SATURDAY NO ETHANOL LINK TO SUGAR PRICE: GOVT 22 AUGUST, 2026 Food secretary Sanjeev Chopra says the government is imposing stock-holding limits on dealers as well as bulk consumers epaper.morningstandard.in The government on Friday rejected claims that diversion of sugar for ethanol production was driving a sharp rise in its price facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard GULF COUNTRIES DEPORT 20K PAKISTANIS Over 20,000 Pakistani nationals were deported from Gulf countries, mostly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in recent months due to security concerns A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  It instead blamed the industry for jacking up prices despite the country having sufficient stock to meet domestic demand | P7 The Centre has asked states to take action against hoarding and black marketing of sugar It is also considering reducing the stock that dealers can hold PAGES 12 After 6-hr Rahul sit-in, FIR Revanth cancels US filed on use of pellet guns leg of trip after govt Rahul: First step towards justice; BJP calls protest diversionary ploy denies political nod P R E E T H A N A I R & N I T I N R A W AT J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi DELHI Police on Friday registered a first information report (FIR) over pellet injuries suffered by a 19-year-old student during the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest after a nearly six-hour dharna by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Parliament Street police station demanding action in the case. The day saw high drama with Rahul first accompanying injured student Sahil Lochab to Mandir Marg police station, and later moving to Parliament Street police station after his demand for an FIR was not accepted. While Rahul refused to budge until the FIR was registered, he was joined by several Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh and many others. “This is the first step towards justice and a case has been registered,” Rahul said after the FIR was lodged, asserting that he would continue to fight for justice for Lochab and other students injured during the Jantar Mantar protests. Police said a case was filed under Sections 118(1), relating to voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, and 125, concerning acts endangering life, of the BNS. Lochab had suffered pellet injuries in his eye and abdomen in police action during the TELANGANA Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed visit to the United States was denied political clearance as the programme was “not considered appropriate to the office he holds and the stated purpose of the visit”, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said on Friday . The clarification came hours after the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) announced that Reddy had been forced to cancel the US leg of his ongoing foreign tour after the Centre declined permission for the visit. “Let me say that the visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, are assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “The programme proposed, in such cases, should be appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit. In this particular case, that was not so in respect of US... clearance was denied.” Reddy is currently in London as part of his “Telangana Rising” tour. He was scheduled to travel to the US from August 23, with planned engagements in Boston and New York aimed at exploring partnerships between Telangana and leading American educational institutions. Reddy’s office said he would now return to Hyderabad from London instead of proceeding to the US. “The CM will return from London to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of leaving for Boston, NY,” the statement said. According to the Telangana government, it had sought the Centre’s nod for the UK and US visits in accordance with “policy and protocol”, but clearance was granted only for the UK leg. Reddy had said the proposed US visit was aimed at exploring the possibility of bringing leading American universities and educational institutions to Telangana. Despite the cancellation, Reddy instructed state officials accompanying his delegation to proceed with the planned US engagements and pursue deals with institutions including Harvard University the Massachusetts Institute of Technol, ogy Northeastern University and Virginia Tech. , @ New Delhi Rahul Gandhi at Parliament Street police station on Friday | PARVEEN NEGI CJP team bashed up CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka and party volunteers were allegedly assaulted on Friday while travelling to inspect a dilapidated government school in Jaipur’s Bagru Assembly constituency. Ranka described the attack as pre-planned, and demanded the arrest of the culprits within 48 hours | P8 CJP-led march to Parliament demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 20. Rahul alleged that police officers at the station were willing to register the case but had been stopped. Earlier, after talks with DCP Sachin Sharma failed, Rahul began his sit-in and showed Lochab’s medical reports to prove his point. In his complaint, Lochab alleged that during the July 20 police action, he saw a person in blue uniform carrying a large gun before he was struck by five or six metal pellets. He said he began bleeding and lost vision in his right eye. Union minister J P Nadda and other BJP leaders called the Congress protest as “diversionary” politics. “When the country’s highest court is investigating the matter, what does Rahul Gandhi seek to prove by sitting outside a police station in front of the cameras? Has Gandhi lost faith in the judiciary?” Nadda asked. We should all think beyond politics when it comes to nation building and future of the youth... Only purpose of visit was to bring the best institutions to India Revanth Reddy, CM Not sans precedence The denial of clearance is not without precedent. The External Affairs ministry in the recent past declined political clearance for foreign visits by chief ministers, including Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee while they were serving as chief ministers of Delhi and West Bengal, respectively UNLOCKING POTENTIAL China stake ease draws `5K cr FDI proposals P U S H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi WITHIN months of relaxing rules for investments involving Chinese beneficial ownership, India has received 29 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth `4,895.65 crore as of August 20 across various sectors, including information technology artificial intelli, gence, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, data centres and transport services, the government said on Friday . Rules were relaxed in March to ease investment procedures with up to 10% beneficial ownership by Chinese investors. The change in rules aimed at providing greater certainty to foreign investors and reducing the time required to complete investment transactions. Investments have also been proposed from various other jurisdictions, including Mauritius, the US, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Luxembourg and Cayman Islands. Under the revised framework, investors are required to report relevant information to the government but do not need prior approval, provided they comply with sectoral caps, entry routes and other applicable conditions. The government said that under Press Note 2 of 2026 and the consequent amendment to the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, notified on May 1, the beneficial ownership test is now applied at the level of the investor entity . Earlier, under Press Note 3 (PN3), introduced in 2020, foreign investments involving beneficial ownership from countries sharing a land border with India, including China, required prior government approval even when such ownership was small. Officials said about 600 investment proposals from countries sharing land borders with India are currently awaiting approval. Practice period for judicial service cut S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday reduced the mandatory practice requirement for law graduates seeking entrylevel judicial service examinations from three years to one year, while adding one year each of training and clerkship. A three-judge bench comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice AG Masih and Justice K Vinod Chandran delivered a 2:1 split verdict while dismissing review petitions against the Court’s May 2025 judgment that had restored the three-year practice requirement. The review petitions argued that the rule could discourage meritorious law graduates from joining the judiciary soon after graduation. The SC said the sudden restoration of the requirement, without transitional arrangements, had caused hardship to young lawyers and graduates. CJI Surya Kant said candidates covered by judicial examination notifications issued between May 20, 2025 and March 31, 2027 would be eligible to apply regardless of their prior experience. Graduates during this period would be allowed to apply notwithstanding the three-year practice requirement, considering that more than one year had elapsed since the judgment under review was pronounced. However, candidates selected through this arrangement would be appointed only as trainee judicial officers for one year. For the purposes of their applications, such candidates would be deemed to have completed one year of active practice and would not be required to produce a certificate of practice for that period. The bench said judicial recruitment is an evolving process and the new arrangement should operate for three years before being assessed. It said this period will provide enough institutional experience to evaluate recruitment quality, trainee performance and supervised clerkship. EXPRESS READ Expansion of list Scandinavian Airlines to resume ops The govt is examining whether seven sectors eligible for faster processing can be expanded. The approved sectors include capital goods, e-components, ingot wafers and rare earth permanent magnets Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is set to resume operations in India after a 17-year hiatus, following the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granting the airline the required authorisation. SAS will operate its first flight from Copenhagen to Mumbai on October 1. P3 Further investment Further easing of the PN3 framework could accelerate investment proposals from land-bordering countries and support India’s manufacturing and technology ambitions FREE AT 105 SC FREES BENGAL MAN IN A 48-YEAR-OLD MURDER CASE A CJI-led bench made the interim bail of a 105-year-old life convict permanent and waived off remainder of sentence on account of his advanced age | P7 Assam-Manipur highway opens SMASH HIT India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (R) with Chirag Shetty compete in the quarterfinal of men’s doubles badminton match against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, unseen, during the BWF World Championships at the IGI Stadium in New Delhi on Friday | PTI | P11 Public transport services on Manipur’s ImphalDimapur-Guwahati route resumed on Friday. The Manipur government had been making efforts to resume services to restore peace and normalcy. They remained suspended since the eruption of violence between Meiteis and Kukis in May 2023. P8 Spike in swine flu cases, 1st FYUP batch for direct PhD course screening up in capital I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi UNION Health Minister J P Nadda conducted a review of preparedness to tackle the rising cases of swine flu in Delhi on Friday. City health minister Pankaj Kumar Singh met Nadda after it was reported that Delhi recorded over 1,700 swine flu cases this year. After the meeting, Singh said the situation was under control, while separate wards and adequate treatment facilities were being arranged at government hospitals. Officials have been asked to monitor in- fection trends, hotspots and healthcare capacity, including beds, oxygen support, ventilators, medicines and diagnostic facilities. Doctors have noted that influenza cases are rising in the city, though most remain mild to moderate. Swine flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, headache, body aches and fatigue. They warned that severe or persistent symptoms warrant medical attention. Nadda stressed the need for early detection, surveillance, timely treatment and public awareness, while urging hand and respiratory hygiene. P3 THE University of Delhi on Friday formally notified a provision allowing students completing its Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) to apply directly for PhD programmes from the 2026-27 academic session, without obtaining a master’s degree. The decision, approved by the Executive Council (EC) at its July 30 meeting, has been incor porated through an amendment to Ordinance VI. Students completing the fourth year with a minimum CGPA of 7.5 will be eligible to apply with , the cut-off relaxed to 7.0 for SC/ST candidates. The university said the provision is a special measure for the first batch of FYUP stu- dents graduating in 2026 and will apply only for the 2026-27 academic session, in accordance with university rules. The move is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and is aimed at providing an early route into research for students who have already undergone researchintensive coursework in their fourth year. The FYUP was introduced under the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) 2022, with research, skill development and interdisciplinary learning built into undergraduate education. The optional fourth year includes academic projects in which students identify real-time problems and propose solutions, giving them research exposure before graduation. According to the university, more than 75,000 students were admitted to undergraduate programmes in 2022-23, of whom over 35,000 continued into the fourth year. The new provision is intended to create a direct pathway for these students into doctoral research. The university has said that FYUP graduates will not need to pursue a master’s degree as a prerequisite for PhD admission. CONTINUED ON P4