NEW DELHI 05 APRIL 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES ALL IN GOOD TIME MAGAZINE Humanising the Abstract EXCLUSIVE VOICES The Banknotes That Slept Beneath the Sea The Fabric of the Aftermath Anand Neelakantan Shashi Tharoor Ravi Shankar Shankkar Aiyar Shinie Antony Geetha Ravichandran Dr Alka Pande Eighteen Ways to Dream a City ‘I Invested My Credibility, Not Money’ The City Beneath the City SC to hear Sabarimala review pleas on April 7 An apartment building struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel on Saturday | AP Slum rehab policy with shopping complex soon EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Delhi government is set to provide slum dwellers modern amenities like shopping complexes, parking spaces and e-rickshaw charging points as part of a new rehabilitation and resettlement policy being prepared, a source said on Saturday . Facilities under consideration include schools, Jan Suvidha Kendras, and dedicated sanitation arrangements for women, according to the government’s proposed policy plan. The policy may to be finalised this month. The government also plans to extend the eligibility cutoff date under the existing policy by 10 years from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025, making many slum dwellers eligible for permanent housing. There are 750 slum clusters in Delhi. Nearly half are located on land owned by Central government agencies such as the railways, the Land and Development Office and the Delhi Development Authority, which acts as the nodal agency for their rehab. The remaining slums are situated on land owned by the government, where rehabilitation is overseen by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board under the urban development department. Currently slum rehabilita, tion is governed by the Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, which provides alternative accommodation at the same site or within a 5-km radius. SNOWFALL IN LAHAUL-SPITI DISRUPTS TRAFFIC Rain lashed Himachal Pradesh, with a warning being issued for hailstorms for April 7 and 8. Tourists have been asked to stay away from the North Portal of Atal Tunnel on ManaliLeh highway in Lahaul-Spiti. Both Iran and US hunt for the missing F-15E crew; 1 more jet, 2 choppers hit Amid search for US airman, Don issues Iran 48-hr ultimatum DAY 36 A G E N C I E S @ Washington/Dubai US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened that hell would “reign down” on Iran if it didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Time is running out—48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them,” the president said, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26. Trump’s latest threat came as the US continued its search for a missing crew member of a US F15E fighter jet downed by Iran. It was the first a US aircraft is shot down by enemy fire in over 20 years. Reports said armed Iranians have joined the hunt after the state media announced a “precious prize” for those finding the US airman. If Iran manages to capture the crew member, it would give Tehran more leverage in potential peace talks with the US. Confirming that Iran shot down the US warplane, Trump said it won’t affect peace talks. “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war,” he said. Another US aircraft and two helicopters were hit by Iran while conducting a search for the downed F-15E’s airman. A-10 Warthog—a type of air- US-Israeli strikes hit 30 universities US-Israeli strikes have hit more than 30 universities across Iran since the war broke out in late February, Iran’s science minister said on Saturday. “To date, more than 30 universities have been directly targeted,” Hossein Simai Sarraf told reporters during a visit to the Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran, which was struck on Friday 1 Several loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem on Saturday after Israeli military warned of missiles inbound 2 Iran’s atomic agency says an airstrike has hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a guard and damaging a building 3 Two buildings in Dubai were hit by debris, including one housing the US cloud computing firm Oracle craft designed for providing close air support—was downed near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. Reuters reported that the aircraft crashed in Kuwait. As per reports, the pilot ejected and is safe. Two Black Hawk helicopters were also hit. The choppers managed to exit Iranian airspace after being hit. These incidents come days after Trump declared that Iran has no functional air defences left after intense US-Israel attacks. Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, mocked the Trump administration, saying the “war they started has now been downg raded from re gime change to Hey! Can anyone find our pilots?” As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, data released by the Pentagon shows. Meanwhile, Pakistan rejected reports that its initiative to facilitate talks between the US and Iran to end the ongoing conflict had hit obstacles after the initial exchange of peace proposals. P9 Sent to larger bench In 2019, a five-judge bench referred the matter to a larger bench. It broadly framed it as a question of freedom for women in places of worship across religions Ambit of matter expands The bench also referred to issues of entry of Muslim women into mosques and dargahs and of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, to the holy fire place of an Agiary, to the larger bench S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court will start hearing a batch of petitions seeking review of its Sabarimala case verdict on discrimination against women, from April 7 (Tuesday), two days before Kerala goes to polls. The review pleas challenge the 2018 verdict, which held that the traditional ban on women aged 10–50 years to enter the Sabarimala was unconstitutional. The new bench comprises Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices B V Nagarathna, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi. The court in its last hearing on February 16 had indicated the timeline for the hearing. “The nine judge bench shall begin hearing the review case on April 7, 2026 at 10.30 am. The review petitioners shall be heard from April 7 to 9, 2026. The parties opposing the review will be heard from April 16-17, 2026. Rejoinder submissions will be heard on April 21,” a threejudge bench of the CJI and justices Bagchi and Vipul M Pan- ‘States coordinates, not subordinates’ Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday urged the Centre to view states as “coordinates and not subordinates”. She said the separation of powers was a “constitutional arrangement of co-equals”. The judge also called for keeping aside “inter-party differences” in the matter of “Centre-state relations”. BJP REDRAWS CAMPAIGN PLANK I P8 AS POLLS NEAR, HIMANTA AND RAHUL IN WAR OF WORDS I P8 FROM FLASHPOINTS TO SILENCE, A FADING RHETORIC I P4 MISTRY PETITION Venu Srinivasan quits Bai Hirabai Tata Trust B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai POWER struggle within the Tata Trusts appears to have intensified with its senior-most vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan resigning from the Hirabai Tata Trust. His resignation came hours after former trustee Mehli Mistry moved the Charity Commissioner, seeking the ouster of Srinivasan and another vice-chairman, Vijay Singh, from the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution on the grounds that they are non-Parsis. While Mistry’s petition pertains to this relatively lesserknown trust, its implications could extend to over a dozen entities within the Tata Trusts ecosystem. In his petition, Mistry also challenged his own ouster from the trusts last October, arguing that the votes cast by Srinivasan and Singh — who he claims were ineligible — should be deemed invalid. Mistry had earlier challenged his removal before the Charity Commissioner in November but withdrew the plea within a week and resigned, stating he no longer had any interest choli had said on February 16. In March this year, the state’s Left Front government modified its earlier position that had favoured the entry of women of all ages to the Sabarimala, ahead of the crucial assembly election. Given the severe backlash following its decision to implement the SC verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the hill shrine, the state government in its affidavit stopped short of making any direct statement on women’s entry . In its response to the court’s queries, the Kerala government stated that opinions of social reformers and religious scholars should be taken before arriving at a decision. Sameer Rizvi hit a sensational 51-ball 90 to lead Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in their IPL match in Delhi on Saturday. Mumbai Indians could manage only 162 for six. | PTI | P11 ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS Parsi welfare The Hirabai Charitable Institution was established in 1923. It focuses on welfare of the Parsi community in Navsari, Gujarat, particularly in education and healthcare. It is part of the broader Tata Trusts network and shares trustees with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust in the trusts. Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Motor, reportedly stepped down from the trust on Saturday, citing “preoccupation with other business commitments.” Earlier this week, he assumed charge as CMD of Sundaram Clayton following a split within the TVS Group. Tata Trusts, Srinivasan, and Mistry did not respond to requests for comment. According to sources, Mistry invoked clauses 6 and 18 of the Hirabai trust deed, which mandate that trustees must be of the Parsi-Zoroastrian faith and permanent residents within the Bombay Presidency–Navsari jurisdiction. He also sought a suo motu inquiry by the Charity Commissioner plus an affidavit by all trustees confirming their eligibility . Last year, he questioned the role of vice-chairmen in the Tata Education Trust, claiming the trust deed does not provide for such a position. Floating in the Ocean of Life 3-language policy: TN CM, Centre lock horns E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai DELHI BEAT MUMBAI EXPRESS READ SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS TAMIL Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan locked horns on social media over the centre’s proposal to introduce a three-language policy in CBSE schools from Class 6. Stalin slammed the move as a “covert mechanism” to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states, while Pradhan hit back, calling the CM’s criticism a “tired attempt” to distract from political failures by mislabelling an inclusive reform. Citing a TSS report, Stalin questioned the lack of “reciprocity” in the proposal, asking whether students in Hindispeaking states would be mandated to learn southern languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam. He further said the Union government had failed to make Tamil a mandatory language in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools and had not appointed adequate Tamil teachers. Questioning whether the centre understood ground realities such as teacher availability training capaci, ty and infrastructure, Stalin described the policy as an illconceived move announced without proper planning, resources or accountability . Responding to the criticism, Pradhan dismissed Stalin’s claims, calling the narrative of “imposition” a tired attempt to mask political failures. On reciprocity he said Tamil had been , celebrated as a national treasure through initiatives such as the Kashi Tamil Sangamam and on global platforms. He also rejected concerns over resources as a “façade”, alleging the DMK government had stalled the establishment of PM SHRI schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas, denying students access to improved infrastructure and opportunities. Stalin said the claim that there was “no Hindi imposition” was “plainly dishonest”. ‘WAVE OF CHANGE’ MODI TAKES ON PINARAYI, SAYS LDF DAYS ARE NUMBERED E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Pathanamthitta PLACING the Sabarimala gold theft at the centre of his political attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused Kerala’s CPM-led LDF and Congress-led UDF of deliberately stalling investigations and justice over the hill shrine-related crime. Speaking at an election rally in Thiruvalla, Central Kerala, Modi offered prayers to Lord Ayyappa before criticising the political establishment for failing to safeguard the sanctity of Sabarimala, framing the gold theft as a symptom of broader administrative neglect. “Earlier, both the UDF and the LDF conspired to undermine the sanctity of the hill shrine. What began as attempts to dilute traditions has now escalated to allega- PM Modi places Sabarimala gold tions of theft within the sa- theft issue at the centre of his cred premises,” Modi said. attack on the LDF and UDF | EXPRESS The Prime Minister alleged a recurring pattern of accountability claiming that when such , issues arise during the LDF’s tenure, the trail extends to elements linked to the UDF, pointing to a larger nexus. “This is why the LDF government is reluctant to seek a CBI probe. The Congress, on the other side, has historically distanced itself from Hindu beliefs and customs, and is merely ‘acting’ as a well-wisher for political gains,” he added. Projecting confidence in the NDA’s prospects, Modi said, “The days of the LDF government are numbered,” citing a growing “wave of change” in Kerala, which goes to polls on April 9, and expressing certainty that the NDA would form its first government in the state. He emphasised key infrastructure initiatives, including national highway expansion and Vande Bharat service, promising that an NDA government would implement them without delay .