fridAY Trump Says Google’s Pichai Rejected Atlantic Ocean Rename 23 President Trump says he called Google CEO Sundar Pichai about renaming Atlantic Ocean as Trump Ocean, but Pichai shot down his idea october, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Missiles Putin pounds Kyiv for drone attack Russia bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles at night, after the Russian military said it intercepted over 800 drones fired by Ukraine at Moscow Page 9 Religious edu curriculum for minorities in U’khand n a r e n d r a s e t hi @ Dehradun UTTARAKHAND is poised to become the first state to introduce a formal religious education curriculum that combines lessons on faith with Indian history, culture and nationalism. The syllabus has been drafted and is awaiting approval from the state education department. The curriculum is intended for children from minority communities and has been prepared under the state’s minority education framework. Along with religious teachings and beliefs, it will cover India’s cultural heritage, the freedom struggle and contributions of prominent figures to nationbuilding. The curriculum is designed to link religious learning with wider themes of India’s past and identity . The syllabus for Classes 1 to 8 has already been prepared, a top source said. A draft for Classes 9 to 12 has also been completed and will be submitted to the education department for approval. Professor Surjeet Singh Gandhi, chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority, said the body was awaiting the state’s approval. A source at the minorities commission said religious education under the proposed system would be optional. Students would be free to choose whether to attend the classes, which schools may offer before or after re gular academic lessons. Express Read Sonia Gandhi makes debut on Instagram Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi made her first post on Instagram on Thursday. She shared a video offering a glimpse of her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, which is scheduled for release on November 10. She stayed away from social media in her personal capacity so far. P7 Mic, papers fly during MCD House meeting The MCD House session erupted in utter chaos on Thursday. Members came close to blows, as BJP and AAP councillors threw microphones and official papers at each other after heated arguments on cleanliness and antipollution measures. Mayor Parvesh Wahi later adjourned the House and moved out with the help of marshals. P4 Oceans are different: Pichai’s pushback A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 President Trump mentioned the issue at a South Carolina rally on October 21. Trump floated the concept, saying he spoke to Pichai about the proposal. “And I said, Sundar, I’m thinking of the Atlantic Ocean. Can you handle it?” Trump recalled asking. Pichai replied: “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover a lot of countries.” India condemns Pilot project to make India’s 3 crore continued hits undergraduates ready for job market on Saudi infra S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi Indian killed in Houthi attack; PM call for dialogue and diplomacy in talks with Bibi J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Thursday strongly condemned continued attacks by Houthi rebels on civilian and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed an Indian national. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated New Delhi’s call for dialogue and diplomacy during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they exchanged views on recent developments in West Asia and the urgent need to restore peace and stability in the region. The External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said the attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure were “completely unacceptable and must cease immediately”, while expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia and calling for the early restoration of peace and normalcy in West Asia. “We strongly condemn the continued attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including the attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield in the Eastern Province on October 21,” the MEA said in a statement. The attack on Dammam airport late Wednesday killed two persons, including an Indian national, and injured eight others, among them two Indians. Separately Modi spoke to Netanyahu and dis, cussed bilateral ties and the escalating situation in West Asia. The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral ties and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Special Strategic Partnership. “Prime Minister Modi reiterated India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. The government parallelly stepped up efforts to facilitate the return of Umrah pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia following flight disruptions triggered by the regional escalation. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Indian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah were working with airlines and tour operators to arrange their return. “Over the past week, about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims have travelled from Saudi Arabia back to India on available flights,” Jaiswal said. More than 10,000 other Umrah pilgrims who had booked available flights had also returned during the same period. “Arrangements are being discussed to facilitate the return of other Umrah pilgrims at the earliest,” Jaiswal said, adding that 24hour control rooms had been established to assist Indian nationals. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had urged the Centre to intervene, claiming that thousands of Indian pilgrims remained stranded in Makkah and Madina and calling for additional flights to bring them home. p9 Randhir Jaiswal We stand in solidarity with the people and the government of Saudi Arabia in safeguarding its sovereignty, and hope that peace and normalcy would return to the region at the earliest MEA statement Invite to Modi Netanyahu invited Modi to light a torch alongside Indian pilot Smit Machchhar on Israel’s Independence Day, praising the pilot for his role in foiling an attempt to hijack a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight Anti-terror fight “Modi thanked me for the invitation and said that, on the ground and in the air, India and Israel are fighting together against terrorism,” Netanyahu added in posts in Hindi and Hebrew UNION education ministry’s Review Committee on National Education Policy is on a mission to equip college students with the requisite job skills that will make them stand out in the job market. This will be done by arranging tie-ups with companies and other large employers to provide students industry experience and a taste of real-work pressures, the panel’s chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday . Speaking to this newspaper, the former UGC chairman said the NEP review panel’s primary focus is on the nearly 3 crore undergraduates of BA, BSc and BCom courses. “A pilot project is underway press clusive NEP review panel Jagadesh Kumar was roped in as chairman of the NEP review panel in January. Its members include the higher education secretary and vice-chancellors of multiple universities. Its objective is to keep track of the progress made by the state govts in implementing NEP in 30 universities. The All India Survey on National Education 2023-2024 states that there are 4.5 crore students in higher education and 76.8% of them are undergraduates. Our focus is on BA, BCom and BSc students, who constitute the majority The programme will be . extended across all states. The response from workplaces as well as colleges and universities has been encouraging,” said Kumar, who is also the chairperson of the Board of Governors at IIM Calcutta. The Apprentice Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) permits undergraduate students to spend up to 18 months to gain live industry experience. “It helps Shah raps Rahul’s ‘negative politics’, says protests won’t achieve anything A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his absence from the country as the Opposition protested against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls and claims of vote theft. Speaking at an event in outer Delhi to launch and inaugurate 33 Delhi Jal Board (DJB) projects worth `8,941 crore, Shah said that the Congress would remain out of power for the next 30 years because of its “negative politics”. “When I say BJP will be in power for 30 years, they again reiterate allegations of vote theft... I want to tell you that Amit Shah was born here, stays here, and will die here... I don’t need to visit foreign countries every six months. You won’t form government for 30 years, based on your negative politics,” he said. Shah also took a swipe at the Congress leader over his reported four-day trip to Vietnam, which coincided with nationwide anti-SIR protests. “I know you can’t hear me, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde on Thursday failed to appear before the Delhi Police Crime Branch for questioning in connection with the October 13 protest at Jantar Mantar, seeking more time to join the investigation, sources said. They had been summoned to the Crime Branch office in Rajouri Garden at noon in two cases alleging trespass and obstruction of public servants at the protest site. Both cases were recently transferred to the Crime Branch. Police may issue fresh notices directing them to appear, sources said. Das and Ranka were released from Tihar jail on Wednesday after the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) accepted their fresh sureties and a written undertaking not to breach peace. They had been arrested for allegedly violating their peace bonds while attempting to protest at Jantar Mantar. Shinde was also summoned for questioning. The release came hours after the Delhi High Content creator held for racial slurs against Tripura man e x p r e ss n e w s s e r vi c e @ New Delhi Amit Shah, T S Sandhu and Rekha Gupta at Yamuna event on thursday | Express Projects worth `8,941 crore for Yamuna cleaning Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday laid the foundation for 43 projects worth `8,941 crore, including the city’s biggest STP at Okhla, aimed at cleaning the Yamuna. He said the Delhi government has successfully reduced sewer discharge into the Yamuna. you’re sitting somewhere abroad. You don’t even explain why, but that’s okay, that’s your personal life... But once you land in Delhi, listen to me; your turn won’t come for the next 30 years,” Shah said. Accusing Gandhi of bringing party workers from other states to Delhi for protests, Shah said the opposition could not overturn the mandate given to BJP by voters. “Crores of BJP workers and PM Narendra Modi exist among people, understand their concerns and work continuously to solve them,” he said. CM Rekha Gupta, her cabinet ministers Parvesh Verma and Ashish Sood, state BJP president Harsh Malhotra and MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri were present at the event. Shah accused the Congress and AAP of using allegations of “vote chori” to challenge electoral verdicts and protect infiltrators. He urged opposition parties to focus on governance rather than protests if they wanted to win elections. Das, Ranka skip date with Crime Branch in Oct 13 protest case U D AYA N K I S H O RE @ New Delhi them apply their knowledge to real problems. Students who only want to pursue their degree academically are at liberty to do so,” Kumar said. Under AEDP, students will likely be provided apprenticeships at their place of residence so that “they do not have to migrate for the purpose of work and it boosts the local economy too,” he added. Some companies pay the students while others only offer hands-on training. “If it is a government apprenticeship scheme, students get financially compensated,” Kumar said. The panel also plans to take the assistance of local district magistrates who have a thorough understanding of a specific area and can offer invaluable guidance. Court declined to interfere with their judicial custody and asked them to await the SEM’s decision later that day Justice . Subramonium Prasad also made sharp remarks about them not being part of Gen Z. The HC said permission for a protest was not intended to stop The question is does ... [the police notice] have any substance? We do not need permission to hoist the national flag. They need a class on law —Neha Bora, AISA president, in Delhi High Court | P3 people from demonstrating, but to prevent “unwanted persons” from joining a gathering and to ensure that a peaceful agitation didn’t turn violent. Das and Ranka were remanded to five days’ judicial custody on October 14 for charges that they had entered Jantar Mantar’s denotified protest site. Their custody was extended by two days on October 19 despite their counsel’s opposition. Delhi Police has arrested content creator Amir Shaukeen for allegedly using racial slurs against a young man from Tripura in a viral social media video and registered an FIR against him. DCP (North) Niharika Bhatt said police received information about the video on Thursday morning. An FIR was registered at Sadar Bazar police station based on a complaint by police personnel. Police searched for Shaukeen, also known as Muhammad Amir and arrested him in Karol Bagh. A police team had earlier visited his Sadar Bazar house but didn’t find him, Bhatt said. The Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit will probe the video after the Special Police Unit for North Eastern Region sought a probe. Police said Shaukeen is listed as a bad character at Sadar Bazar police station and has faced previous FIRs in cases involving assault and molestation. After the video went viral, Shaukeen apologised, claiming the content was made for fun. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said he had directed the DGP to coordinate with Delhi Police over the remarks. “Law will take its course,” it said. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote on X, “This evil man will be punished. There was delay in lodging the official complaint but Delhi and Tripura police will teach him a hard lesson.” images of protest Forced to remove ‘political’ photos from solo show, Raihan Vadra says art is political S r e s t ha S a r ka r @ New Delhi Some of the solo photo exibits that were taken down; and (inset) Raihan Vadra | Special arrangement A day after 75 out of 105 photographs by Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were taken down from Bikaner House, the artist said art knows no political boundary His family backed him while . the venue, owned by the Rajasthan government, claimed the “photographs breached guidelines” and were against policy . Raihan told TMS on Thursday that he’d asked what the venue’s policy was but had not received a “logical enough” response. On his mother’s social media post, he said, “My family has been very supportive about the entire issue and asked me to continue my work despite such a fiasco.” In the post addressed to Raihan, the MP said, “When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect.” Meanwhile, Raihan was looking for a place to display the entire solo show, ‘No Idea Is Fi- No blank frames either Raihan said the team replaced the “political” photos with blank frames but was told that too was unacceptable. “They left one photo of the Tricolour in place but ... removed the other photo of the Indian flag themselves,” he said nal’, with Travancore Palace emerging as an option. Refuting BJP’s charges that he was being positioned for a political role, Raihan said, “This art is my politics... I have no plans to join any party... and anyway, art is political.” Bikaner House in a statement on Thursday said certain of Raihan’s works were found to be inconsistent with its policy, and their removal was requested. The team didn’t clarify what the guidelines were. Raihan said the venue’s management asked him to remove photographs of recent youth movements in India, citing their “political nature”, five hours before the show was to open on Wednesday He said his . proposal, approved on June 30, 2025 by the venue, had said the show would feature images exploring themes of “choice, control and unity”. Raihan said he was contacted by the management at 6 pm on Tuesday and asked to remove the protest pictures. He was subsequently told to remove all works considered “political” by 3.30 pm Wednesday, failing which the exhibition would be cancelled. He added the works had since been removed to allow the show to continue until October 25.