NEW DELHI 21 JUNE 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in THE YOUNG SOUND WAVE The Hidden Cost of Standing Out Iron Maiden USA’s dream run & ‘historic’ red card USA emulate fellow World Cup co-hosts Mexico to march into the Round of 32 stage of ongoing FIFA World Cup on Friday while Brazil get first win of the tournament. Talking points... TWO STRONG FOR OZ After an unconvincing build-up, USA have made a dream start to the tournament. Having posted a 4-1 win over Paraguay in the opener, Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Australia 2-0 to enter the next phase with one game to spare PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Devdutt Pattanaik Ravi Shankar Prabhu Chawla Anuja Chandramouli Shankkar Aiyar Shampa Dhar-Kamath E D Mathew THREE CHEERS FOR SELECAO Five-time champions Brazil also bolstered their chances of entering the knockouts by beating Haiti 3-0. Matheus Cunha was the standout with two goals while Vinicius Junior scored the other goal. Haiti, in the process, were eliminated Monday) High security measures in place across 95K centres Man beaten to death at Shahdara rly station EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi A 32-year-old man was beaten to death by fellow passengers while he was attempting to board the Yoga Express at Shahdara railway station in east Delhi on Saturday . According to police, the incident took place on Platform No. 3, where a quarrel broke out among passengers amid a rush to board the train. A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media, where the victim can be seen being beaten and eventually lying unconscious on the platform. The information about the scuffle was received at the Old Delhi railway station police station, following which an investigating officer rushed to the spot. The victim has been identified as Pankaj Dhama, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. Preliminary investigation suggest that Dhama was assaulted with punches and kicks by co-passengers during the altercation. Police said he was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. A medico-legal case has been registered and proceedings have been initiated under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said efforts are underway to identify and trace the persons involved in the assault. Police added that CCTV footage from the railway station is being examined and eyewitnesses are being questioned. Our mock drill was a success. We checked working of jammers, CCTVs, seating positions, and biometrics infra NTA Abu Dhabi aspirant’s choice: NTA The NTA on Saturday claimed that the allotment of Abu Dhabi as exam centre for a Nagpur NEET aspirant was done as the request came from the candidate. NTA later alloted Nagpur as his new centre nation centres to prevent electronic malpractice. A nationwide mega mock drill conducted on Saturday was declared successful. “We checked the working of the jammers, CCTVs, seating arrangements, biometrics and police deployment,” a senior NTA official said. “NTA has put in place a multi-layered security framework, including end-to-end secure handling of confidential materials under sealed protocols, GPS-enabled vehicles with police escorts for movement of examination materials, CCTV surveillance at all examination centres linked to centralised control rooms, and Aadhaar-based biometric authentication,” NTA said. T he National Medical Commission has directed all medical colleges under its purview not to grant leave to students on June 20 and 21. The move comes in the backdrop of instances when medical students were found to be involved in illegal activities that affect the exam process. P3 & P7 CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke with supporters at a protest meet in New Delhi on Saturday | SAYANTAN GHOSH Drama at Jantar Mantar as CJP refuses to end protest A D I T I R AY C H O W D H U R Y @ New Delhi OVER 200 people associated with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were still lingering with placards at the Jantar Mantar protest site even as the clock ticked 9 pm on Saturday night. Delhi Police had allowed the protest meet from 1 pm till 5 pm only . In what remained a visibly peaceful protest, determined faces stood firm amid the sweltering heat. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced in the evening that the protest will continue till the time the Sonam Wangchuk joins in Climate activist Wangchuk, who has earlier joined two of CJP’s protests, announced that he would go on a hunger-strike from June 27 if the education minister does not resign Love is the Weapon to End War Spain vs Saudi Arabia  9: 30 PM Belgium vs Iran  12:30 AM* Uruguay vs Cabo Verde  3:30 AM* New Zealand vs Egypt  6:30 AM* 22.8 lakh to take NEET retest today MORE than 22.8 lakh medical aspirants will appear for the NEET UG re-examination on Sunday, nearly seven weeks after the original test was cancelled following a question paper leak that triggered nationwide outrage. The re-examination will be held from 2 to 5.15 pm across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad. Candidates with disabilities (PwD/PwBD) eligible for compensatory time will be allowed to write the examination till 6.20 pm. Nine states will see more than one lakh candidates each, led by Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (2,22,905) and Rajasthan (2,03,470). Lakshadweep has the lowest number with just 141 candidates. As many as 5,401 foreign candidates will also take the test. The Centre has installed 1,38,560 CCTV cameras with live feeds being monitored at national, state and ministry levels. As many as 51,311 jammers have been deployed across the 95,000-plus exami- AMMA SPEAKS Today's matches LAST PEN-AND-PAPER EXAM S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi A Tale of Two Countries Purple is Having a Moment RED CARD DRAWS ATTENTION Paraguay's Miguel Almiron became the first player in WC history to be sent off for covering his mouth during an on-field confrontation under new FIFA rules. Covering his mouth, Almiron appeared to direct a comment at Turkiye's Mert Muldur during the two teams' Group D tie in Santa Clara, California. Paraguay won 1-0. Turkiye, meanwhile, became just the second team to get eliminated ‘I’m Better at Acting Than Washing Dishes’ In the Company of Beautiful Minds education minister resigns. The protest was also joined by climate and social activist Sonam Wanchuk. “I request Delhi Police, since youth are here from all over the country they want to , continue the sit-in. The protest has been peaceful, we request Delhi Police to extend our permission. We are innocent students,” Dipke said, appealing to more people to join them at Jantar Mantar. Police, however, refused to allow them to continue, and cited a court order that protests can’t continue after 5 pm, before asking them to leave. Live on United8 Sports & ZEE5 (*IST Provide Wi-Fi: DGCA to all airlines S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi Only on 28 AI aircraft Air India website shows in-flight Wi-Fi is avaiable on 28 aircraft— six Boeing 787-9, six Airbus A350900, 10 Airbus A321 and six Boeing 777-300. The retrofit Boeing 787-8s are provisioned to offer Wi-Fi THE Directorate General of Civil Aviation has requested that all domestic airlines provide Wi-Fi internet access to their passengers on board. As of date, only 28 Air India aircraft offer such connectivity . Multiple airline executives said it is highly unlikely that the airlines would comply with the request. A communication issued on Friday (June 19) by the Deputy Director General of DGCA, A X Joseph, to the Accountable Manager of all airlines states, “Rule 29B of the Aircraft Rules 1937 allows the use of internet services by passengers on board an aircraft in flight Carriers warn of cost An airline executive said, “The expenses for retrofitting will run into crores and the aircraft needs to be pulled out of operations temporarily. It can be considered for new aircraft, but not on exisiting ones” through Wi-Fi for use of smartphones in flight mode or airplane mode.” It has been issued as a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) too, it added. IndiGo did not respond to this reporter while Air India Express sought more time to get back on the matter. A SpiceJet source said the airline has been offering an inflight entertainment system ‘Spice screen’ for all its passengers since August 2020, using which they can view movies and other content available. Asked about the possibility of incorporating Wi-Fi services, an airline source said, “It is not an easy process. The aircraft needs to have antennae to receive a signal. For that, we need to create a hump in the fuselage. It is a costly and timeconsuming affair.” Another airline executive said the cost would ultimately be borne by the consumer. “If we add `100 or `200 as Wi-Fi charges, the passenger might even not be interested,” the executive said. Med certs must for 50+ for bungee jumping in U’khand N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun BUNGEE jumping enthusiasts above 50 years of age will now have to produce a medical fitness certificate before taking the plunge in Uttarakhand. The move comes as the state’s adventure hubs of Devprayag, Tapovan and Rishikesh face scrutiny after a series of accidents raised questions about tourist safety . The state government will roll out a strict safety regulation for adventure sports Guidelines within a month. “The Uttarafor operators khand Tourism Development Board has begun drafting new Under the new guidelines and a comprehenregulations, sive rulebook for bungee jumpoperators will ing,” tourism secretary Dhiraj face tougher Garbyal said. “We have consultchecks on ed all stakeholders, including equipments. top national and international Companies will experts, to bring the adventure be asked to use sector under a firm legal and only global grade safety framework,” he added. natural rubber Two incidents have promptcords and replace ed this move. On November 12 them after a last year, a 24-year-old man fixed interval from Gurugram was critically injured at Thrill Factory Adventure Park in Shivpuri, Rishikesh, after the bungee cord snapped during a jump. On June 15, a jumper complained of severe abdominal pain and breathlessness shortly after landing. He died on the way to hospital. His family declined a post-mortem, making cause of death difficult to confirm. The draft regulation introduces the strictest health checks yet. People with high blood pressure or heart disease will be barred completely For par. ticipants over 50, a medical certificate will be compulsory “No certificate, no jump. This is non-nego. tiable,” Garbyal said. (Left) Padamsinh Patil; (right) Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar | PTI Op Tiger hits murder case acquittal roadblock questioned, adding there has been no closure for his family . Omprakash was among the A special CBI court’s verdict six of nine Lok Sabha members acquitting all nine accused in who skipped a recent parliathe 2006 Pavanraje Nimbalkar mentary party meeting called murder case appears to have by the Uddhav Sena in Delhi. If stalled Deputy Chief Minister he backs off, rebels would be Eknath Shinde’s plan of engi- short of the two-thirds majorineering a second split ty mark in the parliaFresh notice in the Uddhav faction mentary party botch, of the Shiv Sena. The Uddhav Sena ing their proposed Dr Padmasinh Pamerging with the issued another til, BJP MLA RanaShinde Sena. notice to six MPs jagjit Sinh Patil’s faOmprakash also for skipping the ther, and eight others said he has not utparliamentary were accused in the party meet, asking tered a word against case. The court ac- why action should party chief Uddhav quitted them all citThackeray and Aditnot be taken ing lack of evidence. ya Thackeray and against them The verdict left Omwill not speak against prakash Nimbalkar, a Lok Sab- them irrespective of his future ha member from the Uddhav course. Efforts are afoot for his Sena camp who was weighing patch-up with Uddhav. the possibility of defecting to On the other hand, “the court the Shinde group as part of order is the only reason Omwhat was called Operation Ti- prakash is yet to join the rebelger, furious. lion. He expressed he displeas“If all accused are acquitted, ure to Shinde,” said a source then who killed my father?” he requesting anonymity P7 . S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ New Delhi EXPRESS READ Modi lauds Mookerjee in post-poll Bengal visit Mercury hits 40.2°C in city amid delay in rains No school work for tainted employees Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday Bengal’s glory has begun to return with the formation of BJP govt. He recalled contribution of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in shaping the present-day Bengal. | P8 Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 1.6 notches above normal, as the city experienced hot and humid conditions amid a likely delay in arrival of southwest monsoon. New govt guidelines mandate immediate removal from duty of any employee found involved in offences against children, along with compulsory reporting of any suspected sexual offence even without internal inquiries. | P3