fridAY 28 august, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard 9/11 case Anvay Dravid Accused t0 go on trial in June 2028 Aaryavir Sehwag Sehwag and Dravid’s sons to play together for India U19 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, will go on trial before a military court in June 2028 ■ ■ A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 Legendary batters Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag’s sons, Anvay and Aaryavir respectively, are set to play for India U19 in the Australia series. It is a maiden India call-up for 18-year-old Aaryavir Sehwag, who is currently playing for West Delhi Lions in the Delhi Premier League. He will be joining Anvay Dravid in the one-day squad where India U19 will play three matches from September 18. p11 Big haircut: Chandra says it’s against `3.9k cr proved by 80.814% of the creditors. However, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, AFTER a major controversy erupt- Canara Bank, LIC Housing Fied over the National Company nance and some other lenders votLaw Tribunal (NCLT) approving ed against it. Essel Group chairman Subhash Creditors opposing the plan arChandra’s `6.5-crore repayment gued that the proposed recovery plan against admitted creditor amounted to over 99% haircut. claims of `22,006 crore, the media LIC Housing Finance, whose adbaron on Thursday said that the mitted claim was `1,322 crore, said claims against him as a personal the proposed repayment to it was guarantor were just `3,992 crore. only `38.09 lakh. In a statement, Chandra said he The dissenting creditors also arhad not personally borgued that five of the asrowed money from any senting creditors—Veena lender and was only a Investments, Direct Mepersonal guarantor for dia Distribution Venthe loans raised by Vivek tures, World Crest AdviInfracon, Spirit Textiles sors, Lemonade Capital and Churu Enterprises. Advisors and Corpcall Chandra further said Capital Advisors—were that `620 crore of these associates or related parSubhash Chandra claims had already been ties of Chandra and tosettled, while the borrowgether accounted for ing entities had offered to pay 61.78% of the voting share. They `1,113 crore to multiple lenders. contended these entities should Discussions are on, he said. not have been allowed to vote. On Tuesday, the NCLT’s Delhi Chandra’s side argued his perBench had approved the repay- sonal estate had limited value. The ment plan despite objections from repayment plan proposed using financial creditors over the size of proceeds from the sale of a few of the proposed recovery the conduct his assets to generate `6.5 crore. , of the resolution professional and The tribunal held that its role the participation of entities al- was to examine whether the plan le ged to be associated with complied with the law and whethChandra. er there was any statutory infirThe repayment plan was ap- mity warranting its rejection. D IPA K M O N D AL @ New Delhi An area covered in mud and silt washed along the flash flood, near Trishuli Dam in Nepal on Thursday | PTI Toll up, 290 Indians uncontactable so far E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi At least 290 Indian nationals remain uncontactable in Nepal’s flood-hit Rasuwa district even as rescue teams have brought more people to safety and authorities race to establish the whereabouts of many others stranded in the disaster zone. The External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said on Thursday that 54 Indians had been rescued so far. The number of workers rescued from the Trishuli-1 hydropower project has also risen sharply , with 63 workers now safe, compared with 33 reported earlier. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian authorities were coordinating with Nepalese officials, state governments, tour operators and project authorities to trace those out of contact. Among those still uncontactable are two large Tamil Nadu groups of 37 and 49 people, who were travelling for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through sep- Pilgrimage activity With Raksha Bandhan and Shravan Purnima approaching, pilgrimage activity in highaltitude areas is heavy. Lack of a full record of travellers is making it harder to determine the full number of people affected arate travel operators, Samrat Travels and Fly Everest Travels. Another group of 32 Indians from West Bengal, travelling through Samrat Travels, was reportedly in Timure, one of the areas affected by the disaster. Authorities are also trying to contact 61 Indians travelling through Richa Tours and 33 people from Kerala whose whereabouts remain unconfirmed. The government has stressed that “uncontactable” does not mean that a person is necessarily missing, injured or dead. It indicates that officials have so far been unable to establish communication. The scale of the disaster is growing. The official death toll rose to 362, including three in Tibet, while Nepal authorities reported 910 people missing. A newly formed lake at the flood site is also reportedly rising after a river blockage, prompting disaster authorities to warn residents and rescuers to stay away from riverbanks amid fears of a possible outburst. p3, p5, P7 & p9 Emergency contact numbers of Embassy of India in Kathmandu: +977 985 131 6807, +977 970 910 7500, +977 981 032 6117 Sea rescue Chinese sailors on a rescue vessel off the Paradip coast, Odisha. They were among 24 crew saved after a Panama-flagged ship sank nearly 230 nautical miles off the coast | PTI Two pilots killed after training aircraft crashes near Kanpur n a m i ta ba j pa i & s l a l i t h a @ Lucknow/New Delhi A trainee pilot and an instructor were killed on Thursday when a two-engine training aircraft crashed near Nattha Purwa village close to the Ganga barrage in Kanpur. The trainee pilot has been identified as Abhishek Pujari from Karnataka and instructor Sachin Bhatia from Gujarat. Sources said the aircraft exploded mid-air before crashing to the ground. The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. The Civil Aviation Ministry said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will probe the crash and three DGCA officials will be at the crash site for regulatory oversight and coordination. “A Tecnam P2006T twin-engine aircraft, bearing registration VT-NBV and operated by Garg Aviation Ltd, Kanpur, met with an accident approximately five nautical miles from Kanpur civil airport near the Ganga barrage,” the ministry said. “The aircraft was on a training flight in the local flying Area of Kanpur civil airport. There were two persons on board, a trainee pilot and an instructor. Both sustained fatal injuries in the accident,” it added. Kanpur Police commissioner Raghubir Lal said police and fire personnel rushed to the site after the crash, cordoned off the area and secured the wreckage. “We got information about the instructor. He had an experience of around 3,000 hours. The DGCA team will conduct a thorough investigation,” Lal said. CJI invite row: NLSIU Centre starts retail sale of onion in city Manipur violence Four Nagas killed in cancels convocation at `35/kg, 44% below the market price Express News Service National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on Thursday cancelled its 34th annual convocation, initially scheduled to be held on September 12, citing “unavoidable circumstances”. The development comes amid pushback from students against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant attending the event. “Despite our collective best efforts, due to unavoidable circumstances, we are unable to hold the 34th annual convocation,” read a circular issued by the NLSIU administration on Thursday morning. This is the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic that the university has cancelled a convocation ceremony . Graduating students of the 2026 batch will be conferred their degrees ‘in absentia’ after due approvals by NLSIU’s governing bodies. The students The Centre on Thursday started retail sale of onions at `35 a kg in the national capital to provide relief to consumers and control prices. The price is 44% lower than the current market rate. The onions are being sold from the government’s buffer stock. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said that the rise in prices was due to black marketing, hoarding and profiteering. Khare said the country had adequate onion supplies to meet demand during the festive season and that the government was not considering a ban on exports. During AprilJune 2026, onion exports stood at approximately 3.82 lakh tonnes. She flagged off small trucks carrying onions, marking the start of the retail sale. In Delhi, onions were selling at `62 a kg on Thursday. The sale is being carried out through Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar, while Festive season e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi @ Bengaluru were left with the choice of receiving their certificates via courier or collecting them at the NLSIU campus. On August 15, around 165 students from the graduating class of 2026, 409 current students, and 128 alumni had signed an open letter to the university administration, expressing ‘unconditional solidarity’ with National Academy of Le g al Studies and Research (NALSAR, Hyderabad) students, who had opposed the CJI’s presence at their convocation. This invited Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra’s short-lived wrath. The Department of Consumer Affairs said that with the onset of the festive season, including Onam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, onion prices normally witness a seasonal uptick owing to higher demand and supply-chain factors. Mother Dairy will sell onions through its Safal stores. The government is transporting bulk consignments to the capital through dedicated railway rakes named “Kanda Express”. The first rake, carrying 800 tonnes of onions, has already left Nashik for Delhi. On Wednesday, the Department of Consumer Affairs said, “Onion availability is comfortable to meet domestic demand in the coming months”. Onion production is estimated at 307.37 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, compared with 307.67 lakh tonnes the previous year. The depart- ment said robust production, buffer stocks and market interventions were expected to ensure adequate supplies and moderate seasonal price pressures. About 1.21 lakh tonnes of onions have been procured for the buffer stock. The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has been engaged for the first time as the storage agency for the onion buffer during 2026-27. The department said that it was closely monitoring onion prices, arrivals and availability across states and would take further steps, if needed, to ensure adequate supplies and prevent unwarranted price increases. alleged Kuki ambush P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Amid signs of normalcy returning to Manipur following the resumption of inter-state bus services, suspected Kuki rebels carried out an ambush on Thursday killing , four Naga civilians. One other Naga individual was injured in the ambush while a student leader was reported missing in Manipur. The incident occurred at around 8.30 am at a place between Makui Ashang and Thanamba Naga villages on the IT Road in Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district. The victims were travelling from Makui village to Senapati which is a Nagamajority district bordering Nagaland when they were attacked. The state’s apex organisation for the Naga community, United Naga Council (UNC), condemned the “barbaric and calculated” attack on the Liangmai Naga civilians. “It was reported that armed Kuki militants under Suspension of Operation … ambushed and attacked innocent Naga civilians in an area that serves as an important lifeline for Nagas living along the IT Road,” the UNC said in a statement on Thursday . Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh chaired a high-level security meeting after the incident, where the government condemned the ambush. He instructed security officials to arrest the culprits at the earliest. Brain 17% increase in extortion calls from abroad, Saini tells Haryana Assembly Surgery, carried with help of AI tools, successful The world’s first patient to have brain surgery done with live assistance from artificial intelligence tools has successfully had his tumour removed | P9 h a r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday said extortion cases in the state had risen by 17%, attributing the increase mainly to calls made from abroad using digital applications. Replying to a Calling Attention Motion on the deteriorating law and order situation moved by Indian National Lok Dal MLAs Aditya Devi Lal and Arjun Chautala, Saini said that 296 extortion incidents had been reported till July 2026, against 253 in the corresponding period last year. “This increase is mainly attributable to the anonymous nature of overseas callers, who use digital applications and other techs to conceal their identity and location,” he said. Saini said that extortion cases were being closely monitored and shared with the Special Task Force (STF) through a central database to link apparently separate calls to the same gang. “Identification of accused persons and their aides, analysis of technical and STF and ATS running targeted ops against gangs: CM Special Task Force (STF) and Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of the Haryana Police were conducting intelligence-based and targeted operations to counter organised crime, gangsters, spread of illegal weapons and criminals involved in terror-related cases, Saini told the Assembly. financial evidence, investigation of criminal networks, and inter-district as well as interstate police coordination are being undertaken,” he said. The STF and Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) were conducting operations against organised crime, gangsters, illegal weapons and criminals involved in terror-related cases, he said. Haryana Police arrested 3,210 gang members in 2024, 2025 and till July 2026. During 2025-26, 19 gangsters were deported from foreign countries and 12 detained abroad. Police issued 144 Look Out Circulars and 50 Red Corner Notices. “Our policy is clear, our intent is clear, and our message is clear. No matter how influential a criminal may be, no one is above the law,” he said.