TUESDAY 07 JULY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard HAMAS UN-BACKED PANEL TO RUN GAZA GOVT India’s crude basket at lowest level since Iran war Hamas on Monday dissolved its govt in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a technical panel backed by the UN as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00 Capital can’t wait at traffic signals: CM A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi CHIEF Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said her government is focused on strengthening governance, easing traffic congestion, reclaiming public spaces and cleaning the Yamuna as part of its vision to transform Delhi into a world-class capital, while asserting that public opinion remains central to policymaking. The people and their opinions matter more than the government, Gupta said in an exclusive interview with The Morning Standard. Gupta said she is determined to develop Delhi into “a worldclass city” and had spent first 17 months restoring governance after inheriting what she described as an administration whose “very ethos” had been destroyed by the previous AAP dispensation. Reflecting on the experience, she said “it was not an easy task”, and alleged that there had been “a complete breakdown of governance and widespread corruption by the AAP government”. Acknowledging traffic challenges, she said congestion was affecting productivity, businesses and quality of life. “Every minute lost in traffic is time taken away from families, work and economic growth,” she said. Gupta said there was no single solution to the problem and that the government was pursuing a multipronged strategy by expanding electric public transport, promoting greater use of shared mobility, improving last-mile connectivity, strengthening traffic management systems and accelerating infra projects to eliminate bottlenecks. “A world-class capital cannot TMS Exclusive spend its future waiting at traffic signals,” she said. The CM also said that her government was intensifying efforts to remove encroachments from roads and public spaces while safeguarding the livelihoods of those affected. “Roads are meant for movement, not for obstruction. We have launched drives to reclaim footpaths and public spaces while ensuring that no one loses their livelihood. Good governance is measured not by how many roads are built, but by how smoothly people can travel on them,” she said. Lift on Balogun ban sparks outcry EARLY EXIT FOR SELECAO USA’s Folarin Balogun was set to play the last 16 tie against Belgium despite being sent off in 2-0 win against Bosnia thanks to “phonecalls,” before Brazil got eliminated. A look... BELGIUM APPEAL REJECTED FIFA has dismissed Belgium’s challenge over the eligibility of Balogun after they decided to suspend his one-game ban. “The RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA stated I STARTED THIS PROCESS, SAYS TRUMP US President Donald Trump said that he called FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review red-card decision on Balogun. Then, FIFA stated that his red card has been lifted and instead ordered a probationary period of a year under Article 27 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code NIA names LeT chief Hafiz Saeed as accused in Pahalgam case A late brace from Erling Haaland against Brazil sealed Norway their first quarterfinal spot with a 2-1 win. Following elimination, superstar Neymar announced his international retirement. Haaland and Co will face England in the quarterfinals, who beat a strong Mexico side at the daunting Estadio Azteca in Mexico City Today’s matches (Round of 16): Argentina vs Egypt | 9.30 PM; Switzerland vs Colombia | 1:30 AM* ( *IST Wednesday) EXPRESS EXCLUSIVE ‘AI WON’T KILL JOBS, ONLY PROFESSIONS’ E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @New Delhi J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi THE National Investigation Agency (NIA) named Lashkar-eTaiba chief Hafiz Saeed as an accused in a supplementary chargesheet filed over last year’s Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, the agency said. The chargesheet, filed before the NIA special court in Jammu, charged Pakistan-based Saeed in his individual capacity and as head of the banned LeT and its proxy outfit The Resistance Front (TRF). Saeed has been charged under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including for waging war against India and conspiring from across the border. Filed in continuation of the original 1,597-page chargesheet, it provides details of Pakistan’s conspiracy, Saeed’s role and evidence collected by the NIA. The terrorists fired on people in Pahalgam in Kashmir on April 22 last year, killing 25 tourists and a local resident. It was found that Pakistan-based terrorists carried out the attack. In the chargesheet filed on December 15, 2025, the NIA named Pakistani handler Sajid Jatt as an accused, along with three terrorists killed by security forces during a July 2025 operation and two people who were arrested. NDIA is yet to meaningfully benefit from the global ‘China+1’ supply chain shift and remains a difficult place for foreign investors to do business, according to Ruchir Sharma, chairman of Rockefeller International. Speaking to this newspaper in a wideranging interview, he said the world risks overestimating the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI). “We are in an AI bubble,” said Sharma, adding that and one of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that it will ‘kill jobs’. “Technology doesn’t kill jobs. It kills professions,” the prominent global investor and author said. “Every technological revolution destroys certain professions but creates entirely new ones. We tend to focus on what’s b e i n g d e s t r o ye d rather than what’s being created.” He pointed to historical technological shifts 26 DEAD DRUG-LINKED GANG WAR IN LANKA JAIL Clashes broke out inside a prison in the outskirts of Colombo, killing 26 inmates, and injuring more than 100, officials said on Monday | P9 Highlighting parking as another major urban governance challenge, Gupta said the issue had been neglected for years despite the rapid increase in the number of vehicles. She said the government was adopting a scientific approach to improve the utilisation of existing parking spaces while ste pping up enforcement against illegal parking. “Roads must mainly serve mobility. Every square metre of public space is valuable. It should be managed, not misused.” Reiterating the BJP’s poll promise to clean the Yamuna, she said the government was treating its rejuvenation as a long-term mission rather than a symbolic exercise. “The challenges have accumulated over decades. They cannot disappear in a few months. But there are visible changes and we will keep our promises.” FULL Q&A ON P3 I Five years from now, the belief that the entire world order is going to be built solely on AI will look wrong Ruchir Sharma, chairman, Rockefeller Int’l and the Jevons Paradox— technological progress increases efficiency and so over, all consumption goes up rather than decreases—as reasons to believe AI will create new forms of work even as it automates existing roles. “I don’t believe the world is going to be defined by an ‘ I or A bye-bye’ mindset.” He then clarified: “I am a huge believer in AI as a technology It is go. ing to be transformative. But the current view is far too unifocal.” On India’s AI ambitions, Sharma said partnerships with countries from France to Japan are impor tant but can’ t quickly bridge India’s infrastructure gap. “The winners are the count r i e s p ro ducing AI infrastruc- ture (from semiconductors to data centres)”, he said. While India’s strength has been “software, not hardware,” AI leaders invest 3-4% of GDP in technology and R&D, compared with about 1% in India. On manufacturing, Sharma offered a blunt assessment of India’s performance in attracting global supply chains. “The big beneficiaries of China+1 (a supply chain strategy where companies keep part of their manufacturing operations in China but move some production to another country) have been Vietnam and South Korea. We have not seen anything really on that front in any meaningful way .” He said India’s biggest obstacle is the domestic business climate. “At the end of the day , India is a very tough place to do business,” Sharma said, citing coordination challenges across different levels of gover nment. He also war ned against complacency . “There is this underlying attitude that ‘where else will the money go?’ It has to come to India because the market is so large. I think that prevents the most efficient policymaking.” (Edited excerpts of interview on op-ed page on Thursday) EXPRESS READ Karur stampede: SC to hear DMK’s plea today HC: No Gymkhana Club eviction hearing for now Punjab Cong rebels join hands to oust Warring The Supreme Court on Monday decided to list and hear on Tuesday a plea filed by the DMK alleging “active influencing” of witnesses by Tamil Nadu ministers in the Karur stampede last year that left 41 dead and 142 injured. The SC agreed to list the matter after senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for one of the respondents, sought urgent hearing. P5 The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Centre’s Estate Office not to hear on Tuesday the issue of eviction of Gymkhana Club. Justice Avneesh Jhingan noted a hearing before the Estate Officer was scheduled for July 7, and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to see the matter is adjourned before the Estate Officer till the HC decides the matter. P4 The rift in Punjab Congress has deepened further, with ex-CM Charanjit Singh Channi pushing for a leadership change ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. Channi is opposed to the continuation of Amarinder Raja Warring as PCC chief. AICC in-charge for Punjab Bhupesh Baghel on Monday reached the state, but Channi Camp refused to meet him. Baghel left for Delhi. P4  India’s crude oil basket averaged $67.88 per barrel so far in July, below the $69.01 per barrel recorded in February, before the start of the West Asia war. Crude oil prices had surged sharply during the war, with the crude oil basket averaging $113.49 per barrel in March. It moderated to $106.23 per barrel in May and further dipped to $83.22 per barrel in June. It has averaged $67.88 per barrel in July | P10 PAGES 12 Can’t police videos: Meta, Google to HC PIL against sharing court proceedings and recordings on social media U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi YouTube is a dynamic platform where millions of videos are uploaded every hour. It is impossible to proactively monitor the videos uploaded on the platform Google in Delhi HC Behind the petition Lawyer Vaibhav Singh had filed the PIL against unauthorised sharing of court proceedings on April 13 by several Opposition leaders and journalists, in which Arvind Kejriwal had sought recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the liquor policy case. The other respondents in the case include Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, AAP leaders Sanjeev Jha, Mukesh Ahlawat, and Jarnail Singh, and journalist Ravish Kumar SOCIAL media behemoths Google and Meta on Monday informed the Delhi High Court that they cannot be burdened with an obligation to police millions of videos uploaded on their platforms worldwide. They submitted that they were only intermediaries and neither create nor control third-party content, and cannot be “compelled to proactively monitor their platforms for unlawful content”. While Google said it was impossible for it to proactively monitor “millions of videos uploaded on the YouTube every hour throughout the world”, Meta said there were over 2.9 billion users of Facebook, and over 1.5 billion users of the Instagram Service worldwide and it was “impracticable (if not impossible) for Meta to locate or identify the contents posted on them without URLs.” The submissions were made in affidavits filed by the social media companies before a bench of justices V Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora in a PIL concerning circulation of videos of hearing in Arvind Kejriwal’s recusal plea on April 13. The court had earlier ordered takedown of the video from YouTube and Facebook/Instagram, owned by Google LLC and Meta respectively, which was complied with. The petitioner later moved the court alleging that the video in question was resurfacing on the platforms, and sought a direction to prevent their recurrence. Both Google and Meta opposed the submission, claiming that YouTube and Facebook/Instagram were merely intermediaries under the IT Act, and that the liability if any “rests with the publisher , , or uploader of the content”. Meta in its submission termed monitoring of content on Facebook or Instagram as “impracticable”. The bench deferred hearing on the petition till August 27. Trust president Nritya Gopal Das (R) on his way to the meeting in Ayodhya| PTI Rai resignation okayed, interim gen secy named N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow THE Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Monday accepted the resignations of Champat Rai as its general secretary and member Anil Mishra in the wake of alleged embezzlement of donations. Trustee Krishna Mohan has been named as interim general secretary Trust Treasurer Swa. mi Govind Dev Giri announced the decision after a crucial meeting on Monday and named trustee Krishna Mohan as interim general secretary . Both leaders had resigned on June 27 following allegations of theft of Ram temple donations. Krishna Mohan, 74, a former Indian Forest Service officer and RSS’s eastern UP Kshetra Sanghchalak from Hardoi, had filed the police complaint that led to the FIR and arrests. Giri said the temple trust would meet again on July 22 to decide on the appointment of a new trustee. He also announced the formation of a three-member panel to identify a CEO for the trust, comprising retired judge Pramod Kohli, retired Lt Gen Vishnukant Chaturvedi and trustee Suresh Haware. Special invitee Gopal Rao Nagarkotte, who has been in the eye of a storm over the theft, was debarred from the trust. Giri described the row as a matter of “deep embarrassment”, saying it had cast a shadow over a temple built after a centuries-long struggle. But he rejected claims of missing valuables and said detailed records of donated items exist. GONE WITH THE RAIN Debris blocks a newly-opened section of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway following a landslide amid heavy rainfall in Pune and neighbouring districts on Monday. The weather office issued a ‘red alert’ for the district, warning of further rains ahead | PTI | P8 On scanner: Centre cracks down on environment minister Yadav’s aides S U M I T K U M A R S I N G H @ New Delhi THE Union government recently purged the private secretary and two additional private secretaries from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. All three were part of minister Bhupender Yadav’s team. Mass transfers/sacking of a minister’s aides doesn’t happen frequently. Sources said that a similar action is afoot against the aides of three other ministers. Three separate office orders issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on July 3 to effect the changes. The first order “terminated with immediate effect” the appointment of Ayush Saran, Additional Private Secretary to Yadav. The second order repatriated Shailesh Kumar Singh, a Central Secretariat Service officer, who also served as Additional Private Secretary to Yadav, to his parent cadre at the Department of Personnel and Training, with what the order described as an “extended cooling off ” period. The third order sent Amar Singh, an Indian Revenue Service officer from the 2010 batch, who served as the minister’s Private Secretary, back to his parent cadre at the Department of Revenue “on administrative ground”. The orders were copied to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Department of Personnel and Training and others. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second innings from 2019 to 2024, around 102 officers and personal staff of various ministers were removed and transferred, sources said.