thursdAY 21 1.74L sq km november, 2024 of Ukrainian land is infested with landmines as per an estimate epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard U.S. to let Ukraine use landmines against advancing Russian forces d i g i ta l e r a President Joe Biden will allow Ukraine to use US-supplied antipersonnel landmines to help it slow down Russia’s battlefield progress Pope to make Italian teen saint They pose less risk to civilians: Austin Pope Francis said he’ll canonise Carlo Acutis next April, setting the date for the late teenager to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial-era saint. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi Exit polls forecast close fight in Jharkhand with narrow edge for BJP As the high stakes Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand came to a close on Wednesday, several pollsters gave the BJP-led alliance a clear edge in Maharashtra and a close fight in Jharkhand. An aggregate of exit polls projected that the ruling NDA may retain power in Maharashtra while four of the eight pollsters projected an NDA win in Jharkhand. Counting of votes will take place on November 23 Saturday for the single-phase Maharashtra election held on Wednesday and the two-phase voting in Jharkhand held on November 13 and 20. While the Matrize exit poll gave 150-170 seats for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra with a 48% vote share, it gave the MVA allies only 110-130 seats with a vote share of 42%. The pollster gave others 8 to 10 seats, with a vote share of 10%. In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP is contesting in 149 seats, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena 81 and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress party 59. To retain power, the Mahayuti will need 145 seats to reach the majority mark. The First full draft on climate finance today S V Krishna Chaitanya EXPRESS IN BAKU W ith the clock ticking at COP29 in Azerbaijan, negotiators remain locked in intense discussions over the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, struggling to resolve disputes over the scale and structure of support needed to aid vulnerable nations in their fight against climate change. Developing countries are demanding $1.3 trillion annually to address loss and damage, adapt to climate impacts, and transition to clean energy systems. However, developed nations have so far offered proposals falling significantly short of this figure. The host presidency has promised to release the first full draft text on Thursday morning, but immediately clarified that it was not the final text but aiming to provide a starting point for resolution. Lead negotiator Yelchin Rafiyev expressed cautious optimism, describing the draft as a “clear step forward,” though substantial decisions remain unresolved. “There are still issues where all parties need to keep working to find a common ground and deliver a balanced outcome. I want to clarify that this text is not final. Based on the inputs from the parties, there would be elements in the final text which are not there in the draft,” he said and added that decisions taken in Baku will be essential to guide us from the first to the second decade of the Paris Agreement.  Continued on P9 exit poll conducted by Peoples Pulse gave Mahayuti 175-195 seats; it showed that MVA will secure only 85-112 seats and 7-12 to others in Maharashtra. In the MVA alliance, the Congress has contested in 101 seats, Uddhav Thackarey’s Shiv Sena (UBT) 95 and Sharad Pawar’s NCP 86 seats. The high-pitched campaign in the state has seen the opposition and the ruling BJP locking horns over the latter’s slogans batenge to katenge and ek hai toh safe hai on religious lines. While the ruling Mahayuti centred its campaign around its flagship schemes for women, the MVA focused Polls 2024 on the government’s failure to address farmer’s distress, inflation, and reservation among others. In Jharkhand, Matrize predicted 42-47 seats for the NDA and 25-30 seats for the CongressJMM alliance. It gave 0-4 seats to others. Axis MyIndia and Electoral Edge predicted victory for the INDIA bloc. Dainik Bhaskar and P Marq have predicted a hung House. Jharkhand has seen highly polarised campaigns with BJP attacking the Hemant Soren government for the alleged illegal immigration from Bangladesh. More reports on page 8 J8.00 l PAGES 12 Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly de, manded a high-level investigation into the “luxurious items” at the official residence of Arvind Kejriwal, located at 6 Flagstaff Road, during his tenure as chief minister. In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday Gupta , highlighted a disparity between the furniture and resources provided by the Public Works E x p r e ss n e w s s e r v i c e @ Mumbai/Ranchi First-time voters after casting votes at a polling station in Nagpur on Wednesday | PTI Maharashtra seats 288, target 145 Source Chanakya Strategies Dainik Bhaskar Electoral Edge Lokshahi Marathi-Rudra Matrize P-Marq Peoples Pulse Poll Diary Times Now-JVC Poll of exit polls NDA 152-160 125-140 118 128-142 150-170 137-157 175-195 122-186 150-167 150 MVA 130-138 135-150 150 125-140 110-130 126-146 85-112 69-121 107-125 125 Jharkhand seats 81, target 41 Source Axis My India Chanakya Strategies Dainik Bhaskar Electoral Edge Matrize P-Marq Peoples Pulse Times Now-JVC Poll of exit polls NDA 17-27 45-50 37-40 32 42-47 31-40 44-53 40-44 39 INDIA 49-59 35-38 36-39 42 25-30 37-47 25-37 30-40 38 OTH 6-8 20-25 20 18-23 8-10 2-8 7-12 10-27 13-14 13 OTH 1-6 3-5 0-2 7 1-4 1-6 5-9 1-1 4 65% Voter turnout in Maharashtra as per latest available data. Only 52.07% voted in Mumbai 68% Jharkhand voter turnout better than that in 2019. Maoist threat didn’t deter voters 1,185 Polling booths in high-rises in Maharashtra, but not many urban voters turned up THE high-voltage campaign in Maharashtra seemed to have enthused more voters to come out and exercise their franchise as the data released late in the night showed 64.72% turnout against 61.74% recorded in the 2019 Assembly elections. Jharkhand witnessed even higher polling at 68%, surpassing 67.04% polled last time. Voting was largely peaceful in both states. In Maharashtra, the highest polling was recorded in Gadchiroli at 73.68% while Jharkhand’s Jamtara district topped the charts with 76.16% turnout. The turnout was slightly better in urban centres in Maharashtra compared to previous polls, but it remained much lower than the state average. In Jharkhand, Bokaro district recorded the lowest polling at 60.97%, data showed. All 288 seats in Maharashtra went to polls on Wednesday in a single phase. Jharkhand voted for 38 seats in the second and final phase. The first phase of polling in Jharkhand was held on November 13 for 43 seats, registering 64.86% turnout. No major incidents were reported from either state and Maoists had no impact. In Jharkhand, the Left-wing extremists were reduced to sticking posters as security forces were deployed in full strength. Department when Kejriwal returned as CM in 2022 and the items left behind when he vacated the property in 2024. “Additional items included luxurious and expensive toilet seats, premium wash basins, reclining sofas, costly curtains, exquisite carpets, high-value television sets, and refrigerators. These were not supplied by the PWD,” Gupta asserted questioning the source of these extravagant ad- ditions. “If the PWD did not provide these items, then who were the individuals who enriched Kejriwal’s ‘Sheesh Mahal’ with such lavish items,” asked the LoP . He stated the BJP’s earlier disclosure about toilet commodes worth `12 lakh each was understated, as these facilities were part of bribes received in exchange for benefits extended under the liquor policy . Hitting back, the AAP ac- cused the BJP adopting such tactics to “malign staunchly honest” Kejriwal. But, the people of Delhi are aware of the truth which is why the ‘Kejriwal model’ continues to expand at record speed”, it added. “Unlike the leaders who cling to their bungalows and privileges for years, Kejriwal set an example by vacating the official residence after resigning as Delhi CM following all the requisite constitutional norms,” the AAP said. I f r a h M u f t i @ New Delhi Straining its every nerve to get rid of the persistent smog that the city has been groaning under for three days, the Delhi government on Wednesday announced work from home (WFH) for 50% of its employees. In a post on X, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, “The government has decided to allow work from home in government offices… 50% of employees can work in this mode.” In a second step, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday revised the GRAP-4 measures. The government will now have no role in deciding to discontinue the physical classes in schools. From now on, if GRAP4 is enforced, the schools will be bound to shift to online mode of education without waiting for any official orders. Delhi continues to grapple with alarming levels of air pollution. The average Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the ‘severe’ category on Wednesday as well. The capital woke up to a thick blanket of smog and reduced visibility . A meeting was held on Wednesday in the Secretariat, it was decided that all Delhi Government offices, except those providing essential and emergency services, would adopt a 50% work-from-home policy . “As many as 18 essential services, including medical care, solid waste management, public cleaning and sanitation, community and public toilets, fire services, power and water supply notified under the Essential and Emergency Services, will continue to operate at full capacity said Rai. ,” Meanwhile, private offices are also being directed to implement work-from-home. Rai said an advisory is being issued to revise private offices’ working hours. On Wednesday at 7 am, Delhi’s average AQI stood at 423 , with the most polluted areas being Mundka (464), followed by Wazirpur and Alipur.  More reports on page 4 Commuters move through smog on a winter morning on Wednesday | pti No hope of better air till Saturday Of 37 monitoring stations, nine were in the “severe plus” category with AQI readings exceeding 450, while 22 were in the “severe” category, with AQI readings above 400. According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, the air quality is expected to remain in the ‘severe’ category on Thursday and Friday and improve to the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday. E-com sites told to stop cracker sale Delhi Police has asked e-commerce websites and social media platforms for immediate cessation of sale of firecrackers. A police statement said that the direction was issued through e-mails to e-commerce sites on November 19. The sites have to activate location-based curbs to prevent any sales or deliveries and publish a notice informing the customers about firecracker ban. Anmol Bishnoi seeks asylum in US MUKE S H R A N J A N a n d Ha r p r e e t B aj w a @ New Delhi/Chandigarh adios, rafa Spanish tennis legend and 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal bid adieu to the sport as he lost in the singles tie against Netherlands in the Davis Cup | afp | P11 In what was seen as a ploy to block his deportation, Anmol Bishnoi, brother of notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has applied for political asylum in the US following his arrest by immigration officers there last week. He was detained in California for entering the country using fake papers — based on information shared by India — and subsequently arrested. Anmol is currently in Iowa’s Pottawattamie County Jail. However, chances are he could have intentionally of- fered himself for detention by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of his strategy to seek asylum, sources said. For, the US legal system is inclined to grant bail in such cases, like it did to another gangster Goldie Brar, sources added. The Mumbai Police has already begun efforts to get Anmol extradited in connection with multiple cases, including the murder of NCP’s Baba Siddique. However, if the case takes a different trajectory, Anmol could first be handed over to the Canadian authorities in connection with the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He is facing more than 32 criminal cases against him in India on charges of abduction, extortion and murder. Of them, at least 20 are registered in Rajasthan. He also managed Lawrence’s extortion cartel and invested the gang’s money in businesses outside India. An official in the Punjab Police said Anmol is the key operator of Lawrance’s global crime syndicate. He worked behind the scenes to manage the businesses and activities of the gang. legend’s visit Lionel Messi’s Argentina to play in Kerala next year E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram It’s been 13 years to date since Lionel Messi mesmerised Indian crowds at the historic and football crazy city of Kolkata. Next year, Kerala, the other football-obsessed part of the country would be watching the living legend dribble and shimmy past opponents wearing an The US Embassy in Kyiv shut its doors on Wednesday after receiving a warning of a significant Russian attack on the city in response to Biden’s decision on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles Brisk polling 50% govt employees in Jharkhand, to work from home, Maharashtra GRAP-4 steps revised BJP seeks probe into Kejriwal ‘opulence’ A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi The latest policy shift comes days after Biden allowed Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike inside Russia toxic air No exit poll sees MVA win in Maharashtra Pollsters predict Maha advantage to ruling alliance PREETH A N A IR @ New Delhi l US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US will supply non-persistent landmines that become unable to detonate over time. “We can control when they would self-activate... and that makes them far more safer eventually,” he said. Anti-personnel land mines have long been criticised because they present a lingering threat to civilians | P9 U.S. embassy shut amid Russian attack fear Argentina jersey. The revered team is all set to play a couple of friendlies in Kerala. This was confirmed by Sports Minister V Abdurahiman on Wednesday He said that the Ar. gentine Football Association (AFA) will make an announcement after a delegation visits the state within two months. The opponents and schedule will be announced later. Kochi is being considered as the primary venue, said the minister during a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram. “The official announcement will be made by a team comprising Kerala and Argentina officials when the AFA delegation visits. FIFA officials will be visiting Kochi to inspect the venue and the security aspects,” Abdurahiman said. Messi last played in India in 2011, when Argentina and Venezuela played an international friendly at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Calling it a dream come true, Keral Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi- jayan attributed the development to the state government’s consistent efforts. “This is something many believed to be impossible, but we have made it a reality for Kerala’s sports lovers. This will be a proud moment for Kerala as our name will resonate on the global sports map,” the chief minister wrote in his Facebook post. express read CBSE Class 10, 12 exams to begin from Feb 15 The board exams for Class 10 and 12 will begin from February 15, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced on Wednesday. The board said the Class 10 exams will conclude on March 18, while Class 12 exams will end on April 4, 2025. For the first time, the datesheet has been issued 86 days in advance. Prasar Bharati’s WAVES launched at IFFI in Goa ‘WAVES, the OTT platform of Prasar Bharati, was launched on Wednesday at 55th International Film Festival of India in Goa. Initially, 65 channels offering content in 10 languages are available on the platform. Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi said they will add programmes in all Indian languages gradually. P7 Professional wrestling mogul to be edu secy President-elect Donald Trump is nominating billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump has promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019. P9