SATURDAY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION MODERATES TO 6.7% IN JULY AS MINING CONTRACTS 29 National Statistics Office (NSO) data released on Friday showed mining and quarrying shrank 0.9% in July against 1% growth in June and 10.7% a year ago AUGUST, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard UKRAINE RESIDENTS WARNED AS RUSSIA UPS ANTE A drone attack early Friday killed one man in Kherson, hours after authorities urged residents to leave as Russian attacks on southern city risk intensified. PAGE 9 INDEX FOR JUNE REVISED FROM 7.3% TO 8.8% A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  The Index of Industrial Production for June was revised from the provisional estimate of 7.3% to 8.8%. According to the NSO, the July headline number of 6.7% was “supported by 7.3% growth in manufacturing and strong growth of 8.7% in electricity & gas supply”. Growth in manufacturing, which carries the largest weight in the index, moderated to 7.3% in July from 9.5% in June | P10 PAGES 12 MISSILE SYSTEM India, US sign pact on Javelin J A V A R I A R A N A @ New Delhi Relatives look at photos (above) of flash flood victims displayed outside a morgue for identification, in Kathmandu on Friday; and Minister S Jaishankar with TN tourists who arrived in Delhi from Nepal | PTI 320 Indians missing, toll tops 580 Around 400 Indians stranded but safe in Tibet; tunnel specialists being sent for rescue ops EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AT least 320 Indian nationals remain uncontactable and around 400 others are stranded but safe on the Chinese side following devastating flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border as India stepped up efforts to trace its citizens and offered Kathmandu a range of rescue and relief assistance. The floods have killed at least 584 people, 579 in Nepal and five in Tibet, while Nepalese authorities put the number of missing around 1,900. The scale of destruction has complicated rescue operations, with fears of further flooding disrupting efforts in several areas. “The damage is just incredible,” Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN resident coordinator for Nepal, said on Friday, adding that more than 40 bridges had been Infosys Public Services CEO Gopisetty unreachable Infosys Public Services CEO Lax Gopisetty has been unreachable after devastating Nepal floods, the company said in a statement. The company said it was working with relevant agencies to gather information and establish contact with him. “We remain in close communication with the family and are providing all necessary support during this difficult time,” Infosys said destroyed or badly damaged and “over 40 km of road completely destroyed.” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 400 Indians stranded on the Chinese side were in touch with their families. The Indian embassy in Beijing is coordinating with Chinese authorities on their evacuation, he added. By Friday evening, 153 Indian nationals had safely crossed from the Chinese side into Nepal by land, officials said. Jaiswal said 320 Indians remained uncontactable while around 100 additional people of Indian origin were also out of contact. Some of the latter may have been travelling for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra but hold other nationalities. Meanwhile, 21 from Tamil Nadu rescued from the flood-hit areas arrived in New Delhi on Friday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar received them at the Delhi airport. The rescued group told Jaishankar about the sudden flooding and expressed gratitude to the Nepal Army for bringing them out. Karnataka govt blinks, minister Nagendra quits City tightens fire safety rules, mandates new standards for buildings D E V A R A J B H I R E H A L L I @ Bengaluru E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Delhi Fire Service Act IN a major setback to the Congress government in Karnataka, Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra resigned on Thursday just 25 days after , being inducted as a minister. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has been facing pressure to drop Nagendra ever since the latter was inducted as minister in the cabinet expansion on August 3. Nagendra said he is stepping down to avoid embarrassment to the party and the CM. He added that he will also resign from the Assembly and dared BJP leaders, who were calling for his ouster, to contest against him. He categorically denied all allegations made against him in the `187 crore Maharshi Valmiki ST Corporation scam. This is the second time that Nagendra is resigning as minister over the same issue. The first time was on June 6, 2024 when Siddaramaiah was chief minister. THE Delhi government has made a range of fire-prevention and fire-safety measures mandatory for buildings in the national capital, including minimum emergency access route for fire engines, fire detection and alarm systems, sprinklers, emergency power and firefighting water storage. Minimum fire-safety requirements will depend on the height and occupancy classification of a building, as prescribed in the Building Bye-Laws. For instance, the rules require a minimum six-metre right of way up to the premises for fire engines to ensure access for firefighting vehicles during emergencies. Buildings, wherever applicable, will have to provide fire extinguishers, first-aid hose reels, automatic fire detection and alarm systems, Manually Operated Electronic Fire Alarm, public address and/or voice evacuation systems and automatic sprinklers. Fire-check doors and/or pressurisation systems are required to protect exits, along with fire and smoke barriers, fire-stopping measures and The provisions have been notified through the Delhi Fire Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026, framed under Section 63 of the Delhi Fire Service Act, 2007. The amended rules will come into force from the date DDA notifies the amended Unified Building Bye-Laws (UBBL), 2016, under the Delhi Development Act, 1957. VALMIKI SCAM smoke-management systems. Internal firefighting arrangements will include wet risers and/or down-comers, yard hydrants or ring mains, and a fire pump house with pumping arrangements and protected access for firefighters. Buildings will also need captive water storage for firefighting, exit signage, floor numbering and reflective tape markings in corridors leading to exits. Fire towers and fire lifts will be required wherever applicable. Emergency power must be provided for fire and life-safety systems, including fire pumps, pressurisation and smoke-venting systems, exit signage and emergency lighting, fire alarm systems, emergency public-address systems. “We are still very much focused on contacting all the Indians there,” Jaishankar said. India has also intensified humanitarian assistance. A third military flight carrying 10 tonnes of relief supplies departed for Kathmandu on Friday, taking India’s emergency assistance since Wednesday night to 47.5 tonnes. The latest consignment includes portable generators, dignity kits, food packets and water-purification tablets. An 11-member team of doctors, paramedics and tunnel-rescue specialists was also sent. Jaishankar said tunnel specialists were being sent because people could potentially be trapped at a hydropower project. He also reviewed the crisis with senior officials, with India’s ambassadors in Kathmandu and Beijing joining virtually P5, P8 & P9 . INDIAN Army has signed a formal contract with the US to procure the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile system, a weapon it has been seeking since 2009. “BIG news! India plans to buy the battletested Javelin anti-tank system,” US envoy to India Sergio Gor wrote on X. He said the purchase could open the way to co-production of the missile in India. Gor linked the development to remarks made by the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue earlier this year, where Hegseth had said India would acquire the anti-tank missile system. The purchase is being processed under the Indian Army’s emergency procurement powers, which allow service headquarters to conclude urgent acquisitions within a delegated financial ceiling of `300 crore. The quantities involved are limited. In November last year, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale to India of 100 Javelin rounds, one fly-to-buy missile and 25 launch units at an estimated cost of $45.7 million, together with trainers, simulation rounds and spares. The quantity India has contracted is understood to be smaller. Lt Gen Ajay Kumar, former Director General of Infantry had said in October 2025 that the , Army was pursuing 12 launchers and 104 missiles. A Congressional notification records approval for a possible sale and not the quantity eventually ordered. The Javelin can be set to attack from above, where the armour of a tank is thinnest and carries a tandem warhead intended to defeat explosive reactive armour. Its softlaunch mechanism permits firing from within a bunker or an enclosed room, a useful attribute in mountainous terrain. BIG news! India plans to buy the battle-tested Javelin antitank system. … The engagement between our two nations is at record high levels! Sergio Gor Emergency powers The missile purchase is being processed under the Indian Army’s emergency procurement powers, which permit its headquarters to conclude urgent acquisitions within a delegated financial ceiling of `300 crore as per needs. DELHI Police has busted an ISIlinked espionage module with the arrest of a couple who had been working for Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) via social media since 2024. The couple procured Indian SIM cards and sent them to Pakistan via Dubai for use by PIOs, police said, adding that they were tasked with providing information and recruiting people to conduct reconnaissance of cantonment areas at different locations in India. According to police, the module had recruited local people in Delhi for logistical support and used them to procure Indian SIM cards. WhatsApp accounts were activated on these numbers in Pakistan and used to gather sensitive information on Indian defence. The couple have been identified as Mohammad Sahil, 25, a resident of Sarai Kale Khan, and his wife, Sameera. Forensic analysis of Sahil’s mobile phone found incriminating chats with Pakistani agents. During interrogation, Sahil said that he had come in contact with a Pakistani agent on Instagram in 2024 through Sameera, whom he later married. The agent introduced them to a PIO, who convinced the two to work for the network in return for money, DCP (Special Cell) Narra Chaitanya said. CONTINUED ON P4 The Centre on Friday appointed five officers at the senior level in the National Testing Agency (NTA). The appointments include a joint director, a joint secretary and three directors. Anshuman Sharma will be the new joint secretary for five years. P7 Keeping nerve against Fabiano in the final After trailing 9-3 in the summit clash of the four-man Grand Finals, the 21-year-old showed his gumption and class by taking the lead in the Rapid section of the final before sealing the win in the Blitz format. One month on tour What’s more remarkable is that he has spent the majority of the last month on tour in the US playing two GCT events before advancing to the final. In all, he has played over 50 games and 70 hours | P11 @ New Delhi NTA gets 5 top officials in overhaul exercise ON THURSDAY, R PRAGGNANANDHAA BECAME THE FIRST INDIAN TO WIN THE GRAND CHESS TOUR 2026. A LOOK AT HOW HE WON IT... The Grand Chess Tour is a series of elite events between the world’s best players before the top four players of the preliminary stages advance to the final. It’s held across all three established time controls (Classical, Rapid and Blitz) EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE EXPRESS READ PATHBREAKER PRAGG Explaining the GCT Pak-linked spy ring busted, couple nabbed $404,354 The money Pragg earned by winning the GCT this year IIT-Delhi director warns students of stern action IIT-Delhi students escalated protest on the campus on Thursday night, prompting director Rangan Banerjee to warn them of disciplinary action. The students have been protesting since the suicide of an MSc student on August 22. P3 Why Penguin pressured Sonia to purge sections EX P R ESS N E WS S E RV I C E @ New Delhi THE central point of contention between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Penguin Random House India was the publisher’s demand to retract passa g es containing her “frank” assessment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and references to mishandling of “Chinese incursion” during his tenure, a senior party functionary said. According to the functionary, the passages were not based on “hearsay” but on Sonia’s “relevant interactions” and assessment. The functionary described the remarks as “candid” saying Sonia had written about what she had observed and experienced in her dealings with the prime minister as “both as the leader of a political party and a person in public life”. The functionary said the issue was not about routine fact- checking, but with “substantive changes to the political content of the memoir”. The functionary said the concern was that substantially “altering” or “removing” those passages would change the “character” of Sonia’s account and “assessment” of contemporary political events. Penguin denied that it decided against publishing the memoir because Sonia refused editorial changes, and said it is “not the publisher of the book in India”. “Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish Belonging because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances,” it said on Friday . Cong ress leader Ashok Gehlot alleged that Penguin India wanted changes to portions concerning “Modi, the RSS and China’s ‘occupation of Indian territory’.” US COURT You can’t ‘fail’ school board exam in Bihar, but ‘eligible for skill training’ RULES PENTAGON BAN ON AI GIANT UNLAWFUL A US federal judge has ruled that sanctions imposed by the administration against AI giant Anthropic were illegal. The judge said it was driven by “desire to make public example” of the firm | P9 R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna THE Bihar government plans to make school board exams “fail” safe—even for students who don’t clear them. It plans to replace “Fail” with “Eligible for Skill Training” in their marksheets. The justification offered is poor results should not become a label for a student’s ability or future. Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari said on Friday that the rules would be changed accordingly and guidelines will be issued to Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). “Failure to secure the expected marks does not diminish a child’s talent,” Tiwari said, adding that students should be encouraged rather than labelled on the basis of their examination performance. The government is also planning additional support for students appearing for the matric- ulation supplementary exam. Tiwari said that special classes would be held for one month to help these students improve their chances of clearing the examination. The changes come as the state government is taking steps to provide more support to teachers and students. Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is scheduled to launch the Teacher Support Portal on Teachers’ Day September 5. One teacher , Marks should not diminish a child’s talent: Minister The government plans to replace “fail” with “eligible for skill training” in the marksheets, saying poor results should not become a label for a student’s ability or future. Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari said, “Failure to secure expected marks does not diminish a child’s talent.” from each district will be selected for a state-level award. Students from the gover nment’s model schools and teachers from DIET and SCERT will attend the event. The government has also launched the “Vidya Saathi” app for students of Classes IX to XII. The platform will connect students with teachers around the clock. About 75,000 teachers are expected to provide one-on-one academic sup- port through the app. The initiative is aimed at giving students access to online learning along with classroom education. It will help them prepare for competitive examinations, including medical and engineering entrance tests. An official said that students of Classes IX to XII enrolled in 700 Saraswati Vidya Niketan model schools across Bihar would get free and unlimited access to the platform.