THURSDAY GERMANY READY TO SIGN $8 BILLION SUBMARINE AGREEMENT WITH INDIA 24 The India-Germany deal to build six submarines under Project 75(I) has been finalised on the German side, its envoy to India Dr Jasper Wieck said SEPTEMBER, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard WEST ASIA DIDN’T BEND THE KNEE TO US: IRAN Waiting for India’s green light: German envoy “It has already been finalised and the German side has agreed to it. It is now up to the Indian side to complete and conclude its internal processes,” Wieck said. The proposed deal, estimated at `90,000 crore, sees India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders partnering with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp to build six conventional submarines in India, with technology transfer component built in | P7 Iran’s president said on Wednesday that his people have been ‘victims of terrorism’ by the US, delivering a rare wartime speech at UNGA A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 9  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 2023 WHEN GERMANY STEPPED IN AS FOREIGN PARTNER FOR PROJECT 75 (I) Constitution bench to hear case on axing CJI from ECI pick panel In split verdict, Justice Dipankar Datta raps ’23 law dropping CJI from selection committee The students of LSR College hold a protest march on Wednesday | EXPRESS L-G orders park safety audit within 1 wk after Astha Kunj gang-rape EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Wednesday directed a comprehensive safety audit of all parks in the city within a week and ordered the deployment of Pink Police personnel around park premises following the gang-rape of a teenage girl at Astha Kunj Park in Kalkaji area. The DDA and MCD will conduct the audit in their respective jurisdictions, while the Delhi Police has intensified policing in parks and vulnerable pockets across the city . Sandhu gave the directions after meeting the Delhi Police Commissioner, MCD commissioner and DDA vice-chairman. The audit will focus on adequate lighting, security, regular patrolling, cleanliness and sanitation. The DDA vice-chairman and MCD commissioner will TAIWAN HOPES US ARMS SALES ON DESPITE CHINA PREZ TRIP shortly launch the safety audit of all parks under their jurisdictions and submit reports within a week. The audit will examine lighting, the presence of security guards at all entry and exit points, patrolling by guards inside parks, particularly after sunset, and cleanliness and sanitation arrangements. The Delhi Police has been directed to strengthen beat patrolling around parks, including deployment of Pink Police personnel. Beat constables and local police in-charges have also been asked to make regular visits to parks. The DDA is set to conduct its safety audit starting Thursday and has issued directions to strengthen security arrangements across all parks. The DDA said it had taken immediate cognizance of the incident at Astha Kunj Park and initiated preventive measures to improve public safety . CONTINUED ON P3 With Xi Jinping arriving in Washington to meet with Donald Trump, Taiwan expressed confidence that US arms sales to the island will continue despite Beijing’s pressure. | P9 THE Supreme Court-mandated Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed a nearly 70,000-page chargesheet against eight accused arrested and jailed in connection with the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case before the Additional District Judge (Corruption) Court in Ayodhya on Wednesday . The chargesheet names Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. The chargesheet was filed within the statutory 90-day period from the first arrest in connection with the case. It includes charges of criminal breach of trust and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused. The swindling of Ram temple donation funds had surfaced on June 7 and a case was registered later in the month after the SIT’s probe flagged suspected diversion of funds. Investigators recovered `79.85 lakh in cash from all accused e x c e p t S r iv a s t av a . T h e chargesheet spans around 70,000 pages, over 100 case diaries, statements of 190 witnesses, banking records, property details, asset trails and findings of a forensic audit. v Union of India case directed @ New Delhi that appointments to the poll panel be made on the advice of T H E S u p r e m e C o u r t o n a committee comprising the Wednesday directed that a Prime Minister, Leader of Opbatch of petitions challenging position (LoP) in the Lok Sabthe 2023 law governing the ap- ha, and the Chief Justice of pointments to the Election India until Parliament enacted Commission be decided by a a law. Constitution bench after a diviWhile the law—the Chief sion bench delivered a split ver- Election Commissioner and dict on whether the matter other Election Commissioners should be referred to a larger (Appointment, Conditions of bench as sought by the Centre. Service and Term of Office) Justice Dipankar Datta re- Act, 2023—retained the format jected the Union’s plea for a ref- of the panel, it replaced CJI erence to a larger bench, while with a Union minister. Justice Satish ChanJustice Datta made dra Sharma saw the strong observations need for substantial about the composition interpretation of law. of the selection panel, Justice Sharma said saying it hands the exin his separate opinecutive a veto in apion that the arguments pointments. He said advanced on behalf of the Union minister, the Centre by the Atserving at the pleasure Justice Dipankar tor ney General R of the PM, cannot act Datta Venkataramani and as a neutral check in Solicitor General the selection panel. Tushar Mehta for re“Free and fair elecferring the issue to a tions depend on a truly larger bench are wellindependent ECI. It is founded. not enough for the ECI Despite the differto be independent; it ences in opinion, both must appear to be injudges directed that dependent,” he said, Justice Satish the papers be placed adding a “PM’s nomiChandra Sharma before the Chief Jusnee cannot be expected tice of India for setting to defy the PM.” up a Constitution bench of not Consequently, Justice Datta less than five judges, noting also said, the LoP becomes a that sending the matter to a mere ornamental presence, unthree-judge bench could only able to further the purpose of delay adjudication. his inclusion as an independBoth judges also recorded ent voice. concerns over the pendency of Justice Datta also criticised Constitution bench matters the selective manner in which and requested the Chief Jus- the Central government clears tice to explore the possibility of Supreme Court collegium proforming a permanent Constitu- posals at times. He added that tion bench. the judiciary often chooses not The 2023 law was enacted by to confront the executive on Parliament after the Supreme such matters to avoid head-on Court’s Constitution Bench conflicts and avert a possible judgment in Anoop Baranwal Constitutional crisis. Oppn renews demand to scrap SIR, impeach CEC Gyanesh Kumar PA R V E Z S U LTA N & M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi OPPOSITION parties on Wednesday lit into the Centre and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after a media report suggested that the two election commissioners—Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi—objected to some orders pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as the poll panel claimed all its decisions were unanimous. Citing the report, Opposition parties called for action against the CEC and demanded that SIR be scrapped. While the Congress renewed its demand for Kumar’s impeachment, the TMC, AAP, and Shiv Sena (UBT) called for his arrest. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said any wrongdoings committed by the poll body amounts to “treason” and should be treated as such. DMK president M K Stalin said CEC Kumar has no right to continue in office and must resign forthwith. He also demanded that the SIR exercise be halted and called for an impartial probe “into everything that transpired within the EC” and called for action against those responsible. Rejecting the claims made in the media report, the Election Commission said differing views are a normal part of deliberation in any institution and stated that all its orders “are an Gyanesh Kumar, outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full CEC Commission in the past one year”. According to the report, the two ECs’ objections were about the way the statutory voter registration Form 6 was amended, the handling of additions and deletions from voter lists, and centralised control over the electoral roll database. Speaking to this paper, former Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said the way changes to Form 6 were brought about was “absolutely wrong and illegal”. According to him, the reported objections raised by the two ECs were ‘a very serious issue’. He said: “The way Form 6 has been amended is wrong and illegal.” Rawat, who served as CEC from January to December 2018, said the law did not permit such changes without following the prescribed procedure. He referred to Supreme Court rulings which, he said, have held that changes to the statutory framework governing Form 6 require action by the government. “Such a situation has perhaps rarely emerged in the Election Commission. I have also been there, but I saw that decisions were always taken unanimously Rawat said. P7 ,” India raises concerns over Russia sanctions law with US Chargesheet against 8 in Ram temple donation case N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Mirabai Chanu celebrates her silver medal on Wednesday | PTI WEIGHT, WAIT OFF LIFTER MIRABAI’S SHOULDERS INDRANEEL DAS EXPRESS @ ASIAN GAMES NAGOYA F IRST, the news. Mirabai Chanu, 32, won her first Asian Games medal here on Wednesday: silver, India’s first in any weightlifting discipline at this level since Karnam Malleswari in 1998. It is like completing the Grand Slam for a tennis player or a treble with the World Cup for a footballer. But the story of her medal goes beyond the news. Mirabai’s lifting is no longer about barbells and weights. It has transcended that. Doctors, physios and nutritionists have become part of her life. Preparation no longer depends only on lifting weights and physical training. It goes beyond that. Every time she has been written off, she has found a way That is why this . medal would be rated among the biggest of her career. Not because it took her 12 years, but because of the timing — when the body is ageing, with aching bones and muscles because of multiple injuries and when the end is in sight. Just before the Paris Olympics, one of her coaches had narrated a poignant story Af. ter returning from the last Asiad, it seemed like the walls were closing. No one came to wish her. “When I lose, no one comes; it’s really sad,” the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist had said. She was hurt. Physical pain is part and parcel, but it was this disregard that had caused her more pain. On Wednesday she had some pro, found words to say “My life is . complete now.” And it’s easy to see why This was the only . thing missing from her CV. Now, she feels relieved. A burden has been lifted. Her support cast — head coach Vijay Sharma, physio Rohit Chhabria, nutritionist Tajinder Kaur, psychologist Mugde Bavare and doctor Dinshaw Pardiwala — has also played an integral part in her journey P11 . EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has raised India’s “interests and concerns” over the United States’ new Russia sanctions legislation during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly . “Reiterated India’s interests and concerns with regard to SRIA. Also discussed the Gulf and Ukraine situations,” Jaishankar said in a post on X. The talks between the two leaders came after US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law last Friday It gives the US Pres. ident the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries, including India and Chi- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar greets US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the UN General Assembly | PTI na, that purchase Russian oil and gas. The legislation is widely seen as a rapid expansion of Washington’s sanctions framework targeting Russia. The White House said the law “authorises and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran.” India continues to purchase Trump backs IMEEC corridor US President Donald Trump said he strongly supports India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, saying there is a need to shift energy infrastructure away from Iranian checkpoints amid multiple strikes on West Asian countries Russian energy which has been , an important part of its strategy to secure affordable supplies amid disruptions. Jaishankar’s meeting with Rubio also covered the conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine. Sources said Rubio is likely to visit India on October 19. And he may travel to Australia for the QUAD foreign ministers meeting. SC stays HC order asking DM to pay `5L to student S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Allahabad High Court’s order directing Gautam Buddha Nag ar district magistrate Medha Roopam to pay `5 lakh compensation to Delhi University student Akriti Chaudhary over her detention under the NSA during the Noida workers’ protest. A two-judge bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order. During the hearing, the bench orally observed that Roopam’s actions could not be viewed in isolation if the detention order was the outcome of a fivestage process involving several authorities. Senior Adv o c a t e Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that the “DM acted on police reports”, which were channelled through the SHO, DCP and commissioner, followed by review by the NSA Advisory Board. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also appearing for the UP government, argued that five procedural stages preceded the order and that the DM formed her subjective satisfaction only after statutory safeguards. The court observed that where the chain moves “from top to bottom”, the DM cannot be isolated for liability . Roopam had moved SC on September 13 challenging the HC’s direction that `5 lakh compensation be recovered from her salary and paid to Chaudhary She also . challenged the direction recording displeasure against her in her service records. 7 DELHI BJP LEADERS NAMED IN-CHARGE OF STATES Seven Delhi BJP leaders were deputed as in-charges and co-incharges of various state units of the party, after party president conducted a major reshuffle, especially for poll-bound states | P3 Prof sent on leave over student death, panel formed S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai IIT-Bombay professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who is an accused in the alleged suicide death of a 20-year-old secondyear BTech student Sahil Wakode, has been sent on compulsory leave to enable an impartial investigation, sources said on Wednesday . Earlier, he was removed as the dean of administrative affairs. The development comes as IIT-Bombay’s Board of Gov- ernance formed a 10-member Venkateswaran, will head the high-level panel to examine the panel, which has three students, circumstances surrounding Sa- members of the faculty, an adhil’s death on the campus. It ministrator, a former vigilance will also look into the concerns officer, and a psychiatrist. raised by the student’s Meanwhile, the parents, including alCrime Branch of the le gations of casteMumbai Police rebased harassment at vealed that after rethe institute. turning from the exam The panel has a week hall on September 18, to submit its findings. Sahil went to his hosChairman of the Board tel room around 1.30 of Governors at IITpm. He dialled a friend S Doolla Palakkad, Ramesh at 2.20 pm. In what was likely his last call, Sahil reportedly said, “I made a mistake. My earlier Thermodynamics paper did not go well either, and now this has happened.” Earlier, the police had collected the CCTV footage from the exam hall, where a verbal confrontation took place between Doolla and Sahil. The police has already sent the footage for forensic examination. Sahil’s parents have demanded that Doolla be arrested.