SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard IRAN TENSIONS 2ND US AIRCRAFT CARRIER TO W ASIA The move comes after President Donald Trump warned of “traumatic” consequences if Tehran failed to agree to a deal over its nuclear programme PAGE 9 Nikhil Gupta pleads guilty in plot to murder Pannun in US ACCEPT DAGARVANI TRADITION’S INPUTS TO SONG, SC TELLS A R RAHMAN A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI J8.00 BNP landslide Modi calls up Tarique Rahman, reaffirms India’s commitment to strengthen ties with Bangladesh; focus shifts to govt formation PARTY POSITIONS Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh INDIAN national Nikhil Gupta, 54, accused of hiring a hitman in 2023 plot to eliminate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US, on Friday pleaded guilty on three counts at a federal court hearing in New York. He had earlier pleaded not guilty after his extradition to the US from the Czech Republic. The three charges — murderfor-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering — together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors reportedly recommended a Gurpatwant sentence of 21Singh Pannun 24 years, effectively halving the potential maximum term. A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s OfNikhil Gupta fice in Manhattan stated that Gupta pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in the Manhattan federal court. Judge Sarah Netburn then recommended that District Judge Marrero accept the plea. Pannun, who also heads the proscribed Sikhs for Justice, holds dual US-Canadian citizenship. Lawyers for Gupta were not immediately available for comment. Gupta has been in a Brooklyn jail since June 2024. He was first arrested by the Czech Republic in 2023 at the Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague. Prosecutors had accused Gupta of hiring a hitman for $100,000 to kill Pannun. They had identified his Indian handler based in Delhi as Vikash Yadav, a rogue RAW agent. The plot failed as the purported hitman turned out to be an undercover federal agent.  212 Jamaat-e-Islami 77 Others Halfway 8 151 Result awaited: 2 Total seats: 299 Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman Tarique Rahman (L) greets supporters as he leaves his residence in Dhaka a day after wresting power in the general elections, on Friday | PTI described Modi’s outreach as sig@ New Delhi/Dhaka nificant. “PM Modi is the first world leader to have a telephonic converIN a major diplomatic outreach sation with BNP chief and the next following the Bangladesh Nation- prime minister of Bangladesh, Taralist Party’s sweep of Bangladesh’s ique Rahman,” Kabir said, calling general election, Prime Minister the message “a welcome gesture”. Narendra Modi on Friday spoke In Dhaka, the attention is shiftwith BNP chief Tarique ing to government forRahman, congratulating mation. The BNP won a him on leading the party sweeping mandate, seto a decisive victory and curing 209 seats in the This victory shows reaffirming India’s com- the people’s trust in 300-member parliament mitment to strengthenand attaining an absoyour (Tarique Rahman) leadership. lute majority The result ing bilateral ties. . “Delighted to speak India will continue to grants the party the austand in support of with Tarique Rahman. thority to amend the democratic, I congratulated him on Constitution and underprogressive, inclusive the remarkable victory take significant instituBangladesh. I look in the Bangladesh electional reforms. forward to working tions,” Modi said on X Results for 297 of the with you to after the call. “I conveyed 300 parliamentary seats strengthen ties my best wishes and suphave been declared. AcNarendra Modi, PM port in his endeavour to cording to the final tally fulfil the aspirations of announced by the Electhe people of Banglation Commission of The results were desh. As two close neigh- changed through the Bangladesh, the BNP bours with deep-rooted and its allies secured 212 administration... historical and cultural of the 297 seats declared. Those who attack people, vandalise ties, I reaffirmed India’s The 11-party electoral continued commitment property, and commit alliance led by Banglato the peace, progress, arson just a day after desh Jamaat-e-Islami and prosperity of both winning polls cannot won 77 seats. The newly be trusted with the our peoples.” Modi was custody of a country formed National Citizen the first world leader to Party, which led a mass speak with Rahman by Nahid Islam, NCP leader movement against the phone. Awami Lea gue and Reacting to Modi’s phone call to former Prime Minister Sheikh Tarique Rahman, a BNP spokes- Hasina, obtained just six seats. Isperson said Bangladesh seeks bal- lami Andolan Bangladesh secured anced diplomatic ties with India. one. Independent candidates capHumayun Kabir, adviser to Rah- tured seven seats. CONTINUED ON P7 man and tipped for a cabinet berth, J AYA N T H J A C O B & B AY E Z I D M I L K Y * Polls countermanded in 1 seat due to death of a candidate REFERENDUM YES: 68.1% 48,074,429 NO: 31.9% 22,565,627 Total votes cast 70,640,056 WHY JAMAAT LOST ITS MOMENTUM 1 Jamaat had initial advantage as it hoped to fill the vacuum of the ban on Awami League and alliance with NCP leaders who went against Hasina 2 Tarique Rahman entered the race relatively late. But he picked up tempo as sympathy factor over the death of his mother Zia worked for him 3 The youth, many of whom had driven the July uprising, voted in significant numbers for the BNP rather than Jamaat. Yet Jamaat had its best outing at the husting Mann’s European outreach stands clear on paper H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THE Centre and the Punjab government are at loggerheads again, this time over CM Bhagwant Mann’s proposed visit to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Political clearance from the Union Ministry of External Affairs came only after the tour had been cancelled. Mann was to lead a 25-member delegation to Europe for a week. The team included Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, Principal Secretary to CM Ravi Bhagat, Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora, and officials from the If Mann now wants to go, fresh list needs to be made If CM Mann now decides to go abroad, a fresh list would have to be prepared as the state govt has recently suspended two officers from the investment promotion dept, including secretary KK Yadav. The delegation was scheduled to leave at midnight on Saturday. industries and Invest Punjab departments. The delegation was scheduled to leave at midnight on Saturday But the trip . was called off at the last moment as political clearance had not been granted. By the time the approval arrived, the tour was already cancelled. Meetings lined up in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were also cancelled at short notice. Sources said the belated clearance now holds no practical value. There is no word yet from Mann on whether he will revive the tour. “We don’t know whether he would like to go or not as there has been no discussion,” said an official on condition of anonymity . Arrangements for stay and flight tickets to the European nations had been booked. The Centre had earlier conveyed that permission was given “in principle”. But a formal approval didn’t follow. Meanwhile, Schengen visas were applied for and granted to Mann and the delegation members. The visas are still valid. “When the Centre does not want to give political clearance permission, then it usually sends it after the tour is cancelled, and this is exactly what has happened now in this case,” said an official. Last month, the MEA denied Mann political clearance for visits to the UK and Israel. The Chief Minister has not reacted to that denial.  PAGES 12 Music composer A R Rahman and Ponniyin Selvan 2’s makers were asked to accept the genre’s contribution in Veera Raja Veera song of the film. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a plea by Dhrupad vocalist Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar against a September 2025 Delhi HC’s order, which said there was no evidence of the Dagar Brothers being the authors of a classical rendition of Shiv Stuti, which was used while composing the number in the film. SEVA TEERTH: A NEW CORNER OFFICE FOR THE PM & PMO RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday shifted to his new office, Seva Teerth, from the colonial-era South Block building near Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill. The shift came on a day— February 13—that marked 95 years since the formal inauguration of New Delhi as India’s modern capital in 1931. On Friday, Modi reached the Seva Teerth Complex in a motorcade along with Union ministers Manohar Lal and Jitendra Singh and top officials, and inaugurated the complex housing the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the National Security Council Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat. The PMO will shift from the South Block on the Raisina Hills to Seva Teerth, bringing together the important offices of the Cabinet Secretariat and the National Security Council Secretariat that were located at different places. In the presence of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh and top officials, including principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, the prime minister signed the files approving the launch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates Seva Teerth, the new Prime Minister’s Office complex, in New Delhi on Friday | PTI Colonial mindset must go, says Prime Minister Speaking on Friday after inaugurating the Seva Teerth complex, PM Narendra Modi said India must shed every trace of the colonial mindset as it advances towards becoming a Viksit Bharat. Referring to changes such as the renaming of 7 Race Course Road to Lok Kalyan Marg, he said these efforts transform culture of power into a spirit of service. PM RAHAT Scheme for extending life-saving protection for every citizen and doubling the number of lakhpati didis, taking the figure to six crore. “The inauguration marks a milestone ... and reflects the Prime Minister’s commitment to building a modern, efficient, accessible and citizen-centric governance ecosystem,” a note from PMO said. HC: Concerned over criminals using kids to duck legal action U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court has expressed serious concern on hardened criminals using children as a “weapon” to escape legal action, saying that exploitation of children in the commission of crimes was increasing day-by-day . Justice Girish Kathpalia made the observation while denying anticipatory bail to a woman accused of trafficking a child and engaging him in illicit liquor sale, saying grant of bail in such a case where a child was exploited in commission of crimes would send a “very wrong signal to the society”. “Exploitation of children in the commission of crimes is increasing day by day Children . are now often being used as a weapon by hardened criminals to escape penal action... I do not find it a fit case to grant anticipatory bail to the applicant,” the court said. According to the prosecution, the woman had trafficked the child from her native village and got him employed in the sale of illicit liquor. An FIR was lodged in the case after the accused’s close relative was seen selling illicit liquor along with the boy the police said. , The accused approached the Trafficking of child for sale of illicit liquor The prosecution said the woman had trafficked the child from her village and got him employed in the sale of illicit liquor. An FIR was lodged in the case after the accused’s close relative was seen selling illicit liquor along with the boy, the police said. court, claiming there was nothing to suggest that she brought the boy to Delhi for sale of illicit liquor. Her counsel told the court that there was no material on record to connect her to the alleged liquor sale. However, the judge held in its order passed on February 4 that the accused’s custodial interrogation was necessary to find out if more children have been trafficked for such purposes. Police opposed the anticipatory bail application, claiming that the investigation revealed that the accused was actively involved in the illicit liquor sale racket. The court said that it cannot decide such a case without keeping the seriousness of the crime alleged in mind, as consideration of the anticipatory bail rests on much narrower parameters than what is needed in regular bail matters. RED FOR LOVE, SACRIFICE Comrades play valentine to TN couples harassed in the name of caste PRAB HAKAR TAMI L ARASU @ Chennai An inter-religious marriage recently conducted at a TPDK office | EXPRESS THE colour red symbolises both love and the blood shed by the working class in its fight against capitalism. The reddonning communist comrades of Tamil Nadu, living true to that spirit, are turning out to be the valentines to young couples hunted in the name of caste. When 22-year-old Priya* belonging to one of the three Mukkulathor communities in a southern district informed her parents that she was in love with Kumar*, who happened to be from a SC family her family , said they would kill Kumar and his family if she pursued the relationship. Kumar and Priya, both graduates and employed, approached the police but they were asked to go back to their homes and talk to their parents. “My parents’ threat was real. We did not want to die just because we loved,” said Priya. Encouraged by the speech of CPM state secretary P Shanmugam that his party offices will always be open to couples facing threats from their families, particularly for casteist reasons, the couple took refuge at the office of CPM in their district in September last year. Today Priya and Kumar have set, tled in a different district and are leading a safe and secure life. Although Priya’s parents have not accepted their mar- riage yet, the threat is gone. Shanmugam gave the call in a meeting organised in the wake of the brutal caste-killing of C Kavin Selvaganesh, a 27-year-old Dalit IT professional, who was murdered on July 27, 2025, in broad daylight in Tirunelveli for allegedly being in love with a girl belonging to an MBC community . The murder sent shockwaves across the state as yet another horrific reminder of deep-root- ed casteism, par ticularly against Dalits. However, his murder has not deterred young lovers from breaking barriers of caste. Both CPM and the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, which have a long history of supporting inter-caste love marriages, have seen a spurt in the number of such marriages in the past few months. (*Names of couples changed to protect identity) Modi said, “Seva Teerth, and Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2 mark an important milestone in India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. These reflect our commitment to citizen-centric governance and national progress.” The prime minister said a new model of gover nance has emerged in the past 11 years where the citizen is at the centre of decision-making. No verification of marks after CBSE Class 12 results from ’26 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi WITH an aim to enhance transparency and efficiency in board examinations, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced on Friday that post-result verification of marks for Class 12 will be discontinued from 2026. The move comes as the board transitions to a fully digital evaluation system through ‘OnScreen Marking (OSM)’, a step officials said will eliminate totalling errors and streamline the assessment process. The decision was outlined during a workshop conducted by CBSE for school principals and teachers to explain the modalities of the new system. Under the OSM framework, Class 12 answer scripts will be evaluated digitally, reducing the scope for manual errors such as incorrect totalling or unmarked responses. However, Class 10 answer books will continue to be assessed in physical mode. Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said students earlier sought verification mainly to address discrepancies in marks calculation or missing entries. “In the older system, students would seek verification to check for discrepancies in the whole numbers or missing numbers. In the new scheme of digital evaluation, such discrepancies would be eliminated at the outset,” he added. The board examinations begin from February 17 this year. Today’s Matches 11am: Ireland vs Omana (Colombo), 3pm: England vs Scotland (Kolkata), 7pm: New Zealand vs Africa (Ahmedabad)