NEW DELHI 24 MAY 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES Too Much of a Good Thing AMERICA MADE IN PAKISTAN MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Sanjaya Baru Debashis Chatterjee Shankkar Aiyar Anil Bhasin Madhavan Narayanan Keeping Their Cool Modi gets Trump’s invite for early visit Rubio hands over letter; unveils America First visa plan J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Net fuel rates up by `5/L after 3rd hike R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi PRICES of petrol and diesel went up by up to 91 paise per litre on Saturday, the third such hike in less than 10 days, raising the cumulative retail fuel rates across the country by nearly `5 a litre. In Delhi, petrol became costlier by 87 paise — from `98.64 to `99.51 per litre. Diesel rates jumped by 91 paise — from `91.58 to `92.49 a litre. Likewise, the cost of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) went up by `1 per kg, taking its retail cost in the Capital to `81.09 per kg. The latest hike comes amid disruption in global oil and gas supplies following the conflict in West Asia. Despite the hikes, fuel retailers continue to absorb significant losses. Amid long queues and reports of shortage at petrol pumps and some outlets running dry, Indian Oil said there was no overall shortage, adding fuel outage at certain retail outlets as “highly localised” and temporary . The IOL statement said the higher demand at certain outlets was driven by a seasonal rise in diesel consumption during the harvesting season, migration of customers from private pumps where retail prices were relatively higher, and increased institutional purchases at public sector outlets. IN his first visit to India as US Secretary of State to shore up ties that have come under strain in recent times, Marco Rubio met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and handed over an invitation from President Donald Trump for an early visit to the White House. He later described India as a “cornerstone” of Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy and said an “America First” visa schedule prioritising business professionals will deepen economic ties with New Delhi. Rubio, who arrived in New Delhi after a stop in Kolkata earlier in the day, held wideranging discussions with Modi on bilateral ties, regional security and the Indo-Pacific ahead of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled in Delhi on May 26. After the meeting, Modi said the two sides discussed “sustained progress” in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership as well as regional and global security issues. “India and the United States will continue to work closely for the global good,” Modi said on X. Speaking at the inauguration of the new US Embassy Support Annex Building here, Rubio underlined India’s growing importance in Washington’s strategic calculations. “It is at the cornerstone of this important partnership between us and India, which, as I said, is an incredibly important one,” Rubio said. “It’s the reason why I’m here on this visit — to reaffirm those ties, to build upon them. We think in the months ahead, we’re going to have even more exciting and new announcements to make about the development and strengthening of the relationship between the two countries.” The US Secretary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI We had a phenomenal meeting today with the PM. It’s a relationship that is growing Sergio Gor, US Ambassador At Mother House Earlier in the day, Rubio visited the Mother House of Saint Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata before flying to Delhi State also announced a new “America First” visa schedule designed to prioritise business professionals and strengthen commercial engagement between the two countries. “We’re introducing a new America First visa schedule that prioritises business professionals that strengthen these ties,” Rubio said, adding that the new embassy facility would help improve efficiency and support America’s diplomatic and security operations in India. Rubio also highlighted the personal chemistry between Modi and Trump. “You can just see the connection between them. The connection between leaders is incredibly important. These are two very serious leaders who are focused not just on the short term but on the long term,” he said. P7 EXPRESS READ Srinate & Khera in race for RS slots from K’taka Ahead of June 18 polls to four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, the names of Congress leaders Supriya Srinate and Pawan Khera are making the rounds for nominations from the state. The Congress may comfortably win three seats. P4 CJI-led bench to hear Twisha case on Monday The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the Twisha Sharma death case. A three-judge bench led by CJI Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi, will hear the matter on Monday. P8 Fresh funding for MGNREGA throws up questions on parallel ops with GRAM-G P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi EVEN as the Centre prepares to roll out the new rural employment scheme, VB GRAM-G from July 1, it has been learnt that it may allocate an additional `15,000 crore to MGNREGA, raising fresh questions over the future of the existing scheme, which is to be repealed under the new framework. The development comes even as the government published draft rules for the VB-GRAM-G Act on Saturday for public consultation. The draft proposes that Central allocations to states under the new scheme will be determined normatively using the horizontal devolution formula recommended by the 16th Finance Commission. According to sources, the additional allocation could be re- Ghost of the Himalayas leased immediately to the twodecade-old UPA-era MGNREGA. However, there is still no clarity on whether the existing scheme will continue during the transition phase. The development comes amid Opposition demands for a smooth shift from MGNREGA to GRAM-G, with the government earlier assuring a sixmonth transition period to avoid disruption in rural employment and wage payments. Opposition leaders have also maintained that MGNREGA cannot be discontinued abruptly, given its role in providing rural livelihood support. In the Union Budget, the Centre allocated `95,692.31 crore for GRAM-G and `30,000 crore for MGNREGA to clear pending liabilities. “Now the government is planning to pump in nearly 50% more than the original budget allocation to MGNREGA,” a source said. At a recent meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, ministry officials are learnt to have informed members that 25 states have already agreed to implement the GRAM-G programme and that administrative and p o l i cy p r e p a r a t i o n s a r e underway . Oppn states okay with 60:40 fund While Oppn criticised the 60:40 Centrestate funding model as burdensome, sources said most Oppnruled states, except Jharkhand, have come on board. “Telangana, Himachal, Kerala accepted it. K’taka agreed under protest,” a source said. Previous DMK govt, too, had consented ICONIC PLACE Gymkhana Club asked to hand over premises by June 5 The Heart of Darkness The American Dream of Accumulated Absences ‘I Am a Murder Mystery Fan’ The World is One Family Phogat wins the dangal at Delhi HC U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi NEARLY 100 years after a 27.3-acre plot on Safdarjung Road in Lutyens’ Delhi was leased to the Delhi Gymkhana Club, the Centre has initiated the process of reclaiming it from one of the oldest clubs in the country The Land and Development Office . (LDO), which functions under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has asked the club to return the premises by June 5. The LDO said that the land was required for “strengthening and securing defence infrastructure” and for “other vital public security purposes”. A letter from the office sent to the secretary of the club on Friday, read, “It has been determined that the said premises, located in a highly sensitive area, is critically required for the strengthening and securing of defense infrastructure and other vital public security purposes. The land is essential to fulfill urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure and public-interest projects, integrated with the resumption of adjoining government lands.” The sprawling club stands adjacent to the PM’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg. The letter said that the LDO exercised the powers conferred under clause four of the lease deed to determine the agreement and ordered re-entry of the premises with immediate effect. CONTINUED ON P3 AMMA SPEAKS The law must ensure that motherhood does not become a ground for exclusion or marginalisation of female athletes, such as the appellant Delhi High Court Trials to be recorded The bench ordered the selection trials, be videorecorded and an independent observer from Sports Authority of India and Indian Olympic Association each remain present THE Delhi High Court has allowed celebrated wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the upcoming Asian Games 2026 selection trials to be held from May 30 to 31, saying motherhood cannot be treated as a professional impediment. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia called Phogat “an internationally acclaimed athlete” and said she could not meet the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) “exclusionary” selection policy only because she was on maternity leave. “It is acknowledged that motherhood cannot be treated as a professional impediment or a circumstance warranting adverse treatment. A legal and regulatory framework that either expressly or impliedly disadvantages a woman on account of pregnancy or post-partum recovery would clearly violate the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution of India,” the division bench noted in its order on Friday . The bench also slammed the “deplorable” show-cause notice issued to Phogat by WFI, in which the wrestling body said she had caused a “national embarrassment” by getting disqualified from the Paris Olympics for being overweight ahead of her gold-medal match. “Such observations made in the SCN (showcause notice), despite the award issued by CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), which clearly held that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the appellant (Phogat), appear to be pre-mediated and are ex-facie misconceived and ought to have been avoided,” the bench said.