THURSDAY 16 JULY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ICC MAKES SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO 2027 50-OVER WORLD CUP U N I T E D S TAT E S GULF ISLAND HELD BY IRAN ATTACKED With less than 15 months to go, governing body changes competition format to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia ‘SUPER SERIES’, 2 GROUPS OF 6 AND SUPER 7s The American strikes targeted missile storage and launch sites on the Greater Tunb Island as Tehran threatened to block more trade routes. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9 `1.27 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 gets Cabinet’s stamp Major boost to domestic semiconductor chip design and manufacturing ecosystem R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi `62,500 crore for mobile phone making IN a major push to India’s semiconductor ambitions, the CabiIn a bid to make India a net on Wednesday approved an global hub for mobile phone outlay of `1.27 lakh crore for manufacturing, the govt the second phase of the Semiapproved the Mobile Phone con India programme (Semicon Manufacturing Scheme with India 2.0) to strengthen the doan outlay of `62,500 crore. mestic chip ecosystem. The scheme will be Allocation for the second implemented over 5 years, phase of the mission is higher from FY27 to FY31 | P10 than the `76,000 crore earmarked under the first phase launched in December 2021 to 28 nm to 90 nm chips. attract global semiconductor Minister for Electronics and companies to set up manufac- Information Technology Ashturing facilities in India. wini Vaishnaw said incentives Semicon India 2.0 aims to under Semicon India 2.0 will be build the entire semiconductor in proportion to the investvalue chain. The programme ments made by the companies. will support semiconductor T he gover nment expects fabs, advanced packaging, around `4 lakh crore in investequipment manufacturing, ma- ments, `2 lakh crore worth of terials, specialty chemicals and semiconductor and electronics gases, research and develop- production, and `1 lakh crore ment, talent development, chip exports boost in coming years. design and capital equipment. Under the new scheme, The first phase atthe government will tracted global and doprovide a 30% incenmestic players, with tive for manufacturMicron Technology ing semiconductor commencing comequipment, materimercial production als, specialty chemiat its packaging facals and gases; 40% cility in Gujarat for silicon semiand Tata Electronconductor fabricaics, in partnership tion plants; 35% for with Taiwan’s Powdisplay fabs and erchip Semiconduccompound semicontor Manufacturing ductor fabs; 35% for Corporation, setadvanced packagting up India’s first ing facilities; and The Made-in-India chip commercial semiup to 75% funding, conductor fabrica- showcased by Union minister with state support, Ashwini Vaishnaw | PTI tion plant to make for R&D. P7 100% tariff proposed by a bill brokered by a bipartisan group of US Senators against five countries, including India and China, for purchasing oil from Russia | P10 EXPRESS READ 2 dead in Noida blaze sparked by EV charging 2 law students arrested for hurling abuses in SC Two persons were killed when a fire broke out in a four-storey residential building at Mamura village under Sector 66 police station of Noida on Wednesday. The fire is suspected to have been triggered by a spark from an electric vehicle battery being charged, police said. P4 Two law students have been arrested for allegedly hurling abuses during a Supreme Court hearing of a petition, assaulting a security staff and disrupting proceedings, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place on July 10 inside Court No 13 of the top court. P3  NEW DELHI WITH the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between India and the UK kicking in on Wednesday , 50 consignments of goods worth over $140 million were shipped to the UK on the first day of the agreement’s implementation, the Union commerce ministry said. “CETA will give fresh momentum to our farmers, entrepreneurs and MSMEs. Several sectors will gain stronger access to the UK market. It will also deepen cooperation in technology, professional services and innovation, while supporting greater mobility for skilled Indian talent,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a social media post on Wednesday . With the FTA taking effect, several labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, apparel, handicrafts, engineering goods, and gems and jewellery are expected to gain zero-duty access to the UK market. Exporters from sectors including textiles, gems and jewellery, and marine products have already dispatched consignments at zero duty on the first day of the agreement. The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said that around 30 exporters shipped gold, diamond, silver and platinum jewellery worth $10 million to the UK on Wednesday. The industry body expects exports to the UK to touch $2.5 billion over the next three years. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the CETA and the J8.00  PAGES 12 Kudankulam N-plant ‘data’ on dark web E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru AMID reports of a major leak of project-related files linked to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, the Anil Ambaniled Reliance Group confirmed a limited cybersecurity incident following an attempted ransomware attack on infrastructure operated by its third-party data centre service provider, Yotta Data Services. Reliance Group, one of the contractors associated with the plant, claimed the incident was swiftly contained and did not affect its core systems or business operations. The disclosure came after Kudankulam plant files were part of a large data dump on the dark web by ransomware group World Leaks. According to a Reuters report, the leaked material includes engineering drawings, supplier information, inspection records and insurance-related documents spanning several years. Their authenticity, however, has not been independently verified. Reliance Group said the matter has been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which is examining the incident. The Kudankulam facility is India’s largest nuclear power plant and forms a key part of the country’s long-term nuclear energy expansion plans. Reliance Infrastructure, a Reliance Group company, secured a contract in 2018 to develop infrastructure for Units 3 and 4 of the project, which are expected to become operational by 2027. Experts cautioned that even if reactor systems are untouched, the exposure of infrastructure layouts, supplier information, etc., could pose security risks. Spain punch final ticket France’s fluidity goes missing La Roja dished out a masterclass against France as they beat them 2-0 to advance to their second World Cup final, to be held in New York. A look at how they won... Midfield superiority Lack of transition threat Spain had the midfield advantage, both in terms of numbers (3 vs 2) and quality. Their passing networks were superior as Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo suffocated the French Whenever Spain lost ball, they were already in shape and there was no room to run-in behind. This denied Les Bleus the oxygen they so craved That Kylian Mbappe and Co managed no shots on target in the first hour is a damning indictment on them but also goes to show how well Spain controlled the game. Four of France’s 10 shots were hail mary efforts in second-half injury time No more wait as bill promises faster services, fines for delays A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE cabinet has approved the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time-Bound and Ease of Delivery of Service Bill, 2026, introducing major changes to improve government services. The proposed law aims to ensure that citizens receive notified public services within fixed timelines while making officials more accountable for delays, negligence and poor service delivery . A key feature of the bill is a penalty system for officials who fail to deliver services on time without a valid reason. They may be fined `250 for each day of delay up to a , maximum of `5,000. Officials who reject applications without proper justification may also face a onetime penalty ranging from `250 to `5,000. However, no penalty will be imposed without first giving the concerned official a full opportunity to explain their case. The bill will replace the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services Act, 2011. CM Rekha Gupta said that the new law reflects the government’s commitment to simple and transparent governance. She said that modern digital technology woulds make Goods worth $140 million exported on Day 1 of UK free trade agreement P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi  Earlier, the event had two seven-team groups followed by a Super 6s and semifinals. Now, 12th, 13th, and 14th teams will play Super Series with only one of them joining the other 11 teams. From there, top seven teams will move to Super 7s, to be played in round-robin before semifinal and final. The ICC said this change will ‘enhance consequence at the early stage’ Agreement on Social Security have come into force, delivering zero-duty market access for nearly 99% of India’s exports, covering almost 100% of trade value. According to Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, the trade facilitation framework in terms of rules of origin, certification and customs preparedness to handle the new FTA has been put in place to ensure that exporters can take advantage of the agreement from day one. Rules of origin certificates are being issued through the DGFT portal, and customs facilitation is being undertaken at ports and airports to ensure that consignments are dispatched under the CETA, the commerce secretary informed the media on Wednesday P7 . OFFICERS’ PENALTY Citizens to receive notified public services within fixed timelines, says govt Penalties proposed on officers for willful delays Officers to be fined `250 for each day of delay Maximum cumulative fine of `5,000 proposed One-time penalty for refusal of application without proper reason, according to officials Whole service-delivery cycle to be done online service delivery faster, more efficient and easier for the public. Under the proposed law, citizens will have a legal right to receive government services upon notification within prescribed time limits. The government will regularly notify covered services, timelines and the officers responsible for providing them. The entire process, from application to final delivery will be car, ried out online. Every application will receive a unique number, al- lowing applicants to track progress in real time. Departments will also monitor services digitally, reducing the need for repeated visits to government offices and improving transparency . The bill introduces automatic escalation for delayed cases. If a service is not delivered within the deadline, the case will automatically move to the Citizen Grievance Redressal Authority without requiring the citizen to file a separate appeal. If no decision is taken there within the prescribed period, the matter will automatically reach the Delhi Right to Service Commission. Every department will have its own Citizen Grievance Redressal Authority to hear appeals, direct service delivery fix responsibility , for delays and begin penalty proceedings where necessary. Most appeals are expected to be decided within 30 days. An independent Delhi Right to Service Commission will oversee implementation, hear second appeals, inspect gover nment o f f i c e s, re c o m m e n d a c t i o n against negligent officials, suggest administrative reforms and publish annual reports. RAPE OF 3-YEAR-OLD HC CANCELS BAIL TO ACCUSED TEACHER 9,911 more MBBS seats this yr, K’taka & TN big beneficiaries K A V I TA B A J E L I - D AT T @ New Delhi AHEAD of the NEET-UG results, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has announced a 7% increase in MBBS seats, which will take the total strength of India’s undergrad medical seats to over 1.36 lakh. Announcing the seat matrix (excluding Institutes of National Importance like AIIMS) for the 2026-27 academic year, the NMC said 1,36,939 MBBS seats will now be available across 823 medical colleges and institutes — 441 government and Subject to 382 private colleges — in the country revision from this year. In 2025-26, there were The seat 1,28,976 MBBS seats across 818 colleg- matrix is es. Of them, 1,27,028 were renewed, subject to which works out to a net addition of revision, based 9,911 seats this year. on the Karnataka got the highest share decisions of with 75 medical colleges having 15,395 the appeal total seats, up by 1,300 this time. Tamil committee or Nadu followed with 78 colleges and any other 13,999 seats, an increase of 950. competent The other states are: Uttar Pradesh authority. Any (88 colleges with 14,000 seats), Mahar- revised seat ashtra (86 colleges with 13,099 seats), matrix will be and Telangana (66 colleges with 10,250 taken into seats), Rajasthan (8,080 seats), Gujarat consideration (7,750), Andhra Pradesh (7,465), West for counselling Bengal (7,200), Madhya Pradesh (6,020), Kerala (5,704), Bihar (4,160), Haryana (2,960), Odisha (2,950), Punjab (1,850), Uttarakhand (1,475), and Chandigarh (200 seats). The NMC said the increased seats include 2,400 from 25 new medical colleges, comprising 400 seats across seven new government colleges and 2,000 seats across 18 new private colleges. Government medical colleges account for 441 institutions with 63,296 total seats (61,185 renewed, 2,111 increased), while private medical colleges account for 382 institutions with 73,643 total seats (65,843 renewed and 7,800 increased). TEENS VOLUNTARY SOCIAL MEDIA CURFEW IN UK The govt announced plans on Wednesday for 16- and 17-year-olds to face a voluntary overnight social media curfew to reduce online harm for children. | P9 AIIMS told to set up board to asses IIT-Kgp student U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y THE Delhi High Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to a female teacher accused of concealing from the authorities the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl by a staff member at a private school in Janakpuri. Justice Saurabh Banerjee, while allowing Delhi Police’s appeal against a trial court order dated May 20 granting her bail under the POCSO Act, directed the teacher to surrender before the concerned POCSO court judge within three days, by 12 noon. The court said cases involving sexual offences against kids warrant “utmost caution”. The judge held that the trial court had “wrongly” granted bail merely because the survivor didn’t name the teacher in her initial complaint. “Any three-year-old cannot be expected to reveal every detail at the time of making the initial complaint... Trial court erred in completely ignoring the crucial fact that the survivor has not only identified the teacher in the presence of her mother but also the spot where the incident took place...,” the judge said. On June 29, the HC had set aside the bail granted to the school’s caretaker, the main accused. The incident came to light on May 1 after the girl’s mother lodged a police complaint, alleging that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the caretaker during school hours. THE Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the AIIMS, New Delhi, to constitute a medical board to assess an IITKharagpur student who has sought transfer to IIT-Roorkee on medical grounds. “Since the last date for admission is said to be July 17, 2026, we direct IIT-Roorkee to keep one seat vacant subject to the result of this writ petition,” said a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan. It asked AIIMS to submit its report, while keeping matter for July 29. The petitioner, an architecture student at IIT-Kharagpur, submitted that he suffered from depression and required thera- @ New Delhi py that was not available in Kharagpur. The petitioner contended that he was availing regular treatment in Chandigarh and argued that IIT-Roorkee offered similar facilities. His counsel argued that the IIT rules governing transfers on medical grounds support his case. “The applicable regulations require constitution of a medical board, but no such board was formed despite the petitioner applying for transfer on August 6, 2025,” the plea stated. Counsel for the IIT said the institute had “full sympathy” with the petitioner, but flagged differences in curriculum between the two IITs. Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagarathna said the petitioner had secured admission on merit.