APPLE LAUNCHES ITS FIRST FOLDABLE IPHONE, INDIA PRICE STARTS AT `3 LAKH THURSDAY 10 US tech giant on Wednesday night unveiled its firstever foldable phone iPhone Duo—the most expensive mobile phone from the firm’s stable SEPTEMBER, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ANTHROPIC WARNING $10 bn ‘AI COULD KILL ALL HUMANS IN 10 YRS’ Three Anthropic researchers said Tuesday that those building artificial intelligence, including themselves, believe AI could kill us all by the end of the decade A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 APPLE’S ESTIMATED REVENUE IN INDIA FROM RECORD IPHONE SALES IN FY26 AVAILABLE FROM OCT 23, BOOKING STARTS ON 16 The foldable iPhone will be available in India from October 23. iPhone Duo is available in star white and night sky, with prices starting at `2,99,900. “Customers in more than 70 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India... will be able to pre-order iPhone Duo beginning October 16, with availability beginning October 23,” it said | P10 Crude tops $100 as US-Iran war gets nastier Modi, Xi bilateral Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps extends ‘restricted zone’, adding parts of Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi IN a major escalation in the West Asia war, Iran on Wednesday attacked several oil tankers trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz besides US military targets in the region, sending alarm bells across the region and beyond and pushing oil prices past $100 a barrel. Iran claimed that it attacked 20 ships and US military targets in Jordan in retaliation to the sinking of five Iranian crude oil carriers by the US military on Tuesday. Tehran also extended the ‘restricted zone’ beyond the Strait of Hormuz into parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, warning that any passing vessels could be ‘sanctioned’. British maritime agency confirmed Iran’s claim, saying several vessels in the Gulf region were on fire. “Reports indicate Combo videograbs of US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces firing missiles to blow up an Iranian crude oil carrier | CENTCOM 1 2 3 The CENTCOM attack came after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles The US warship successfully evaded the IRGC’s attacks twice over two days. It then destroyed five of IRGC’s crude oil carriers The destroyed carriers were M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1, and M/T Riesco in Gulf of Oman and M/T Derya near Kharg the vessels were subject to disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity it said. ,” The US said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers in response to Iran’s missile attacks on a US Navy warship. On Tuesday, Iran-backed Houthi rebels had attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Following the fresh escalation, the international Brent crude benchmark breached $100 a barrel for the first time since July It also pushed the In. dian crude basket, comprising Sweet grade (Brent Dated) and Sour grade (Oman & Dubai average) crude oil to $108.91 per barrel on September 8. For India, which imports more than 88% of its crude oil requirement, any rise in international prices is bad news. The war has already inflated India’s import bill for crude and gas, which touched $63.37 billion during April-July—a 56% increase on a year-on-year basis. For context, crude imports accounted for over 50% of the total oil import bill during the period. According to reports, a $1 increase in crude prices for a year may lead to `18,000 crore rise in the total import bill. Prashant Vasisht, senior vice-president at ICRA, warns that crude oil prices could rise further if the current geo-political situation persists. He said several countries including China were tapping their strategic reserves for consumption and their return to the market could increase demand and, therefore, prices. US suspends Cognizant’s green-card CJI rebukes magistrate filings amid visa fraud investigation for sending notice to student on CJP protest on BRICS Summit sidelines on Sat J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi 350+ meets Under India’s chairship this year, over 350 meetings and engagements have been held to strengthen BRICS grouping GREATER NOIDA ‘CONTEMPT’ PA D M I N I D H R U V A R A J @ Bengaluru Questioning the notice, the CJI asked the lawyer appearing for the student to place it on “HOW could a magistrate dare record through the petition. to issue notice,” the Supreme The court said that it would Court asked on Wednesday af- seek an explanation from the ter a Greater Noida Executive authorities. Magistrate issued a notice to a Senior Advocate Bishwajit second-year student of Gautam Bhattacharyya, appearing for Buddha University, allegedly the student, told the court that for campaigning for the notice had been isparticipation in stusued by the Executive dent protests proposed Magistrate on the baby the Cockroach Jasis of inputs from the nata Party (CJP). Noida Police. “This is “We made it clear: prima facie contempt. no coercive action Noida and Uttar against any student. Pradesh authorities No Magistrate could can’t create a fear psyviolate that order,” chosis among stuWe made it clear: a bench headed by no coercive action dents,” he said. against any CJI Surya Kant said, According to restudent. No questioning the ports, the notice was Magistrate could action of the Execulater withdrawn. The violate that order tive Magistrate. notice alleged that the On September 1, the student was “spreadCJI Surya Kant top court had quashed ing and instigating all FIRs registered against stu- anti-government misleading dents who participated in the talks” among university stuCJP-led protests and forbade dents and encouraging them to filing of any fresh cases in the join a CJP dharna. matter. In another matter, SG Tushar The notice, issued under Sec- Mehta told a CJI-led bench that tion 130 of the Bharatiya Naga- an appeal would be filed against rik Suraksha Sanhita, asked an Allahabad HC decision the student to show cause for quashing the detention of Delnot furnishing a personal bond hi University student and acof `5 lakh to ensure that he tivist Akriti Chaudhary under would preserve peace. the National Security Act. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi `21KOF RAIL CR WORTH PROJECTS GET CABINET NOD The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has cleared eight railway infra projects worth more than `20,800 crore to expand network capacity | P7 THE US Department of Labor has suspended IT services company Cognizant’s permanent labour certification, or PERM, filings, as part of a probe into alleged misuse of employmentvisa programmes. Announcing the decision through social media platform X late on Tuesday night, US Labour Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito wrote: “Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended… Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.” In a separate post, he said: “We’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await.” US authorities have not disclosed the specific allegations against Cognizant, how many cases are affected, or how long the suspension will last. Cognizant, founded in Chennai, has not publicly commented on the suspension but sourc- What’s PERM? PERM is a key step towards employment-based greencard sponsorship. Before hiring a foreign worker, an employer has to state that there are no qualified and available US workers and the hiring will not affect US workers in any way es said the action does not mean the green-card applications of the firm’s employees have been rejected. Curiously, the suspension came a day after Cognizant announced that it would hire 1,500 US college graduates this year. CEO Ravi Kumar S said: “We are hiring American graduates, standing up new American job categories for the AI era, and putting Cognizant’s capital and leadership behind a national coalition built to make sure this transition works for workers.” Cognizant has historically used the system extensively. Records show 589 Cognizant PERM cases were certified in fiscal 2023 and 741 in fiscal 2024. The development could be a cause of concern for Indian technology professionals, who already face some of the longest employment-based immigration queues in the US. Cognizant is also a major US employer of H-1B workers. US Citizenship and Immigration Services data shows 3,510 approved H-1B petitions for Cognizant as of June 30, 2026, compared with 9,413 in 2020. Bangladesh no-show? Bangladesh is unlikely to send a representative to the BRICS Summit, sources said. India has invited PM Tarique Rahman to attend the summit in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on September 12 in the second half of the day, sources said. Xi will arrive in India on September 12, according to sources, as New Delhi hosts the BRICS Leaders’ Summit 2026. Prime Minister Modi will host a gala dinner for leaders of BRICS member countries on Saturday evening at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, as India hosts the two-day summit. The dinner, scheduled for 7.30 pm on September 12, will be part of a packed first day of the summit, which will bring together leaders of BRICS member countries for discussions on strengthening multilateralism and promoting more inclusive global governance. T he summit programme will begin on Saturday after noon with the arrival of BRICS leaders at Bharat Mandapam. The leaders will then participate in a closed session on “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism” at 2.35 pm. The session is expected to focus on ways to strengthen multilateral institutions and make global governance more representative and inclusive, amid discussions on the evolving international order. Following the closed-door session, the leaders will visit the ‘Bharat Innovates Exhibition’, which will showcase India’s innovation, technology and development capabilities. The leaders are also scheduled to participate in a family photograph and a joint tree plantation programme at the summit venue, adding ceremonial engagements to the first day’s proceedings. LANKA WON’T LET ITS SOIL BE USED AGAINST INDIA Lankan Prez Dissanayake assured Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that his country would “never allow its territory to be used for any activities inimical to India’s security” | P7 Bulldozer action against illegal constructions in city A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi CHIEF Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to launch bulldozer action against illegal construction in the city, days after the collapse of a five-storey building in Satya Niketan, which killed seven people. Gupta also ordered officials to remain on the ground during the enforcement action. “Conduct intensive inspections of all PG hostels in Delhi and take action against illegal construction. Scrutinise building records, determine exactly when the illegal construction took place, and under whose jurisdiction,” the CMO said. Following the directives, the MCD launched a demolition drive against unauthorised structures across 12 zones. The demolition drive in Laxmi Nagar and Pandav Nagar, however, drew allegations of selective enforcement from local residents, who claimed that similar multi-storey structures, which violated the law, continued to operate in the area without facing comparable action. An MCD official said the properties being targeted for action had already been booked for unauthorised construction. “We are initiating demolition action against them. They have plans for a ground plus four floors. But they have built an extra floor on top. We gave them a notice,” the official said. However, residents alleged that several multi-storey buildings had been constructed despite violating construction guidelines and questioned why enforcement drives were concen- HC seeks govt, DU reply on PIL for hostel facilities A Delhi High Court bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia on Wednesday sought response from the Centre, the Delhi government and the Delhi University on a petition seeking hostel facilities in all the colleges in the varsity by September 25. P3 trated for certain properties. The Satya Niketan collapse was the fifth building collapse in Delhi this year and took the death toll from such tragedies to 16. According to official figures, six people were killed in Saket in May three in Rohini in , July and seven in the latest incident on September 6. Officials said the underlying factors in the building collapses were unregulated and unauthorised construction, additional floors, ageing structures and a lack of periodic structural assessments, etc. They also cited inadequate precautions during repair work and monsoon-related water damage to foundations, walls and basements. MORE REPORTS ON P3 SC SUGGESTION 3rd language: Consider exempting Class 6 students this year, CBSE told S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi T H E S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday asked the Central Board of Secondary Education to consider a one-time exemption for Class 6 students from the three-language policy . A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joym- alya Bagchi and V Mohana said implementation from the next academic year is fine, but the current Class 6 batch could be exempted. “Consider Class 6 for this year... If they can be given some accommodation,” the court told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The court made the observations after hearing a batch of petitions challenging the English question: Govt has an issue with it, says SG Responding to a mention on English as a non-native language, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “That we have an issue with.” Justice Bagchi had on August 20 expressed reservations about treating English as a “non-native language”, adding it requires a constitutional analysis CBSE’s May 20, 2025 circular on implementing the three-language formula for Classes 6-10 under the National Education Policy 2020. As per the circular, all the CBSE students must learn three languages, at least two of them Indian languages. Class 6 students who studied only two languages till Class 5 now need to take a third language. Multiple petitioners from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka said any mid-session change would cause huge chaos and a lot of difficulties. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that textbooks had been purchased, sections allotted, but teachers were unavailable. The SG, appearing for the Union, told the bench that he would consult the concerned officials on extending the existing accommodation to Class 6 students. The court asked CBSE to file a comprehensive affidavit by September 16 on the exemption. Thailand cuts visa-free stay for Indians from 60 to 30 days S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi THAILAND on Wednesday halved the duration of stay for Indian tourists without visas to 30 days from the current 60 days. The move will come into effect from September 15. The Embassy of India in Thailand issued an advisory to this effect. It refers to a notification by the Thai Ministry of Interior that said that with effect from September 15, Indian passport holders entering Thailand for tourism purposes are exempted from visa requirements and are permitted to stay in the country not exceeding 30 days. The new rule will impact 59 other countries as well. A visa-free entry for Indians for a period of 30 days was first announced on November 10, 2023, which was aimed at boosting tourism to the country after the pandemic. It was later modified in 2024 to permit the entry for a maximum of 60 days. The advisory states, “Visitors should carry a valid passport, with at least six months of validity from the date of arrival.” Those availing the exemption facility need to carry at least Thai baht 20,000 (nearly `58,000) per passenger, it said.