SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard TRAI TIGHTENS RULES TO PUT END TO SPAM CALLS AND MESSAGES PA K I S TA N M O S Q U E TRAI on Friday said that telecom companies will now use AI to detect suspected spam numbers and share this information with each other 21 KILLED, 78 HURT IN SUICIDE BLAST At least 21 people were killed and 78 others injured in a suicide blast at a mosque during Friday prayers near the police lines in Kohat district of Pakistan PAGE 9 NO BLOCKING OF BANKING, GOVT-TAGGED CALLS A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00 PAGES 12 DIASPORA COMES TO FORE AMID CHAOS Central UCC unlikely, 21 states to adopt U’khand model E-VEHICLE PUSH `300 crore for charging infra at 7 bus depots INDRANEEL DAS EXPRESS @ ASIAN GAMES NAGOYA P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi THE Centre may do away with a national Uniform Civil Code draft, with the Uttarakhand UCC likely to serve as the template for similar laws in as many as 21 NDAruled states, highly placed law ministry sources said. Though the 22nd Law Commission, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, had been tasked with preparing a nationwide UCC draft—a long-standing electoral promise of the BJP—it could not submit the final document before Justice Awasthi was appointed a member of the Lokpal and its term ended on August 31, 2024. The Uttarakhand UCC law incorporated several recommendations from the nationwide UCC framework prepared by the commission, except for its contentious provision requiring the registration of live-in relationships, a senior official said. In January 2025, Uttarakhand became the first state after Independence to bring such a code into force. Though the assemblies of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam have passed UCC Bills, they are yet to implement them as Presidential nod is awaited. The development assumes significance after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent statement that 21 NDA-ruled states could implement the UCC before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The senior official quoted above said a separate national draft may no longer be required, as the Centre has so far chosen to allow NDAruled states to frame their own codes instead of introducing central legislation.  Under the amended regulations, if five or more numbers associated with a sender are flagged within 10 days, further investigation and graded action will follow, including KYC re-verification, physical verification, barring of outgoing services and disconnection for repeated violation. The order also said apps like Truecaller cannot block or tag 140, 1600, and 1601 calls Sanchita Dey Pradhan withdraws her nomination from the Oct 6 bypoll race; Congress’ Milan Pradhan | PTI TMC’s Nandigram pick quits, Didi backs Cong, its nominee arrested Having lost the party its sym, bol and now its candidate, BanIN a theatrical turn of events, erjee said at her Kalighat resiTrinamool Congress candidate dence that she would support Sanchita Dey Pradhan, fielded the Congress candidate in by Mamata Banerjee for the Oc- Nandigram. “My party will tober 6 bypoll in Nandigram, never support the BJP,” she turned the tables on her men- said. “Today is a black day in tor by withdrawing her nomi- the history of democracy It is . nation papers on Friday after- unfortunate, unconstitutional, noon minutes after meeting anti-democratic and politically Chief Minister Suvbiased. It is just servendu Adhikari at the ing the interests of a state secretariat here. particular political T h e w i t h d r aw a l party she alleged. ,” came a day before the Today is a black day Faced with no in the history of last date for filing choice, Mamata annomination papers. A democracy, which nounced support for photograph of the is unconstitutional, Congress candidate anti-democratic meeting, which lasted Milan Pradhan. “We and biased. It’s just about an hour, went fulfilling interests are extending our supviral on social media, port to Congress in of a particular though this paper Nandigram. We are political party could not verify its doing this for the Mamata Banerjee authenticity . greater interest of the Sanchita’s movenation,” she said. ments had appeared mysteriThe impact of the Sanchita’s ous since morning, according withdrawal was soon overshadto sources close to her. She did owed by Pradhan’s arrest, who not speak to the media when was picked up from a hotel in she left her residence. She with- Chandipur in Purba Medinipur drew her nomination at the of- district. Police sources said fice of the sub-divisional offic- Pradhan was arrested in an old er in Haldia, Purba Medinipur. murder case, apart from a case Her decision left the Mamata linked to his involvement in the Banerjee faction in dire straits. 2007 Nandigram land acqusiSince the party did not field a tion case. The Congress alleged dummy candidate, it can no vendetta and questioned the longer contest the seat. timing of Pradhan’s arrest. S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Kolkata EC allots new symbol to 2 factions The ECI allotted the Didi faction the name ‘Mamata All India Trinamool Congress’ and the ‘Football Player’ symbol, while the rival group led by Arup Roy got ‘Democratic Trinamool Congress’ and ‘Envelope’ symbol for the Oct 6 bypoll | P7 T HE Union sports ministry Indi, an Olympic Association (IOA) officials as well as the Indian diaspora in Nagoya have stepped in to ensure that Indian athletes and their coaches aren’t overly disturbed during the course of the Asian Games. Following various teething issues — including people stranded at the airport as well as spending a considerable amount of time without accommodation and food — the focus has now shifted to ensuring that athletes don’t suffer. During an informal chat with select mediapersons, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who is here for a few days, revealed their threepronged strategy. When he learnt about the ordeal faced by athletes upon landing in the city as highlight, ed by this daily first, the ministry stitched together a mitigation plan. The first layer starts with two persons stationed at the airport who will fast-track their exit. The second would be at the village where three persons will help them with their accommodation. If these seem routine, the sports minister said that with the help of the India embassy they have , reached out to the 2,000-strong Indian diaspora. “There are more athletes EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Delhi government has approved `300 crore for the development of e-bus charging infrastructure at seven depots in South West areas of the city of, ficials said on Friday Officials . said the move will help electrify its entire public transport bus fleet. The Delhi Transport Corporation currently operates over 5,000 e-buses and the government plans to expand its fleet to 14,000 e-buses by 2029. In a recent meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, an amount of over `300 crore was sanctioned for developing cutting edge charging infrastructure at DTC and cluster bus depots in Dichaon Kalan, Kair, Kharkhari Nahar and Ghumanhera areas of South West Delhi. According to a detailed project report prepared by the power discom BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, the work is likely to be completed in 18 months. Of the total project cost of `300.61 crore, 40% (`120.25 crore) is to be disbursed initially to the discom in the current year. An amount of `120.07 crore has already been allocated for the project under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment scheme, according to an official document. The remaining expenditure of `180.36 crore will be covered by the budget for the next year. The charging infrastructure will include 66KV in-feeds, three 66/11 KV grids, and seven 11KV switching stations across the seven depots, officials said. The power load allocations will be 4 MVA at DTC Dichaon, 8 MVA at Cluster De pot Dichaon, 14.2 MVA at Cluster Kair, 7 MVA at DTC Kharkhari Nahar, 5 MVA at DTC Depot Ghumanhera, 9.6 MVA at Cluster Ghumanhera-1, and 11.4 MVA at Ghumanhera-2. Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with IOA President PT Usha in Japan | PTI who will come here and if they are short of rooms, we have identified some 10-15 houses in case athletes need to be adjusted or need to freshen up in case there is a delay,” he said. IOA chef de mission, Sahdev Yadav, had said how India were forced to book hotels at the last moment. “Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organising Committee informed us that more than desired athletes had come and they would not be able to give accommodation,” he said. “We have booked 16 rooms and will book 10 more.” As of Friday things are okay , . As for Nagoya, there couldn’t have been a more disastrous start to the Games. First, a heavy downpour that submerged the city days ahead of the Games. Then, there was the logistical nightmare. Now? A threat of a severe storm with wind blowing at 100km per hour on Monday However, . the organisers have said that all mitigation measures are in place. Assam TMC withdraws candidate The Assam unit of Trinamool on Friday said the party will not contest the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll to protest the ECI’s decision to freeze the party’s original name and symbol AIR TRAINING Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) aircraft seen during a handing over ceremony at a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited event in Bengaluru on Friday | PTI | P7 NAVAL COLLISION India rejects Pak allegations HC bans victory processions after DUSU poll results, says ‘no apology would work’ J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi FIR THREAT LOOMS ON FORMER CM Kerala’s advocate general and director general of prosecution have cleared the way for action on ED report seeking registration of a corruption case on former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan | P5 INDIA on Friday rejected Pakistan’s allegations over the recent collision between an India n N av y w a r s h i p a n d a Pakistani naval vessel in the wester n Arabian Sea and termed Islamabad’s response “the usual prevarication”. In a press briefing on Friday , the Ministry of External Affairs said Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata was on a routine deployment when Pakistani naval vessel PNS Hunain carried out a “dangerous overtaking manoeuvre” that resulted in the collision. The MEA’s clarification came after Pakistan’s foreign ministry alleged that the collision took place in its exclusive economic zone after a “highly pro- vocative and unacceptable action” by the Indian vessel. “We have seen Pakistan’s response to the protest we had lodged. It is the usual prevarication that we expected. We reject the allegations and insinuations contained therein,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. India had on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires Saad Warraich and lodged a diplomatic protest. Later, the Pak foreign ministry summoned Indian charge d’affaires Satyanjal Pandey . The collision happened on Tuesday night after the Pakistani vessel closed in on the frontline Indian Navy warship. The incident did not cause any major damage to INS Kolkata, which remains at sea. U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi Action not acceptable Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of MEA, said the “Pakistani Naval ship Hunain conducted itself in an unacceptable and unprofessional manner at sea that resulted in a collision.” THE Delhi High Court on Friday ordered a complete ban on victory processions after the declaration of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) election results on Saturday, and sought explanations from all student organisations and candidates why damages should not be imposed on them for violation of norms. “Having regard to past experience, we direct that no victory procession shall be taken out after the declaration of results by candidates, students, supporters or anyone else, not only on the roads of Delhi but also within campuses and hostels,” a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said. The bench said it would be police responsibility to ensure that no victory procession takes place, adding that officials should not “feel shy” while taking any action “because they are students”. The bench passed the order after observing “frequent” and “blatant” violations of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations during the polls that took place on Friday and said it would “not accept any apology this time”. The counting of votes will be undertaken on Saturday . “Having noted frequent violations on the part of the students, candidates and student organisations, we propose to impose collec- Nithari accused who escaped gallows found dead in Haridwar N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun SURENDRA Koli, who was acquitted in the last of the cases linked to the 2006 Nithari killings, was found dead inside a tea stall in Haridwar’s Bhupatwala area on Friday Police sus. pect it to be a case of suicide, though the cause of death is likely to be declared after autopsy is conducted. Police said the 50-year-old’s body was found inside a kiosk that he ran opposite Lal Mata Temple under the Haridwar City police station limits. Lo- cals alerted the police after noticing him lying unresponsive. “Police teams reached the spot, took the body into custody and questioned people in the vicinity an official said. ,” Koli was identified as a resident of Mangrukhal village in Uttarakhand’s Almora district. He had reportedly been running the tea stall under the name Sadaram. Police recovered two Aadhaar cards from his possession. One identified him as Sadaram, son of Shankar, while the other bore the name Surendra Koli, son of Shankar Koli. Initial probe indicates that Koli had arrived in Bhupatwala four days earlier and opened the kiosk. Before that, he had worked as a security guard in Haridwar’s Roshnabad. Police are tracing his acquaintances and examining his activities during his stay in the district. Ancestral village house abandoned, in ruins By the time Koli was released from jail, his family had moved from Mangrukhal village. Koli’s mother Kunti Devi died three years before his release. His wife Shanti Devi left the village a decade ago with their two children. His brothers abandoned their ancestral village house. Koli’s name became synonymous with one of India’s most horrifying criminal investigations after skeletal remains of children and young women were recovered from a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s house in Noida’s Sector 31 on December 29, 2006. Koli had worked as Pandher’s domestic help. He was convicted in multiple cases and spent years in prison, facing the death penalty Courts sub. sequently acquitted him in the cases, with the final legal reprieve coming in 2025. tive damages not only on the students found violating the norms but also the student organisations. Student organisations and students will file their replies showing causes as to why they should not be saddled with electoral damages,” the bench said. It added any violation of this order shall entail criminal and administrative action. The bench asked police to explain how “hooliganism” and cavalcades of cars and vehicles without number plates were allowed to be plied. “Was it not part of your duty to check? What happens by these kinds of cavalcades and processions is that they create a sense of terror, a sense of fear, a sense of hegemony ... (people) standing on the roofs, standing on the front bonnet...” P3 EXPRESS READ SC judges to visit NTA office to curb leaks Highlighting the need to boost the system to prevent recurring NEET paper leaks, the SC on Friday indicated that the judges of the bench may visit the NTA to check its upgraded facilities. The NTA, which conducts the NEET-UG for admissions to undergraduate medical courses and has been under the heat due to recurring paper leaks, told a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe that it has overhauled its entire mechanism, from administrative hierarchy to infrastructure. P7 PG registration portal by next month: MCD The MCD is developing a portal for the registration of PG accommodations, an official aware of the matter said. The development comes after the Delhi government recently announced plans to regulate PG accommodations following the building collapse in Satya Niketan. The portal, which is being envisaged as a registration platform where basic details of PG establishments and their occupants can be recorded, will serve as a database for students and working professionals. P4