ravinder Dudeja dismissed Sengar’s application seeking suspension of sentence as well as the bail on the ground of delay in deciding his appeal against the conviction order. The judge said the delay was caused partly due the multiple applications he had filed in the matter. The order has come about a month after Sengar got bail from the high court in the Unnao rape case on the ground of delay in deciding his appeal against his life imprisonment awarded to him. It led to protests in Delhi, in which the rape survivor and her mother also participated. The Supreme Court later stayed the bail. In the present case, the judge observed that though Sengar had undergone prolonged incarceration of about seven-and-a-half years in a case having maximum 10year jail term, relief could not be granted on the ground of delay alone, as the appellant had repeatedly moved applications for interim suspension, extension of bail, and regular suspension of sentence. “The application seeking suspension of sentence is dismissed,” said Justice Ravinder Dudeja. The judge said the purpose would be served if Sengar’s appeal was heard on merit in an expeditious manner. “In the facts and circumstances and after considering the statutory framework, the judicial principles governing suspension, the antecedents of the appellant and the absence of any new circumstance that has emerged, the court finds no ground to grant relief,” the judge said. Outgoing BJP chief J P Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and Nitin Gadkari along with other party leaders proposing Nabin’s name for BJP national president at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Monday | PTI vouring Nabin were filed, paving the way for his unopposed election as the BJP’s 12th national president. Nabin is taking over at a crucial time as he will have to lead the party through the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The first BJP chief to hail from Bihar, Nabin has travelled extensively across states since becoming BJP working S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi EXPANDING TIES Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan on latter’s arrival in New Delhi on Monday. The two sides discussed diplomatic and business ties spanning trade, defence, energy, and infrastructure | PTI | P7 NEXT ICC OPTIONS Forfeiture or Scotland in place of B’desh teams to get a call. What adds to the intrigue is that when contacted by this daily, a Cricket Scotland source said they ‘aren’t commenting’ on the matter. But do remember that Jersey finished higher than Scotland in the actual qualifiers but they are not expected to be an option. The other option ICC has is a straightforward forfeit. That would mean that the other UNNAO RAPE U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi president on December 14, 2025. During his interactions with cadre, his common message has been to become fulltime politicians and give their 100% to serve people. He entered mainstream politics in 2006, when the BJP fielded him from the Patna West Assembly constituency following the death of his father Navin Kishore Sinha, who had close ties with the RSS. SC questions Delhi govt move on pvt school fee erning body has to consider the way forward. And time is very limited before the first set of matches on February 7. It’s understood that one of the ways could be a last minute invitation to Scotland to fill the Bangladesh-sized hole in Group C. Scotland, by virtue of being the highest-ranked team to not qualify for the event, will be one of the first into a deep, water-filled excavation pit on a vacant plot. Sources say the victim fell into the pit due to dense fog and could not be rescued despite the police arriving at the site. The victim’s family alleged administrative lapses, saying the “lack of divers” cost Yuvraj his life. “The officials and staff present were unable to save him. They did not have any divers,” said the victim’s father. R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi FOR RAPID ASSISTANCE IN ANY EMERGENCY THE International Cricket Council (ICC) continues to juggle multiple T20 World Cup related issues even though the event is now less than three weeks away. It’s understood that multiple stakeholders are deep in conversation with respect to Bangladesh’s insistence on not playing their games in India. If in case the ICC doesn’t relent and Bangladesh withdraw, the world gov- fog-shrouded road in Sector 150 of Noida. His autopsy report revealed that he suffered asphyxia due to ante-mortem drowning, followed by cardiac arrest, leading to his death. Mehta was returning home to Tata Eureka Park in Sector 150 from his Gurugram office late on Friday Amid the dense winter . fog leading to reduced visibility to near zero, his Grand Vitara car veered off the road and fell The 45-year-old leader will be youngest ever to occupy the hot seat DIAL 112 @ Chennai prone locations across Uttar Pradesh and ensure that remedial measures are taken immediately He instructed that . all necessary measures be taken to prevent a recurrence of such incidents anywhere in the state. He also extended condolences to the bereaved family . Mehta tragically lost his life after falling into a ditch on a Sengar gets no relief in custodial death case of survivor’s father Valentino Garavani, the Italian designer whose high-glamour gowns in his trademark shade of ‘Valentino red’ were fashion show staples for nearly half a century, has died at home in Rome, his foundation said. S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N PAGES 12 Nitin Nabin unopposed candidate for BJP prez Fashion trendsetter Valentino dies at 93 Soon, Delhi residents will not be required to memorise different helpline numbers. Just three digits will do | P3  SIT probe into techie’s death, Noida Authority CEO removed EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE THE Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India to publicly display names of 1.25 crore voters flagged for “logical discrepancies” at gram panchayat offices, block headquarters, and ward offices in the state. Logical discrepancies, linked to the 2002 voter list, include mismatches in parents’ names and biologically implausible age gaps between voters and their parents (less than 15 years or exceeding 50 years). A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi said those likely to be affected by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal shound be allowed to submit their documents or objections. Making directions on the exercise, the bench said, “Let us ensure that this exercise runs smoothly, it is timely completed by ensuring a transparent measure giving fair opportunity to all those who feel because of some discrepancy they are under unnecessary doubt.” Speaking at a rally in Barasat, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee interpreted the Supreme Court’s direction to the Election Commission as “slaps on faces of those who tried to deprive people of the fundamental right to vote.”  Actor-turned-politician Vijay was interrogated for six hours on Monday by the CBI in the Karur stampede case, but no clean chit has been issued to him so far, sources said. The incident claimed 41 lives last September. Names of accused and witnesses will be finalised in the case after an analysis of the statements of people involved, said a senior officer | P5 fo u r t e a m s i n G ro u p C essentially beginning the tour nament with a win against their names. But that may not be palatable to the broadcasters who have spent a lot of money to secure the rights for this event. Lack of four live games results in a loss of revenue. If Scotland does come, the very lopsided nature of Group C — the other teams are England, West Indies, Nepal and Italy — could give a potential advantage to two of the former champions. THE Supreme Court on Monday expressed serious concern over the Delhi government seeking to implement the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, particularly during the ongoing academic year, saying the timeline adopted appeared “confused” and unworkable. While acknowledging that the legislation was enacted for a legitimate regulatory purpose, the court questioned the timing of its enforcement. Noting that the academic year had already commenced, the bench asked what justified pushing through fee-related approvals. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe made Court cautious about staying govt order The Supreme Court said that it was not inclined to interfere with the legislation at this stage, but stressed that its implementation must be consistent with the statutory timelines and practically workable. the observations while hearing associations of private schools challenging a government circular mandating the constitution of school-level committees and approval of proposed fees. The schools have contended that the statutory framework envisages prospective regulation and does not permit postfacto approvals for an academic year already in progress. CBSE insists on full-time mental health, career counsellors for every 500 students I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi IN a significant move concerning the psychological health of students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has revised norms on counselling services, making it mandatory for affiliated schools to significantly strengthen their mental health and career guidance systems. In a notification issued on Monday, it asked all such secondary and senior secondary schools to appoint wellness teachers (socio-emotional counsellors) and career counsellors on a full-time basis. Schools must now appoint one counsellor and wellness teacher and one career counsellor for every 500 students in Classes IX to XII. This means that a school with strength of 1,500 students will need to appoint at least three such counsellors. The earlier provision of allowing schools with fewer than 300 students to continue with such counsellors on a part-time basis will continue. All counsellors are required to undergo 50 hours of capacity-building programmes prescribed by the board, covering psycho-social counselling and career counselling, in an effort to standardise quality across schools. The board has also mandated counsellors to have academic training in psychology social work, , or school counselling and social-emotional learning.