SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard JEFFREY EPSTEIN DONALD TRUMP SUSPENDS GREEN CARD LOTTERY PROGRAMME US JUSTICE DEPT TO RELEASE FILES The US Justice Department will release several hundred thousand documents from the investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein case, an official said PAGE 9 Move certain to invite legal challenge A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 The diversity visa programme makes up to 50,000 green cards available to people from countries with little representation in the US. Trump’s move will invite legal challenges. His decision comes after it was found that Brown University shooting suspect from Portugal used the visa to enter the US. | P9 GOVT, OPPOSITION PASS THE BUCK ON DISCUSSING ‘NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY’ The government agreed to hold a debate [on pollution] after Rahul Gandhi demanded it. Now the government is running away from it —Congress leader Yunus admin shaken A girl saves books from a shop near the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper in Dhaka | AP/PTI STUDENT LEADER’S DEATH ROILS B’DESH Media offices torched in Dhaka; Hindu youth lynched in Mymensingh; Indian mission in Chattogram attacked J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi BANGLADESH has slipped into one of its most volatile moments since the 2024 students-led uprising, with political violence, attacks on the press, and the brutal lynching of a Hindu minority man pushing the country closer to the brink ahead of the national elections set for February 12, 2026. Tensions soared on Thursday night after news broke about the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the July uprising and a candidate in the upcoming elections. Hadi died in a Singapore hospital, six days after he was shot in the head by masked assailants in Dhaka. In protest, hundreds of mostly young protesters poured into the streets, setting fire to the offices of Prothom Alo, the country’s largest daily, and The Daily Star. Both dailies missed their print editions for the first time in their history Sources . said the papers may have been targeted for being seen as pro-Sheikh Hasina and pro-India. In another incident on Thursday night, a Hindu man was lynched in Mymensingh city over alleged blasphemy . The victim, identified as 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, a factory worker, was beaten to death by a mob, hanged from a tree and later set on fire. Videos of the gruesome killing circulated Visibility drops to zero, dense fog alert in city E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi LARGE swathes of the capital saw a dense blanket of fog on Friday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a red alert and warning of prolonged low-visibility conditions over the next few days. Met officials said the city could continue to face intense fog in the coming days and issued an orange alert for Saturday The IMD issues a red alert . when visibility falls under 50 metres and the fog is in “very dense” category . According to the IMD, the early hours of Saturday will see dense to very dense fog, which will subside as the day progresses. On Sunday and Monday the , morning hours are likely to see moderate to dense fog in most of the city The . forecast suggests that the next week will see shallow to moderate fog, indicating little immediate relief from weather conditions. IMD observations from Thursday and Friday showed extremely poor visibility, with Safdarjung briefly reporting zero visibility, while the open areas of Palam recorded visibility only up to 50 metres, underscoring the difficulty faced by late-night and early morning drivers on city roads. widely on social media, fuelling fear. The spiralling violence has further shaken the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has already been under fire for failing to restore order since taking office in August 2024. The Yunus administration dismissed the attacks as the work of “a few fringe elements” and warned against mob violence. “We strongly and unequivocally condemn all acts of violence, intimidation, arson, and destruction of properties,” it said in a statement, adding: “At this critical hour, we call upon every citizen to honour Hadi by rejecting and resisting violence, incitement and hatred.” The interim government also condemned the attacks on the media, calling them “tantamount to an attack on free media” and a major obstacle to democratic progress. As for the lynching of the Hindu youth, it said “the perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared.” The unrest has not been confined to Dhaka. Protesters vandalised the already demolished structure of 32 Dhanmondi, the former home of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, detaining 12 protesters. P9 The fresh violence has shaken the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, which is facing criticism for failing to restore order in the country since taking office in August 2024 Known for anti-India stand Sharif Osman Hadi (pic) was a key figure in the July ’24 uprising. Known for his anti-India stand, he circulated maps showing Indian areas as part of ‘Greater Bangladesh’ Some Congress members conveyed that there was no need for a debate on pollution. That is why it could not be taken up —Kiren Rijiju, Parliamentary affairs minister No pollution debate in House P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AS Parliament adjourned sine die on Friday a political blame , game erupted with the ruling BJP accusing the opposition of “stalling” the debate on air pollution in Delhi-NCR. Though the Lok Sabha was scheduled to hold a debate on pollution on Thursday, it did not take place after Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House after the passage of the VB-RAM G Bill. The government on Friday said some MPs had shown “unacceptable behaviour” during the debate on the rural jobs guarantee bill. Responding to the allegations, a Congress leader told this newspaper that Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour and urged for a debate. “The government agreed to hold a debate after Rahul Gandhi demanded it. Now the government is running away from it,” he said. Calling air pollution a “national health emergency”, Gan- dhi had urged a structured debate with concrete measures. Addressing a press conference after the session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, termed the session as “very productive” as eight bills were passed after debates. “But the opposition’s behaviour during the debate in the Lok Sabha on the G-RAM-G Bill was unacceptable. Some of the members even stood on the table of the Lok Sabha Secretary General. Some Congress members also conveyed that there was no need for a debate on pollution. That is why the issue could not be taken up for discussion,” he said. Expressing regret for being unable to hold the debate on air pollution, Rijiju said that the government was fully ready for the discussion and the minister concerned got ready after the subject was listed in the name of three members—Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Bansuri Swaraj (BJP). HOW ARE YOU BREATHING? Non-functional data board at IMD Lodi Road centre The IMD building in Lodi Road has an air quality monitoring station to provide data on pollution. This reporter was refused entry when he went there to see its condition. Senior official Rajendra Jenamani said that the IMD premises did not have an AQI station and had just a digital board to display data from other stations. The board (above) was incidentally non-functional. However, another official said a station existed in the premises and the validity of the board had ‘expired’. —Anup Verma “We were fully ready for the debate on pollution. But the Congress encouraged others to stage protests on the G-RAM-G Bill in the Well of the House. Learning Malayalam, Priyanka tells Modi at Speaker’s ‘chai pe charcha’ P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi No one can stop the democratic progress through threat, terrorist activities, or bloodshed —Muhammad Yunus We cannot help but take note of the govt’s relaxed attitude towards the security of news outlets —The Daily Star ISRO’S ROCKET TO LAUNCH US SATELLITE ON DEC 24 ISRO’s rocket will launch a communication satellite of a US-based firm AST SpaceMobile; the BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver 24/7 high-speed broadband directly to smartphones worldwide A light-hearted exchange over ‘Wayanad turmeric’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Ethiopia visit figured in the friendly conversation between Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the PM at the customary tea hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday af, ter the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament. Priyanka, the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, is understood to have told Modi that she is learning Malayalam so that it helps while conversing with her constituents. She also asked the PM about his recent three-nation trip to Africa and the Middle East. Modi is learnt to have said that the impression many people have in India about Ethiopia is quite different from the actual position of that country which , is progressing very well socially and economically . The tea party is a customary meeting hosted by the Speaker with leaders of different parties after every session. The Opposition had stayed away from the meeting since the 2024 Monsoon Session alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the tea party | PTI its members were not allowed to speak during debates. Congress sources said the party decided to attend it this time around following a decision by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge. While the Opposition remains opposed to the bills, they felt the Chair was relatively fair during this session. This, they said, was in contrast to the previous session, when they were not allowed to speak. When SP leader Dharmendra Yadav observed that the Winter Session was one of the shortest, the PM told him in a friendly manner that it was good for his throat as he didn’t have to shout for too many days, inviting laughter from those present, sources said. RSP’s N K Premachandran too complained about the short session, with Speaker Birla reminding him that he had given him ample opportunities to speak on any subject. Priyanka joined in, saying that many MPs like her always look at Premachandran’s conduct in the House and try to learn various aspects of parliamentary proceedings, sources said. Those who attended the tea party included Manickam Tagore, Kumari Selja, Supriya Sule, A Raja, Ram Mohan Naidu, Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Chirag Paswan. P7 POLARISING JUGGERNAUT Dhurandhar past Baahubali, Dangal; eyes `1K cr club Link with identity Dhurandhar clings to the popular ideas of patriotism, slyly encouraging autocracy. That explains the brutal ‘pushback’ against the critics who panned it. When a movie is so linked with identity, any critique of the film appears like an attack on identity itself. Should we be so insecure about our identity that we allow a film to define it? Even these lines are blurring. Dhurandhar is just the tip of that iceberg. B H H A R S H @ Hyderabad AT a time when most films struggle to go beyond a week or two in their theatrical run, Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar has done the seemingly impossible. After earning more than `200 crore in its first week, the film outdid those figures in week two. For small films that sometimes pick up gradually, it’s a great accomplishment. For a big money-g rosser like Dhurandhar, it is almost like spotting a shooting star. The film centred on an Indian intelligence operative (Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari), who infiltrates Pakistan’s underworld, has been receiving rave reviews from celebs and fans, even if quite a few critics haven’t taken a shine to it. And the juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down. After breaching the `500 crore mark in 10 days, Dhurand- har has earned over `700 crore globally and is well on track to , enter the `1,000 crore club. In its run so far, the film has comfortably crossed the domestic collections of landmark films like SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali, Rajinikanth’s 2.0, Aamir Khan’s Dangal, and Prabhas’ Salaar. There is a case to be made about the blurring lines between fact and fiction in Dhurandhar, with the disclaimer saying it is a work of fiction, but it includes audio and visuals from real-life incidents. On the surface, Dhurandhar probably works like a conventional gangster drama, and the apolitical audience members are enjoying it superficially . On the other hand, it frequently scrapes on our real wounds made by turbulent ties with Pakistan. This illusion is what has made the film and its responses a major talking point. They threw papers, stood atop desks and stalled the proceedings. I want to tell the opposition that they won’t get votes through such tactics,” he said. EXPRESS READ Pope Leo may visit India next year-end or in 2027 First US-born pontiff Pope Leo XIV is likely to visit India by the end of 2026 or in 2027. Interacting with a delegation of the Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Church, led by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, on December 15, the Pope, who was elected head of Catholic Church eight months ago, showed his willingness to visit India. Environmental responsibility part of CSR, says SC bench 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 Friday held that companies cannot claim to be socially responsible while disregarding the protection of wildlife and fragile ecosystems af fected by their operations. A two-judge bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar while hearing submissions in the long-running case on conservation of critically endangered Great Indian Bustard held that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) cannot be divorced from a company’s environmental responsibility. “CSR funds are not acts of philanthropy but instruments to discharge constitutional and fiduciary duties, particularly where corporate activities threaten endangered species,” the bench said. The case was filed in 2019 by environmentalist M K Ranjitsinh seeking urgent measures to prevent the extinction of the Great Indian Bustard, whose populations have declined due to habitat loss and collisions with overhead power lines in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Disposing of the writ petitions, the court ruled that survival of the Great Indian Bustard is non-negotiable, adding fir ms benefiting from natural landscapes must shoulder responsibility for conserving them.