THURSDAY 02 APRIL, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard IAF, HAL TO HOLD CRITICAL REVIEW MEET AS TEJAS MK1A DELAY DRAGS ON X.com/TheMornStandard Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the Air Force will hold a critical programme review this month to finalise a new induction timeline US CITIZENSHIP TOP COURT UNSURE OF TRUMP CURBS SC judges questioned whether Trump’s order declaring children born to parents who are in the US illegally or temporarily are not valid citizens PAGE 9 180 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  TEJAS MK1A AIRCRAFT ORDERED BY THE INDIAN AIR FORCE PAGES 12 MEET TO ASSESS PROGRESS ON KEY REQUIREMENTS Sources in the defence establishment said senior IAF and HAL officials will meet in New Delhi to assess the progress made on mandatory operational requirements. “Its outcome will be decisive ... The IAF is seeking clarity on when the first aircraft, already over two years behind schedule, will be inducted,” a source said | P7 April 16-18 special session coming to add LS seats for women quota Indian tanker Jag Vasant, owned by Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd, after clearing the Strait of Hormuz, is seen anchored at the LPG discharge terminal, in Mumbai on Wednesday | PTI P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi PM takes stock of steps to safeguard citizens from crisis WITH an eye on the upcoming assembly polls, the Centre may convene a special session of Parliament from April 16-18 to bring a bill to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 so that 273 of them could be reserved for women in Lok Sabha, sources said. While the Budget Session is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, the government may prorogue it and convene a ‘special session’ ahead of the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu on April 23, and West Bengal polls on April 23 and 29. “The House will not be adjourned sine die but will be adjourned with the announcement that it will meet again on a specific date. We will meet again this month,” said a source, indicating the third week of April. The government recently proposed an early delimitation exercise to fasttrack the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act. The proposed changes include linking the Act’s implementation based on the 2011 Census for a quicker rollout and potentially increasing the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats by J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security to review India’s preparedness amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, directing officials that “all efforts must be made to safeguard citizens from the impact of this conflict.” The second such review in recent days held at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg focused on mitigating disruptions across key sectors including energy agriculture, ship, ping, aviation, logistics and MSMEs. The government assessed supply chains and explored contingency measures to ensure stability in essenInterventions tial commodities and services. Supply proposed to be diversification for LPG and LNG, fuel taken for duty reduction and power sector emerging measures were reviewed to ensure challenges in stability of essential supplies. various other sectors such as A key focus area was energy secuagriculture, civil rity Cabinet Secretary T V Somanath. aviation, shipping an briefed the meeting about the acand logistics were tion taken to ensure supply of also discussed petroleum products, particularly LNG/LPG, and sufficient power avail- Govt statement ability Measures such as exempting . certain gas-based power plants from pooling mechanisms and increasing coal supplies to thermal stations were reviewed to ensure uninterrupted electricity during peak summer demand. The government noted that “enough coal stock exists” to meet power needs in the coming months. On the agriculture front, the PM reviewed fertilizer availability Efforts are underway to maintain urea pro. duction and coordinate imports of DAP and NPK fertilizers. States have been asked to intensify monitoring and take action against diversion and black-marketing. Need time-bound trial in NE racial bias cases: SC DAY 33 COSTLY FUEL 25% Price hike cap on aviation turbine fuel on domestic routes announced to prevent steep rise in airfares, though ATF rates have more than doubled to `2.07 lakh due to West Asia crisis `195.50 Hike in cost of commercial LPG rates per cylinder `2 per litre Jump in XP95, Power95, and Speed fuels `51 More for 5 kg mini LPG cylinder Just 8.5% up Price of jet fuel in Delhi is `1,04,927 per kilolitre, only 8.5% higher than `96,638 in March. Earlier in the day, OMC website showed the price at `2,07,341.22 per kilolitre for this month WORLD CUP ITALY MISS 3RD TIME IN-A-ROW Bosnia Herzegovina beat four-time champions Italy on penalties to enter football’s greatest showpiece event. Incidentally, Italy’s last qualification was in 2014, the same year Bosnia played at the quadrennial event | P11 A G E N C I E S @ Washington, London, Tel Aviv PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Wednesday said the US could end its operations in Iran in two-three weeks with or a without a deal. However, a third US aircraft carrier, USS George H W Bush, set sail for West Asia on Tuesday. Trump is expected to address the nation on Wednesday night (Thursday 6.30 am IST). The US president sharply escalated his confrontation with Europe over the war, saying he is strongly considering pulling his country out of NATO. “Oh yes, I would say it’s (US exit from NATO) beyond reconsideration,” he told a reporter at a White House briefing. In a further sign of stress on the transatlantic alliance, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain needed to forge a “closer partnership” with the EU on defence, security and the economy He vowed not . to let the UK get dragged into the war against Iran. Meanwhile, Trump claimed Iran’s president has asked for a ceasefire. Iran’s president “has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the remarks as “false and baseless”. INSIDE UK TO HOST MULTI-NATION MEETING ON HORMUZ | P9 CENSUS PROCESS KICKS OFF Prime Minister Narendra Modi (pic) self-enumerating himself for Census 2027 on Wednesday. “Completed my selfenumeration. Today marks the beginning of the first phase of Census 2027, relating to house listing and housing operations,” he said on X S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday called for expeditious and time-bound trials in cases involving racial discrimination against Northeastern citizens. It urged the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to consider a holistic policy decision on the administrative side to ensure priority adjudication of such sensitive matters. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, passed the order on a PIL. The plea highlighted delays in trials despite the completion of investigations and the filing of charge sheets. It flagged rising incidents of racial slurs, social exclusion, and violence faced by Northeastern citizens across cities. The petition referred to the 2014 killing of Nido Tania, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh who was beaten to death in Delhi, to underline the seriousness of such incidents. The petition argued that prolonged delays in trials often force victims and witnesses, particularly students, to return home. The HC said, “We dispose of this petition, without expressing anything on merits or allegations, with a request to the Chief Justice of the Delhi HC to consider such issues... and take holistic policy decision.” Trump says war to be over in 2-3 wks, weighs NATO exit President Droupadi Murmu did likewise at the Rashtrapati Bhavan About 55,000 households across eight states, UTs did their self-enumeration on Day One THE PROPOSAL Budget session supposed to end on Thursday But session unlikely to be adjourned sine die Govt planning to summon it again for 2-3 days in April 3rd week Plan to raise LS seats to 816, with 273 reserved for women Constitutional amendment bill to amend Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to be brought Another bill to tweak Delimitation Act REDRAWING OF CONSTITUENCIES TO BE BASED ON 2011 CENSUS 50% on a proportional basis. Though Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions with some NDA allies and some non-Congress opposition floor leaders last week, consultations with the Congress and TMC were yet to take place. The Opposition has demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the roadmap. The Congress also opposed the proposal to raise the size of the Lok Sabha by 50% saying such a move would “disadvantage” smaller states in the South, Northeast, and West. The provision to provide 33% reservation to women in Lok Sabha and Amid strong blowback, FCRA bill put on hold Although the bill was listed for consideration in the Lok Sabha on THE Centre on Wednesday put the Wednesday Parliamentary Affairs , proposed amendments to the For- Minister Kiran Rijiju said it would eign Contribution (Regulation) not be taken up for discussion afAct (FCRA) on hold amid mount- ter massive protests by the Oppoing opposition to the contentious sition members. changes and political heat As soon as the Question ahead of the Kerala AsHour began at 11 am, opsembly elections. position members, mainly While the amendment from Kerala, started raisbill has drawn sharp critiing slogans against the cisms from the CPI(M), provisions of the Bill. church groups, and the “I had told the Congress Congress which termed it party yesterday that since `22,000 cr the Bill has been intro‘draconian’, the BJP’s inflow Kerala unit chief Rajeev duced, it has been listed Currently, Chandrasekhar said the for consideration and pasCentre would not proceed around 16,000 sage for Wednesday. But, associations with the proposed amendtoday the FCRA (Amendments without addressing are registered ment) Bill is not being the concerns raised by under the FCRA taken up for discussion,” and receive various sections, includRijiju said. `22,000 crore ing Christians. He accused the Conannually, Chandrasekhar said the gress and Left parties of according to BJP’s Kerala unit has remisleading the people of quested the Centre not to the statement Kerala, which faces Aspass the FCRA amend- of objects and sembly polls on April 9. reasons of ment bill at this stage. Countering the Opposithe bill The FCRA (Amendtion charges that the bill ment) Bill, introduced in would impact minority inthe Lok Sabha last week, sparked stitutions, Rijiju said the intent is a row as it gives the Centre the to protect national security and power to appoint a designated au- interest and asserted that it was thority which would control the not aimed against any religion or funds and assets in case the FCRA organisation. It was aimed at precertificate is cancelled, surren- venting misuse of foreign contridered, or ceased. butions, he adedd. P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023, but it will come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise. According to the broad contours available, the number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased from the present 543 to 816, with 273 seats reserved for women. The reservation will also be done on a “vertical basis” with seats allocated for SCs and STs. The redrawing of the constituencies will be done on the basis of the 2011 census rather than the proposed 2027 census. A similar exercise will be carried out for state assemblies where seats will be reserved on a pro-rata basis. While a Constitution amendment bill will tweak the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as women’s reservation law, another ordinary bill will amend the Delimitation Act. Once approved by Parliament, the proposed laws will come into force on March 31, 2029 and will help reserve seats for women in the next Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh. EXPRESS READ Blast at Punjab BJP office, terror outfit takes blame A low-intensity blast occurred outside the Punjab BJP office in Chandigarh, reportedly after a “crude” device was hurled at it. Police said no injuries have been reported. Banned terror outfit Babbar Khalsa has claimed responsibility, alleging it to be retaliation for the killing of Ranjit Singh, an accused in the murder of an ASI and a home guard. An NIA team reached the site to probe the blast. P4 ‘Near extinction’ of Maoists, govt plans rehab policy Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the Maoist menace is “near extinction,” with a formal declaration expected after completing the remaining ground operations. Officials at the home ministry said the focus has now shifted from elimination to consolidation, with coordinated security and developmental strategies being implemented to sustain gains. P7 LS passes bill to recognise Amaravati as Andhra capital The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill seeking to recognise Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh, with the opposition Congress also supporting it along with the constituents of the NDA. Once the bill becomes a law, Amaravati will be terms the sole and permanent capital of the state retrospectively with effect from June 2, 2024. P5 Unrest at Punjab, HP borders as entry tax hike row deepens City CCTVs from China firm to be changed UNSAFE SURVEILLANCE jab. Mann criticised opposition leaders in Punjab, particularly those TENSION gripped border points be- aligned with the Congress, questiontween Himachal Pradesh and neigh- ing their silence. “Why don’t Punjab bouring Punjab and Haryana on leaders speak to their colleagues? ” Wednesday as revised enhe said. try tax rates for vehicles The issue developed furASSEMBLY ELECTIONS came into force, sparking ther after Himachal protests and traffic disrupPradesh revised its entry tions across multiple locatax structure. Initially intions. The ongoing friction creased to `170, the tax was continued after Punjab partially rolled back to a BJP HAT-TRICK Chief Minister Bhagwant flat `100 following internal CERTAIN IN Mann issued a warning to ASSAM: PM I P8 deliberations. Sukhu had his Himachal counterpart on Wednesday announced SHAH TO TAKE Sukhvinder Sukhu, hinting in the state Assembly that SUVENDU DARE at retaliatory measures. the tax on passenger vehiTO DIDI TURF I P8 “Punjab also knows how cles would be reverted to to impose taxes. We are actual slabs, `70 for fiveclosing toll plazas, but the Himachal seater vehicles and `110 for 6-12 seatgovernment is imposing entry taxes. er vehicles. Later, following deliberaWe also know how to impose them,” tions with the officials of the Excise Mann said, signalling a possible and Taxation Department late counter-tax on vehicles entering Pun- evening, a flat rate of `100 was fixed. H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi IN a significant policy shift, the PWD has begun the phased removal of Chinese-origin CCTV cameras installed across the national capital during the tenure of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. According to official data, Delhi has 2,74,389 CCTV cameras installed by the PWD under two major phases. Of these, 1,40,000 cameras were deployed during Phase 1 between September 2020 and November 2022, while 1,34,389 cameras were installed in Phase 2 from June 2025 to March 2026. Sources indicate that all cameras installed during the first phase were manufactured by Hikvision, a Chinese firm that has faced global scrutiny over security concerns. PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Wednesday strongly criticised the earlier decision of the AAP government, saying, “The Aam Aadmi Party installed Chinese Hikvision cameras across Delhi without thinking about the long-term security implications. Surveillance infrastructure is not just about visibility; it is about control over sensitive data. This was not a routine procurement decision. When you deploy such sys- tems across the city you are making , a national security choice. Unfortunately, the Aam Aadmi Party failed to recognise that.” Detailing the government’s decision and the challenges faced on the ground, the minister said, “We have taken a decision to phase out a significant portion of the CCTV cameras installed across the city particu, larly those sourced from Chinese firms, in line with recent government directives and broader security considerations. Therefore, we will be gradually replacing cameras with updated systems that meet current technical standards, offer better data security and are supported by a robust supply and service ecosystem.” He added that the transition would be carried out in a phased manner to avoid any disruption in surveillance coverage, which is being simultaneously rationalised.