MONDAY RESUMPTION OF WAR WILL NOT CHANGE IRAN’S STANCE: ARAGHCHI 26 OCTOBER, 2026 Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that resumption of war with the US and Israel would not change his country’s position epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard LULA-BOLSONARO BRAZIL VOTES, AWAITS VERDICT Brazil held its breath on Sunday as voters went to the polls to decide between leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his challenger Flavio Bolsonaro PAGE 00 PAGE 9 Presiding officers to talk legislative rules in Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE COMMENT COMES AFTER DON HINTS AT RENEWED ATTACKS A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 EC hiding software info to ‘Cong gave loans bury manipulation: Cong to the rich, we MODI AT RBI EVENT Kharge demands annulment of assembly polls held in the past 2 yrs @ New Delhi M U K E S H R A N J A N & R A M A S H A N K A R @ New Delhi/Patna DELHI Assembly will host a meeting of the Committee of Presiding Officers, constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, to formulate a Uniform Model of the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business for Legislative Bodies” across the country, assembly speaker Vijender Gupta said on Sunday . The meeting on October 27 will bring together presiding officers and representatives of the Legislative Assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi. The committee will deliberate on a draft report containing recommendations for the proposed Uniform Model Rules, an Assembly Secretariat statement said. The discussions are expected to focus on examining the recommendations, addressing issues requiring further consideration and building consensus on a common procedural framework for legislative bodies. The draft report is expected to be taken up for consideration and adoption, subject to the outcome of the deliberations. The presiding officers’ meeting will also help determine the next steps towards finalising the proposed model rules and taking the recommendations forward through the appropriate institutional process, the statement said. THE Congress on Sunday escalated its campaign against the Election Commission, accusing the poll body of suppressing crucial information about the ECINET software, while party chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) be halted immediately , assembly polls held in the past two years annulled, and future elections be held through ballot papers. The opposition party cited media reports about the poll body refusing to disclose the technical details of the ECINET software sought through RTI and alleged it was done to hide the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls. “The ECI is repeatedly refusing to provide this information because it will reveal the reality of the massive, centralised manipulation that has taken place,” said Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, adding the poll panel must clarify whether it is using artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, speaking at an event in Patna on Sunday Kharge called for return to ballot papers , to preserve the sanctity of election process and demanded the assembly polls held in the past two years should be annulled. Interestingly he named only the BJP-ruled West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar and Maharashtra; Congress won in Kerala and is sharing power with the TVK in Tamil Nadu, where elections were held in 2026. Launching a fierce attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Congress chief alleged there were large-scale irregularities during the SIR process that influenced election results, accusing the CEC of enabling ‘vote theft’ under the garb of SIR. Kharge described the anti-SIR stir as a “second war of independence” and urged people to participate in INDIA bloc’s November 1 protest rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. “The protest by Opposition INDIA bloc in New Delhi is aimed at ousting of CEC Gyanesh Kumar,” the Congress president added, while speaking at an event to mark the 139th birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister Shri Krishna Singh. Elections should be held using ballots to ensure transparency and restore public confidence. Democracy must be protected, and every vote must count Mallikarjun Kharge Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in Patna on Sunday| PTI Row over remark Kharge’s impromptu remarks during the Patna event triggered a political row. When a person in the audience said, “Modi won’t go anywhere or lose power”, Kharge retorted, “Even Modi’s father will go,” prompting a commotion at the venue | P7 BJP meets to mull how to ‘expose’ Oppn protests, rally RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @New Delhi STRATEGIES to counter the Opposition’s protests against the Chief Election Commissioner and its November 1 rally were discussed at a top-level BJP meeting on Sunday as the , party strategised on “exposing” the Congress-backed efforts in its national ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ campaign. The meeting, chaired by party chief Nitin Nabin and attended by senior leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, discussed how the party could push back on the Opposition’s charges against the Special Intensive Revision of poll rolls, sources said. Plans for the BJP’s poll campaign in 2027 Assembly elections in UP, Punjab and three other states were also on the agenda. Sources said the leaders discussed a series of nationwide activities aimed at questioning the Opposition’s role in upholding democracy and highlighting achievements of the Modi government. “The meeting may have discussed spreading how the Congress and its allies want the inclusion of dead and fake voters in the voters’ lists under the pretext of protesting and demoralising a constitutional body like the Election Commission,” claimed a source. helped the poor’ S U D A R S A N M A H A R A N A A N D B I J O Y P R A D H A N @ Bhubaneswar PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched an attack on the Congress, saying that before 2014, a different kind of phone-banking system was operating in the country, which was available only to a handful of people, either from the party or those well connected with the powerful. Inaugurating the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Infovalley-II in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, Modi said, bank loans worth thousands of crores of rupees were given through phone banking to certain Congress leaders and people with whom they had connections. “The poor and middle class families need- The new ecosystem ed a guarantor to open a bank ac- which is developed count. But in the phone banking through Digital India scheme of the Congress, thousands has taken banking of crores of rupees were available for services to every citizen of the country the rich at any time. As a result of this mismanagement, India’s bank- Narendra Modi ing system was hit by NPAs. The banking system was on the verge of ‘India needs to collapse,” he said. He said banks were nationalised in protect its infra’ the 1960s and 1970s in the name of PM said India’s helping the poor. Yet, until 2014, more growing economic than half of the country’s population strength has made it remained outside the banking eco- imperative to protect system. Banking products were a dis- its financial infra from tant dream even for the middle class. cybercriminals and Poor people, small farmers and land- cyber terrorists. Today, less women could not even imagine wars are not fought accessing them, he said. by weapons, he said. Referring to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s observation that only 15 paise of every rupee sent from Delhi reached beneficiaries, the Prime Minister said direct benefit transfers had enabled the intended amounts to reach beneficiaries directly . More than 59 crore Jan Dhan accounts have enabled direct transfers of government benefits to beneficiaries, eliminating leakages in welfare delivery . Schemes such as MUDRA, PM SVANidhi and PM Vishwakarma have extended formal credit to small entrepreneurs, street vendors and traditional artisans. Today digital , banking in India has connected everyone with 24-hour banking services, he said. Int’l drug network busted, `100 crore hawala entries uncovered, says Shah M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi COORDINATED raids by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and state police forces helped dismantle a transnational narcotics cartel operating across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. He added that raids were carried out at 38 places in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, leading to 18 arrests, freezing of 1,424 bank accounts and uncovering of hawala transactions worth nearly `100 crore. The operation, conducted on October 23 and codenamed “Operation Trident”, resulted in attachment of properties worth `17.82 crore, seizure of 500 detonators and the recovery of `12 lakh in cash. Shah said, “Central agencies and police forces in three nor theaster n states carried out simultaneous operations to dismantle the international drug trafficking network and expose its financial links.” The cartel allegedly used the corridor connecting India, Myanmar and Bangladesh to move narcotics across borders, which Shah described as ‘Death Triangle Corridor’. Investigations by NCB, Mizo- ram Police and ED uncovered a wider network of facilitators, shell entities and money mules supporting the cartel. The probe identified the kingpin as Myanmar-based Thangcintuang, alias Chintuang or Tluanga, who was wanted in more than 10 cases under NDPS Act. He was arrested in Delhi. Other key operatives arrested earlier included Vungkhanthawna, a facilitator responsible for coordinating the movement and delivery of Myanmar-origin consignments, and Lalrampari, a principal hawala operator. Lalrampari’s arrest by NCB on August 8, 2024, helped investigators uncover nearly `100 crore in illicit transactions. SEASON ARRIVES Despite several steps, Delhi residents continue to grapple with deteriorating air quality as temperatures fall during this time of the year. The situation is no different this year | P4 LADAKH was declared India’s first fully organic Union Territory on Sunday, in a nod to its sustained efforts to promote chemical-free farming. “This is a moment of immense pride for Ladakh and the entire nation. Our farmers have demonstrated that environmentally responsible agriculture can flourish even in the most challenging geographical conditions,” Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena said. It follows a phased, multiyear initiative aimed at eliminating synthetic fertilisers, chemical pesticides and toxic soil additives from agricultural practices across the Union Territory . The big push came in July, when the LG ordered a complete prohibition on the procurement, distribution, sale, marketing, and use of chemical and synthetic fertilisers for agricultural practices across Ladakh. In March, the administration had flagged off distri- 2 CRPF companies rushed to Arunachal The Centre has dispatched two Rapid Action Force companies of the CRPF to Arunachal Pradesh after violence erupted in the East Siang district during protests against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Prohibitory orders remain in force. P8 Jogen Chowdhury passes away at 87 Eminent painter Jogen Chowdhury died at a private hospital in Kolkata on Sunday morning following a prolonged battle with a rare blood cancer. He was 87. Chowdhury, a former TMC MP, had been suffering from a myeloproliferative neoplasm, a rare type of blood cancer. P7 BHASHA DEBATE BACK AT B’LURU IT HUB Troubled by complaints that Kannadigas are being denied fair employment opportunities in Bengaluru’s IT firms, CM Shivakumar on Sunday warned against such discrimination | P5 S L A L I T H A @ New Delhi SILVER LINING FOR SINDHU P V Sindhu (L) put up a spirited fight against her nemesis and world no. 1 An Se Young before going down 21-16, 11-21, 12-21 in the women’s singles final of the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Sunday | BADMINTON PHOTO | P11 Ladakh becomes India’s first fully organic UT F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar EXPRESS READ Airport chai to become affordable for common yatri at the Udan cafe SUSTAINABLE FARMING UN-GRAP ALARM AS SMOGGY His statement came after President Donald Trump indicated that he could resume attacks on Iran after the midterm elections in the US. Speaking at a televised event in Tehran, Araghchi said, “They have already done so twice and have seen the results. If they want to try again, they know they will achieve no different outcome” bution of organic fertiliser among farmers across villages to ensure timely availability before the sowing season. The move to organic farming is expected to improve soil fertility protect water resourc, es, preserve biodiversity and promote healthier food production. Besides, it is expected to create new opportunities for Ladakh’s farmers by improving the value of lo- This is a moment of immense pride for Ladakh and the entire nation. Our farmers have demonstrated that environmentally responsible agriculture can flourish even in the most challenging geographical conditions —LG V K Saxena cally grown organic produce, including apricots, sea buckthorn, buckwheat, barley and vegetables. “Organic certification, better post-harvest management, value addition, branding and stronger market linkages can help farmers access consumers who increasingly seek authentic, traceable and organically produced food,” an official said. Saxena said the goal is to ensure that the organic status brings real value to Ladakh’s farmers through better market access, improved price realisation and sustainable livelihoods. FLYERS feeling the pinch of exorbitant airfares this festive season finally have something to cheer about. For, the popular Udan Yatri Cafe—which provides affordable food and beverage options to air passengers—has opened shop at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). A Delhi airport source confirmed that the budget-friendly cafe—part of a Ministry of Civil Aviation initiative— was launched without TEA fanfare at Terminal 3 FOR on Friday. “It has not `10 PER yet been opened at TerCUP minal 1 or 2,” the source added. A cup of tea at the café costs `10, while coffee is priced at `20. The snack of the day— An Udaan Yatri Cafe outlet at Terminal 3 be it a samosa, vada pav or of the IGI Airport on Sunday | EXPRESS something more unusual— costs `20, as does a sweet. A 500Another air passeng er, ml bottle of water is priced at Manas Ranjan Swain also wel`10. In contrast, a hot beverage comed the initiative, saying, at the airport currently costs “At an airport, where many upwards of `250, with snacks products are sold at inflated often priced even higher. prices, a cup of tea for just `10 “The cafe is a boon to flyers is not only affordable but also on two counts,” said D Sanjeev, offers true value for money .” a frequent flyer, explaining, The Ministry of Civil Avia“First, the affordability is com- tion has been expanding the mendable. I spend up to `200 on initiative to airports across the masala or ginger chai at air- country to make food and bevports. Second, the smaller cup erages more affordable for pasof tea or coffee is ideal for a sengers. The first cafe under quick drink before boarding, the initiative opened at the unlike the large cups served by Kolkata airport in December major airport outlets, which 2024, followed by one at Chencan take time to consume.” nai airport two months later.