WEDNESDAY 04 MARCH, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard The Morning Standard wishes its readers a Jubilation at JD(U) headquarters in Patna Our office will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Thursday 787 The latest war toll in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS 153 Countries affected in some way or the other by the war 1,039  NEW DELHI Attacks by US, Israel across Iran. Qatar joined the pounding   J8.00 The announcement came from state Rural Development Minister and senior party leader Shrawon Kumar, who has been a close aide of the JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar since the Samata Party days, in the 1990s. Party workers distributed sweets, smeared each other’s faces with ‘gulaal’ and raised slogans to express delight over the political entry of their supremo’s son | P8 PAGES 12 48-YR-OLD NISHANT IS SINGLE AND HAS A DEGREE IN ENGINEERING Thoughts on education, public service, dissent and AI enliven TNIE’s conclave EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai Presents An explosion in UAE’s Fujairah after drone debris fell on a part of the oil industrial zone | AP/PTI WBOTH SIDES GO FULL BLAST ASIA BURNS AS A G E N C I E S @ Tehran, Tel Aviv THE West Asia war is showing no signs of abatement. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across West Asia on Tuesday as President Donald Trump warned it was “too late” for the Islamic republic to seek talks. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and US embassies in the Gulf, Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehranbacked militia Hezbollah. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday boasted of wide damage on Iran. “Just about everything’s been knocked out,” Trump said. Later, he said “someone from within Iranian regime might be the best choice to take over after the war.” As if to underline Trump’s new stance, loud blasts echoed around downtown Tehran. According to Iranian media, US-Israeli strikes targeted the ‘Assembly of Experts’ building in Qom, housing the panel electing Iran’s new supreme leader. Israel’s military said its air force struck industrial sites “throughout Iran” used to produce ballistic missiles, to pre-empt their use. Iran soon struck the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and in Kuwait City with a drone. The strike in Riyadh caused part of its roof to collapse. In Kuwait City the vicinity of , the US embassy was hit by two drone s t r i ke s f r o m I r a n , w i t h n o casualties. With Iran bombing Gulf monarchies on whim, the US ambassador in Israel asked Americans to move out on their own. “The US Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,” Mike Huckabee wrote on X. Earlier Tuesday IAEA said Iran’s , Natanz site sustained “some recent damage”, but “no radiological consequence was expected.” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged foreign capitals to cut all ties with Tehran. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Saar that Beijing opposes the strikes. P7 & P9 Govt sets up inter-ministerial group to monitor, manage crisis itoring and follow-up to ensure continuity in trade flows. THE Ministry of Commerce held a Some of the measures include consultation meeting on Tuesday flexibility in export-related authoriwith key ministries, logissation and steps to prevent tics operators, and trade cargo bottlenecks. AI operates facilitation bodies to asWith the ongoing Iranrelief flights sess potential risks to exIsrael conflict, exporters Air India on Tuesday ports and imports due to deployed a wide-body fear severe disruptions in the ongoing geopolitical aircraft with 350 seats logistics, spike in freight turmoil. An Inter-Ministe- to Jeddah and another cost and longer transit rial Group for Supply plane with 300 seats time. As a big share of InChain Resilience has also to Dubai to bring back dia’s crude oil passes been created to aid Indian through the Strait of Horstranded passengers exporters amid the growmuz, fuel prices can rise. ing geopolitical crisis. However, government sources The group comprises members said India has crude oil reserves and from the ministries of finance, ex- refined petroleum products that ternal affairs, shipping, and petro- could weather disruptions for up to leum, to facilitate coordination mon- eight weeks. P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi WEST BENGAL Gover nor Dr C V Ananda Bose on Tuesday recalled a quote from the Kothari Commission Report, “destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms”, to underscore the relationship between education, public service, and nation-building at the ThinkEdu Conclave 2026 held in Chennai on Tuesday . Speaking on the second day of the event presented by the Tata Group and Tata ConsulTHINKEDU TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and Editor Santwana Bhattacharya presenting a memento to West Bengal Governor t a n cy S e r v i c e s CONCLAVE Dr CV Ananda Bose at ThinkEdu Conclave; (right) Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan | P JAWAHAR, ASHWIN PRASATH (TCS) with Rajalakshmi Group of Institutions as title sponsor, V-C, MGR Medical University, brought the discussion closer eignty. Prof Pawan Goyal of Dr Bose said that Viksit Bharat also highlighted the need for home, highlighting the power, IIT Kharagpur, and author 2047 mission can be achieved value-driven education. pains, and representation of Sairam Surenderasan exonly through the path of Dr Santishree Dhulipudi youth in TN’s charged political plained how AI is already diseducation. Pandit, Vice-Chancellor of landscape. rupting education. Bihar Governor Arif Mo- JNU, Dr Sunaina Singh, former Advocating for the ‘DravidiSenior BJP leader K Anhammed Khan reflected on the V-C of Nalanda University and an Model’, Tamil Nadu School namalai called for a major , controversial Shah Bano case, Dr Thangam Meganathan, Education Minister Dr Anbil overhaul in the civil services, and spoke on what it means to Chairperson, Rajalakshmi Mahesh highlighted the state’s while former TN chief secrebe a “Liberal Muslim” in India Group of Institutions, stressed strides in inclusive education, tary V Irai Anbu batted for purtoday . on the importance of responsi- while IT Minister Dr Palanivel pose-driven public servants. Swami Suddhidananda, pres- ble dissent. Thiyaga Rajan outlined its ecoThinkEdu 2026, with over 30 ident of Advaita Ashrama, iniSachin Pilot, senior Congress nomic success story . riveting sessions and 45 speaktiated the day’s discussions with leader, commented on the fleetDriving the importance of ers across two days, representa reminder that education must ing nature of political ideolo- self-reliance in emerging tech- ed the continuation of a 14-year also enrich the spiritual and gies in India. Senior BJP leader nologies, Prof V Kamakoti, Di- legacy of championing the exmoral centres within students. Dr Tamilisai Soundarajan and rector of IIT Madras, explored cellence of Indian thought. FULL COVERAGE ON P5 Dr Sudha Seshayyan, former DMK MP Dr Kanimozhi Somu India’s roadmap to AI sover- SAUDI ARABIA US embassy hit by drones An attack from two drones on the US Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire”. The embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound ISRAEL Tel Aviv hit injures 7 At least seven people were seriously wounded after a salvo of missiles fired from Iran hit the capital city Tel Aviv QATAR Loud blasts heard in Doha AFP journalists in the Qatari capital of Doha heard more explosions on Tuesday, as Iran carried out a fourth day of attacks in Gulf countries UAE Intercepts 11 missiles UAE said it intercepted 11 ballistic missiles and 123 drones Tuesday, while one missile landed within the country sans any casualties IRAN Urges UNSC to stop the war Iran urged the United Nations Security Council to take action to stop the war. “ If UNSC wishes, it can certainly act to stop the war” Major rejig in Delhi Police top deck, 50 IPS, 20 DANIPS officers reshuffled N I T I N R A W AT @ New Delhi IN a major administrative reshuffle on Holi eve, 50 IPS and 20 DANIPS officers were assigned new responsibilities. Delhi Prisons got a new DG, a post vacant since SBK Singh’s retirement. New DCPs will head nine of the 15 police districts in the national capital. As per an order issued Tuesday, Anand Mohan, 1994-batch IPS officer and former Arunachal Pradesh DGP, has been appointed DG (Prisons). He earlier served as Jt CP (New Delhi Range). SBK Singh was shifted from Delhi Police Commissioner to DG (Prisons) last August and retired on January 31. Surendra Singh Yadav, 1997-batch IPS officer and for mer Chandig arh DGP who was shifted to BSF, has been repatriated to his parent cadre as DG Civil Defence. He earlier served as chief of Anti-Corruption Branch in 2015 and as Jt CP (Northern Range) during the farmers’ protests. Incumbent DG Civil Defence Virender Singh, Holi Eve Rahool Alwal is DCP (Crime), Anant Mittal and Rohit Rajbir Singh, 2015batch IPS officers, are DCP (South) and Central), respectively. Much relief to 2014-batch officers awaiting postings The order brings relief to 2014-batch IPS officers awaiting transfers. Sachin Sharma has moved from Outer District to New Delhi. Shashank Jaiswal and Rajiv Kumar, both DCP (Traffic), are now DCP (Rohini) and DCP (East), respectively. Kushal Pal Singh, Akanksha Yadav, and Vikram Singh, will head the Dwarka, Northwest, and Outer districts, respectively. 1991-batch IPS officer, is now DG Home Guards. Last month, Special CP (Crime) Devesh Chandra Srivastava and Special CP (Special Cell) Anil Shukla were given additional charges of DG (Prisons) and DG (Home Guards), respectively . After over six months as OSD to the Delhi Police Commissioner, 2007-batch IPS officer Vijay Kumar has been appointed Jt CP (Southern Range). Sanjay Kumar Jain, who held the post, is now OSD to the Delhi Police Commissioner. The order also provides for the appointment of another DCP in the IFSO unit, which handles cybercrime cases. Anyesh Roy 2019-batch officer, has , been posted as DCP, IFSO. He earlier led the unit when it was known as CyPAD. IFSO has a new Addl CP in Monika Bhardwaj, 2009-batch IPS officer, who was Addl CP (Traffic). Her batchmate Vijyanta Arya is the new Addl CP (Traffic). Dheeraj Kumar, 2004-batch IPS officer, is Jt CP (Crime/ Anti-Narcotics Task Force), while 2004-batch IPS officer Ajit Kumar Singla is Jt CP (Eastern Range). 7pm: South Africa vs New Zealand (1st Semi-Final)(Kolkata) SA vs NZ: FIRST SEMIS IN KOLKATA On Wednesday, South Africa face New Zealand in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup. The African side has an advantage over their opponents after remaining unbeaten until now. To add to that, they even got the better of Kiwis in the group stage. More importantly they seem to be a well-rounded unit and the conditions here suit them better. P11 Birla sets up privileges panel, Prasad to chair The Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on Thursday, with Speaker Om Birla nominating senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad as its chairperson. Birla has named 14 other MPs as members of the panel, according to a notification. P7 Nabin among nine BJP candidates for RS polls The Central Election Committee of the BJP on Tuesday announced nine candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections, including its president Nitin Nabin. The BJP said that it sought to maintain “social engineering” while selecting the candidates. P8 SC issues directions to reform open prisons The Supreme Court has recently issued slew of directions to ensure effective utilisation and expansion of strengthening Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs) or open prisons across the country, holding that they must function as meaningful institutions of reform and rehabilitation. 29 seats, 2 RS berths to Cong after Nod to plan for 60 transport aircraft PC meets Stalin to break stalemate J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi Today’s Match EXPRESS READ P R A B H A K A R TA M I L A R A S U @ Chennai AMID a deadlock in seat-sharing talks between the DMK and the Congress, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai met Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin at his residence on Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to end the impasse. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was also present at the meeting. Sources told TNIE that while the DMK leadership was not inclined to accept the Congress’s demand for 34 Assembly seats, it had expressed will- 1 RS seat for DMDK The DMK on Tuesday evening allotted one Rajya Sabha seat for DMDK. According to sources, the number of Assembly seats that DMDK will contest as part of the alliance in the Assembly elections will be finalised at a later date. ingness to offer up to 29 seats, in addition to two Rajya Sabha seats. “One Rajya Sabha seat will be allocated in the forthcoming biennial election, and another will be offered in 2028,” a source said. The DMK is also understood to have conveyed its preference that the Rajya Sabha seat be allotted to a Congress leader from Tamil Nadu. A Congress leader confirmed that the DMK had raised its offer from 25 and can go up to 29 seats and said the party was “working out the numbers” and awaiting approval from the high command. Downplaying the significance of the meeting, Selvaperunthagai described it as a “courtesy call”. “The meeting was a courtesy call and the alliance negotiations have been progressing smoothly,” the TNCC chief said. THE Defence Procurement Board (DPB) has cleared the acquisition of 60 medium transport aircraft for the IAF, setting in motion a long-pending plan to renew its tactical airlift fleet. Sources said the DPB, chaired by Defence Secretary R K Singh, met on Monday and cleared the proposal. The board vets capital acquisition proposals before they move to the Defence Acquisition Council for Acceptance of Necessity, following which the process moves to tendering, trials, negotiations and contract award. The acquisition, estimated at around `1 lakh crore, will be pursued under the ‘Buy and File pix of C-390 Millennium Make’ route, with 12 aircraft to be acquired in flyaway condition and the remaining 48 to be manufactured in India in partnership with the domestic industry sources said. , The requirement centres on replacing the An-32 fleet. The new aircraft are also expected to take on some roles of the ageing Il-76. The aircraft being sought must be capable of operating in high-altitude environments and from short, semi-prepared or unpaved surfaces, including Advanced Landing Grounds in Ladakh and the Northeast. A three-way contest is taking shape, with each contender offering a different mix of capability and industrial alignment. Sources said the contest is expected to be closely fought between Brazil’s Embraer, which has partnered with Mahindra Defence for this bid and US-based Lockheed Martin, which has a long-standing manufacturing partnership with Tata Advanced Systems. Embraer has offered the C-390 Millennium, a jet-powered aircraft with a payload of around 26 tonnes, placing it at the upper end of the IAF’s requirement. Lockheed’s C-130J Super Hercules (20 tonnes) and Airbus’ A400M Atlas (30+ tonnes) are also in the race.