NEW DELHI 16 AUGUST 2026 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in PLUS: 12 PAGES Walking to Exhale THIRST AID MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Dr Vikram Sampath Ravi Shankar Prabhu Chawla Neha Sinha Santwana Bhattacharya Utkarsh Amitabh Shankkar Aiyar Bookmarked by History Raps Naxal mindset, announces plan to train 1 cr youth in AI skills within a year, free online coaching network for competitive exams PM seeks help on women’s quota in I-Day address L-G hoists the national flag at the Lok Niwas in the presence of freedom fighters and their families | X @ New Delhi L-G renews call for Viksit Delhi E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Narendra Modi hoists the Tricolour at Red Fort during the 80th Independence Day event in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Saturday called upon residents of the city to take the lead in India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, saying “Delhi must emerge as a model of excellence, safety and civic pride”. He hoisted the national flag at the Lok Niwas on 80th Independence Day in the presence of freedom fighters and Hails their families, representatives energy of resident welfare associaof youth tions, students, youth icons and others. The L-G said Paying tribute to freedom that energy, creativity and fighters and the nation-builders who laid the foundations civic sense of modern India, Sandhu reof the youth ferred to PM Narendra Modi’s would shape Independence Day address the national from the Red Fort, in which he capital’s outlined the vision of “Shakti future and urged people Ki Saptadhara”, seven streams to protect of strength that would drive public spaces. the country’s growth. Calling Delhi his “karmbhoomi”, Sandhu said that his association with the city spans nearly five decades. He stressed that governance in the capital should be guided by the principle of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, aur Sabka Prayas”. Among key challenges, Sandhu highlighted Yamuna cleaning, combating air pollution, providing housing, affordable healthcare, improving safety for women, managing traffic and preserving heritage. P3 Row over full Vande Mataram rendition at Cong HQ P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Sonia Gandhi during an I-Day event at the Congress HQ in Delhi | PARVEEN NEGI THE national song, Vande Mataram, was sung in full during the Congress’s Independence Day celebrations at its Indira Bhavan headquarters in the capital on Saturday marking a , departure from its stated position that only the first two stanzas should be rendered. The event sparked a row after a video on social media appeared to show Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge gesturing to workers to stop the rendition beyond the first two stanzas. While the BJP latching on to , it, accused Sonia of objecting to singing the full version of the song, the Congress said there was no attempt to do so. Sonia was only asking for a chair for Kharge, as he had been standing for a while, said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh. The national song has been at the centre of a debate, with Insult now an offence Last month, Parliament passed a bill that made any insult to the national song a punishable offence, giving it the status of the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly targeting the Congress for truncating the song. The Congress has traditionally supported the rendition of its first two stanzas, with objections historically being raised to the religious imagery contained in the remaining stanzas. The party has always maintained that the CWC had in 1937 decided, on Tagore’s advice, that only the first two stanzas would be sung in official functions. Small window to disclose SUKHU TO TAKE UP WITH SITHARAMAN foreign assets opens today Shipki La border trade hits roadblock again over IGST D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi THE Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers – Disclosure Scheme, 2026, which gives eligible taxpayers a one-time window to voluntarily disclose certain undisclosed foreign assets and income by paying tax or a prescribed fee, will come into effect on Sunday . T h e s ch e m e, a n nounced in this year’s budget, will remain open until December 31, 2026. The valuation date for assets declared under the scheme is March 31, 2026. The entire declaration process will be carried out online. The scheme covers two broad categories. The first includes undisclosed foreign assets or foreign income that was not offered to tax. The second covers foreign assets that were already offered to tax or acquired when the taxpayer was a non-resident, but were not reported in the income-tax return. For the first category, the aggregate value of the undisclosed foreign asset and foreign income must not exceed `1 crore. Taxpayers will have to pay tax at 30% of the value of the asset or income, along with an additional amount equal to the tax payable, effectively taking the total payment to 60%. For the second category, where assets were either already offered to tax or acquired when the taxpayer was a non-resident but were not disclosed, the aggregate value of the foreign assets cannot exceed `5 crore. A flat fee of `1 lakh will be payable. Travel Through Imperial Cartography All in the Family Back in the Same Frame AMMA SPEAKS Guard the Fortress Within Your Mind SHANTI ACT Draft rules on pvt N-plant liability out J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR or ‘Viksit Bharat’. “Therefore, we must take forward the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by connectPRIME Minister Narendra ing it with the aspirations and Modi on Saturday reiterated participation of our youth,” he his call to all political parties to asserted. support reservation for women Modi spoke about various in legislatures, called for initiatives to empower the stronger youth participation in youth, including Skill India, nation building, announced a opening the space sector, the clutch of skilling schemes, and National Drone Policy, Khelo lit into what he called were the India and the National Educa“dimagi Naxals” or people with tion Policy. The government, a Naxalite mindset. he said, would train one crore Highlighting women’s grow- young people in AI skills over ing participation in the next year and public life in his Inestablish a free ondependence Day adline coaching netdress from Red Fort, work for competithe prime minister The time is ours, tive exams. He also said, “Let us step the resolve is ours, highlighted a `1 lakh forward to ensure let us convert our crore Innovation that our mothers Fund to suppor t dreams into and sisters secure young innovators resolve, resolve and entrepreneurs. 33% representation in the Legislative into strength and The PM also urged Assemblies and the the youth to particistrength into Lok Sabha soon.” pate actively in the success On Naxalism, he ongoing Census by Narendra Modi, PM said armed Naxals helping their famihad been eliminated lies understand the but “dimagi Naxals” continue forms and ensure that informato seek opportunities to create tion submitted is accurate. anarchy and violence. “We Calling for a collective namust identify those with a Nax- tional effort, he said Indians al mindset, isolate them, and must place national interest steer the nation’s youth toward above personal considerations the mainstream effort of trans- and make duty a defining part forming India into a developed of their identity . nation,” the PM asserted. The PM also outlined a sevenThe prime focus of his point ‘Saptadhara’ roadmap for 75-minute address was the development covering manufacyouth; he referred to them more turing, power, agriculture and than 50 times. The PM de- food processing, technology and scribed the youth as the driv- innovation, Gati Shakti, deing force and the greatest ben- fence, the green and blue econoeficiaries of a developed nation mies, and soft power. P7 & P8 ‘City must emerge as a model of excellence, safety & pride’ Hook, Line, And Thinker H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THE resumption of the historic India-China border trade through Himachal Pradesh’s Shipki La has run into a fresh roadblock, barely two weeks after it resumed following a sixyear suspension, with traders deciding to halt operations over the levy of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on imported goods. The development comes after the first batch of 16 Indian traders crossed into China’s Tibet Autonomous Region following the reopening of the traditional trade route on August 1. The Kinnaur Indo-China Trade Association, which represents traders operating through Shipki La, has now decided that Barter system in trade Traders have said that the levy was particularly problematic because the Shipki La trade operates under a traditional barter system rather than conventional commercial imports and exports and decided not to undertake further trade until the issue is resolved. its members will not undertake further trade until the IGST issue is resolved. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is expected to take up the matter with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 7, following discussions with the traders. The traders said the tax has made the traditional barter trade commercially unviable, particularly given the limited scale of transactions, difficult terrain, high transportation costs and the short trading season. They said while customs duty on goods traded through the route has been exempted the subsequent imposition of IGST has increased their financial burden. AS the government moves to operationalise the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy (SHANTI) Act, 2025, which opens the strategically critical nuclear power sector to greater private-sector participation, its draft rules seek to establish a clearer framework for operator liability financial protection and the deployment of , foreign reactors while retaining long-term regulatory oversight. The draft rules, released by the Department of Atomic Energy require nuclear plant operators to , maintain an insurance policy, financial security or a combination of both to cover nuclear damage. The draft rules also provide for a periodic review of operator liability and prescribe conditions for foreign reactor technology . The Centre will constitute, once in every five years, a group of experts to review the maximum limits of an operator’s civil liability for nuclear damage. For a nuclear power plant or reactor based on a foreign design, the design must be certified or approved by the regulatory authority in the country of origin. The rules define the “country of origin” as a country that is self-reliant in nuclear reactor design and the supply-chain ecosystem and whose regulatory approvals are trusted globally. Such a plant or reactor must also be operational either in the country of origin or in another foreign country The financial . security required from operators will have to remain in place until all spent fuel is removed from the relevant storage pool. The provision extends the operator’s financial protection obligations beyond the operational phase of the nuclear facility . The draft rules also introduce an “in-principle approval” mechanism that could allow prospective developers to move ahead with key preparations before the project site or reactor technology has been finalised. EXPRESS READ Six railway officials arrested in graft cases The CBI has arrested six railway officials and two private staff in three separate graft cases in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the agency said on Saturday. There were allegations officials demanded and accepted bribes in exchange for clearing bills submitted by private contractors, the CBI said. Woman staff of bar in Jabalpur killed, 1 held A woman working at a restaurant-cum-bar was stabbed to death at workplace, allegedly by a male colleague in Jabalpur of Madhya Pradesh on Friday night. Muskan Chowdhary (20) was stabbed to death by Pawan Barman (25) after a verbal spat at 8.30 pm. Barman was arrested.