DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES SINCE 1932 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Imran Khan. Reuters
PAKISTAN
Courtnoticeto
pollbodyon
Imran'splea
Lahore: The Lahore High
CourtonFridayissuedno-
tice to Pakistan's top elec-
tionbodyonformerprime
ministerImranKhan'splea
challenging his five-year
disqualification in the
Toshakhana corruption
casewhichwouldprevent
him from contesting gen-
eral elections in February.
Afive-memberbenchalso
said it would first decide
on the jurisdiction of the
petition before it was for-
mally heard but in the ab-
sence of the lawyer repre-
senting the Election
Commission of Pakistan
(ECP),adjournedthehear-
ing as it issued a notice to
the poll body. Khan wants
hispetitionheardonanur-
gent basis as he wants to
run for general polls. PTI
SINGAPORE
Now,nobottled
wateratgovt
meetings
Singapore: Singapore is
phasingoutbottledwater
at meetings and keeping
indoor temperature at 25
degreesCelsiusingovern-
ment buildings to reduce
itsenvironmentalimpact.
These greening efforts
were detailed in the
GreenGov.SG report, the
government's first sus-
tainabilityreportcard,was
publishedbytheMinistry
of Sustainability and the
Environment (MSE) on
Friday.Whilepublicsector
emissions have fallen, in-
frastructure construction
means emissions are
likely to trend upward for
the next two years, ac-
cording to a report by
Channel News Asia on
Friday. PTI
CHINA
Heavysnow:
515injuredin
traincollision
Beijing:Twosubwaytrains
collided in heavy snow in
Beijing, sending 515 peo-
ple to the hospital, includ-
ing102withbrokenbones,
authorities said Friday.
The accident occurred
Thursday evening in
Beijing's mountainous
west on an above-ground
portion of the sprawling
subway’s Changping line.
Slippery tracks prompted
automatic braking on the
leading train. A train fol-
lowing from behind was
on a descending section
and went into a skid and
was unable to brake in
time,thetransportauthor-
ity said in a statement. AP
IRAN
Militantskill11
atpolicestation
inRasktown
Dubai: Suspected mem-
bers of a separatist group
killed 11 people and in-
jured several others in a
nighttime attack on a po-
licestationinsoutheastern
Iran, state TV said Friday.
The deputy governor of
Sistan and Baluchistan
province, Ali Reza
Marhemati,saidseniorof-
ficers and soldiers were
killedinthe2amattackin
Rasktown,about1,400km
southwest of Tehran. He
saidpolicekilledseveralof
theattackersinashootout.
StateTVblamedtheattack
onJaishal-Adl,aseparatist
group. AP
Palestinianssearchforbodies and survivorsintherubble afteranIsraeliairstrike inRafah,southGaza,Friday. AP
ISRAEL CARRIES OUT STRIKES ALL OVER GAZA
US urges Israel to scale back
Gaza attack, protect civilians
White House
seeks intel-led
ops with ‘surgical
objectives’
REUTERS
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 15
WASHINGTON IS pushing Israel
to focus the war in Gaza on pre-
cise targeting of Hamas leaders
rather than widespread bomb-
ing and ground operations, the
White House national security
adviser said on Friday, amid
signs of differences over timing.
Israel so far resisted rising
pressure to rein in its Gaza offen-
sive, which killed over 19,000
Fighting rages in
north Myanmar
despite China’s
truce attempt
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, DECEMBER 15
REPORTS FROM Myanmar said
there was continuing fighting
Friday in the northeast of the
country between the military
government and an alliance of
ethnic minority armed groups,
evenafterChinaannouncedthat
thetwosideshadreachedagree-
ment on a cease-fire atmeetings
it had brokered.
Clashes have been raging in
the north Myanmar's Shan state
since October 27, when the
ArakanArmy,MyanmarNational
DemocraticAllianceArmyandthe
Ta'ang National Liberation Army,
branding themselves as Three
BrotherhoodAlliance,launcheda
joint offensive.
MeKong News, an online
news site reporting from the
Shan state said the Three
Brotherhood Alliance forces had
occupied a strategic hill near the
trade zone in Muse on Thursday
evening after heavy fighting.
.The Chinese statement not
giveadateforwhenthecease-fire
would go into effect. AP didn’t re-
ceivearesponsetoqueries about
a cease-fire from representatives
of Three Brotherhood either.
GENETIC VARIANTS CARRIED BY PREHUMAN PRIMATES ARE SHARED BY PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO GET UP EARLY
Morning person? You might have Neanderthal genes to thank
CARL ZIMMER
DECEMBER 15
NEANDERTHALS WERE morn-
ingpeople,anewstudysuggests.
And some humans today who
like getting upearlymightcredit
genes they inherited from their
Neanderthal ancestors.
The new study compared
DNA in living humans with ge-
netic material retrieved from
Neanderthal fossils. It turns out
that Neanderthals carried some
of thesameclock-relatedgenetic
variantsasdopeoplewhoreport
being early risers.
Since the 1990s, studies of
Neanderthal DNA have exposed
Jake Sullivan; Joe Biden
Palestinians since October 7.
“There will be a transition to
anotherphaseofthiswar,onethat
isfocusedinmoreprecisewayson
targetingtheleadershipandonin-
telligencedrivenoperations,”the
advisor, Jake Sullivan, told re-
porters during a visit to Israel.
“When exactly that happens
and under exactly what condi-
tions will be a continuing inten-
China defends bounties on HK defectors
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING, DECEMBER 15
CHINA ON Friday defended con-
troversial bounties offered for
the capture of Hong Kong dissi-
dents who have fled abroad that
have been heavily criticized by
foreign governments and hu-
man rights groups.
Rewards of 1 million Hong
Kong dollars ($128,000) have
beenofferedforinformationlead-
ingtothecaptureof13opposition
figures accused of violating the
Prince Harry wins phone-hacking suit against tabloids
REUTERS
LONDON, DECEMBER 15
BRITAIN’S PRINCE Harry was
awardedsignificantdamagesaf-
terLondon'sHighCourtruledon
Friday he had been the victim of
phone-hacking and other un-
lawful acts by journalists on
British newspapers with the
knowledge of their editors.
The prince became the first
senior British royal for 130 years
togiveevidenceincourtwhenhe
appeared as the star witness at a
trialinJuneagainstMirrorGroup
Newspapers,thepublisherof the
Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and
Sunday People, who he said had
our species’ intertwined history.
About 700,000 years ago, our
lineages split apart, most likely
in Africa. While the ancestors of
modern humans largely stayed
in Africa, the Neanderthal line-
age migrated into Eurasia.
About400,000yearsago,the
population split in two. The ho-
minins who spread west be-
came Neanderthals. Their
cousinstotheeastevolvedinto a
group known as Denisovans.
Thetwogroupslivedforhun-
dredsofthousandsofyears,hunt-
ing game and gathering plants,
beforedisappearingfromthefos-
silrecordabout40,000yearsago.
Bythen,modernhumanshadex-
panded out of Africa, sometimes
sive discussion between the
UnitedStatesandIsrael,” hesaid.
Sullivan said he had dis-
cussed the timing of the shift at
his meetings with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
the war cabinet and military
chiefs on Thursday.
The New York Times reported
Thursday that the US was push-
ing for a shift to occur by the end
oftheyear.Askedaboutthattime
frame, Biden replied: “I want
them to be focused on how to
save civilian lives, not stop going
afterHamas,butbemorecareful.”
Israel pounded the 40 km
length of Gaza on Thursday as
the more than two-month-old
conflictstretchedon,unleashing
a humanitarian catastrophe
withlittleendin sight.Residents
semi-autonomous Chinese city’s
sweeping National Security Law.
Foreign Ministry spokesper-
sonMaoNingsaidChinarejected
the outside criticism, saying the
arrest orders were “necessary
andjustifiedand...inlinewithin-
ternational law and practice.”
Withoutdirectlymentioning
the bounties, Mao said other
countries also have extraterrito-
rial aspects to their laws on na-
tional security, adding that for-
eign governments’ support for
those on the list was merely
cover for their aim of destabiliz-
Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in
London, in June. AP File
The researchersfound over1,000mutationsthatwereunique
onlytolivinghumansortoNeanderthalsand Denisovans. NYT
CAMBODIA, THAILAND TO GET OVER A DOZEN PIECES
NEW YORK MUSEUM TO RETURN STOLEN ARTEFACTS
NEW YORK'S Metropolitan Museum of Art said on Friday that it will return more than a dozen an-
cient pieces of artwork to Cambodia and Thailand after they were tied to an art dealer Douglas
Latchford, accused of trafficking. This repatriation of artwork comes as many museums in the US
and Europe return pieces from Asia and Africa stolen during colonial-era or in times of upheaval. AP
reported fighting in Sheijaia,
Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah,
and Beit Hanoun in north Gaza,
east of Maghazi in central Gaza
and in the centre and northern
fringes of Khan Younis city.
Kirby told reporters at a reg-
ular media briefing that Sullivan
discussedapossibletransitionto
lower-intensity operations in
“thenearfuture,”butdeclinedto
provide a specific timetable.
The change could include “a
shift in emphasis from high-
tempo clearance operations,
high-intensity clearance opera-
tions” to a lower-intensity focus
onhigh-valuetargets,withmore
intelligence-driven raids and
more “narrow, surgical military
objectives,” a US official told re-
porters later Thursday.
ing Hong Kong.
A day earlier, Hong Kong po-
lice accused another five over-
seas-based activists of violating
the National Security Law im-
posed by Beijing, and offered re-
wards for their arrests.
Maosaidthefive“endangered
nationalsecuritybydestabilizing
Hong Kong under the guise of
democracy and human rights.”
Thebountiesfurtherintensify
the Hong Kong government’s
crackdownondissidentsfollow-
ingthe2019demonstrationthat
grew increasingly violent.
3 DAYS AFTER SUICIDE BOMBING KILLED 23
Pak: 10 killed in
militant attack
on police, Army
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PESHAWAR, DECEMBER 15
MILITANTSATTACKEDaregional
police headquarters and two
military posts in northwest
Pakistan early Friday, triggering
firefights that killed five security
personnel and five insurgents,
police and the military said.
The attacks came three days
after a suicide bomber in the
sameregionrammedhiscarinto
a police station’s main gate and
fiveothers opened fire, killing 23
officersinthisyear'sworstattack
on Pakistani security forces.
The military and local police
chief IftikharShahsaidthree po-
liceofficerswere“martyred”and
three others were wounded in
an attack on the police head-
quarters in the town of Tank in
DeraIsmailKhan,whileatotalof
five attackers died in the ensu-
ing shootouts.
Hourslater, Pakistani Taliban
also attacked a military post in
thenorthwestern Khyber region
Hungary vetoes $55 bn aid as
Ukraine’s EU entry bid begins
REUTERS
BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 15
HUNGARIAN PRIME Minister
Viktor Orban vetoed a major
European Union aid package
for Ukraine on Friday and
warned he could still halt Kyiv's
accessiontothebloc aftermem-
bership talks won EU approval.
At a summit in Brussels on
Thursday, the European Union's
26 other national leaders took
the historic step of agreeing to
startaccessionnegotiationswith
a country at war, bypassing
Orban's grievances by getting
him to leave the room.
But, hours later, they could
not overcome resistance from
Orban, who maintains close ties
to Russia, to a revamp of the
bloc's budget to channel 50 bil-
lion euros ($55 billion) to
Ukraine and provide more cash
for other EU priorities such as
managing migration.
EU leaders still expressed
confidence on Friday that they
would clear a large package of
aid for Ukraine early in 2024, de-
spite a veto by Hungarian Prime
Minister Viktor Orban.
targeted him for 15 years.
Thejudge'sdecisiontoaward
him 140,600 pounds (around
$180,700) and his conclusion
that the papers' editors and ex-
ecutivesknew about thewrong-
doing will be seen a major vic-
tory for the prince. Harry called
for theauthoritiesandthepolice
totakeactionagainstthoseiden-
tified as having broken the law.
TheDukeofSussexwasoneof
about 100 claimants – including
actors,sportsstars,celebritiesand
peoplewhohadconnectiontofa-
mousfigures–whotooklegalac-
tion over allegations of phone-
hacking, unlawful information
gatheringbetween1991and2011.
Harry and three others were
interbreedingwithNeanderthals
and Denisovans. And today, frag-
ments of their DNA can be found
in most living humans.
Research carried out over the
pastfewyearsbyJohnCapra,age-
neticist at the University of
California, San Francisco, and
other scientists suggested that
some of those genes passed on a
survival advantage. Immune
genes inherited from
NeanderthalsandDenisovans,for
example, might have protected
them from new pathogens they
had not encountered in Africa.
Dr Capra and his colleagues
were intrigued to find that some
of the genes from Neanderthals
and Denisovans that became
bordering Afghanistan, killing
two soldiers and wounding five,
police official Salim Khan said.
Nooneimmediatelyclaimed
responsibility for Friday’s at-
tacks, but suspicion was likely to
fall on the Pakistani Taliban,
known as Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan, or TTP.
The group is separate from
Afghanistan's Taliban though it is
alliedwiththeAfghanmovement,
whichseizedpowerintheneigh-
bouring country in August 2021
asUnitedStatesandNATOtroops
withdrew after 20 years of war.
The car bombing Tuesday
was claimed by the newly
formedmilitantTehreek-e-Jihad
Pakistani group, which is be-
lievedtobeanoffshootof theTTP.
Pakistan has witnessed a
surge in attacks since 2022,
when TTP ended a cease-fire.
The deadliest was in January
when a suicide bomber dis-
guised as a policeman attacked
a mosque in the northwestern
cityof Peshawar,killing101peo-
ple, mostly police officers.
Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban. Reuters
The Kremlin praised Orban's
stance, which spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said impressed
Moscow, while criticising the
EU, saying the decision to open
membership talks was a politi-
cised one that could destabilise
the bloc.
Orban, who has a history of
banking on clashes with other
EU leaders for electoral benefit
at home, told state radio that he
blocked the aid package to
Ukraine to make sure Hungary
gets the funds it wants from the
EU budget. The European Union
restoredHungary'saccessto10.2
chosen as test cases and the trial
considered 33 articles of around
140 he alleged were the result of
unlawful behaviour over 15
years from 1996.
"I found that 15 out of the 33
articles that were tried were the
product of phone hacking of his
mobile phone or the mobile
phones of his associates, or the
product of other unlawful infor-
mation gathering," Judge
Timothy Fancourt said.
PrinceHarry’sstatementsaid
that the tabloids’ editors and
senior executives knew about
the phone-hacking and had also
committed crimes such as lying
under the oath, for which he has
sought action from authorities.
more common over generations
were related to sleep. For their
newstudy,publishedinthejour-
nal Genome Biology and
Evolution,theyinvestigatedhow
these genes might have influ-
enced the daily rhythms of the
extinct hominins.
Dr Capra and his colleagues
looked at 246 genes that help to
control the body clock. They
compared the versions of the
genes in the extinct hominins to
the ones in modern humans.
The researchers found over
1,000 mutations that were
unique only to living humans or
toNeanderthalsandDenisovans.
Their analysis revealed that
many of these mutations prob-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Oil-rich area
dispute: Guyana,
Venezuela agree
not to use force,
but no resolution
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. VINCENT, DECEMBER 15
THE LEADERS of Guyana and
Venezuela promised in a tense
meeting Thursday that neither
side would use threats or force
against the other, but failed to
reach agreement on how to ad-
dress a bitter dispute over an oil-
and-mineral-rich border region.
Instead, a joint commission
composed of foreign ministers
andotherofficialsofbothnationd
will address the problem, with a
report expected in three months.
GuyanesePresidentIrfaanAli
and Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro agreed to meet
again in Brazil within three
months or at another agreed-
upon time, according to an 11-
point declaration read at a press
briefing Thursday.
They also agreed to “refrain,
whether by words or deeds,
fromescalatinganyconflict,”the
declaration said.
Tension over the border re-
gion of Essequibo has raised
worriesaboutamilitaryconflict,
though many believe that is un-
likely.
billion euros of frozen funds this
week, but 21.1 billion euros re-
main locked.
“It is a great opportunity for
Hungary to make it clear that it
must get what it is entitled to.
Not half of it, or one-fourth,”
Orban said.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the
approvalof membershiptalksas
avictoryforUkraineandEurope.
Ukraine is unlikely to join the EU
for many years, but the decision
on talks took it a step closer to its
long-term goal of anchoring it-
self in the West and leaving
Russia's orbit.
Meanwhile, the US Congress
was departing Washington on
Thursday without a deal to pass
wartime support for Ukraine
while Senate negotiators and
PresidentBiden’sadministration
were still racing to wrap up a
border security compromise to
unlock the stalemate.
The Senate plans to come
backnextweekinhopesof pass-
ing $110 billion package for
Ukraine, Israel and other na-
tional security and finalising a
deal to place new restrictions on
asylum claims at the US border.
Brazil: Congress
repeals Lula’s veto
against limiting
tribes’ land claims
Brasilia: Brazil's Congress on
Thursdayoverturnedapresiden-
tialvetothathadstruckdownthe
core of a bill to limit Indigenous
land claims, setting up a likely
clash at the Supreme Court.
Indigenous groups had sup-
ported President Lula da Silva's
veto, while the bill had the back-
ing of the powerful farm lobby.
In a joint session, lawmakers
voted overwhelmingly to
annul Lula's veto of a policy
limiting claims to ancestral
lands where Indigenous people
lived in 1988. REUTERS
ably had important effects on
how the body clock operated.
The researchers predicted, for
example, that some body-clock
proteinsthatareabundantinour
cells were much scarcer in the
cells of Neanderthals and
Denisovans. Next, the scientists
looked at the small number of
body-clockvariantsthatsomeliv-
ing people have inherited from
NeanderthalsandDenisovans. To
Capra’ssurprise,almostallthean-
cient body-clock variants in-
creased the odds that the volun-
teers were morning people.
“That was really the most ex-
citing moment of the study,
when we saw that,” Dr Capra
said. NYT
 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES SINCE 1932 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

E EXPLAINED THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
Why green push needs balancing, COP coal breather is key
ANIL SASI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
FOSSIL FUEL phase-out was the most hotly
contested issue at the 2023 UN Climate
Change Conference, COP28, which ended on
Wednesdaywithanagreementto“transition
away from fossil fuels”, but without a men-
tion of their “phase-out”.
A strong pushback by
India and some other coun-
EXPLAINED
tries including China and ECONOMICS
South Africa to a proposal
stipulating that no new coal-fired power
plants can be commissioned without an in-
built carbon capture and storage facility, ulti-
mately led to the omission of the clause from
the final deal that was agreed upon in Dubai.
India’s new coal thrust
Atareviewmeetingheldlessthanaweek
before the beginning of COP28, the Union
Power Ministry decided to step up its coal-
powered generation capacity, with plans to
add at least 80 gigawatts (GW; 1 GW is equal
to 1,000 megawatts or MW) by 2031-32.
While this was broadly in line with the
NationalElectricityPlanfor2022-27,thenew
blueprint for the country’s power sector re-
leasedbyplannersearlierthisyear,itmarked
EXPLAINED CLIMATE
WILDFIRES,FISHSIZE:HOWHOTTEST
ARCTICSUMMERIMPACTEDREGION
ALIND CHAUHAN
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE 2023 summer was the warmest on
record in the Arctic, which has warmed
nearlyfourtimesfasterthantheEarthasa
whole since 1979. The past year (October
2022 to September 2023) was the sixth-
warmest full year in the Arctic since reli-
able record-keeping began in 1900.
These are some of the key findings of
the US National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration’s (NOAA) annual
Arctic Report Card released on Wednes-
day. The peer-reviewed analysis was
done by 82 scientists from 13 countries.
Sub-sea permafrost thawing
Subseapermafrostisthefrozensoilun-
der the seabed that contains organic mat-
ter.Whileithasbeengraduallythawingfor
thousands of years, (now) warmer ocean
temperaturesareacceleratingthisprocess.
“Just as with permafrost on land,
when sub-sea permafrost thaws, the or-
ganic matter it contains decays and re-
leases methane and carbon dioxide —
greenhouse gases that contribute to
global warming and worsen ocean acid-
ification,” three of the authors involved
in the NOAA study wrote in an article
published by The Conversation.
Impact on fisheries
Duetotheimpactofclimatechangeon
freshwaterbodiesandmarineecosystems,
Western Alaska recorded extremely low
numbersofchinookandchumsalmonthe
past year — 81% and 92% below the 30-
year mean respectively. The size of adult
salmonhasalsodecreased,thestudysaid.
Thishasledto“fisheryclosures,wors-
ened user conflicts, and...profound cul-
tural and food securityimpactsinindige-
nouscommunities that have been tied to
salmon for millennia,” it added.
Wildfires in Arctic regions
Drishti IAS
       
(Prelims + Mains)
(Along with Free Online Facility)
       
8010-440-440 OR Visit Our Karol Bagh Centre at 21, Pusa Road, Delhi.
Why the Bombay HC pulled up the Election Commission over Pune bypoll
OMKAR GOKHALE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
THE BOMBAY High Court on Wednesday
directed the Election Commission of India
(ECI) to immediately conduct a bypoll for
the Pune Lok Sabha constituency. The seat
had become vacant after sitting MP Girish
Bapat died on March 29.
A division Bench of Justice Gautam S
Patel and Justice Kamal R Khata pulled up
the Commission for “abdication of its con-
stitutional duties”.
What was the petition?
SughoshJoshi,alaw graduateandregis-
tered voter in Pune constituency, ap-
proached the High Court on November 7.
a discernible pivot and a policy reversal from
earlieryears— giventhat thecentral govern-
ment had been focused almost entirely on
renewable energy for incremental capacity
addition, and fresh coal-fired capacity was
virtually ruled out.
The review, held on November 22 and
chaired by Union Power Minister R K Singh,
underscoredthecountry’sresolvetorevertto
coal for desperately-needed
baseloadcapacity, and agreed
to add 60 GW of fresh coal-
fired capacity in addition to
the 27 GW of capacity that is
already under construction.
Problem with renewables
As part of its emission-reduction resolve,
thegovernmenthasconsistently stepped up
renewable capacity addition over the better
part of the last decade.
To operationally sustain a huge average
monthly addition of 1,000 MW from non-
fossil fuels or renewables to the electricity
grid, however, policymakers are now veer-
ing around to the view that the country sim-
ply cannot keep adding more green capac-
ityunlessithasviableenergystorageoptions.
India is now the world’s third largest pro-
ducer of renewable energy. More than 40% of
installedelectricitycapacitycomesfromnon-
The Arctic ice sheet is melting at an
alarming rate. Wikimedia Commons
Canada, 40% of whose land mass is
considered Arctic and Northern, was
among the worst affected by wildfires.
The country witnessed its worst wildfire
seasonon record,with more than 10 mil-
lion acres burnt in the Northwest
Territories, The New York Times reported.
High temperatures, dried-up vegetation
and soil, and below-average rainfall cre-
ated the perfect conditions for wildfires.
Flooding, melting of ice
Over the past 20 years, rising temper-
atures have led to a dramatic thinning of
the Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska, the
NOAA report said. Meltaway water has
caused annual floods in the region. In
August2023,“aglaciallakeon atributary
of the Mendenhall Glacier burst through
its ice dam and caused unprecedented
flooding and severe property damage” in
Alaska’s Juneau, the study said.
It also noted that the highest point on
Greenland’s ice sheet experienced melt-
ing for only the fifth time in the 34-year
record. The ice sheet continued to lose
massdespiteabove-averagewintersnow
accumulation — between August 2022
and September 2023, it lost roughly 350
trillion pounds of mass.
HechallengedacertificateissuedbytheECI
on August 23, stating that it was facing “dif-
ficulty”inholdingthePunebyelection.Joshi
had accessed the ECI certificate through an
application under the RTI Act.
He argued that as per section 151A of
The Representation of the People Act, 1951,
a Parliamentary vacancy should be filled
within six months, and therefore, the Pune
byelection should have been held by
September 28.
Joshi submitted that constituents had
hadnovoiceinParliamentoverthepastfew
months, especially over significant delays
in several developmental projects in Pune.
How did the ECI respond?
The ECI argued that Joshi had no locus
standi to file a writ petition, and instead he
SHARE OF GREEN POWER
Total 4,25,535.52
Renewable
energy
1,32,132.44
2,39,072.91
Hydro (large)
46,850.17
Nuclear
7,480.00
As on October 31, 2023. Source: Central Electricity Authority
fossil fuel sources, including large hydro, hav-
ingrisensharplyfromjustaround25%in2013.
Solarandwindcapacityisnowmorethan30%.
Whilethisgreenpushhasresultedina24%
reductioninemissionintensityofGDP—ratio
of total greenhouse gas emissions and GDP —
between2005and2016,ithasledtoasituation
in which the grid is increasingly powered by
renewables, which creates the problem of in-
termittency,asignificantchallengefromagrid
management perspective.
Itisclearinpolicycirclesthatwithoutstor-
age, incremental renewable power capacity
poses problems for grid managers. For pro-
On AI, innovation vs safety
Last month’s declaration at the AI summit in the UK focussed on minimising risks. The New Delhi GPAI
declaration has found a middle path between promotion and regulation of the revolutionary new tech
SOUMYARENDRA BARIK
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE 29-MEMBER Global Partnership on
Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) has unani-
mously adopted the New Delhi declaration
that underscores the need to mitigate risks
from the development and deployment of
artificialintelligence(AI)systems,andtopro-
mote equitable access to critical resources
for AI innovation, including computing and
high-quality diverse datasets.
The declaration adopted on Thursday
contrasts with the agreement signed at the
United Kingdom AI Safety Summit at
Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, a month
ago, where countries had committed to first
tackle the risks emanating from AI systems.
TheNewDelhideclarationhasattempted
tofindabalancebetweeninnovationandthe
risks associated with AI systems. While it is
largely upbeat about the economic benefits
that AI can bring, it also flags issues of fair-
ness,privacy,andintellectualpropertyrights
that will have to be taken into consideration.
What does the GPAI New Delhi
declaration on AI say?
“Werecognisetherapidpaceof improve-
ment in advanced AI systems and their po-
tentialtogenerateeconomicgrowth,innova-
tion,andjobsacrossvarioussectorsaswellas
to benefit societies,” the declaration said.
It saidthataglobalframeworkfor the use
of AI should be rooted in democratic values
and human rights; safeguarding dignity and
well-being; ensuring personal data protec-
tion;theprotectionof applicableintellectual
property rights, privacy, and security; foster-
ing innovation; and promoting trustworthy,
responsible, sustainable, and human-cen-
tred use of AI.
The declaration called for equitable ac-
cess to critical resources for AI innovation in-
cluding computing, high-quality diverse
datasets, algorithms, software, testbeds, and
other AI-relevant resources, and agreed to
supportAIinnovationinagricultureasanew
“thematic priority”.
It said the GPAI would pursue a diverse
membership, with particular focus on low-
and middle-income countries to ensure a
broad range of expertise, national and re-
gional views, and experiences based on
shared values.
Senegal, a current member of the group-
ing, was elevated to the steering committee
could have filed a PIL.
The poll body argued that if the bypoll
is held, the returned candidate would
hardly haveafewmonthstowork asanMP.
It further argued that it had a “genuine
difficulty” in conducting the bypoll as its
whole machinery was far too
busywithpreparationsforthe
2024 Lok Sabha elections.
EXPLAINED
What does the law say?
LAW
Under Section 151A of the RP Act, by-
elections should be held within six months
from the date of occurrence of the vacancy.
The first exception to this is under sec-
tion151A(a),whichsaysthatthesix-month
rule will not apply when the remainder of
the Parliament term is less than one year.
Another exception under section 151A (b)
(India: Installed generation capacity, MW)
Coal
2,06,825.50
Total
Lignite
thermal 6,620.00
Gas
25,038.21
Diesel
589.20
curerssuchasstate-owneddistributioncom-
panies (discoms), renewables are not always
aviableoptionpreciselyduetothesevagaries
inthegenerationtrends—whichmeansthey
stillhavetodependonthermalornucleargen-
eration to meet the baseload demand.
To counter the problem of intermittency,
power utilities are forced to keep old ther-
mal units on standby — but keeping these
units operational results in payouts of high
fixed costs. “The concept of renewables
achieving grid-parity is proving to be farce.
If the cost of standby thermal power is taken
into account, renewable power is now al-
EXPLAINED TECH
Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev
Chandrasekhar (centre) at the GPAI Summit in New Delhi with representatives
of other member countries. Rajeev_GoI/X
of the GPAI.
How is the world viewing the New Delhi
declaration?
Experts have cautioned that such agree-
mentswouldonlyworkamonglike-minded
countries. GPAI is an attempt, largely led by
the democratic world, to adopt a global risk-
based approach to AI.
ItincludescountrieslikeIndia,theUnited
States, the UK, France, Japan and Canada —
but China, a tech superpower, is not part of
the multilateral grouping and, a senior gov-
ernment officialsaid, is unlikelyto be invited
into the fold.
Rama Vedashree, advisor at Dallas
Venture Capital, said that while regulatory
synergywillemergeglobally,itwillonlyhap-
pen among “rights-respecting countries”.
“Some principles will emerge, and there
would be a synergy among various regula-
tions — at least among all the rights-respect-
ing countries. I would not say [there would
be regulatory synergy in] all the countries
that are ahead in terms of technology.
Whether you look at the declaration at the
UK AI Safety Summit or even the G20 decla-
ration, which had adequate focus on AI and
other technologies, there would be a syn-
ergy...,” Vedashree told The Indian Express.
Thomas Schneider, chair of the Council
of EuropeCommitteeonAI,saidwhileitmay
be easy to solve the smaller challenges re-
lated to AI, the bigger ones, where a number
of stakeholders are involved, may be much
hardertoaddress.He pointed out that global
AI regulations can be interoperable only
to not hold bypolls is consultation between
EC and the Centre, certifying ‘difficulty’ in
holding the election within six months.
What did the Bombay HC say?
The High Court held that the petitioner
hadlocustofileawritpetition,
being a voter of the con-
stituency. The HC also noted
that “constituencies cannot
remain unrepresented be-
yond a defined period”.
Itobservedthatasthetermofthecurrent
LokSabhaendsonJune16,2024andthePune
LSseathadbeenvacantsinceMarch29,2023,
the first exception did not apply.
What did the HC say about the ECI?
The HC termed the ECI’s argument as
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
most twice its cost on paper,” an expert
closelyassociated withthecapacityaddition
plan told The Indian Express.
The question of storage
The decision at the November 22 review
was a tacit admission of this reality, given
that energy storage is desperately needed
alongside green energy sources to counter
the variability in renewable generation.
Electricityisgeneratedonlywhenthesun
shines or when the wind blows, which is not
always in sync with the demand cycle.
Storage can help tide over this shortcoming,
especially as renewables grow to become a
big chunk of the installed generation capac-
ity. Until that happens, stepping up thermal,
especially coal, and nuclear generation are
perhaps the only way forward.
India is the world’s second largest coal
producer. The stipulation moved at COP28,
if adopted,would have effectively putIndia’s
fresh coal-based capacity in jeopardy, given
the added cost implications.
The renewed coal push comes at a time
when there seems to be an emerging policy
resolve in favour of not continuing to push
solar and wind-based generation to strug-
gling electricity discoms. The renewables
challenge is compounded by the fact that
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) Ltd,
among countries thatshare the samevalues.
“We will solve the small problems easily.
But the big challenges, where many people
are involved or everybody is involved, are
much harder to solve… You have to share
more orlessthesame valuesin order tohave
interoperable implementations of the val-
ues,” he said.
How does the New Delhi declaration
contrast with the Bletchley Park
declaration?
While the GPAI New Delhi declaration
addresses the need to tackle AI-related risks,
it largely supportsinnovation in the technol-
ogy in various sectors, including agriculture
and healthcare. The essence of the declara-
tion can be summed up as follows: AI is in-
herently good and is a catalyst for economic
growth, but some harms need to be miti-
gated along the way.
By contrast, the declaration that was
signedattheUKAISafetySummitlastmonth
put security and safety risks related to AI at
thecentreof thediscussions.AttheBletchley
Park meeting, 28 major countries including
the US, China, Japan, the UK, France, and
India,andtheEuropeanUnionagreedtosign
on a declaration saying global action is
needed to tackle the potential risks of AI.
The UK declaration noted the “potential
for serious, even catastrophic, harm, either
deliberate or unintentional, stemming from
the most significant capabilities of these AI
models”, as well as risks beyond frontier AI,
including those of bias and privacy.
“Frontier AI” is defined as highly capable
“one that borders on the bizarre” and
amounts to “sabotaging the entire consti-
tutional democratic framework”.
It noted that the ECI’s stand was “incon-
sistent”, as it had conducted several other
elections since the Pune seat fell vacant.
Did the ECI consult the Centre?
The ECI consulted with the Union Law
and Justice Ministry on August 11, and the
Centre responded on the same date. “We
have not known governments to be able to
consult, deliberate, and act with such ex-
traordinary despatch. This correspondence
reveals no underlying material,” the HC re-
marked. While the High Court has directed
theECI toimmediatelytake allstepsto hold
the Pune election, the poll body can move
the Supreme Court, given that only a few
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
the state-owned company conducting solar
auctions, has locked a number of contracts
involving green developers in rigid power
purchase agreements (PPAs) with no scope
for innovation, according to sectoral experts.
Storage is expensive currently, and the
Lithium-ion storage battery option for grid
application is being ruled out as unviable.
The government is considering two alter-
natives:hydrogenandhybridgenerationmod-
els blended with off-stream pumped storage.
But there is a recognition that coal-fired
capacity needs to stay as baseload for the
time being, given that there are constraints
on ramping up nuclear capacity.
The decision to increase new coal gener-
ation capacity to the tune of 60 GW is way
higher than the Electricity Plan draft’s pre-
scription for fresh coal-based capacity rang-
ing from 17 GW to 28 GW till 2031-32.
The renewable energy thrust of the last
10 years also meant a projected battery stor-
age requirement in 2031-32 of between 51
GW and 84 GW, and assumes a daily usage
rate of 5-hours, according to the draft.
This, at estimates of Rs 10 crore per MW,
could translate into investmentsinto battery
storage of between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh
crore over the next 10 years as backup for re-
newable capacity — that too for operations
for less than a quarter of a day on average.
foundation generative AI models that could
possess dangerous capabilitiesthat can pose
severe risks to public safety.
The countries agreed that they would
build“risk-based”policiestoensureAIsafety
andcollaborateasappropriate,“whilerecog-
nising our approaches may differ based on
national circumstances and applicable legal
frameworks”.
“Thisincludes,alongsideincreasedtrans-
parencybyprivateactorsdevelopingfrontier
AI capabilities, appropriate evaluation met-
rics, tools for safety testing, and developing
relevant public sector capability and scien-
tific research,” they said in the declaration.
What is India’s official position on the
regulation of artificial intelligence?
EvenasIndialookstounlockthepotential
economic benefits of AI systems, its own
thinkingonAIregulationhasundergoneasig-
nificant change — from not considering any
legalinterventiononregulatingAIinthecoun-
try a few months ago, to now moving in the
direction of actively formulating regulations
basedona“risk-based,user-harm”approach.
At the inaugural session of the GPAI
SummitonTuesday,PrimeMinisterNarendra
Modi flagged the dual potential of AI — while
it can be the 21st century’s biggest develop-
ment tool, it can also potentially play a very
destructive role — and called for a global
framework that will provide guardrails and
ensure its responsible use.
In April, the Ministry of Electronics and IT
had said it was not considering a law to regu-
late the AI sector. Union IT Minister Ashwini
VaishnawhadsaidthatalthoughAI“hadeth-
icalconcernsandassociatedrisks”,ithadbeen
proven to be an enabler of the digital and in-
novation ecosystem.
However, after deepfakes of a number of
popular personalities got mainstream trac-
tion,theITMinistrybegantotalkofaconcrete
legislative step to tackle AI-based misinfor-
mation. Vaishnaw said that it could either be
anewlaw,oranamendmenttoexistingrules.
This shift was also anticipated in part in a
newconsultationpaperfloatedearlierbythe
telecommunications regulator Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in July,
whichsaidthattheCentreshouldsetupado-
mestic statutory authority to regulate AI in
Indiathroughthelensof a“risk-basedframe-
work”. The paper had also called for collabo-
rations with international agencies and gov-
ernments of other countries to form a global
agency for the “responsible use” of AI.
months remain for the Lok Sabhaelections.
HowmanyLokSabhaseatsarevacant?
EighteenLokSabhaseatsarecurrentlyva-
cant.Ofthese,13werevacatedthismonthby
legislators who won in the recently con-
cluded state Assembly elections.
Oftheremainingfive,threeseatswereva-
catedbetweenMarchandMaythisyeardue
to deaths. These include Girish Bapat’s (BJP)
Pune seat, Balu Dhanorkar’s (Congress)
Chandrapurseat,andRatanLalKataria’s(BJP)
Ambala seat.
AfzalAnsari’s(BSP)Ghazipurseatwasva-
catedonMay1,afterhewassentencedtofour
years in prison. Finally, TMC’s Mahua Moitra
vacatedherKrishnanagarseatafterbeingex-
pelledfromLokSabhaoverthealleged‘cash-
for-query’ scam.
 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES SINCE 1932 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DISPUTED MATHURA SITE

SC declines to
stay HC order
for Shahi Idgah
complex survey
Not at this stage, come if there is any
adverse order: Bench to mosque panel
ANANTHAKRISHNAN G
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE SUPREME Court Friday de-
clinedtostaytheAllahabadHigh
Court order allowing an applica-
tion for an inspection of the
Shahi Idgah mosque complex in
Mathura by a court-appointed
commissioner.
Hindu petitioners contend
thatthemosquewasbuiltonthe
Krishna Janmasthan, the birth-
place of Lord Krishna.
Muslim litigants maintain
that the Places of Worship
(Special Provisions) Act, 1991
bars changing the character of
anyplace of worshipasitexisted
on August 15, 1947.
“Atthisstage,wewillnotstay
anything. Let him continue. If
any adverse order is passed, you
can come,” Justice Sanjiv
Khanna, presiding over a two-
judge bench, told Senior
Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi who
appeared for the Committee of
ManagementTrustShahiMasjid
Idgah that approached the
SupremeCourtagainsttheorder
passed Thursday by Justice
Mayank Kumar Jain of the
Allahabad High Court.
The Shahi Idgah mosque and
the Krishna Janmabhoomi
temple in Mathura. PTI
Ahmadi pointed out that the
Supreme Court is scheduled to
hear the mosque committee’s
plea challenging the Allahabad
High Court order transferring all
petitions in connection with the
Mathura dispute to itself, and
that the HighCourt in themean-
while had passed an interlocu-
tory order allowing the appoint-
ment of the commissioner.
“WhenYourLordshipsaredue
to hear these matters on January
8, the High Court should not pro-
ceed with these interlocutory or-
ders.Itwillhavefar-reachingcon-
sequences," Ahmadi said, adding
that he had not been able to pro-
duce the order allowing the ap-
pointment of the commissioner.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
RAJASTHAN’S NEW CM TAKES OATH
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with newly elected Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, Deputy CMs Diya Kumari and Prem
Chand Bairwa and Governor Kalraj Mishra at the swearing-in ceremony in Jaipur on Friday. Rohit Jain Paras REPORT,PAGE6
INDIA BLOC BACKS 14 MPs SUSPENDED FOR PROTESTS
Opp insists on Shah statement on
breach, stalls House proceedings
LIZ MATHEW
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
PROCEEDINGS IN Parliament
were washed out for the second
consecutive day Friday as
Opposition parties continued to
hold protests over Wednesday’s
House security breach, insisting
on a statement from Union
Home Minister Amit Shah and a
discussioninbothLokSabhaand
Rajya Sabha.
With the government show-
ing no signs of relenting, the
deadlock is expected to con-
tinue when Parliament meets
Monday as Opposition leaders
said they will stick to their de-
mand and expressed solidarity
with the 14 MPs who were sus-
pended Thursday for the rest of
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi with DMK’s Kanimozhi and
other suspended MPs at Parliament House on Friday. PTI
the winter session.
The tone for the Friday’s
protest was set at the meeting of
the Opposition INDIA bloc in the
morning before the House met.
According to sources, DMK
leader T R Baalu said that all
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
FIR: Smoke
canisters had
warning not
to use indoors
MAHENDER SINGH
MANRAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
A “CAVITY” cut out in the soles
anda“thickrubberlayer”tosup-
port it — the Delhi Police has, in
its FIR into the Parliament secu-
rity breach, detailed how intrud-
ers Sagar Sharma (25) and
Manoranjan D (35) modified
their shoes to fit smoke canisters
inside. Police have also stated in
the FIR that the canisters bear
warningstoalwaysweargoggles
and gloves while handling them,
andtoneverdeploythemindoors
or in enclosed spaces. According
to the FIR, the canisters are made
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
ALLEGED PLOT TO KILL PANNUN
Gupta’s arrest in
Prague illegal, his
extradition to US
unsafe: Kin to SC
Court agrees to hear plea seeking
Centre’s intervention on January 4
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE SUPREME Court agreed
Friday to take up on January 4
next year a petition filed by the
family of Nikhil Gupta — who is
accusedbyUSauthoritiesof plot-
ting to kill Khalistan separatist
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun —
seeking directions to the Centre
to intervene in the extradition
proceedings pending against
himinCzechRepublic,wherehe
is currently under detention.
The plea by a family member
— identified only as Mr X — con-
tended that Gupta, 52, “has no
roots in the US” and questioned
“theveracityof thenarrativepre-
sented in the second unsealed
superseding indictment” dated
November 29 filed before a US
District Court. It underscored
“the absurdity of the notion that
the Indian government would
engage himin allegedcovertop-
erations and assassinations on
US soil when he has no connec-
tionsorbusinessinthecountry”.
The plea said that since June
30 this year, Gupta “has been in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

BUSINESS AS USUAL First in India: Delhi airport set to

BY UNNY
get body, CTX scanners by May

E
rigorousscreeningof passengers
E X P L A I NE D

SUKALP SHARMA than metal detectors and man- Easing,

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
FULLBODYSCANNERSandcom-
puter tomography X-ray (CTX)
scanners, awaited for long, are
likelytobeinstalledbyMay2024
at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi
International (IGI) Airport, ac-
cording to Bureau of Civil
AviationSecurity(BCAS)Director
EXPRESS NETWORK General Zulfiquar Hasan.
The scanners, which are al-
ready in place at numerous air-
U.P. BJP MLA GETS ports globally, allow faster and
25 YEARS’ JAIL FOR
RAPING MINOR
PAGE 8
Justice Kaul signs off: If judges are not
THE WORLD bold, can’t expect others in admin to be
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
ual frisking. CTX scanners are
used to screen cabin or carry-on
upgrading
baggage and do not require pas- ● security
sengers to segregate electronic
devicesandliquidsseparatelyfor BODY AND CTX scanners
screening.Together,thetwoma- in big airports with huge
chines are expected to reduce footfall will not only ease
time taken in passengers’ secu- congestion and reduce
rity check before departure, delays, but also ensure
which is likely to play a part in more complete and com-
easing congestion and wait time prehensive security than
at busy airports. what metal detectors and
Earlier this year, the BCAS manual frisking achieve.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

UNDERLINING THE need for

judges to be bold, Supreme
Court judge Justice Sanjay
Kishan Kaul, who retires later
this month, said Friday that if
they with their constitutional
U.S. PUSHES ISRAEL protection are not able to be so, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul shares the ceremonial bench with
TO SCALE DOWN IN they cannot expect other parts CJI D Y Chandrachud on his last working day on Friday
GAZA AS TOLL RISES of the administration to do so.
“It is my belief that boldness
10 KILLED IN MILITANT of the judge is a very important cannot expect other parts of the India D Y Chandrachud and
ATTACKS ON POLICE, factor. If, with the constitutional administration to do so,” Justice Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj
ARMY IN PAKISTAN protection which we have, we Kaul said, sharing the ceremo- Misra.
are not able to exhibit this, we nial bench with Chief Justice of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

United we screen: Punjabi movies make

a splash in theatres across the border
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR
AMRITSAR, DECEMBER 15
EARLIER THIS year, the third in-
stalment of a Punjabi film fran-
chise ended up being a runaway
hit in Pakistan. Carry on Jatta 3,
starring Indian actors Gippy
Grewal and Sonam Bajwa, re-
portedly grossed Rs 7.5 crore in
Pakistani currency in the first
four days of its release over the
extended Eid weekend in June.
Directed by Smeep Kang,
Carry on Jatta 3 is among 25
Indian films that opened to
packed theatres in Pakistan over
the last couple of years, despite
a ban on the screening and tele-
cast of Indian films in Pakistan
since 2016.
Given the shared language
and culture (Pakistan has an es-
timated 130 million Punjabis),
many of these Indian Punjabi
movies have been skirting the
ban primarily by working with
Pakistan-based film distributors
A Punjabi movie poster is displayed at a multiplex cinema and also by working with pro-
hall in Lahore duction houses based in the UK
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
CAPS SUGAR DIVERSION
FROM PAGE ONE
Week after ban, govt SC declines to stay Shahi Idgah survey
allows use of cane
juice to make ethanol
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
IN A U-turn, the government on
Friday reversed its decision to
bantheuseof sugarcanejuicefor
makingethanolasitallowedutil-
isation of the juice as well as B-
heavy molasses to produce the
green fuel but capped the diver-
sion of sugar at 17 lakh tonnes.
For now, the capping will be in
placeforthe2023-24supplyyear
that ends in October next year.
The latest decision comes a
week after the government pro-
hibited the use of sugarcane
juiceandsugarsyrupformaking
ethanol,amidtheindustryseek-
ing reversal of the decision.
“The flexibility has been
given to sugar mills for using
both sugarcane juice and B-
heavy molasses within an over-
all cap of 17 lakh tonnesof diver-
sion of sugar for making ethanol
in the ongoing 2023-24 supply
year (November-October pe-
riod),” Food Secretary Sanjeev
Chopra told PTI.
A committee of ministers
took the decision on Friday and
thenotificationinthisregardwill
be issued soon.
"We are working on the
modalities to decide on the pro-
portion of cane juice and B-
heavy molasses to be used for
making ethanol," Chopra said.
Already some quantity of
ethanol has been produced us-
ingcanejuiceinthecurrentsup-
Traders can bid for up
to 2,000 MT of rice: Govt
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
AMID RISING rice prices, the
Food Corporation of India (FCI)
Friday doubled the maximum
biddingquantityundertheOpen
Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to
2,000 tonnes per bidder and re-
duced the minimum bid quan-
tity to 1 tonne from 10 tonnes.
The move is meant to en-
courage more participation of
rice traders and processors un-
der the OMSS.
“The rice offered under the
Central pool is of excellent qual-
● Body, CTX scanners
had directed all airports han-
dling over 1 crore passengers
and 50lakhpassengersannually
to install full body scanners and
CTX scanners, respectively, by
December 31. However, certain
“provisioning issues” have de-
layed the process and the first
scanners are now expected only
by May starting with the IGI
Airport.
The IGI Airport, operated by
GMR, is India’sbusiest airport. In
2022-23 (FY23), it handled over
6.5 crore passengers and for
FY24, the number of flyers is es-
timated to cross 7 crore. The air-
port is also undergoing an ex-
pansionproject, whichwill soon
take its annual passenger han-
dling capacity to over 10 crore.
The Delhi airport was ranked
among the ten busiest airports
globally for 2022 by Airports
Council International (ACI), a
trade association of airports.
Hasan said that going for-
ward, instead of issuing a blan-
ket deadline for installation of
these machines, the BCAS will
proceed airport-wise as the ma-
chines are being bought by air-
portoperatorsthroughcontracts
with foreign manufacturers,
making their procurement
DOWNLOADAPP
■ VISUAL STORIES
■ DAILY BRIEFING
■ PODCASTS
■ CUSTOMIZABLE
NEWS EXPERIENCE
Indian Express
★★★★★ ■4.6
SCANTHISQRCODETO
DOWNLOADTHEAPP
ply year, he added.
The latest move comes
against the backdrop of repre-
sentation from the sugar indus-
try to reviewtheDecember 7or-
derthatbanneduseof canejuice
and sugar syrup with immedi-
ate effect.
While issuing the order, the
governmenthadallowedsupply
of ethanol from B-heavy mo-
lasses through existing offers re-
ceived by Oil Marketing
Companies (OMCs).
Another food ministry offi-
cial said about 6 lakh tonnes of
sugarhavealreadybeendiverted
tomakeethanolusingcanejuice
before the government issued
the order on December 7.
The government has esti-
mated sugar production to de-
cline to 32.3-33 million tonne in
the 2023-24 season (October-
September)asagainst37.3million
tonnes in the previous season.
"We were anticipating cane
production to be low but didn't
anticipate it to go down further.
The recent rain has brought the
recovery per cent further down.
Thedroughtin Maharashtraand
Karnataka is worrying," Chopra
had said earlier.
Earlier in the day, Chopra ex-
uded confidence that the target
of 15 per cent blending of
ethanol with petrol will be
achieved in the 2023-24 supply
year. In 2022-23 supply year, the
government achieved 12 per
cent blending of ethanol with
petrol.
ity, and traders are invited to ac-
tivelyengageine-auctionstoen-
sure easy and affordable avail-
ability for consumers in the
market,” the Union Food
Ministry said in a statement
Friday.
The ministry said that of the
25 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of
riceallocatedbythegovernment
under theOMSS,1.19 LMThasso
far been sold.
As per data avaliable on the
Department of Consumer
Affairs’ website, the all-India
daily average retail price of rice
was Rs 43.29 per kg against Rs
37.87 per kg a year ago.
pronetodelaysduetothepreva-
lentsupply chainissues globally.
Additionally, some airports
had requested the BCAS to re-
considertheDecember31dead-
line as they were still in the
process of deciding on their re-
quirement of CTX scanners and
the modalities of installing the
machines at airport terminals.
Although this was the first
instance of a deadline being
handed out for CTX scanners,
several deadlines for installation
of full body scanners at major
Indian airports had lapsed over
the past three years, mainly due
to the impact of the COVID pan-
demic. With India’s air passen-
ger traffic exceeding pre-pan-
demic levels, the need for
expeditious installation of these
machines at congested airports
is being felt.
As per passenger traffic data
from the Airports Authority of
India (AAI), seven airports han-
dled over 1 crore passengers in
FY23. These were Delhi,
Mumbai,Bengaluru,Hyderabad,
Chennai, Kolakata, and
Ahmedabad. Airports that han-
dled between 50 lakh and 1
crorepassengersinFY23include
Goa, Lucknow, Guwahati, Kochi,
ENTERTAINMENT
IE
LIFESTYLE
He said the matter is now
listed before the High Court next
week “for modalities of the ap-
pointment of the commissioner
while Your Lordships are to con-
siderwhethertheHighCourthas
jurisdiction to hear the suit”.
The bench, also comprising
Justice S V N Bhatti, told Ahmadi
that he can tell the High Court
● Gupta’s arrest in Prague illegal, his extradition to US unsafe: Kin to SC
illegal custody of the Czech au-
thorities,facinganallegedpolitical
vendetta between the US and
Indian governments” and added
that his “extradition to the US is
unsafe,giventhepervasivethreat
to his life and safety”.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv
KhannaandSVNBhattithattook
up the matter initially asked the
petitioner to approach the “con-
cernedcourt”intheCzechRepub-
lic. “We will not go to all this. We
willnothaveanadjudicationover
here. It is an extremely sensitive
matterfortheMinistryofExternal
Affairsorforthatmatteranymin-
istry to come in. It is for them to
decide,”JusticeKhannatoldsenior
advocate C Aryama Sundaram,
who appeared for the petitioner.
Responding to a query from
thebench,Sundaramsaidtheplea
wasfiledbyafamilymemberasa
close friend. He said: “We are not
getting any assistance. Today we
do not even have an extradition
order. We do not know what is
happening.”
Although the plea urged the
courttoissueawritofhabeascor-
pus to the Centre and Indian em-
bassy in Prague “to immediately
trace and produce the petitioner
whoiscurrentlyindetention/cus-
todyatPankaracprisoninPrague,
Czech Republic”, Sundaram said
he is not pressing that prayer.
● Opp insists on Shah statement on breach, stalls House proceedings
Oppositionmembersshouldcon-
tinue to protest in both Houses
and get suspended in solidarity
with the 14 MPs who were sus-
pended for the protests. “We all
shouldcontinueourprotest...and
let them suspend all of us. We
should not leave them [the sus-
pended MPs] alone,” Baalu was
quotedassayingbyasourcewho
attended the meeting. He also
mentioned the suspension of
TMC’sDerekO’Brien–loneRajya
Sabha MP to be suspended.
“The INDIA bloc MPs, includ-
ing leaders, have decided to take
placards to both Houses and get
suspended in solidarity with the
others,” RSP leader N K
Premachandran told The Indian
Express.
In a post on X, Leader of
Opposition in Rajya Sabha and
Congress president Mallikarjun
Khargesaid,“Whatkindofjustice
is it to suspend MPs after such a
breach in security of Parliament.
TheHomeMinistercangiveinter-
viewsonTVbutcannotgivestate-
ments on the floor of Parliament.
INDIA parties demand that Shri
Amit Shah should give a state-
ment in Parliament and then it
● United we screen: Punjabi movies make a splash in theatres across border
or Canada. For instance, Carry on
Jatta 3 was produced by India
Humble Motion Pictures, but re-
leased by Distribution Club, a
Pakistan-based film distributor.
Sheikh Amjad Rashid, chair-
person of Distribution Club, told
The Indian Express, “Over the last
twoyears,around25moviesfrom
Punjab (in India) have been re-
leased in Pakistan. None of our
films, except for The Legend of
Maula Jatt, did better business
than Indian Punjabi movies. In
fact, the box office collection of
(Indian Punjabi film) Maujaan Hi
Maujaan is much higher in
Pakistan than in India.”
“It makes it easy for us to re-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE FAMILY PLAN MOVIE REVIEW: MARK WAHLBERG’S ASSASSIN COMEDY IS
THE STUPIDER VERSION OF MANOJ BAJPAYEE’S THE FAMILY MAN
TheFamilyPlanmoviereview:MarkWahlbergsleepwalksApple'sassassincomedy;thesortoffilmthat
youforgetwhileyou’rewatchingit.
WORLD’S OLDEST
PERSON DIES AT 116
How she managed to
live such a long life is
complex
FULL REPORTS ON
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
abouttheSupremeCourt'sobser-
vations and that if there is any
emergency, he can mention it for
listingbeforetheSupremeCourt.
Ahmadi said his difficulty is
thattheSupremeCourtwillbeon
vacation recess next week and
willreopenonlyonJanuary3.The
Supreme Court will close for
ChristmasandNewYearholidays
“Idonotwantanadjudication.
That is why I am not pressing
prayer at all,” he said, adding that
all he wassaying is that as for any
Indian citizen, the Ministry of
External Affairs through the am-
bassadorinPraguecouldhelpthe
family get in touch with Gupta.
As the court said it would not
pass any order on the request,
Sundaram took the bench
through the second indictment
filed in the US court. Justice
Khanna said the case file came to
him late Thursday night and he
had not gone through it in detail.
Sundaram urged the court to
hear the petition after the
ChristmasandNewYearholidays.
“There is something I require, at
least a status report to assist me
with. Please see what crossfire I
am caught with,” he said.
Agreeing, the bench fixed
January 4 to hear it next.
Thepetitionwasfiledthrough
Advocate-On-Record Rohini
Musa, also represented by advo-
cates Nipun Katyal, Archit Jain,
Dhananjai Shekhawat, Anam
Siddiqui and Kismat Chauhan.
KatyaltoldTheIndianExpressthat
their prayer in court is not on the
meritsofthecaseitselfbutonthe
issue of legal and humanitarian
aid to an Indian citizen in distress
abroad. “We want to plead for
threethings—thatweshouldget
should be discussed in both
Houses. It is our duty to raise our
voice on this serious issue of na-
tionalsecurity,itisourparliamen-
tary duty.”
Speaking to reporters,
Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Pralhad Joshi said, “Whatever in-
structions the Speaker has given
aftercallingtheall-partymeeting,
we are following them in letter
andspirit.Thereisanenquirygo-
ingonandthematterisalsointhe
court.Amidallthis,sayingthatwe
will not let the House run… ask-
ing for statement… what is this?
Thisisaverysensitiveissue.They
should behave responsibly.”
Addressingapressconference,
Congress communication head
JairamRameshsaidINDIAparties
remain firm on their “legitimate”
demand for a statement from
Shah. “The government’s stub-
born reluctance to come to
Parliamentandmakeastatement
is the sole reason for the stale-
mate. I think they want to divert
attention from the questions
raised by INDIA parties about the
roleofBJPMPPratapSimha…the
government initially said it was a
minor incident… but those who
lease Indian Punjabi movies in
Pakistanifadistributororproduc-
tion house linked to them are
based anywhere but India,” he
adds.
Though the ban on screening
Indian films was lifted briefly by
the Lahore High Court in 2018, it
was reimposed by the Chief
Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar,
who remarked that “they (India)
are trying to (obstruct the con-
struction)ofourdam,andwecan-
not even ban their channels”.
India,too,hasanunofficialban
on Pakistani films and artistes
sincethe2016terrorattackinUri,
Kashmir.
Before they were banned,
fromDecember19.Thebeachsaid
itcannotstayanorderwhichwas
notbeforeit.Initsorder,thebench
said, “The SLP is listed on January
9,2024.Letitcomeupforhearing
on the same date. All issues and
contentionsraisedwillbeconsid-
ered.”
At least a dozen cases have
beenfiledincourtsinMathuraby
status report on the petitioner,
consular access to the petitioner,
and legal/financial aid,” he said.
The plea said Gupta was “ille-
gally detained” on June 30 at the
Pragueairportby“self-claimedUS
agents rather than Czech author-
ities”. This was followed by “over
100daysofsolitaryconfinement”,
it said, adding that what tran-
spiredduringthistimehas“given
rise to grave violations of his fun-
damental rights”.
“Guptawasnotshownanyar-
restwarrantduringtheinitialde-
tention.Instead,hefoundhimself
in the custody of individuals pur-
portingtorepresentUSinterests,”
the plea said. It claimed that
Gupta, “a devout Hindu and veg-
etarian, claims that he was sub-
jected to forced consumption of
beef and pork during his deten-
tion in Czech custody, a direct vi-
olation of his religious beliefs”.
Gupta was also “denied con-
sular access, the right to contact
his family in India, and the free-
domtoseeklegalrepresentation”,
the petition said.
Referring to the second un-
sealed superseding indictment
datedNovember29,inwhichthe
US Department of Justice alleged
thatGupta,inassociationwithan
Indian government official, plot-
ted to kill Pannun, an American
national,thepleaemphasisedthe
werearrestedhavebeencharged
withUAPA…thatmeansitisase-
riousissue…itislinkedtonational
security,” he said. “Till the Home
MinistercomestoParliamentand
makesastatement…thepossibil-
itiesofsmoothfunctioningofboth
Houses looks bleak,” he added.
Ramesh said the Opposition
leaders have conveyed their de-
mandinwritingtobothLokSabha
Speaker Om Birla and Chairman
Jagdeep Dhankhar.
In Parliament, Opposition
memberswereseenchantingslo-
gans to demand PM Narendra
Modi's presence in Parliament
and Shah's statement. They also
soughtactionagainstSimha,who
facilitated the passes for the two
menwhojumpedoff thevisitors’
galleryandburstcolourcanisters
in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
At11am,whentheLokSabha
met, Opposition MPs held up
placards and raised slogans.
RajendraAgrawal,whowaschair-
ing the proceedings, adjourned
theHouseinlessthanaminutetill
2pm.Intheafternoon,theHouse
resumed merely to be adjourned
for the day.
Rajya Sabha proceedings, too,
Bollywood movies generated
nearly60percentoffilmrevenues
inPakistan.Atitspeakinthe1960s
and1970s,Pakistan’sPunjabifilm
industry produced nearly 400
films. However, it produced and
released less than 30 movies in
2022. Last year, this prompted
PakistaniactoranddirectorMohib
Mirza to advocate for lifting the
ban on Indian films in order to
help “Pakistan cinema grow”.
Iqbal Qaiser, a writer and his-
torian based in Pakistan, says,
“Pakistan had a thriving Punjabi
film industry until the 1980s but
thenthedictatorshipstartedpro-
moting Urdu at the cost of other
languages, including Punjabi.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
UPSC ESSENTIALS
Scan the QR code and
get ‘the express edge’
in your civil services
preparation with our
UPSC specials.
different petitioners. A common
thread in all the petitions is a
prayer for the removal of the
mosquefromthe13.37-acrecom-
plex, which it shares with the
Katra Keshav Dev temple.
InMaythisyear,theAllahabad
HC transferredtoitselfallthesuits
ontheSriKrishnaJanmabhoomi-
Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute.
“political nature of the case” and
saidthatGuptawas“ahaplessvic-
tim caught in the crossfire” be-
tween India and the US.
“The document, emanating
from the US District Court,
SouthernDistrict,NewYork,shifts
the narrative away from the peti-
tioner and implicates an alleged
Indiangovernmentemployee,re-
ferredtoas'CC-1'.Accordingtothe
petitioner,thismarksasignificant
departurefromtheinitialcharges
and transforms the case into a
diplomaticandpoliticalquagmire
betweenIndiaandtheUS.Thepe-
titionerpositionshimselfasahap-
lessvictimcaughtinthecrossfire,”
thepleasaid.Itsaid“thecasefalls
withintherealmofpoliticalperse-
cution, as he is wrongly accused
of collaborating with the Indian
government to assassinate an
American citizen”.
The plea said that Gupta is a
“law-abiding middle-class busi-
nessman”andthat“hisjourneyto
theCzechRepublicforleisureand
businessexplorationturnedintoa
nightmareduetoanillegalarrest”.
Statingthatthereis“animme-
diate threat” to Gupta’s life, the
plea referred to Pannun’s “status
asadeclaredterroristinIndia”and
pointedto“theinfluenceoftheUS
onCzechauthorities,posingarea-
sonable apprehension about his
safety in Czech prison”.
were disrupted soon after the
House met after Chairman
Dhankhar did not allow notices
for a discussion on the security
breach.“Ihavereceived23notices
under rule 267 for suspension of
business...Theinvestigationinthe
matterisunderwayanditshallbe
takentoalogicalconclusion.Iam
unable to persuade myself to al-
low the notices,” he said.
While adjourning the House,
Dhankhar asked the Leader of
Opposition, Leader of the House,
and floor leaders to meet him in
hischamber.Thisledtoadininthe
House.Whenamemberurgedthe
Leader of Opposition be allowed
to speak, Leader of the House
Piyush Goyal said they must first
answer questions on law and or-
der situation in opposition-ruled
Karnataka. Opposition leaders
skippedthemeetwithDhankhar.
AssoonasRajyaSabhametat
2 pm, Dhankhar stood up to ad-
monish the Opposition MPs for
the protest. Soon after, he ad-
journed the House until 11 am
Monday. Earlier, the Opposition
MPssuspendedonThursdayheld
asilentprotestnearGandhistatue.
WithENS,NEWDELHI
Indian Punjabi films have now
breathedanewlifeintoPakistan’s
Punjabi cinema.”
Nouman Warraich, a Punjabi
YouTuber from Pakistan, says,
“Given the Punjabi population
here, it’s hardly surprising that
Punjabifilms,eventhosemadein
India or by Indians, do well here.
Carry on Jatta (2012) is so famous
in Pakistan that its jokes have be-
comeapartofdailyconversation.
Partition and period cinema like
Lahoriye(2017)andAngrej(2015)
also did good business here.”
BesidesIndianPunjabimovies
usingsocialmediatoreachoutto
their Pakistani audiences, artists
frombothnationshavebeenjoin-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
LS security breach, govt
on ethanol production
& AI-powered CCTVs
What happened when two men opened
smoke canisters in the Parliament,
government's direction to all mills and
distilleries to not use cane juice or syrup for
ethanol & high-focus CCTVs in J&K.
● Justice Kaul signs off
As per practice, a Supreme
Courtjudgewhoisdueforretire-
ment shares the bench with the
CJI on his or her last working day.
Justice Kaul is set to retire on
December25andFridayishislast
working day as the court will be
onChristmasandNewYearholi-
day from December 18 and will
reopen on January 2.
JusticeKaul,whohadhandled
theissueofthelawyersstrikedis-
ruptingcourtworkinOdisha,said
the court is "an institution and
temple of justice. It must remain
open.That’ssomethingveryclose
tomyheart”.Hesaid“fortunately
theSupremeCourtdoesnotcarry
that problem”.
Speaking on what he called
theadjournmentculture,hesaid,
“As a lawyer, I felt that wherever
somewhat an adjournment cul-
ture is prevalent, it's a problem. I
alwaysbelievethatthecasemust
betakenuponthedayitislisted."
Herecalled“whenIbecamea
judge, one of the judges told me:
'Remember that in India, litigant
comestothecourtasalastresort,
afterhehasbeenthroughthevar-
ious processes and he finds that
there are no solutions. If he owes
50, give him 55, not 45 because
with great difficulty he comes to
this court'. That’s something I
have kept dear to my heart. I do
not believe that we are the fund
collectors for the government.
Stakesarenotimportant,whatis
importantiswhattheprincipleof
law it carries. And this court has
administeredjusticeasexpected
without fear or favour."
Justice Kaul expressed con-
cern that tolerance for opinions
● Smoke canisters had warning
in China, and instructions also
statethattheyaretobeusedinsu-
pervised arenas only.
The FIR mentions the colour
and make of the shoes and the
socksthemenwore,thecanisters
they had in their possession, and
the pamphlets that were found
with “a picture of fist in Tricolour
and a slogan in Hindi” and “a slo-
ganinEnglishonManipurissue”.
On December 13, Lucknow
residentSharmaandManoranjan,
who hails from Mysuru, jumped
intotheLokSabhachamberfrom
thevisitors’gallery,raisedslogans
and opened canisters that emit-
tedyellowsmoke,triggeringpanic
among Parliamentarians.
ThepoliceregisteredanFIRat
ParliamentStreetpolicestationon
the basis of a complaint filed by
Delhi Police personnel. “I along
with other police personnel
reached the office of Director,
Security, new Parliament House
Building, where Omkar Singh,
DeputyDirectorofLokSabha,was
present. He handed over a com-
plaint along with two persons,
SharmaandManoranjan.Healso
handed over their shoes and
Aadhaar cards. They also handed
over two used canisters and one
LokSabhapublicgallerypass,”the
FIR states.
“InSharma’sgreysportshoes,
acavitywasfound,createdbycut-
ting the inside sole of the left foot
shoe.Thethicknessofthesolehad
been increased by affixing addi-
tionalrubbersoleatthebottomto
support the cavity. Manoranjan’s
inghandsontheirprojects.Indian
directorAmrinderGill’sChalMera
Putt(2019)hadPakistanicomedi-
ansIftikharThakur,NasirChinyoti
and Akram Udas. More recently,
PakistanicomedianSohailAhmed
starred in Diljit Dosanjh’s Babe
Bhangra Paunde Ne (2022), while
NasirChinyotiappearedinGippy
Grewal’s Carry on Jatta 3.
Rakesh Dhawan, who has di-
rected Aaja Mexico Challiye and
Annhi Dea Mazaak Ae, starring
Punjabi superstar Ammy Virk,
says, “We don’t face problems in
releasing Indian Punjabi movies
in Pakistan. Though trade be-
tween the two nations never
stopped, only art was forced to
bear the brunt of the strained re-
lations.”
of others was going down inter-
nationally and emphasised the
need for people to learn to live
with each other.
“The whole society works on
a system where people must
have tolerance for each other's
opinion.Ithinkthat’sthegreatest
message I would like to give. We
are at a time in the world where
the tolerance levels have gone
very low, internationally... It is
timethehumanspecieslearnsto
livewitheachotherandlivewith
other species of this world to be
able to adjust to it, so that the
worldremainsalargeplace,does-
n’tbecomeasmallplace,”hesaid.
“The Bar and Bench work to-
gether. Therefore, the Bar owes
thedutytoseethattheindepend-
ence of the judiciary, the inde-
pendenceinthevariousformsin
the country are protected and
they stand up for it. Ultimately,
there's no method by which the
judiciary can stand up for itself
and Ithink it's the duty of theBar
tosupport,sometimescorrectthe
judiciary," he said.
Hesaidheisgoingoutasatis-
fied man. "I go out with a full
sense of satisfaction. I have tried
todomybestofwhateverIcould.
Sometimes it may be the best,
sometimes it may not be."
Attorney General R
Venkataramani said “Justice
Kaul’s expression” in the Article
370judgement“thatthereshould
beatruthandreconciliationcom-
mission, I think it marks a water-
shed in the way the court can ar-
ticulateaprofoundthoughtabout
the healing touch which is re-
quired”.
sport shoes were dark greyish in
colour and a similar cavity had
been created... The inside sole of
the right shoe was also found
partly cut,” states the FIR.
According to the FIR, the two
used wet canisters of “creative
colour smoke”, which have also
beenseized.“Twopartlytornand
damaged pamphlets with a
printedslogan,‘JaiHind’,inEnglish
andapictureoffistinTricolor,and
a second pamphlet with a slogan
in English on the Manipur issue,
were also kept in two separate
plasticscoversandseized,”theFIR
states. “Further information re-
garding bursting of crackers and
detention of two more suspects,
AmolShindeandNeelam(Azad),
whowerefoundinvolvedinsim-
ilaractivitiesoutsidegatenumber
2/3, Parliament House, was re-
ceivedatParliamentStreetpolice
station. During preliminary en-
quiry, both these persons were
found to be associates of Sharma
and Manoranjan. Four used can-
istersofcreativecoloursmokeand
one unused canister were recov-
eredfromthespot,"theFIRstates.
Policesaidthatoffencesunder
IPC sections 153 (provocation
withanintenttocauseriot),120B
(criminal conspiracy), 452 (tres-
pass),186(obstructingpublicser-
vant in discharge of public func-
tions), 353 (assault or criminal
forcetodeterpublicservantsfrom
discharge of his duty) and under
sections16and18oftheUnlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act are
made out.
Dhawan’s Annhi Dea Mazaak
AewasreleasedinPakistaninMay
2023 by India-based Panjwar
Pannu films and UK-based
Rhythm Boyz Entertainment.
Mohali-based Punjabi film
critic Harpreet Singh Kahlon says
Pakistani film authorities rarely
haveanissuewithIndianPunjabi
films that largely stick to fixed
themesofPunjabiandJattidentity
assertion.
“These films do not wade into
subjects like nationalism, that’s
onereasonwhyPakistaniauthor-
itieslookawaywhenthesearere-
leasedthere.”
Janjot Singh, director of Any
How Mitti Pao, says, “My film re-
leased on October 6. It is still run-
ning there (in Pakistan). ”
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
DAY 1 OF ASSEMBLY SESSION
MLALAD funds raised from Rs 4
crore to Rs 7 crore: Bharadwaj
GAYATHRIMANI
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE CAPITAL’S legislators will
now be able to spend almost
twice the amount on develop-
mentactivitiesintheirrespective
areas even as the AAP Delhi gov-
ernmentsaidithaddivertedfunds
allocatedforexpensesundervar-
ious heads towards citizen-cen-
tric projects during the year.
Speaking at the two-day
Winter Session of the Delhi
Legislative Assembly, Urban
Development Minister Saurabh
Bharadwaj said that the MLA
Local Area Development
(MLALAD) fund has been raised
from Rs 4 crore to Rs 7 crore.
MLALAD funds are given to
each legislator every year to take
updevelopmentalworkssuchas
repairing of roads, parks, street
furniture,securityarrangements
like providing gates for residen-
tialareasandotherlocalworksin
theirconstituencies.Thereare70
AssemblyconstituenciesinDelhi
of which 62 are represented by
the AAP and eight by BJP MLAs.
As per government officials,
there had been an increase in the
revenueoftheDelhiGovernment
in the financial year 2023-24.
Therefore, the government has
not taken any loan from the
Centre to complete its projects.
As per the revised budget of
the government tabled in the
Delhi Assembly, Rs 359 crore al-
located for advertising has not
Take steps to protect Ridge
forest: HC to Delhi govt
MALAVIKAPRASAD
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER15
THE DELHI HC Friday asked the
Delhigovernment’sforestdepart-
ment to take steps to protect the
Ridgeforestobservingitsaffidavit
ondeclarationoflandasreserved
forestwas“totallyunsatisfactory”.
On November 8, the HC had
directedtheDelhiChiefSecretary
to issue a notification declaring
un-encroached forest land as re-
served forests within two weeks,
failingwhichtheofficialwillbeli-
able for contempt action.
Asingle-judgebenchofJustice
Jasmeet Singh said the affidavit
filed in compliance with the
November 8 order was “totally
unsatisfactory”. “...The affidavit
onlyseemstosuggestthataction
willbetakeninnearfuturebutis
Committee to take
call on 12 Delhi govt
funded DU colleges
NewDelhi:DelhiUniversityonFriday
said that Vallabhbhai Patel Chest
Institutewillbeconvertedintoamul-
tispeciality hospital, and the varsity
has allotted over 12.76 acres of land
for expansion. An EC meeting was
heldonFridaywhereinsomeresolu-
tionswerepassed.Oneofthemstates
thatstudentscannowpursuetwoac-
ademic degrees at the same time. As
pertheECstatement,studentswillbe
able to pursue one course in the reg-
ular mode and other course through
Open and Distance Education.
During the Zero Hour,the EC de-
cided to form a committee to look
intomatteroverthefundingof12col-
leges by the Delhi Government. The
committee will submit report in 15
days. Delhi government sources,
meanwhile, said, “We can only con-
tinuefundingthemif theybecomea
part of a Delhi state university.” ENS
been utilised and returned. Also,
the Rs 94.7 crore allotted for the
ambitious shopping festival was
not utilised as the plan could not
be executed. “The Delhi govern-
ment had allocated money to
somedepartmentsinthebudget,
but due to the projects not being
executed,themoneyhasbeenre-
turned to the budget which will
be allotted for other projects and
schemes,” officials said.
An additional budget of Rs
471.41 crore had been allocated
for additional facilities in schools
andRs85crorefortherenovation
of school buildings. A corpus of
Rs 650 crore has also been allo-
cated for pensioners of the Delhi
Transport Corporation to save
themfrominconvenience,saidan
official. WhileRs.94.99crorehad
been allocated for the RRTS proj-
ect, allocation for the Delhi Jal
BoardhadrisenbyRs1,033crore,
totallysilentastowhatactionhas
been taken till date from
November 8...and time frame
withinwhichencroachmentwill
be removed from the Ridge
land,” the HC said.
Advocates Gautam Narayan
and Aditya N Prasad, the amici
curiaeappointedbytheHCinthe
matterconcerningthepreserva-
tionof theRidge,saidthatinspite
of judicialorders,theauthorities
have just been “dragging their
feetandtwiddlingtheirthumbs”
for two-and-a-half years and
“have done nothing”. Delhi gov-
ernment’s counsel said that two
weeks may be granted to file a
better affidavit and assured the
court that authorities shall em-
ploy people to ensure that “not
even a metre of the Ridge land is
encroached”. The plea is now
listed for January 2024.
the official added. Meanwhile,
discussionsrevolvedaroundpol-
lution, weather conditions and
unidentified bodies on the
Capital’s streets.
Environment Minister Gopal
Rai informed the house that the
pollution level in the city has
come down. Responding to an
MLA on the number of trees
plantedinthecityanddipin pol-
lution levels in the last five years,
Rai said, “Delhi has the largest
green belt at 23.6% among all the
otherbigcitiesandpollutionlevel
also came down since 2014
throughsustainedefforts.”Adding
thatthegovernmentisgoingtoin-
tensifytheplantationdriveinthe
next one year, Rai said that there
hasbeen31%deductioninthePM
2.5 and PM10 levels since AAP
governmenttookchargeinDelhi.
Rai also said the annual aver-
age level of PM 10 was at 324 in
Delhi Urban Development
minister Saurabh
Bharadwaj at the Winter
session on Friday. (above)
Education minister Atishi.
PTI/ Praveen Khanna
2014, adding it has now come
down to 223. The PM 2.5 levels
dippedto103in2022from149in
2014, he added. Further, he said
thatthenumberof“poor”quality
dayshasalsocomedownoverthe
years. “In 2015, there were 109
good air quality days while 2023
saw 206 such days. This is a new
record set under the Arvind
Kejriwal government,” said Rai.
Meanwhile, Delhi Assembly
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel alleged
the Finance department is trying
to undermine the the financial
and administrative autonomy of
theLegislativebodyandsaidthat
inanotetotheChief Secretaryon
December 5, he urged him to di-
rectthe departmentsconcerned
to abide by Law department’s
stand that administrative and fi-
nancial matters of the Assembly
should be processed by the
Assembly secretary.
BJP vs AAP: War of ‘Harassed’ for giving
words over ‘homeless’ birth to daughter,
deaths on Delhi streets woman dies by suicide
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
HEATED ARGUMENTS erupted
between the AAP and the BJP in
the Assembly after the latter al-
leged that 203 unidentified per-
sons,suspectedtobe“homeless”
people, have died during this
winter season in the Capital.
BJP leaders said the deaths
have occurred in the city due to
“neglect” and “delay” on part of
theDelhiGovernmentandDUSIB
in setting up night shelters, de-
manding that Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal speak on the
matter in the House. The matter
escalated into a war of words
withargumentsbetweenleaders
ofthetwopartiescontinuingout-
side the House as well.
Citing a Delhi Police report,
BJP’sRamvirSinghBidhurigavea
noticeforacalling-attentionmo-
tion on the alleged deaths. “We
demand Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwaltospeakontheissueand
provideanswers,”saidBidhuriin
the House.
Hitting back, AAP senior
leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said
thatthroughouttheyear,irrespec-
tive of weather, almost 300-350
bodiesarereportedeverymonth,
each with different death causes.
“It is very clear that this list is
takenfromtheDelhiPoliceZipnet
website. It is clearly evident from
the photos in the list that most
deathsoccurredduetoroadacci-
dentsormurders.BJPMLAsarely-
ing and trying to mislead the
Assembly House for which they
could face a case of
contempt/Breach of Privileges of
Assembly,” he said.
He also blamed the BJP-led
Central government for “demol-
ishing houses and slums and
leaving the people homeless”.
He said that everyone knows
“November didn’t have such an
intense cold that it would lead to
someone’s death.” The BJP lead-
ers were also marshalled out for
demanding action.
Later,Bidhurisaid,“Delhigov-
ernment is unwilling to discuss
any issue concerning the public,
and it is not holding itself ac-
countable for the deaths of 203
people in Delhi.”
THE CITY 3
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
PALWAL, DECEMBER 15
A 26-YEAR-old woman died al-
legedly by suicide in Haryana’s
PalwalWednesday.Followingher
death,thepolicearrestedherhus-
band. According to the police,
Aligarh-based Nisha married
Palwal resident Harkesh in 2018
and was allegedly assaulted by
her husband and in-laws for
dowry. “Her family has claimed
thatthein-lawswouldharassher
forgivingbirthtoagirlchild,who
died when she was four years
old,” the police added.
Harkesh works as a trades-
man in Indian Railways and is
posted in Delhi. The couple also
has a 1.5-year-old son.
In the police complaint,
Nisha’sfatherBhimSain,55,said
his daughter had left her marital
home after she was assaulted by
her in-laws but they later apolo-
gisedandtookherback.However,
shewasassaultedagainbyherin-
laws who were demanding a
dowryofRs3lakh,headded.Sain
said Nisha called her younger
brother in Aligarh Tuesday and
told him that her in-laws were
trying to kill her. “When she got
married, we gave her an Alto car,
jewellery, home appliances, and
cash worth Rs 15 lakh. Though
theydidn’tdemandanythingini-
tially, their demands started
growing. When she gave birth to
agirlchild,theywouldharassher
saying she could only give birth
to girls…” Sain said.
“She said her husband’s
brothers beat her up. Though
Nisha, Harkesh, and their son
moved out of her in-laws’ house,
the brothers-in-law would visit
and harass her,” he added.
“When her body was in the
mortuary, Rajesh (one of the
brothers-in-law) told Harkesh
that he need not worry as he had
a government job and he could
get any woman,” claimed Sain.
An FIR was registered at
Chandhut police station under
IPC Sections304B(dowrydeath),
498A(husbandorrelativeofhus-
band of a woman subjecting her
to cruelty), and 34 (common in-
tention)againstHarkesh,histwo
brothers, and their mother.

4 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
SENT TO 7-DAY CUSTODY
Parliament accused wanted to
create anarchy: Police in court
NIRBHAY THAKUR
& ARNABJIT SUR
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE ACCUSED in the Parliament
breachcasewantedtocreate“an-
archy” in the country to compel
the government to meet their
“unjustandillegaldemands”,the
Delhi Police told a local court
Friday while arguing for police
custody of Lalit Mohan Jha, the
fifth accused in the case.
Arguing before Additional
Sessions Judge Dr Hardeep Kaur,
PublicProsecutorAkhandPratap
Singhsoughta15-daypolicecus-
tody and said that Jha has “con-
fessed”thatheis“theprimecon-
spirator and mastermind” in the
“conspiracy” case. The prosecu-
tor said that he took the phones
of all the accused persons to de-
stroythemanddestroyevidence
to “hide the larger conspiracy”.
He argued, “He (Jha) disclosed
that he threw his phone on the
way to Jaipur to Delhi.”
The court granted the police
seven-day custody of Jha.
Jha's remand paper stated:
“Accused Lalit has disclosed that
theywantedtocreateanarchyin
thecountrysothattheycancom-
pelthegovernmenttomeettheir
Woman drowns boy,
2, in water tank over
‘stolen money grudge’
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER15
A WOMAN in Bawana allegedly
killed her two-year-old nephew
by throwing him into a terrace
water tank — and herself made a
calltopolicetoreporta“missing”
child — before suspicious CCTV
footage led to her arrest, police
said Friday. Basanti’s motive: She
suspected the infant’s father had
stolenRs10,000fromhermother.
DCP (Outer North), Ravi
KumarSingh,saidpolicereceived
the PCR call regarding the “theft”
of a baby on December 13.
Apoliceteamreachedtheres-
idenceandmetthecaller,Basanti.
“Shesaidthebabyisthatofhersis-
ter,Reena,andthatshefoundhim
crying outside the house.
According to her, she took the
baby inside and placed him in
their parents' room to sleep. The
baby’s seven-year-old sister did
notfindhiminsideandalertedthe
Capital colder than ‘In 11 yrs, nothing changed on women’s safety’
Shimla as temperature
drops to 4.9 degrees
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER15
ON FRIDAY, Delhi saw its coldest
winter morning so far with the
minimumtemperaturedropping
to 4.9 degrees Celsius, four de-
grees below the normal.
With this, the national capital
wascolderthansomelocationsin
the mountains in Himachal
Pradesh and Uttarakhand, like
Shimla, which recorded a mini-
mumtemperatureof 6.8degrees
Celsius in the morning, and
Mussoorie, where a minimum
temperature of 6.2 degrees was
recorded. At Dharamshala, the
minimum temperature was 8.2
degrees early on Friday, going by
data with India Meteorological
Department (IMD).
Amonglocationsintheplains
of northwest India, Delhiwas the
third coldest on Friday morning,
the coldest being Hisar in
Haryana, where a slightly lower
minimumtemperatureof4.2de-
grees Celsius was recorded.
Bareilly in UP also recorded a
lower minimum temperature of
4.6 degrees. Parts of Rajasthan
recorded higher minimum tem-
peratures than Delhi – Churu
recordedatemperatureof7.4de-
grees, while the minimum tem-
perature in Jodhpur was 10.3 de-
grees. Delhi's minimum
temperatureof4.9degreesFriday
morning was also a little lower
than the lowest minimum tem-
peratureof 5degreesrecordedin
December last year. In 2021, a
Lalit Mohan Jha, the fifth
accused in the case
unjust and illegal demands...the
grounds of police custody re-
mandarethatanin-depthinves-
tigationisneededtounearththe
larger conspiracy behind this
well-planned attack on the
Parliament of India and the in-
volvement of the other persons
who have helped them in com-
mission of the crime.”
According to the remand
copy, the custody of the accused
wasneededtofindthemotivebe-
hind the attack and whether Jha
andassociateshadlinkswithany
“otherenemycountry”aswellas
"terrorist organisations”. The re-
mandcopyfurtherstatedthatpo-
neighbours.Subsequently,Basanti
made a PCR call,” said the DCP.
Police then reviewed CCTV
footageandfoundthatnoonehad
enteredthehousebeforetheolder
sister raised the alarm — except
Basanti,whowentinsidewiththe
baby and came out without him.
Police found the child’s body
insidea3,000-litrewatertankon
the terrace of the house.
“Based on circumstantial evi-
dence, Basanti was taken in cus-
tody. She accepted she had killed
thebabyasshehadsuspicionthat
the baby's father had stolen Rs
10,000 from her mother around
20 days back and due to that, she
hadquarrelswiththebaby’sfam-
ily.Sheclaimedshekilledthebaby
Wednesday to teach them a les-
son,” said a police statement.
Aseniorofficersaid:“Thefam-
ilylivesinajointsetting…Basanti
also held a grudge that her sister
had three sons, including Ayush,
while she had three daughters
and no son.”
LOWEST MIN TEMP
RECORDED IN DEC
■ Temperature in °C
6.6
6.3
5.0
5
3.3
3.2
3.0
2.0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2,019
2020
2021
2022
Source: IMD data
lower minimum temperature of
3.2 degrees was recorded in
December.
The minimum temperature
has remained below normal all
through this week, with cold
winds from the north and north-
west hitting the plains of north-
west India. Isolated rainfall or
snowfallislikelyoverJammuand
Kashmir and Ladakh over the
weekend, going by the IMD fore-
cast. IMD scientist Kuldeep
Srivastavapointedouttwofactors
thatcontributedtothefallinmin-
imum temperature in Delhi on
Friday–clearskiesandcoldnorth-
westerly winds. “After the pass-
ing of a western disturbance, the
temperaturehasfallen.Thewind
direction is now northwesterly,
bringing cold winds. Clear skies
have also contributed...” he said.
licewished“toconfrontalltheac-
cused before each other to get a
clear idea of the conspiracy as
their disclosures are contradic-
toryregardingthemobilephones
and the place where they met.”
The prosecution also argued
thattheaccusedpersonslivedin
separatestatesandneededtobe
taken to those states to recover
the evidence.
It added that they also
needed to locate Jha’s mobile
phone and take him along to lo-
cate the hotel in which the ac-
cused stayed for four days in
August. “We also need to know
about the financial transactions
and the funding behind the at-
tack,” argued the prosecution.
SinceJhawasnotrepresented
byacounsel,hewasprovidedone
byacourt.Arguingagainstpolice
custody, Advocate Umakant
Kataria said 15 days were not re-
quired to interrogate Jha.
Theotherco-accusedarecur-
rently in seven-day police cus-
tody of the Special Cell.
A senior Delhi Police officer
saidthatthebankaccountsof the
accused persons are being
scanned to trace the money trail
and possible funding from any
“questionable” organisation or
firm. “Role of other associates
BARAPULLAH PHASE III: WORK BEGINS AT LAST
After a delay of over six years, construction of Phase III of the Barapullah elevated road project, aimed at connecting East and
Central Delhi, has begun following L-G V K Saxena’s nod for the acquisition of two parcels of land which was held up. Abhinav Saha
FATHER OF DECEMBER 16 GANGRAPE VICTIM SAYS WOMEN STILL EXTREMELY UNSAFE
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
NOTHING HAS changed when it
comes to women's safety in the
national capital 11 years after
they lost their 23-year-old
daughter to the gruesome
December 16 gangrape, her fa-
ther said Friday.
On this day in 2012, India
awoketo newsof thehorror that
five people and a juvenile had
subjected the paramedical stu-
dent and her male friend to
MANY SLEEPING ON STREETS, HOPING TO RECEIVE BLANKETS FROM PASSERSBY; RELYING ON LANGARS
‘Mattresses and blankets still caked in mud’: How inhabitants
of a shelter home are dealing with aftermath of July flood
UPASIKASINGHAL
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
TUCKED AWAY behind Sant
Parmanand Hospital near
Nigambodh Ghat, a group of 10
mensitcrouchedaroundadying
fire pit. Having finished a hard
day's work, they rub their hands
overtheembers,drinkingcupsof
tea and wait till it's time to retire
to their beds in the homeless
shelter nearby in Dandi
Park.
The shelter is comparatively
biggerthanothersinthecity,with
a large airy courtyard and a mo-
halla clinic on its premises.
However, it has been barely get-
tingbysincethefloodsinundated
ANANDVIHAR
Very Poor
332
AQI
0 PM 2.5
0-50 Good
whom they met or informed
about the plan regarding the at-
tackontheParliamentisalsobe-
ing probed,” the officer
added.
Accordingtoofficers,Jha,who
originally hailed from Bihar,
workedasateacherinKolkata.He
surrendered before the Kartavya
Path Police Station on Thursday.
Jha had uploaded two videos of
the protest carried out by co-ac-
cused Neelam Azad and Amol
Shinde outside the Parliament
even as two other co-accused,
SagarandDManoranjan,jumped
into the Lok Sabha from the visi-
tor'sgallerywithcolourspraying
canisters.
Another person, Vicky alias
Vikash Sharma, who allegedly
gave shelter to the accused, was
picked up from Gurugram but
sent off after questioning.
Officers said that Lalit used to
teach students with his
Instagram profile comprising
photos of Bhagat Singh,
Rabindranath Tagore, Fidel
Castro, among others.
Allthefiveaccusedhavebeen
bookedundersection16(punish-
ment for terrorist act), 18 (pun-
ishment for conspiracy, etc.) and
IPC section 120B (Criminal con-
spiracy), among other sections.
aboard a moving bus in south
Delhi, triggering massive
protests throughout the country
and shock across the world.
“Many things have changed
since 2014...welfare has im-
proved. Many downtrodden
have benefitted. We can also say
that a social and religious revo-
lution has taken place in a
way…Whathasn'tchangedpost
2012, however, is women's
safety. Women are still ex-
tremely unsafe in our country,”
said the woman’s father.
According to him, the two
the area in July this year.
“We have electricity bills that
haven't been paid for since
August; the shelter hasn't been
receiving food since July, either,”
saidVickyChandel(33),thecare-
taker of the shelter. Chandel al-
leged that ever since the floods,
littletonohelphasbeenafforded
to the shelter by DUSIB. “Had
some of the residents and I not
cleaned up this place, you would
still be walking in ankle-deep
mud here. Yahaan sab Ram
bharose chalta hai (We have left
everything to God),” he said.
“Themattressesandblankets
are still caked in mud and sand,”
said Abdul Kayum (56), a daily
wage labourer who lives in the
shelter."Someofuschoosetobuy
MANDIRMARG
Very Poor
318
AQI
500 0 PM 2.5
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate
No help, visitors allowed
at unsafe Chintels’ towers
AISWARYA RAJ
GURGAON, DECEMBER 15
RESPONDING TO complaints
from residents of towers de-
claredunsafeatChintelsParadiso
that security guards were re-
stricting their access, the builder
has informed them that no out-
sidersincludingdomesticwork-
ers or visitors will be allowed to
enter the five towers.
A resident of tower G, Manoj
Singh,whohappenstobethepe-
titioner in the case which is be-
ing heard by the Supreme Court,
said in the first week of
November,thedeliveryof neces-
saryitemstohisflatwasstopped.
Followinga policecomplaint
onNovember4,thebuilder’srep-
resentative responded, attribut-
ing the episode to a misunder-
standing and instructions to the
staff nottostopanyonline/offline
deliveries to the flat in future.
On Thursday, however, the
maintenance agency concerned
stoppedSingh’sdomesticworker
from entering the tower and he
wrotetotheRWAtolookintothe
matter.Inresponse,ChintelsIndia
Pvt Ltd said Singh was still “ille-
gally occupying” his house de-
spitetheorderoftheDCtovacate
it after the tower was declared
unsafebyanIITDelhiauditreport,
addingthathehadnorighttoen-
danger the lives of others.
main issues were of the police
not filing FIRs or presenting evi-
dence correctly and “rich crimi-
nals” generally hiring private
lawyers to which the state's
lawyers were sometimes of “no
match.”
“If something happens to
someone's daughter or wife in
this country, they really have no
place to go for help,” he said. The
comments come in the wake of
data released by the National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
earlier this month revealing a
surge in crime against women,
At the shelter home in Dandi Park. Express
ourownmattressesandblankets
to use. Others wash the muddy
supplies and sleep in them,” he
said.
Accordingtoothers,somealso
OKHLA PHASE-2
Very Poor
322
AQI
500 0 PM 2.5 500
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
The builder has told residents that no outsiders, including
delivery persons, will be allowed to enter the five towers.
“As we...are working, we rely
heavily on our cook and
maid…The builder and mainte-
nance agency are resorting to il-
legalmeanstocoercemetoagree
to builder's meagre buyback of-
fer and not shying from even in-
fringing on my right to life by
stopping deliveries of basic life
supporting items or stopping
cook/maidtomyflat,”themailto
the RWA, marking officers in the
district administration and po-
lice said.
Singhsaidthatworkersathis
house and his own family who
visit them enter the tower of
their own volition, and builder
shouldnotstoptheirentry.Inre-
sponse,thebuildersaidthatthey
have received instructions from
marking Delhi amongst the
most unsafe cities for them.
According to data, over
14,158 crimes against women
were reported in 2022, record-
ing an increase from 13,982 re-
ported in 2021. In 2020, the fig-
ure was pegged at 9,782, the
highest among other metropol-
itan cities that year. Further
breakup of the 141,58 crimes
against women showed that
3,909 cases of kidnapping/ab-
duction and 1,204 incidents of
rape had been reported in
2022.
choose to sleep on the streets in
the hope of receiving blankets
fromaltruisticpassersby.“During
thewintermonths,lotsof people
come to donate blankets to the
ROHINI
Very Poor
345
AQI
0 PM 2.5 500
At 5 pm
401-500 Severe
the administration to the effect
thatthetowersD,E,F,G&Hhave
been found to be dangerous and
unsafe.
“You are hereby informed
thatnooutsiderswillbeallowed
to enter any of the above men-
tioned towers, which includes
servants and/or your visitors,” it
said. “Regarding your assertion
that our action is being taken in
ordertocoerceyoutoacceptour
buybackoffer,Iwouldliketosim-
ply remind you that you have al-
ready taken the matter to the
hon'ble Supreme Court, whose
decision is awaited and when-
ever a decision is made by the
hon'ble court it will be fully
obeyed and honoured by us,” it
further said.
JNU manual on protest
curbs: Students write to
V-C, ABVP burns effigy
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,DECEMBER15
STUDENTSFROMmultipleoutfits
in Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU)Fridaywroteajointletterto
the Vice-Chancellor against the
varsity’s new manual that pro-
hibitsanyformof demonstration
within100metresofacademicor
administrative buildings.
Separately,theJNUABVPunit
burnt an effigy of the varsity ad-
ministration while protesting
againstthemanual,callingit“dic-
tatorial” and “anti-student”. The
studentbodysaidinastatement:
“It is an attempt by the JNU ad-
ministration to crush student
rights. The Chief Proctor Office
Manual is designed to stifle free-
domandexpressiononcampus.”
The letter, signed by 13 stu-
dents from five parties, flagged
showcause notices issued to 16
students who had protested out-
side Vice Chancellor Santishree
Dhulipudi Pandit’s official resi-
dence in September over a water
crisis. Among the signatories are
the JNU Student Union Secretary
HC: Don’t want India to become
an industry of renting a womb
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court
Friday said that “nobody wants
India to become an industry of
renting a womb”, and the law
regulating the procedure of sur-
rogacy is intended to curb the
exploitation of surrogates.
A division bench of Acting
Chief Justice Manmohan and
Justice Mini Pushkarna made
the observation while hearing a
plea by an Indian origin couple
poor. When someone receives a
blanket, they come back to the
shelter to sleep in the warmth,”
said Shriraj Nayar (35), a daily
wage worker.
ThehomelessshelterinDandi
Parkonceusedtobeabletohouse
around800peopleinthefivecab-
ins in its compound. One of the
five was dedicated to the elderly
homeless while the rest were for
the male general population.
Today,twoofthefiveremainshut
duetounpaidelectricitybills,said
Chandel. The remaining three
manage to rely on donations,
goodwillandthesheergritof the
caretakers.
According to DUSIB officials,
the shelter's operations have
beenhaltedduetotheshelterbe-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
S K Y WA T C H
FORECAST: December 16
Mainlyclearsky.Shallowfog
inthemorning.
AQI: Very poor
MAX: 25 MIN: 06
2.0°Cabovenormal 2.6°C belownormal
L-G turns
down Atishi’s
proposal to
reconsider
report seeking
CS suspension
New Delhi: Terming her argu-
ments to bolster allegations of
wrongdoing against Chief
Secretary Naresh Kumar and
Divisional Commissioner
Ashwani Kumar in the Bamnoli
land acquisition matter as “illog-
ical”, Lieutenant Governor VK
Saxena has turned down vigi-
lance minister Atishi's proposal
to review his stand on the issue.
Officials said that the L-G
had noted that the resubmitted
file was “nothing but re-spin-
ning of theories” by the Minister
and there were “no new facts”
presented to support her “illog-
ical arguments.”
Delhi government sources
said the L-G had turned down
all “plausible arguments” ask-
ing what harm a thorough in-
vestigation in the matter would
have caused to public interest.
Atishi had submitted to
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
a 670-page preliminary report
on the alleged involvement of
the Chief Secretary in enhanc-
ing an “exorbitant compensa-
tion award” for a parcel of land
in Southwest Delhi’s Bamnoli
village acquired for the Dwarka
Expressway. ENS
Mohammed Danish and presi-
dents of multiple hostels.
The letter said students “have
decided to extend no further co-
operationwiththeChiefProctor’s
office” until the manual is with-
drawn and unjust punishments
revoked.
Itsaid:“Thefivehundred-plus
studentswhohadparticipatedin
thepeacefulprotestnearyourres-
idence on September 19, 2023
had dispersed after your assur-
ancethatthematterwouldbead-
dressed with urgency. You had
met with the presidents of the
hostels the very next day at your
office and discussed the matter
withthem.Despitethis,aprocto-
rial inquiry was initiated against
JNUSUrepresentativesandhostel
Presidents.”
As per the new student man-
ual, released earlier this week,
holding dharnas, hunger-strikes,
group bargaining or any other
formofprotestwithin100-metre
radiusofanyacademicoradmin-
istrative building at the JNU can
leadtoapenaltyofuptoRs20,000
orrusticationandexpulsionfrom
the campus for two semesters.
living in Canada challenging the
March 14 notification issued by
the Centre amending the
Surrogacy (Regulation) Act to
ban donor surrogacy by altering
Form 2 under Rule 7 of the
Surrogacy Rules, 2022.
The bench orally observed,
“This is a beneficial act and is
primarily intended to curb the
exploitation of surrogates...”
ENS
ing on the Yamuna floodplains.
Earlier this week, tents for the
homelesshadbeensetupwithin
the shelter's compound, only for
themtobedismantledafewdays
later due to approval issues, said
an official on the condition of
anonymity.
For now, the homeless living
in the shelter manage to survive
on food from the nearby
Hanumantempleandlangarsor-
ganised by the Sis Ganj Sahib
Gurdwara.
“Therearemostlyelderlymen
wholivehere,”saidBipinRai(29),
a daily wage worker originally
from Guwahati. “They probably
need the most amount of help.
We are able bodied so we man-
age to get by,” he added.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023 5

6 GOVT & POLITICS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
RAJASTHAN
PM Narendra Modi with Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister
Diya Kumari in Jaipur on Friday. Rohit Jain Paras
Day1:CMsets
upSITforpaper
leaks,taskforce
forgangsters
HAMZA KHAN
JAIPUR, DECEMBER 15
ADDRESSING HIS first press con-
ference after taking charge as
Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bh-
ajanLalSharmaFridayannounced
settingupof aspecialinvestigati-
onteam(SIT)tocheckpaperleaks
as well as an anti-gangster task
force to check organised crime.
He also said that women
safety,eradicatingcorruptionand
ensuringlawandorderwillbehis
government’s top priorities.
In a late-night conference,
Sharma, who took oath as Raja-
sthan CM earlier in the day, said,
“We will move forward while
complying with our manifesto.
Wewillalsograduallytakeupthe
issues due to whichthe peopleof
Rajasthan were suffering, as well
asissuesonwhichPrimeMinister
Narendra Modi is working.”
In a style akin to the PM’s, he
beganhisaddresswiththeword
“mitron (friends)”. “We have
witnessed crimes against wom-
en and girls in Rajasthan. Our
government will not tolerate
crimes against women and girls
atanycostandthesewillbecon-
trolled completely,” he said.
“The people of the state will
Amid speculation, Naveen aide Inform panel of steps
Pandian says won’t contest polls taken to secure places of forms fact-finding team, CM
SUJIT BISOYI
worship: SC to Manipur questions ‘sudden awakening’
BHUBANESWAR, DECEMBER 15
AMID SPECULATION about the
political future of Odisha Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik’s close
aide V K Pandian, theformer IAS
officer on Friday clarified that he
would not contest the coming
general or Assembly elections
due in April-May 2024.
Pandian, who joined BJD on
November 27, attended the ex-
ecutive committee meeting of
the party Friday. At what was his
first party meeting, Pandian
cleared the air in the presence of
senior party leaders. BJD vice-
president Debi Prasad Mishra
said Pandian made it clear that
he had joined the party to “serve
thepeopleof Odisha”andwould
not contest elections.
“Kartik Pandian (as he is re-
ferredtobyBJDleaders)spokefor
around15minutesatthemeeting
andclarifiedhewillnotcontestin
the2024polls,sayinghewillinst-
ead help each of the 147 BJD can-
didates to win,” said a senior BJD
leader who was present at the
meeting.
Sources said Pandian’s role
would be shaped by his contri-
Naveen extends food security scheme
SUJIT BISOYI
BHUBANESWAR, DECEMBER 15
ODISHA CHIEF Minister Naveen
Patnaik announced Friday that
the State Food Security Scheme,
which covers around 10 lakh
people left out of the central
schemeundertheNationalFood
Security Act (NFSA), would be
extended for five years.
It came weeks after PM Nare-
ndra Modi’s announcement on
the extension of the Centre’s free
foodgrains scheme for the next
five years. He had made the an-
nouncement at election rallies in
get freedom from corruption
and the government will work
with a policy of zero tolerance.
There will be immediate dis-
posal of pending cases,” Sharma
said,adding that “accountability
for corruption will be fixed”.
He said that law and order
will also be the “main subject”
for his government and “crimi-
nal and antisocial elements will
be identified and strong action
will be taken against them”.
Hesaid“paperleakshavebro-
ken the morale of youth” of the
stateandthegovernmenthasini-
tiated the process of forming an
SIT. “Criminals playing with the
future of youth will be given str-
ong punishment. It will be en-
suredthereisnopaperleakinthe
future, and those who have done
so will not be spared,” he said.
Additionally, an anti-gang-
stertaskforcewillbeconstituted
under an ADG-level officer to
eliminateorganisedcrime. Both,
the SIT and Task Force were part
of BJP manifesto. “The problem
of every person arriving in vari-
ous (government) offices will be
resolvedsensitivelyandrespect-
fully,”hesaid.Healsoannounced
Modi’s “dream project” of Viksit
Bharat Sankalp Yatra will be
launched in Jaipur Saturday.
Karnataka woman’s assault: BJP
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik speaks on Friday as VK Pandian
(first from left) looks on. X/@Naveen_Odisha
butions to the party’s efforts to
winasixthstraightterm.“Every-
one in the party is aware that he
is the CM's close confidant. If he
plays a key role and contributes
totheparty’swinningstreak,the
CMmaygivehimatoppartypost
afterthepolls.Forthetimebeing,
he will work as a member and
helpPatnaikfinetunetheparty's
2024pollsstrategy,”saidtheBJD
leader.Atthemeeting,theex-IAS
officer praised Patnaik’s leader-
ship and said it had influenced
his decision to join the party.
Strategy talk
At the executive committee
meeting,theBJDplanneditsstrat-
MP and Chhattisgarh in Nove-
mber.Thedecisionwillleadtoan
additionalfinancialburdenof Rs
1,250 crore on the state’s coffers.
“Around 9.9 lakh members
belonging to 3.14 lakh house-
holds who have been covered
under the scheme will continue
to receive free 5 kg rice per
month. While extending the
scheme, the chief minister has
directed that not a single poor
person in Odisha should be de-
prived of rice,” said a senior gov-
ernment official.
Coming before the general
and Assembly polls, the annou-
ncement holds political signifi-
CEC law should be struck down as ‘arbitrary, severely
imperiling independence of EC’, says Justice Nariman
OMKAR GOKHALE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
JUSTICE (RETIRED) Rohinton F
Nariman,formerSupremeCourt
judge and former Solicitor Gen-
eralofIndia,onFridaysaidthere-
cent Bill to regulate the appoint-
ment process of the Election
Commission of India, once it be-
comes an Act, be struck down as
“arbitrary”and“severelyimperil-
ingtheindependenceofECI”.“Ifit
is not (struck down), it is fraught
with the greatest danger to
democracy,” he said.
Citingtherecentjudgmentof
the SC upholding the abrogation
of Article 370, Justice Nariman
said it is a “disturbing feature”
that “we would have no demo-
craticgovernmentinJammuand
Kashmirforfiveyearstilltheelec-
Implementing
Women’s
reservation law:
HC refuses to
entertain plea
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court
Fridayrefusedtoentertainaplea
for a “time-bound” and “urgent”
implementationof theWomen's
reservation law to ensure 33%
quota for women in the upcom-
ing Lok Sabha elections.
AsinglejudgebenchofJustice
Subramonium Prasad said the
prayersinthepetitionwereinthe
nature of “public interest” and
granted the petitioner, advocate
YogamayaMG,thelibertytowit-
hdraw the petition and file a PIL.
The advocate, representing
the central government, said the
issue of implementation was al-
ready pending before the SC.
“Thelackof tangibleprogress
or a clear roadmap for imple-
mentationraisesconcernsabout
the sincerity of the authorities in
giving effect to this vital legisla-
tive measure,” the plea states.
The plea made political parti-
es,includingtheCongressandBJP,
asrespondentsandsoughtadire-
ction to EC to issue a directive to
allparties fortheirresponsesand
plans for the implementation of
thelawbeforethe2024polls. ENS
egyforthegeneralandAssembly
polls.Thepartyhasdecidedtoor-
ganise a 40-day grassroots con-
nectivity programme from Janu-
ary 23 to March 5 (Biju Patnaik’s
birth anniversary) to showcase
government’s welfare schemes.
The party said it would requ-
est the Centre to fulfil the state’s
just demands, signalling it won’t
take on the Narendra Modi gov-
ernment aggressively ahead of
the LS polls. Addressing the
meeting,Patnaiksaid,“Everyone
issayingBJDisthemostsuccess-
ful regional party. But I have al-
ways been saying that it's the
most successful socio-economic
movement in the country.”
cance given that the subsidised
riceschemewasagame-changer
forthePatnaik-ledBijuJanataDal
in the past three elections.
Much before the Centre’s
NFSA, Patnaik launched the sub-
sidisedschemeofRs2perkgpop-
ularly known as “Di tankia Cha-
ula” in 2008. It was believed to
have played a role in his winning
ahat-trickin2009despitetheBJD
havinggonesoloforthefirsttime,
after severing ties with the BJP.
Contrary to the speculations
that his government may wind
upthecheapricescheme,Patnaik
not only continued the scheme
but also revised it to Re 1 per kg
tions which are supposed to be
held in September, and the same
could continue indefinitely”.
Justice Nariman said it was
further disturbing that the SC
“took four years” to pass its ver-
dict,anddidnotdecidetheques-
tion as to why the conditions to
convert a state into two Union
Territories were bypassed.
He said that assurance of
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar
Mehta that statehood will fol-
low shortly and the elections
will be held next year could not
bind the successor govern-
ments or the legislature. “When
SC said it will not decide the said
question on the basis of assur-
ance by SG Mehta, in effect it
has allowed the unconstitu-
tional act to go forward for an
indefinite time and skirted
Article 356 (5) of the Constitut-
Telangana has given verdict to liberate
itself from 10 yrs of repression: Governor
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, DECEMBER 15
TELANGANA GOVERNOR Dr
Tamilisai Soundararajan said
that “the people of Telangana
have given a clear verdict to lib-
erate themselves from 10 years
of repression”, referring to the
previousBRSgovernmentledby
K Chandrasekhar Rao without
taking its name.
Addressing a joint session of
the Legislature Friday, the Gov-
ernor said that 2023 will remain
in history as a new beginning to
Telangana’s journey.
IntherecentlyconcludedTela-
ngana elections, the Congress
stormed to power and picked A
Revanth Reddy to lead the new
dispensation. The Congress had
madesixguarantees.“Telangana
is breathing fresh air of freedom
andlibertynow.Telanganaislib-
erated from autocratic rule and
dictatorial tendencies,” she said,
adding that people are already
experiencing the change.
CM A Revanth Reddy, at the
timeof swearingin,madeitclear
that in a democracy, the rulers
are the people’s servants, and
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE SUPREME Court Friday
asked the Manipur government
to inform the Justice Gita Mittal
Committee about the places of
worship that were destroyed in
the recent ethnic clashes and
steps taken to secure them.
A bench of CJI D Y Chand-
rachudandJusticesJBPardiwala
and Manoj Misra, which was in-
formed by the Manipur govern-
ment that it had already identi-
fied the places of worship that
weredamagedordestroyeddur-
ing the ethnic clashes, asked the
state to furnish a list before the
committee within two weeks.
The bench said the identifi-
cationshallbeacrossallreligious
denominations and irrespective
of the nature of religious struc-
turewhichhasbeendamagedor
destroyed.Itaskedthestategov-
ernment to appraise the com-
mittee of the steps taken to se-
cure the places of worship.
SC also permitted the com-
mittee to prepare a comprehen-
sive proposal, including the
inJanuary2013,justayearbefore
the 2014 polls. Despite the Modi
wave that swept the country,
Patnaik’s party increased its vote
share and number of seats in the
Lok Sabha and the Assembly.
Even after the implementa-
tion of the centrally sponsored
NFSA in 2014, Patnaik claimed
around 25 lakh eligible people
were left out of the scheme be-
cause of the maximum popula-
tion limit fixed by the Centre for
Odisha to be included under the
Act. In January, Patnaik announ-
ced that his government would
providefreericetothebeneficiar-
ies of the state scheme.
the SC, assented to one of the 8
Bills and made “wholesale” ref-
erence of 7 bills to the President.
“If there is a wholesale refer-
ence to the President, then leg-
islative activity of the states
comes to a standstill....Once the
Bill lands up at the Centre’s door
and Centre says no, that’s the
death of the Bill. It is over,”
Nariman remarked.
JusticeNariman alsoreferred
to the tax raids on the BBC office
Justice (retired) Rohinton F after it aired a documentary on
Nariman suggests a Gujaratriotsearlierthisyearand
Collegium of retired judges said that “the media is our watc-
for appointing judges. Express hdogandif itiskilled,thennoth-
ingremains.” Themomentthere
is any onslaught on media, the
ion,” Justice Nariman said. courts must be vigilant to in-
Referring to Kerala Governor stantly scorch it, he added.
Arif Mohammed Khan sitting JusticeNariman,whowaspart
over8billsfor23months,hesaid of the SC Collegium before retir-
Khan, after being pulled up by ingfromtheapexcourtinAugust
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy with Governor
Tamilisai Soundararajan in Hyderabad on Friday. PTI
theyarenotfeudallords,shesaid ment thanks Sonia Gandhi, then
and underlined that “the gover- chairperson of UPA, for the key
nance is moving forward and role she played in the process of
taking steps in this direction and creatingTelanganaintoaseparate
the ‘Praja Vaani’ programme... at state,”shesaidandpaidtributeto
CM’s camp office is the first step the martyrs who laid down their
in this direction”. lives for the cause of Telangana
The present government statehood.
thanks all people, parties, lead- The Congress government
ers and the then UPA govern- willidentifythefamiliesof ‘mar-
ment and then PM Manmohan tyrs’ (those who sacrificed their
Singh for creating a separate life for the cause of Telangana
TelanganaStatein2014,respect- statehood)andallotthem250sq
ing the decades-old aspirations yards of the house sites and pay
of the people, she said. them an honorarium, she said.
“On behalf of 4 crore Telan- The government has already
ganapeople,thepresentgovern- beguntheexercisetocleanupthe
restoration of the places of wor-
shipwhichweredamagedorde-
stroyed. The court also extended EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
the term of the committee by six BENGALURU, DECEMBER 15
months.
SeniorAdvocateHuzefaAha- BJPNATIONALpresidentJPNadda
madi, appearing for the Meitei has formed a ‘fact-finding’ panel
Christian Churches Council, comprisingfivewomenmembers
urgedthecourttodirectthestate to visit a village in Karnataka’s
to make some arrangements so Belagavi district where a tribal
thatbelieverscancongregate for womanwasstrippedandtiedtoa
Christmas. poleafterhersonallegedlyeloped
Senior Advocate Vibha Datta with a girl.
Makhija, appearing for the com- Nadda issued a statement
mittee, said it “had visited and Fridaycondemningtheincident.
found that religious and non-re- “Such heinous crimes especially
ligious buildings have suffered againstwomenarehappeningat
large degree of damage. regular intervals ever since the
Religious places were of various Congress government has come
faiths including some Buddhist to power in Karnataka. This ex-
temples.Thereforewehadasked poses the irresponsible behav-
the state to make a list of dam- iour of Congress governments
aged places”. She added that the everywhere in the country in
committee will submit the fol- tackling such crimes,” he said.
low up in its next report. Union Finance Minister Nir-
The court also recorded the mala Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha
assurance given by Solicitor MP from Karnataka, also con-
General Tushar Mehta and ASG demned the incident on social
Aishwarya Bhati that the state media. “In @INCIndia there is no
will ensure that those in the re- ‘nyay’ for the SCs and STs. The re-
lief campsareinaposition toob- cent incident in Belagavi,
serve all requisite ceremonies in Karnataka falls in the same cate-
connection with Christmas. gory as those repeated atrocities
Iran announces visa-free travel for Indians
This decision aims at show-
DIVYA A casing Iran’s commitment to gl-
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15 obal interaction, said Zarghami,
adding, “Iran aims to counter
IRANHASannouncedthatitwas negative perceptions and ru-
lifting visa requirements for cit- mours with this move, while
izens of India as well as 32 other combating the phenomenon of
countries — being an addition to ‘Iranophobia perpetuated bythe
severalothercountriesthathave global arrogance system’.”
recently announced visa-free Thirty-two other countries in
travel for Indian nationals. Iran’s visa-free travel list include
This move is aimed at boost- Russia,UAE,Bahrain,SaudiArabia,
ing tourism with more visitors Qatar,Kuwait,Lebanon,Uzbekis-
from across the world, said tan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Tunisia,
EzzatollahZarghami,Iranianmin- Mauritania,Tanzania,Zimbabwe,
isterofCulturalHeritage,Tourism Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia,
and Handicrafts, following a cab- Darussalam, Japan, Singapore,
inet meeting on Wednesday. Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam,
2021,saidthatthepresentsystem
is‘worst’but‘thereisnothingbet-
ter’ available. He suggested that
for appointment of judges, there
should be a collegium of retired
judgeswhichcouldbeselectedby
the practicing advocates in the
Supreme Court and High Courts.
JusticeNarimanspokeatBan-
sari Sheth Memorial Lecture on
the ‘The Constitution of India:
Checks and Balances’, at Asiatic
Society in South Mumbai Friday.
Justice Nariman said the SC
had decided the Chief Election
Commissioner should be ap-
pointed by a panel of PM, Leader
of Opposition and the CJI. “It was
very very crucial because if EC
happen to be partisan, then
there is no free and fair election
and there is no democracy”.
Most unfortunately, he said,
the Bill to ‘subvert’ SC order, was
Telangana State Public Service
Commission, she said. The state
governmentwillalsotakestepsto
fillup2lakhvacanciesinoneyear.
Noting that the state is com-
mittedtodecentralisingdevelop-
ment in Telangana, she said the
governmentisplanningtodivide
the state into three zones with
Hyderabad as the centre.
Alleging that in the last nine
and a half years, all the institu-
tions have been destroyed, she
said the governmentwill restore
the core values of the legislature
and executive.
Reactingsharply,formerMin-
isterKadiamSriharisaidtheGov-
ernor did not mention any of the
achievementsofBRSgovernment.
“ShedidnotsayhowtheCongress
government is going to imple-
ment all the schemes...the Gove-
rnorhasleftthedooropenforthe
governmenttoescapefromfulfill-
ing its promises,” he said.
“The Governor has projected
as if no development happened
in the last 10 years of BRS rule
but she forgot that NITI Aayog
and the Centre have praised sev-
eralprogrammesof theBRSgov-
ernment.Telanganabecamefree
in 2014, not now,” he added.
Union Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman (left), BJP chief
JP Nadda
againsttheDalitsseentillrecently
in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh. For Congress the
downtrodden are just a vote-
bank,” Sitharaman posted.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
meanwhile accused the BJP of
usingtheincidentof theviolence
against a woman for political
gain. Responding to the BJP,
Siddaramaiah said: “As soon as
the Belagavi incident came to
light, our home minister G
Parameshwara and Minister for
Women and Child Welfare
LaxmiHebbalkarvisitedthesur-
vivor's home not only to console
her but also to provide compen-
Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Ven-
ezuela, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia, Croatia, and Belarus.
Earlier, Iran had lifted visa re-
quirements for the citizens of
Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Oman,
China, Armenia, Lebanon, and
Syria.
Regular flights to Saudi
Arabia for Umrah
According to the latest statis-
tics, the total number of tourists
in Iran reached 4.4 million, dur-
ing the first eight months of the
current Iranian year (beginning
March 21) — an increase of 48.5
per cent from the same period
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
subsequently moved in Rajya
Sabha which will become an Act
in no time, where CJI is substi-
tutedbyaministerappointedby
the PM. “If you are going to get
the CEC and other election com-
missioners appointed in this
fashion, free and fair elections
are going to become a chimera.
Where you have two from the
executive, the PM and a minister
against LoP which is 2:1 always
and out goes the EC,” he said.
“Accordingtome,it(CECBill)
should be struck down for the
asking as an arbitrary piece of
legislation, because it severely
imperils the independence of
theworkingof theelectioncom-
mission. I sincerely hope so. If it
isnot,itisfraughtwiththegreat-
estdangertodemocracy,”Justice
Nariman said. FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
LS expulsion: SC
to hear Mahua’s
plea on January 3
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE SUPREME Court Friday
posted TMC leader Mahua Moi-
tra’s petition against her expul-
sionfromParliamentforhearing
on January 3, 2024.
“Igotthefileonlyinthemorn-
ing, I hardly had five minutes to
just scan through. Normally I go
through the files very thor-
oughly,” Justice Sanjeev Khanna,
presiding over a two-judge
bench, said, told senior advocate
A M Singhvi, who appeared for
Moitra.JusticeKhannaaddedthat
he“wouldliketogothrough”the
plea as there are many facts
which need to be looked into.
Senior advocate Harish Salve
told the bench, also comprising
Justice S V N Bhatti, he had filed
an impleadment application in
thematteronbehalfofLokSabha
MP Nishikant Dubey on whose
complaint an inquiry was initi-
ated against Moitra. Singhvi said
hehadnoproblemwiththecourt
fixing a new date to hear the plea
but objected to Dubey seeking to
appear in the case. “He has no lo-
cus. His presence today as an MP
shows his motivations,” he said.
sation. The police apprehended
the culprits within 24 hours and
put them behind the bars.”
Incidentally, the BJP in
Karnataka did not raise the issue
of the violence against the
woman in the Belagavi winter
session of the state legislature
which concluded on Friday.
“Nadda’s sudden awakening
and his attempt to stir up this
case four days after the incident
indicate a political motive rather
than genuine concern for
women," Siddaramaiah said.
A police officer said the inci-
dent took place between 1-3 am
on Monday. “The victim’s 24-
year-old son was in a love rela-
tionship with an 18-year-old girl
andhermarriagewasscheduled
on Monday as her family had
arranged the marriage with an-
other man. But the couple ran
away before the scheduled en-
gagement ceremony.”
The relatives of the girl at-
tacked the mother, 42, who was
at her residence. They stripped
her naked, paraded and later
tied her to an electric pole to as-
sault her.
last year.
Zarghami also said that his
Ministry had proposed a visa-
free travel for 60 countries,
which was not approved com-
pletely.
As per Iranianmedia reports,
its citizens will be able to travel
to Saudi Arabia for Umrah
through "regular flights", start-
ing December 19. Due to this,
Iranians would be able to per-
form Umrah in Saudi Arabia for
the first time in eight years — an
improvement in relations be-
tween the two countries.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023 IN PARLIAMENT 7
SECURITY BREACH IN PARLIAMENT

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
Govt, Opp blame each other for House logjam
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
ASTHEproceedingsinParliament
remained disrupted for the sec-
ond consecutive day on Friday
over the issue of security breach
in the House, the Government
andtheOppositiontradedallega-
tions over the matter.
SPCHIEF:BJPWANTS
TOSCAREPEOPLE
Kannauj: Samajwadi Party
president Akhilesh Yadav
on Friday targeted the BJP
over security lapse in the
Parliament House and al-
leged that the ruling party
wanted to scare people in
can make a statement only after
thesedetailscomeout.Hewillnot
make a statement (in the House)
withhalf information,”hesaid.
Opposition MPs, meanwhile,
blamedtheCentreforthedisrup-
tionsintheHouseandquestioned
whyShahwasnotmakingastate-
ment in Parliament.
“The Home Minister is re-
sponsible for the Delhi Police, for
‘Revolutionary’ on social
media, low-key ‘Masterji’
in Kolkata neighbourhood
RAVIK BHATTACHARYA
& ATRI MITRA
KOLKATA, DECEMBER 15
wrote,“Thosewhowilltalkabout
the rights of people will be
branded a Communist.”
His last post, uploaded two
Police visit
Sagar’s house
in Lucknow
Lucknow: A police team Friday
evening visited the house of 25-
year-old Sagar Sharma, one of
the persons arrested for breach-
ing parliament security

HOUSE TO HEARTS ParliamentaryAffairsMinister

PralhadJoshiFridayslammedthe
SUSPENDEDFROMtheLokSabha,CongressMPsTNPrathapan Opposition parties for disrupting
and Hibi Eden have returned as heroes to party workers in Parliament proceedings over the
Thrissur and Ernakulam, respectively. Their supporters were issue and said they should “be-
planning a grand welcome forthe two MPs at the Kochiairport haveresponsibly”. Talkingtome-
on Friday. In Thrissur, the party workers had planned a 51-car dia persons outside Parliament,
convoytoreceivePrathapan,whoisnowfacingthefifthsuspen- Joshisaidthatahigh-levelprobeis
sioninthe17thLokSabha.However,thedemiseof formerstate underway in the matter.
ministerandCongressleaderKPViswanathanforcedthework- ReactingtotheOppositional-
ers to drop the plan at the last moment. legation that the Centre was try-
ingtosuppressitsvoice,Joshisaid,
PROTOCOL LESSON “Nooneistryingtosuppressany-
one's voice, it is their opinion. I
AMIDDINintheRajyaSabhaonFridaymorning,AAPMPRaghav want to say, come and debate.
ChadhawasadmonishedbyChairpersonJagdeepDhankharfor Two Bills are listed today. On
making a time-out gesture. Dhankhar said, “You don’t have to Monday, three important Bills to
dothistoraiseapointof order,useyourtongue.Don’tdoit,oth- replace the IPC, the CrPC and the
erwiseyouwillstartdancingalso.”HewentontosaythatChadha EvidenceActwillbetakenup.We
neededtolearnprotocol.“Youaretheonlypersonwhoisenjoy- want a detailed discussion. We
ing his conviction, giving an impression that your suspension have allotted 15 hours."
wasrevoked.YouweresentencedbythisHouse,”hesaid.Chadha Amid demands from
had previously been suspended for “breach of privilege”. Opposition leaders for a state-
the name of security. PTI
ment in the House from Home
Minister Amit Shah on the inci-
dent, Joshi said, “Both the build-
ings (Parliament) are under the
Speaker'spurview.Wearefollow-
ing the Speaker’s order. A high-
level probe is going on.”
Minister of State for Health
and Family Welfare SP Singh
BaghelaccusedtheOppositionof
trying to politicise the issue and
divertattentionfromthegovern-
ment’s achievements by not al-
lowing Parliament to function.
“The Speaker has written to
theHomeMinister,theprobehas
been given to the DG of the CRPF.
Whatideologythey(theattackers)
wereinfluencedby,whatwastheir
intention — the Home Minister
thenation'ssecurity.Heisspeak-
ingtonewschannelsoutside.His
principal accountability when
Parliament is in session is to the
veryHouseheisamemberof.He
should come and speak to the
MPs. Had he done it, this crisis
could have been diffused a very
long time ago,” Congress MP
Shashi Tharoor said.
AAP MP Raghav Chadha said
theOppositionleadersarereadyto
wait for the probe report, but the
Home Minister should make a
statement.PriyankaChaturvediof
theShivSena(UBT)said,“Ibelieve
not just the Opposition, those on
the treasury benches should also
urgethehomeministertomakea
statement. They say they will get
back PoK (Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir),AksaiChin,andtheycan-
notevenprotectParliament”.
FROM SOMEONE who would
post revolutionary quotes on so-
cial media advocating “war” as a
means of achieving “peace” to a
low-key and soft-spoken tutor in
Kolkataneighbourhoods,theper-
sona of Lalit Jha (37), the alleged
mastermind of Wednesday's
Parliament security breach, is a
study in contrasts.
Jha (37), a native of Bihar's
Darbhangadistrictwhohasbeen
residingin Kolkatafor nearlytwo
decades, wrote in an Instagram
postonNovember24acoupletat-
tributed to a lesser-known poet,
Bikram Singh ‘Narayan’, “Make
peaceyourbeloved,butdon’thes-
itate from war. It is those who re-
frain from fighting get oppressed
the most.”
In a post on November 5, he
days back, was a video of the se-
curity breach in Parliament with
the intruders chanting slogans.
But to his neighbours in the
BurrabazarareaofKolkatawhere
he lived in rented accommoda-
tion till last year, Jha was a com-
pletely different person.
The 37-year-old also had a
rented apartment in Baguiati
where he lived with his father
Debanand Jha, who works as a
priest, his mother and younger
brother Sonu.
Lalit’selderbrotherShambhu
Jha, who is married, stays sepa-
rately from the family.
Locally known as “Masterji”
since he took tuitions, the resi-
dentsintheneighbourhoodknew
himasalow-keysoft-spokenper-
son who attended all kinds of
gatherings in the locality.
Wednesday, in Ramnagar area
here and seized some of his arti-
cles and bank passbooks of his
family members, his family
claimed. “Police took with them
some of my son’s articles and
passbooks of our bank accounts.
They also took my signature on
a paper with details of the arti-
clestheytookaway,”saidSagar's
father Roshan Lal Sharma, a car-
penter. Roshan Lal was ques-
tioned by police at the Manak
police station here Friday.
A senior city police officer
said that “a police team from
some other state had arrived
here and seized Sagar’s belong-
ings”.
The officer said the Uttar
Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad
(UPATS)hadalsobeencollecting
information about Sagar. ENS

ADVERTORIAL

*

˜Êˆ˜ˆÌˆ>̈ÛiÊLÞ

Commemorating Bangladesh's victory

in the Liberation War
colossal significance serves as a powerful re- their courage bolstered by the dream of forming Forces at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka on
minder of the resilience and courage of the a sovereign Bangladesh. 16 December 1971 marked Bangladesh's mon-
Bangladeshi people in the face of unimagin- India's role in the Bangladesh Liberation War umental victory in the Liberation War and was
able hardship and India's unswerving commit- cannot be overstated. While the Mukti Bahini, registered indelibly in the annals of indepen-
ment to support and aid them in emerging vic- the Bangladeshi resistance force, spearheaded dent Bangladesh's history with the signing of
torious in a war fought for independence. the fight on the ground, India provided crucial the Instrument of Surrender by Pakistan's Gen-
December 16 is a day etched deeply in the military, diplomatic, and humanitarian support. eral Niazi.As an oppressive chapter came to an
hearts of Bangladeshis as a day commemorating This included training and equipping the Mukti end, it uprooted countless families and caused
the victorious culmination for the nation of the Bahini, providing a haven for refugees, and the loss of three million lives. Nevertheless, it
nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War launching a decisive military intervention in led to the dawn of a new era in the newly inde-
that took place in 1971 and marked the birth of December 1971 that ultimately led to the Pak- pendent land for Bengalis, Bangladesh,
the independent nation of Bangladesh, altering istani surrender, marking the official cessation wherein an independent nation rose from the
forever the contours of the world map. The ob- of East Pakistan's existence and the founding of ashes, bringing forth a vibrant democracy with
servance of Victory Day in Bangladesh res- the new state of Bangladesh. a rich cultural tapestry woven from resilience
onates not only within its landscape but also The iconic surrender of the Pakistan Armed and hope.
across the border in India, where it is celebrated
as Vijay Diwas to honour the sacrifices made
during the war and celebrate India's pivotal role
in aiding Bangladesh emerge victorious in it.
The Bangladesh War of Independence — fu-
elled by Bengali nationalism — that lasted for
nine months in 1971 was not just a revolution-
ary, armed conflict; it was a war waged to forge
the independent identity of a nation yearning
Jubilant celebration of Vijay Diwas spans India and Bangladesh with for self-determination.The atrocities unleashed
India's pivotal role in helping Bangladesh clinch victory in the Bangladesh by the Pakistani forces were met with in-
domitable resistance from the Mukti Bahini,
Liberation War, paving the way for the birth of a new nation the freedom fighters fighting guerrilla warfare,

F
LAGS fluttering like a sea of green with a red disc
symbolising the sun adorning each flag, the Na-
tional Anthem echoing everywhere, and the air
buzzing with the celebratory spirit of revisiting the
memory of a nation reborn — that sums up the joyous at-
mosphere in Bangladesh every year on December 16. On
this day, an entire nation of over 173,743,822 people of
S
SALUTE TO OUR
Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi diaspora come alive in a
rapturous symphony commemorating the nation's epoch-
making victory over the Pakistan Armed Forces in the
Y BRAVEHEARTS O
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, which led to the inde-
O U
pendence of Bangladesh. U R
The celebration of the same as Victory Day or Vijay Diwas
takes centre stage not only in Bangladesh on December 16 R
but also in the territory of its neighbour and longstanding
ally, India, which had a central role in aiding Bangladesh
M
attain a historic military victory against Pakistan to claim S O
its ultimate liberation from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Vijay Diwas transcends mere celebration. It is a solemn re- A T
membrance of the sacrifices of millions who fought for and
made the supreme sacrifice for a nation's right to self-deter-
C I
mination and freedom from Pakistani oppression.The day of R V
The day commemorates the I A
defeat of Pakistani Forces in the F T
Bangladesh Liberation War that I From I
lasted from March 26 to Budding Managers
C O
December 16, 1971. With the E (Army Wards) of AIMT N
capitulation of 93,000 West
Pakistani troops, it was the 

largest surrender of military
personnel since World War II of  

military personnel since World SHAPING UP THE FUTURE OF DEFENCE WARDS

War II of military personnel since (MAINTAINING 100% PLACEMENT RECORDS)

* ( READ. ENGAGE. DELIVER.) IS THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS TEAM OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS GROUP

8 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
Two held in
NIA raids
on PLFI in
four states
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THE NATIONAL Investigation
Agency (NIA) Friday arrested
two persons during a massive
crackdown on proscribed
People'sLiberationFrontof India
(PLFI) in Jharkhand, Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.
“We have arrested two per-
sons; Raman Kumar Sonu alias
Sonu Pandit of Bihar and Nivesh
Kumar from South-West district
of Delhi during the raids. An
IndianArmyuniform,alongwith
arms,ammunition,incriminating
documents and electronic de-
vices, Rs 3 lakh in cash and jew-
ellerywereseizedduringtheraids
at 23 locations, mostly in
Jharkhand, in a case of extortion
and levy collection by the terror
group,”anNIAspokespersonsaid.
“The people targeted during
thecrackdownwereallcadresand
sympathisersofPLFI,abannedter-
ror organisation,” the official said,
adding they were involved in a
conspiracytocarryoutviolentacts
andcommitterroractivities.Ofthe
locations raided, 19 are in
Jharkhand — Gumla, Ranchi,
Khunti, Simdega, Palamu and
West Singhbhum districts — two
in New Delhi and one each in
Bihar's Patna and Madhya
Pradesh's Siddhi districts,” the
spokespersonsaid.
According to the NIA, the ar-
restedaccusedwerenamedinan
FIRregisteredbytheNIAthisyear.
“The NIA registered the case
suo motu on October 11 under
various sections of the Indian
Penal Code and the Unlawful
Activities(Prevention)Act(UAPA),
following information about fi-
nancing of terrorist activities
throughextortionbyPLFIcadres,”
the spokesperson said.
“Investigations so far have re-
vealed that cadres of the banned
organisation were involved in
generating funds through extor-
tion from various coal traders,
transporters, railway contractors
and businessmen in Jharkhand,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Theywerealsoconspiringtocom-
mit various terror activities, in-
cluding attacks on the security
forces, murder and arson,” the
spokesperson said.
“Probeshaverevealedthatthe
PLFI cadres were also involved in
other nefarious activities, such as
recruitment and procurement of
armsandammunition,apartfrom
collection of levy. The leaders,
cadres and sympathisers of the
PLFIwereconspiringtoreviveand
expand the organisation in
Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh
and other PLFI-affected states,”
the spokesperson added.
Police inspect the spot where Abhishek Kumar was shot dead
at Patna’s Danapur court complex on Friday. ANI
Bihar undertrial shot dead
on court premises, 2 nabbed HPS fund-raiser: Famous Caught breaking traffic regulations in Bengaluru?
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PATNA, DECEMBER 15
AN UNDERTRIAL, who was be-
ing produced at Danapur court
of Patna, was shot dead by two
assailants on the court premises
Friday. Theassailants were over-
powered by the constables who
were accompanying the victim,
facing 15 cases, including eight
murder cases.
Patna police said Abhishek
KumaraliasChhoteSarkar(34),a
resident of Bihta near Patna, was
lodged in Beur Jail of Patna for
aboutayearinconnectionwitha
murder case. He was brought to
Danapur civil court Friday after-
noon from Beur Jail. Two consta-
bles, one of them armed, accom-
panied Kumar to the court.
Patna Senior Superintendent
No bail for ABVP men who ‘stole’ judge’s vehicle to
‘help’ dying V-C, ex-CM Chouhan seeks leniency
ANAND MOHAN J
BHOPAL, DECEMBER 15
A SPECIAL judge in Gwalior de-
nied bail to two activists of the
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad (ABVP), who were ac-
cused of stealing a High Court
judge's car, ostensibly to rush a
university's Vice-Chancellor to a
local hospital. The incident has
caught the attention of former
chief minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan, who has asked the
Madhya Pradesh chief justice to
withdraw the case against the
two on humanitarian grounds.
ABVP Gwalior secretary
Himanshu Shrotriya (22) and
deputy secretary Sukrit Sharma
(24), who have moved the High
Court seeking bail, were arrested
on December 11 and booked un-
dertheMPDakaitiAurVyapharan
PrabhavitKshetraAdhiniyamAct,
WINTER TALES
People enjoy boat rides on Dal Lake in Srinagar on Friday. Shuaib Masoodi
SENA VS SENA IN MAHARASHTRA
Disqualification pleas: Speaker gets time till Jan 10
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
THE SUPREME Court on Friday
extended by 10 days — from
December31toJanuary10,2024
— the time granted to
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker
RahulNarwekartodecideonthe
disqualification petitions filed in
the aftermath of the rebellion in
the Shiv Sena camp last year.
A three-judge bench of Chief
Justice D Y Chandrachud and
Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj
Misrapassedaninterimpleafiled
byNarwekarseekingextensionof
of Police, Rajiv Mishra said: “Just
whenAbhishekKumarwastaken
forbeingproducedbeforeacourt,
an assailant started firing at him.
But he was overpowered by the
armedconstable.Therewasasec-
ondassailantinthecrowd,andhe
startedfiringatAbhishekKumar”.
The victim was rushed to a
hospital where he died. The SSP
saidoneoftheassailantswasalso
shot at and is under treatment.
“Both assailants had come from
Muzaffarpur...Morepeoplecould
beinvolvedinthecase...Itisamat-
ter of concern. In this case, two
constablesaccompanyingtheac-
cused acted swiftly and arrested
both the assailants. But we need
to discuss court security,” Mishra
said.Asperpolicerecords,Kumar
was an accused in eight murder,
twoextortion,threeArmsActand
two miscellaneous cases.
ananti-dacoitylaw.
They were arrested on the
basis of complaint by a consta-
ble posted at Gwalior railway
station,who alleged thataround
3.45 am on December 11, some
"unknownpersonsgotoff atrain
and called an ambulance", and
instead of taking the patient in
the ambulance, "forcibly
snatched the key of the govern-
mentvehiclefromthedriverand
took it into their possession and
left with the patient”. Police said
that the ailing man, identified
Ranjeet Singh(68), wasthe vice-
chancellorof aprivateuniversity
inUttarPradesh'sJhansi.Helater
died of cardiac failure.
SpecialJudgeSanjayGoyalon
Wednesdayrejectedtheirbailap-
plication, observing: "According
tothefactscollectedinthecasedi-
ary,theapplicants/accused,along
with their other accomplices,
forciblysnatchedthekeyfromthe
time to decide on the pleas by
three weeks, till January 21.
OnOctober30,theapexcourt
refused to grant time beyond
December31totheSpeakerwho
hadfiledanaffidavitseekingper-
mission till February 29, 2024, to
completethehearings.Ithadalso
askedtheSpeakertodecideonthe
disqualification pleas related to
two factions of the Nationalist
CongressParty(NCP)onorbefore
January 31, 2024.
On Friday, Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, representing the
Speaker,submittedthatthereare
documentsofover2lakhpagesto
beexaminedbyNarwekarandhe
UP HOOCH DEATHS
8 cops, one excise
officer booked
Lucknow: The Vigilance depart-
ment of the Uttar Pradesh Police
has registered an FIR against
eightpolicepersonnelandanex-
cise department officer for their
alleged nexus with liquor mafia
inFirozabaddistrict,officialssaid.
The department came to
know about the alleged nexus
while probing the death of three
persons reportedly due to spuri-
ousliquorinFirozabad'sShekpura
on November 17, 2020. The state
government had ordered a probe
intothedeathsbythevigilancede-
partment,whichsubmitteditsre-
portonJune5.However,arelated
drive was not held to benefit the
liquormafia,policesaid. ENS
alumni on its guest list
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, DECEMBER 15
MICROSOFT CEO Satya Nadella,
Adobe Systems President and
CEO Shantanu Narayen, World
Bank President Ajay Pal Banga
andcricketcommentatorHarsha
Bhogleareamongthealumniin-
vitedtoafund-raisingdinnerbe-
ing hosted by Hyderabad Public
School (HPS) on December 24 at
Taj Falaknuma Palace.
The school, established in
1923, is celebrating its centenary
andislookingtoraiseRs100crore,
whichwillbeusedtoimprovethe
infrastructureandfacilitiesonthe
campus. HPS authorities said the
school plans to invest Rs 25 crore
Former MP chief minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan. File
driverpresentinthegovernment
carparkedintheporchoftherail-
way station and committed rob-
bery and dacoity. The applicants
argue that the said act was done
as a help to a sick person, but the
saidargumentisnotjustified.Itis
clearthattheactofaskingforhelp
is done politely, not forcibly.”
Followingthecourt'sdecision,
the ABVP launched protests and
threatened a statewide agitation
if the two were not released.
Chouhan, who has been touring
is conducting proceedings even
during the Winter Session of the
Assembly held in Nagpur, which
beganonDecember7andwillgo
until December 20.
Narwekar, in his interim plea,
submitted that after the Winter
SessiongetsoveronDecember20,
the Legislature Secretariat has to
move from Nagpur to Mumbai
whichtakesabouttwo-threedays.
“Hence, even if the hearing of the
disqualificationpetitionsisoveron
December 22, 2023, the Speaker
would not be able to peruse the
papers and work on the judg-
mentsbeforeDecember26,2023.”
Heclaimedthatthereareato-
Ansari gets 5.5-yr jail in 7th case
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 15
JAILED GANGSTER-POLITICIAN
Mukhtar Ansari was on Friday
sentenced to five years and six-
months in jail in a 26-year-old
case for threatening a business-
man in Varanasi who was a wit-
ness in a murder case. The case
was registered on November 5,
1997, against Ansari under IPC
section 506 (criminal intimida-
tion) at Bhelupur police station.
The UP police said on Friday
said that an MP/MLA court in
Varanasi on Friday sentenced
Ansari to the prison term along
with a fine of Rs 10,000 and if
Ansari fails to pay the fine, he will
over the next few years to create
state-of-the-art sports infrastruc-
ture and the remaining funds in
other areas. Funds provided by
alumni are being used for the de-
velopmentofinnovationlabs,cen-
ters for Artificial Intelligence and
theSchoolof Entrepreneurship.
The HPS was established by
theseventhNizamofHyderabad,
MirOsmanAliKhan.Someof the
other HPS passouts include
AIMIMleadersAsaduddinOwaisi
and Akbaruddin Owaisi, Telugu
actorAkkineniNagarjuna,former
TDP MP Ashok Gajapati Raju,
CongressMLAGVivekanand,for-
mer Andhra CM N Kiran Kumar
ReddyandSyedAkbaruddin,for-
merpermanentrepresentativeof
India to the UN.
different regions of the state,
wrotetotheJabalpurChiefJustice,
saying "this is a different kind of
case in which the crime has been
committed withapious motive”.
"The intention of the stu-
dents was not to commit any
kind of malice or criminal act. It
is a crime, but also a forgivable
act. Therefore, I request that the
Honorable High Court take suo
motucognizanceandpleasefor-
give the students by withdraw-
ing the case registered in view of
their future," Chouhan wrote.
The lawyer for the students,
Bhanu Pratap Chauhan, argued
thattheyweretravelinginatrain
headed from Jhansi to Delhi
whenSingh'shealthdeteriorated
andsomestudentstravelingwith
Singh dropped him at Gwalior
station for treatment. He argued
that the students were "actually
providingpropermedicalaidtoa
sick person", which doesn't
talof34petitionsand133respon-
dents as per which 56 MLAs are
soughttobedisqualifiedunderthe
10thScheduleoftheConstitution.
Hesoughtreasonabletimetocon-
duct the hearing and go through
“extraordinarilyvoluminousdoc-
uments”beforetakingdecisions.
The bench, in its order, noted
that the Speaker indicated the
proceedings would be closed for
ordersonDecember28.However,
SeniorAdvocateKapilSibal,repre-
senting Shiv Sena (UBT), said the
Speaker can only be given one
moreweektodecideonthepleas.
FULL REPORTS ON
www.indianexpress.com
Jailed
politician
Mukhtar
Ansari. File
have to spend an additional two
months in jail. The case was filed
basedonacomplaintbybusiness-
man Mahabir Prasad Rungta — a
residentof BhelupurinVaranasi.
Ansari is lodged in Banda jail.
ThecasepertainstoAnsarithreat-
ening Mahavir Prasad Rungta, a
witness in the murder case of his
brother and coal trader Nand
Kishore Rungta. This is the sev-
enth case in which Ansari was
convicted and sentenced by a
courtinUPinthepast15months.
You may soon have to explain it to your boss
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, DECEMBER 15
IN A novel initiative to raise
awarenessaboutroadsafetyand
traffic rules, the Bengaluru po-
lice have started notifying com-
panies about their employees’
traffic violations.
Theinitiativestartednearly15
daysagoonanexperimentalbasis
in the east division of Bengaluru.
Under this, traffic police officials
started flagging IT company staff
whorodetwo-wheelersalongthe
wrong side of the road, and send-
ingalistofviolationstoeachcom-
pany.Thedriveisunderwayacross
Bengaluru’s IT corridor, which
comes under the Mahadevapura
amount to robbery.
The Additional Public
Prosecutor Aggarwal argued "the
act done by the applicants by
forcefullysnatchingthekeysofthe
governmentvehiclefromthegov-
ernmentemployee"amountedto
robbery, and prayed for denial of
bail. The district court noted that:
"An ambulance had already ar-
rived at the railway station, and it
is the only appropriate means to
transportasickpersonorpatient.
However, the applicants, along
with their accomplices, commit-
ted robbery of the said govern-
mentvehicle...Theapplicantscan-
not be allowed to violate the law
inthenameof helpingaperson."
CMYadavlaterinthedaysaid
he will offer full help. "This has
come to my notice, we will offer
full help... in such criminal cases,
the police should not rush or in-
vokestrictsections.Thereshould
be proper investigation."
Madras HC junks
plea to transfer ED
officer’s bribery
case to CBI
ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 15
THE MADRAS High on Friday
dismissed a petition seeking the
transfer of a high-profile bribery
case involving Enforcement
Directorate (ED) officer Ankit
Tiwari to the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI).
Tiwari was arrested on
December 1 by the Tamil Nadu
DirectorateofVigilanceandAnti-
Corruption (DVAC) on charges of
accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh.
Justice M Sundar and Justice R
Sakthivel rejected the Public
InterestLitigationfiledbyJVivek,
anadvocatefromMaduraidistrict,
arguing for the transfer of the in-
vestigationfromDVACtoCBI.But
theHighCourtupheldtheDVAC's
jurisdiction in the matter.
During the hearing, the state
maintainedthatthecasefallsun-
derthecognisableoffencesofthe
PreventionofCorruptionAct,jus-
tifying DVAC's involvement.
Tiwariwasarrestedbasedona
complaint by Dr T Suresh Babu, a
chief civil surgeon at Dindigul
Government Medical College
Hospital,whereheaccusedTiwari
of initially demanding Rs 3 crore
from him to allegedly overlook a
complaint pending against him.
HewasarrestedonDecember
1. On Tuesday, the Dindigul CJM
court granted DVAC custody of
Tiwari, who was remanded in ju-
dicialcustodyuntilDecember28.
TiwarithenmovedtheMadrasHC
for bail. His case has been sched-
uledforahearingonDecember19.
‘Will augment his
security if needed’
NewDelhi:TheUPgovernmentas-
sured the Supreme Court, Friday,
it will strengthen the security of
gangster-politician Mukhtar
Ansari inside the Banda jail, if
needed,sonoharmisdonetohim.
Abenchof JusticesHrishikesh
RoyandSanjayKarolwashearing
apleabyAnsari’ssonUmar,seek-
ing an order to transfer his father
toanyprisonoutsideUP.
“...ASG prays for time to seek
instructions. Additional Solicitor
General K M Nataraj assures that
augmentation of security, if
needed,willbedone...,"thebench
said, while posting the matter for
hearingonJanuary16. PTI
trafficpolicedivision.
Mahadevapura traffic police
Inspector Ramesh R said, “...As
part of the initiative, when we
catchholdof aviolator,wecheck
the ID card to identify the com-
pany the person works for. The
traffic department, which has
been in touch with companies
and tech parks falling under our
division, sends the list of viola-
tions by the riders to the compa-
nies concerned on WhatsApp.
We also issue online challans...”
“Wedonotsendanypersonal
information,butthenumberofvi-
olationsaccountedforbytheem-
ployeesofacompany.Werecom-
mend that the company or the
head of security of the tech park
fixadatetoraiseawarenessabout
BJP MLA Ramdular Gond after beng convicted of rape, in
Sonbhadra on Friday. PTI
BJP MLA from
UP gets 25-yr
jail in rape case
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 15
BHARATIYA JANATA Party MLA
Ramdular Gond was on Friday
sentenced to 25 years imprison-
mentbyacourtinUttarPradesh's
Sonbhadra district in a 2014 rape
case of a 15-year-old girl.
Special Judge (MP/MLA
court) Ahsanullah Khan pro-
nouncedthejudgmenttwodays
after holding Gond, a first-time
MLA, guilty under Sections 376
(rape) and 506 (causing disap-
pearance of evidence and giving
false information) of the Indian
Penal Code and provisions of the
Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
With this, Gond, who is MLA
fromtheDuddhiconstituencyin
Sonbhadra district, faces the
prospect of losing his member-
ship from the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly. The legislator, who
was out on bail in the case, was
then taken into custody soon af-
ter he was convicted.
“On Friday, MLA Ramdular
was brought to the court amid
tight security. The court sen-
tenced him to 25 years impris-
onment and also imposed a fine
of Rs 10.5 lakh. The court di-
rected to give a penalty amount
tothecomplainant,”saidSpecial
Congress to hold
foundation day rally
in Nagpur on Dec 28
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NAGPUR, DECEMBER 15
WITHTHELokSabhaelectionsto
beheldinthenextthreemonths,
Congress has chosen Nagpur to
hold its foundation day rally on
December28inabidtoenergise
the state unit of the party.
CongressGeneralSecretaryKC
VenugopalonFridayheldameet-
ingoftheparty'sseniorleaderson
Friday in Nagpur to finalise the
plan for the rally. The rally will be
attended by the top leadership of
the party, CWC members and all
chief ministers and heads of all
frontal cells, as well as workers
from across the country.
"PeoplearewiththeCongress.
Thevotepercentageofthepartyis
increasingwhichcanbeseenfrom
state election results. The grand
rally in Nagpur will be addressed
by our president Mallikarjun
Kharge, leader Sonia Gandhi,
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi
and others," said Venugopal after
meetingpartyleaders.
Party leaders from all regions
of the state had been demanding
The drivewaslaunched
nearly15daysagoon an
experimentalbasis. Express
roadsafetyandtrafficrulesamong
the employees. We also recom-
mendtheycallthepoliceforases-
sion on traffic rules...,” he added.
Every day, the traffic department
gathersdataonthenumberofpri-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Public Prosecutor (Sonbhadra)
Satya Prakash Tripathi.
Ram Briksh Tiwari, the MLA's
lawyer,saidtheywouldfileanap-
peal against the judgement.
According to the prosecution,
Gond caught the girl and tried to
sexuallyassaultherwhenshehad
gone to a nearby field to answer
nature’s call in the evening on
November 4, 2014. On returning
home, the girl informed her fam-
ily about her ordeal.
“Thevictimalsotoldherfam-
ily that Ramdular had raped her
severaltimesinthepastoneyear
by threatening her,” the com-
plainant's lawyer Vikas Shakya
said. During the trial, the prose-
cution claimed that the girl was
born in 1998, while the MLA
submitted her school docu-
ments claiming she was born in
1994, said Tripathi.
At the time of the incident,
Ramdular’swifeSooranDeviwas
the panchayat pradhan.
The victim's family alleged
that in the last nine years, they
faced a lot of pressure and intim-
idation from the MLA and his as-
sociatestowithdrawthecase.The
complainant, now 25, lives with
her husband and in-laws.
Gond became MLA after de-
featinghisnearestrivalVijaySingh
of the Samajwadi Party in the
Assembly elections.
thatthecentralleadershipshould
focusmoreonMaharashtra,espe-
ciallyonVidarbhawheretheelec-
toralprospectsarestillbrighterfor
the party. State unit chief Nana
Patole claimed that more than 10
lakhworkersfromacrossthestate
willbeattendingtheNagpurrally.
"LS polls are just three months
away. This grand rally will infuse
enthusiasmamongallstakehold-
erstowinthosepolls,"saidPatole.
Maharashtra has 48 Lok
Sabha seats and is the second
largest state after Uttar Pradesh
in terms of number of seats.
Followingthedefeatof theparty
inMadhyaPradesh,Chhattisgarh
and Rajasthan Assembly polls
heldlastmonth, thepartyispin-
ning its hope on Maharashtra.
Despite many constituents of
the INDIA front backing out from
therecentmeetcalledbyCongress
president Mallikarjun Kharge, it
was Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena
andSharadPawarled-Nationalist
CongressPartywhochosetostand
by Congress. Once known as a
stronghold of Congress, the state
gavetothepartyonlytwoandone
LSseatsinthe2014and2019polls.
vate vehicles entering tech parks
along the IT corridor to manage
traffic accordingly.
Outer Ring Road Companies
Association president Manas Das
said, “The initiative sounds like a
deterrent, but I am not sure how
much effect it will have. Unless a
firm pulls up its employees indi-
vidually for the violation and has
adiscussionaboutit,theinitiative
willservealimitedpurpose.”
On Thursday, police initiated
acrackdownonvehiclescarrying
moreschoolchildren—at48traf-
fic police stations, with 708 cases
being booked and 1,400 vehicles
checked. Of these, 247 buses, 97
autos, 134 Omni vans, 201 other
vans, and 29 other vehicles were
booked for overloading.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023 EXPRESS NETWORK 9
Day after letter to CJI, In Shiv Sena war, Dharavi new flashpoint: Madras HC sentences IPS
SC receives report Why Uddhav’s party is set to protest today officer to 15 days in jail on
contempt plea by Dhoni
on judicial official’s VALLABH OZARKAR
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
AdaniGroup,Uddhavannounced
the march on December 5 saying
hispartywouldnotallowthestate
housing.ShindeevensaidUddhav
was “terrorising big business
houses and plans to drive out in- ARUN JANARDHANAN
when Dhoni had filed a Rs 100-
crore defamation suit against

harassment complaint IN THE ongoing tussle between

the two Shiv Sena groups, the
government to “gift Mumbai to
Adani”. He also demanded that
Dharavi residents must get 400-
vestments in Maharashtra”.
Though Uddhav has said he
supports the redevelopment of
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 15

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
THESUPREMECourthasreceived
alonejustice.Shewrote:“Ijoined
thejudicialservicewithmuchen-
thusiasm and belief that I would
dispense justice to the common
folk.WhatdidIknowthatI’llsoon
THEMADRASHighCourthassen-
Kumar,whohadinitiallyhandled
the2013IPLbettingcase.Thesuit
was in response to allegations
Dharavi Redevelopment Project 500squarefeetof spaceeachand Dharavi, he questioned the tenced IPS officer G Sampath made by Kumar, linking Dhoni to
has emerged as another flash- that they must be relocated process through which the con- Kumar to 15 days of simple im- the scandal.
point. While the Shiv Sena withinDharavi,consideringtheir tract was awarded to the Adani prisonmentforcontemptofcourt. Kumar,inawrittenstatement,
(Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) livelihoods mostly depend on Group and questioned the reha- The petition was filed by former had accused the Supreme Court
planstomarchfromDharavitoin- manufacturing units in the area. bilitation plans for Dharavi’s resi- Indian cricket captain Mahendra of deviating from the rule of law,

E
a report from the Allahabad High berenderedabeggarforjusticeon dustrialist Gautam Adani’s office When asked if the dents. “The electricity SinghDhoni,whoaccusedtheof- andalsoquestionedthehandling

Court on the status of the com-
plaints filed by a woman judicial
officerwhoallegedsexualharass-
ment by a district judge in Uttar
Pradesh.
SCsourcesconfirmedthatthe
reportwasreceivedonFridayand
was yet to be processed.
The Supreme Court had on
December13refusedtoentertain
a plea by the complainant noting
thattheinternalcomplaintscom-
mittee concerned was already
seized of the matter and had
passed a resolution for approval
of the HC Chief Justice. Following
this,thecomplainantwhoisacivil
judge, wrote an open letter to CJI
DYChandrachudseekingpermis-
sion to end her life.
Taking cognisance of the let-
ter,theCJIaskedtheSCRegistryto
seek a report from the HC on the
status of the complaints.
Thecomplainantjudicialoffi-
cer,inhertwo-pageletter,alleged
sexual harassment by her senior
in her previous posting six
months ago, and said she had no
hope of getting a fair inquiry, let
every door that I go. In the short
timeof myservice,Ihavehadthe
rare honour of being abused on
the dais in an open court.”
“Ihavebeensexuallyharassed
to the very limit. I have been
treatedlikeuttergarbage.Ifeellike
an unwanted insect. And I hoped
to provide justice to others,” she
wroteintheletter,whichwentvi-
ral on social media on Thursday.
“Ididnotexpectthatmycom-
plaintsandstatement(would)be
taken as cardinal truth. All I
wishedforwasafairenquiry,”she
wrote,allegingthatshewasasked
to meet her senior at night. She
claimed to have tried to kill her-
selfbutthe“attemptwasnotsuc-
cessful”.
“Ihavenowilltoliveanymore.
I have been rendered a walking
corpse in the last one-and-a-half
year.Thereisnopurposeincarry-
ing this soulless and lifeless body
aroundanymore.Thereisnopur-
pose left in my life. Kindly permit
me to end my life in a dignified
way.Letmylifebedismissed,”she
wrote to the CJI.
inMumbaionSaturday,ShivSena
MPRahulShewalehasmetPrime
MinisterNarendraModitoassure
himoftheimplementationofthe
project.
Dharavi falls under the
MumbaiSouthCentralLokSabha
constituencythatthe49-year-old
Shewale,atwo-timeMP,hasrep-
resentedsince2014.Onceconsid-
ered close to Uddhav Thackeray,
Shewalehasbeenassociatedwith
the Shiv Sena for more than two
decadesnow,havingheldseveral
posts in the party organisation
and winning elections to the
Brihanmumbai Municipal
Adani Properties won bid to
redevelop slum in July. File
Corporation (BMC) three times.
Healsoservedasthechairperson
oftheBMC’sstandingcommittee
and was in control of the purse
strings of India’s richest munici-
pal corporation.
Adani Properties won the bid
toredevelopthe594-acreslumin
July. The project is estimated to
have a revenue potential of Rs
20,000 crore. Alleging that the
Eknath Shinde-led state govern-
ment had unfairly favoured the
EXPLAINED
march was discussed
with the PM, Shewale
said, “(Modi) said that
somepeoplearetryingto
do politics over it but we
must ensure the imple-
mentationoftheDRPsinceitisthe
largestslumrehabilitationproject
inAsiaanditmusttakeplacesoon
without any hurdles.”
ImmediatelyafterUddhavan-
nounced the march, Shinde and
BJP Deputy CM Devendra
Fadnavis targeted Uddhav, la-
belling him “anti-development”
and saying he was trying to pre-
vent poor people from getting
bill contract has also
beenawardedtoAdani.
Howiseverythinggiven
toAdani?If youaretak-
●
ing all the industries to
Gujarat, what will you
do to Mumbai?” he said.
Politicalobserversinthestate
said the Adani Group’s involve-
ment had given the Opposition
ammunitiontoattackthegovern-
ment over allegations that it is
favouring Adani, who is consid-
ered to be close to the PM. The
project is electorally crucial for
both the Senas as the project af-
fects a large chunk of voters.
ficer of making derogatory re- of the Justice Mudgal Committee
marks against both the Supreme report, which was established to
CourtandtheMadrasHighCourt. investigatethe2013matchfixing
The bench of Justices S S allegations. He also alleged that
SundarandSunderMohan,how- the Supreme Court had motives
ever, temporarily suspended the inwithholdingcertaindocuments
sentence for 30 days, to allow from the Central Bureau of
Kumartheopportunitytoappeal Investigation (CBI).
to the Supreme Court. Dhoni, in his petition, had
The case dates back to 2014, highlighted these statements.
Indian Institute of Engineering
Science and Technology, Shibpur
Howrah-711 103
WALK-IN-INTERVIEW FOR TEMPORARY FACULTY POSITION
Advt. No. RO/DE/23/18 Date: 15.12.2023
Applications are invited for the walk-in interview to be
held on 21st December 2023 at 11.00 a.m. for
Temporary Faculty position(s) in the School of
Management Sciences (SOMS) of the Institute. For
eligibility criteria, specializations and other details
please visit www.iiests.ac.in
Registrar

Eyes removed during

autopsy, Budaun CMO
suspended for ‘negligence’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 15
THE UTTAR Pradesh Health
DepartmentonFridaysuspended
theBudaundistrictChiefMedical
Officer (CMO) for alleged negli-
genceinacaseof removalof eyes
fromthebodyofawomanduring
thepost-mortemexaminationon
November 11.
This comes after two govern-
ment hospital doctors were ar-
rested on Wednesday for al-
legedly removing the eyes from
the body during the autopsy.
Inapostonthemicroblogging
website X, Deputy Chief Minister
BrajeshPathak,whoalsoholdsthe
health portfolio, wrote, “...The
CMO (Dr Pradeep Varshney) has
beensuspendedfornotundertak-
ing his duties and laxity. Along
with this, departmental discipli-
nary action has been initiated
against him. Instructions have
been given to initiate a probe un-
der the Director, Health, against
thedoctorsandofficialswhocon-
ducted the first post-mortem.
There is no place for those in-
dulging in such criminal activi-
ties... Those involved in the case
will face strict action.”
The arrested doctors —
Mohammad Arif and
Mohammad Owais — were sent
to sent to judicial custody after
their arrest. A team was also
formed to probe the matter.
The parents of the victim,
Pooja (20), who was found hang-
ingatherhouseinRasulavillageof
theMujariaareaonDecember10,
hadallegedthatshewaskilledby
her in-laws for dowry.
When the body was handed
overtoherparentsafterthepost-
mortem the next day, the family
found that the eyes had been re-
moved.

Dalit woman gang-raped

in moving bus, driver held
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
JAIPUR, DECEMBER 15
A 20-YEAR-OLD Dalit woman
was allegedly gang-raped by
two drivers in a moving bus
which was on its way to
Rajasthan from Uttar Pradesh,
police said on Friday.
Theincidenttookplaceinthe
interveningnightof December9
and10whentheprivatebuswas
onitswaytoJaipurfromKanpur,
they said. The victim was sitting
in the cabin, which was closed
from inside. the police said.
She was raped by the drivers,
identified as Arif and Lalit inside
the cabin, they said.
Bhagwan Sahay Meena, the
Station House Officer (SHO) of
Kanota police station, said Arif
has been arrested and is cur-
rently in judicial custody.
Lalit managed to escape and
a search has been launched to
nab him, he said.
The SHO said that there were
a few passengers inside the bus
at the time of the incident.
The woman raised an alarm
which alerted the passengers.
They demanded the bus be
stopped and caught Arif while
Lalit escaped, he added.

Russian
national held in
Goa with drugs
worth Rs 1 cr
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
PANAJI,DECEMBER15

THE GOA Police Friday arrested

a Russian national for allegedly
smugglingnarcotics,andseized
contraband worth over Rs 1
crore in the international mar-
ket.Theaccused,whoseidentity
was not revealed as police said
thatcouldhamperfurtherinves-
tigations, was arrested from
North Goa’s Morjim in an early
morningraidaftertheanti-nar-
coticscellreceivedatip-off.The
seizednarcoticsincludedhydro-
ponic weed, charas and LSD.
“We had been tracking him
for the past three months. We
wouldhavegothimtwomonths
ago, but on that day, our hon-
ourable PM was here (in Goa),
and all of us were deployed for
duty. So, at that time, we could
notgoahead...andheexitedthe
country,” anti-narcotic cell SP
Bossuet Silva said.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

WORDLY WISE
The number 7 shirt is an honour
and a responsibility.
— CRISTIANO RONALDO

FOUNDED BY
A paradox in Palestine
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
The war in Gaza is being talked to death, but there is no
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
political movement with a grip on reality to stop it

THE UPBEAT INVESTOR Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Markets scale new high, driven by global and domestic factors.
THERE IS A horrific war unfolding in Gaza. symptom, not a cause. They are a symptom movements arising is not negligible. So, the
But economic growth likely to slow down

T
The war itself was a response to Hamas’ bar-
HE INDIAN STOCK markets have continued to climb higher. On Thursday, baric attack on Israel. But the scale of what
theSensexsurgedpastthe70,000mark,closingthedayat70,514,up1.34per Israel is inflicting on Gaza has acquired bar-
baric proportions of its own: Close to 19,000
cent. On Friday, the Sensex rose another 1.37 per cent, ending the day at
dead, 50,000 injured, over 6,000 children
71,483. Over the past year, the index is now up 16.5 per cent. The rally has dead, half of a densely populated area
been broad-based. The BSE Midcap is up around 40 per cent over last year, while the bombed to rubble, and nearly a million and
smallcap index is up almost 43 per cent. Several sectoral indices such as Nifty Bank, Auto, a half displaced. Increasingly, this is becom-
and IT, among others have registered healthy gains. Among the public sector stocks, com- ing a war to humiliate a people as much as to
panies like NTPC, Indian Oil Corp, GAIL and Coal India have registered impressive gains, achieve any possible military objectives.
These facts have to be pointedly stated.
whilein theprivatesector, firmslikeTataMotors,BajajAuto,L&T,HCLandHeroMotoCorp
There are many wars, from Sudan to Yemen,
have seen a sharp rise. that have been made invisible. But no war is
There areseveraldrivers,bothglobalanddomestic,forthe surgeininvestoroptimism. being more talked about and yet cloaked in
The recently concluded meeting of the US Federal Reserve seems to have indicated the a deep sense of unreality.
possibility of multiple rate cuts next year. Markets have welcomed the dovish commen- Part of the problem is that this war has
tary. The 10-year US bond yield has fallen, as has the Indian G-sec yield. Crude oil prices become an occasion to litigate everything
have also slipped, and are currently hovering around $77 per barrel. The results of the re- but the stopping of the war itself. The longer
this war goes on, the more potential it has
cently held state assembly elections seem to have, in the minds of investors, reduced po-
to deepen the ideological fissures within the
litical andpolicy uncertaintyas thenext general elections approach. Alongside, the recent West, weakening and isolating it. The war
macroeconomic data for India has also been encouraging. The GDP data, which showed has torn to shreds whatever might remain
that the economy grew at 7.6 per cent in the second quarter, surpassed expectations. As of liberal values and the liberal world order.
a consequence, the Reserve Bank of India has upped its growth forecast for the full year. It was Hannah Arendt who was deeply con-
The index of industrial production grew at 11.7 per cent in October. While there is a base cerned about the ways we produce unreal-
ity. But nothing exemplifies the sense of un-
effect, activity did rise sequentially. Alongside, electricity production surged 20 per cent
reality more than Germany. It has cancelled
in October. And growth in capital goods, infrastructure and construction as well as con- a political thought prize awarded to Jewish
sumer durables has been fairly healthy. writer Masha Gessen given in Arendt’s name
Investor participation, both directly and indirectly, has been growing at a healthy clip. because they wrote on the ghettoisation of
The number of active demat accounts has crossed 10 crore on CSDL. The mutual fund in- Gaza. It is symptomatic of a pathology in
dustry's net assets under management have risen. As have the retail assets under man- Europe that Arendt would have understood:
A refusal to think politically, and, once again,
agement. Alongside, the contribution of systematic investment plans reached an all-time
ironically, in the name of combatting anti-
high of Rs 17,073 crore in November. And after outflows in September and October, FPIs Semitism, retreating to a language of
have turned net buyers in November and December. However, the Sensex is currently racialised exceptionalism. No country after
trading at a price-to-equity ratio that is higher than its last 10-year average. And there World War II reconfigured its intellectual
are signs of economic growth slowing down in the months ahead. culture in a liberal direction as powerfully
as Germany; no country has as quickly stran-
gled liberalism over Israel as Germany.
In the United States, the war has simply
In the United States, the
war has simply opened up a
more narcissistic campus
one. But this is not a
campus war directed against
war or even creating
common ground. It has
become a cultural war to
litigate hypocrisies around
free speech. If the war goes
on, it risks deepening both
anti-Semitism and hate
attacks on Palestinians.
Many of the alleged
pathologies of campus
conflicts are a symptom,
of a political space that is now irrevocably
closed in terms of constructive dialogues, or
leadership. This war will exacerbate cultural
division and loss of trust. It also puts the US
in the position of either being totally com-
plicit or totally weak. It might express pub-
lic concern over civilian casualties in Gaza.
But that talk has a palpable lack of sincerity
about it. The United States’ inability to exer-
cise any meaningful pressure implies a com-
plete collapse of its authority. By not being
able to halt the violence or push for a more
just settlement, it now risks loss of power.
Realism requires that the US radically re-
shape its policy: It begins by stopping or
even dismantling settlements; it should be
willing to criticise the state of Israel when
necessary, even as it defends Israel’s real in-
terests. It will also need to contemplate a
possible rapprochement with Iran for a
regional settlement, without which no
solution will work.
No workable resolution to this crisis is
possible without a region-wide understand-
ing that includes all powers like Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. So long as the
Palestine issue is used as a proxy for the in-
terests of these powers, so long as the hor-
rific war in Yemen with more than 1,50,000
direct casualties continues, proxy jostling
for influence will continue everywhere
in the region, and risks of a wider war
will remain.
The question is: Is there an incentive for
regional powers to get a little more cooper-
ative? As the Abraham Accords indicated,
the first is the need for these powers to have
a more propitious development environ-
ment. They have engaged in proxy wars, but
it is interesting that none of the powers, in-
cluding Iran, wants the conflict in Israel-
case for trying to break the mould in West
Asian politics is now stronger than ever. But
for their part, they need a credible commit-
ment not to use the Palestinian issue as a
proxy war and help dismantle groups like
Hamas, while strengthening the precondi-
tions for Palestinian self-governance. As for
the rest of the world, the latest General
Assembly vote with 153 countries in favour
of a ceasefire was a statement. But like so
many UN statements, it has no concrete
action plan attached to it.
Then there is Israel itself. It has every
right to ensure its security. But the real ques-
tion is whether these actions secure Israel
more? Its immediate aim was the release of
hostages and dismantling of Hamas, an or-
ganisation it nurtured. But its own actions
risk advancing Hamas’ political aims far
more effectively than Hamas itself could
have. The Hamas attack also shattered the
illusion that Israel could be safe without a
workable political settlement with the
Palestinians. Almost all the options on the
table for Gaza after this war seem to be both
cruel and politically unreal. It behoves
Israel’s genuine friends to point this out.
Either Israel is condemned to more mil-
itary domination over Palestinians, a form
of ethnic cleansing, or an even more ghet-
toised existence for the Palestinians. None
of these are sustainable options from the
point of view of Israel’s long-term security
and prosperity. And what kind of politics
emerges within Palestine, where at the mo-
ment even the possibility of politics seems
like a cruel joke, is an open question.
We can engage in endless historical
counterfactuals. But there is no genuine po-
litical movement with a grip on reality to
stop this war. Different actors, from Europe

PATIENCE AND VIGILANCE

opened up a more narcissistic campus one.
But this is not a campus war directed against
war or even creating common ground. It has
become a cultural war to litigate hypocrisies
India will need both as it engages with Maldives, where around free speech. If the war goes on, it
government is trying to distance the country from New Delhi risks deepening both anti-Semitism and
Palestine to spread. Second, even though this
not a cause. They are a may not be stated explicitly, after the Arab
symptom of a political Spring, many of the regimes are wary of un-
space that is now leashing domestic opinion and political
forces in ways that they might not be able
irrevocably closed in terms
to control.
to the US, Israel to the Arab states are chas-
ing demons of their own imagination, while
real horror and suffering pile up. This is a war
being talked to death, while precious little
is being done to minimise death.

T
hate attacks on Palestinians. Many of the al- of constructive dialogues, The more horrific the Palestinian crisis The writer is contributing editor,
HE MALDIVES GOVERNMENT'S decision to not renew the 2019 agreement leged pathologies of campus conflicts are a or leadership. becomes, the potential of new political The Indian Express
under which India could conduct hydrographic surveys in the former's ter-
ritorial waters is unfortunate. In the past, Indian vessels have conducted hy-
drographic surveys in Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Sri
Lanka and Tanzania. Male's decision appears to be a function of domestic politics rather
than diplomatic or economic interest. The recently-elected government of President

MY FATHER’S MAHAVIR CHAKRA

Mohamed Muizzu campaignedon an“IndiaOut” plank.InNovember,it“requested”New
Delhi to withdraw its troops from the country and earlier this month, the country's Vice
President Hussain Mohamed Latheef attended the Indian Ocean Forum organised by
China while he skipped the Colombo Security Dialogue that involves India and other
Indian Ocean states. The Muizzu government's decision to withdraw from the survey It belongs to the Navy, and his legacy of courage, to the nation
agreement, then, is a signal that Male is not toning down its anti-India stance, despite the
recent meeting between Muizzu and PM Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 in Dubai.
Thedomesticpoliticsof SouthAsiancountriesnowhave anoutsizeimpactontheirex- Ameeta Mulla Wattal
ternalorientation.Twofactorsareparticularlysalientinthisrespect.First,asthedominant
economic and military power in the region, India's place, role and attitudes — often carica-
turesof them—makeforeasypoliticalslogans.Second,China'sgrowinginfluenceinthere- A BLUISH-GREEN haze hung over the hills, My father’s actions did not correspond Academy. A wonderful institution that
as we wound our way to our final destina- with the archetype of the military hero who churned out dedicated young men and
gion—anditswillingnessandabilitytodeployresources—hasgivenmanycountriesabar-
tion, Ezhimala in Kerala, where the Indian captures a post, brings down an enemy women who are taught physical fitness,
gaining chip. The Maldives and Sri Lanka, for example, have leveraged their geographical Naval Academy, spread over two thousand plane, blows up a tank, or a harbour through mental prowess, tactical strategies and dis-
advantage to play major powers against each other in an era of renewed geopolitical com- five hundred acres, lay nestled. gun boat action, or retains or captures land cipline. It lies at the forefront of training
petition. In itself, this is understandable — nations great and small use the hand they are I was going to the Indian Naval Academy from the enemy. quality leaders that would helm the future
dealt to maximise their interests. What is unfortunate in the current scenario is Muizzu to hand over the Mahavir Chakra awarded In fact, his story is not only of a war and towards greater accomplishment.
government's sacrificing of long-term common interests for short-term political gains. to my father Captain M N Mulla, (IN), a ship but of a man who lived and died by As I entered the auditorium and looked
New Delhi must be both patient and vigilant. It enjoys geographical advantages and posthumously. It was not easy to part with his principles, something which is very at the sea of faces around me dressed in
the only palpable connection that I had with important in today’s confusing times, white uniforms ready to step out into the fu-
historically has been close to the islands. Just 70 nautical miles away from the Indian
the action taken on a fateful winter night on when everything is weighed by victories ture, I wondered how they viewed this com-
coast, the islands face increasing threats from rising sea levels. India must be prepared to December 9, 52 years ago, which changed and successes. pelling story of sacrifice and valour.
lend a hand. However, New Delhi cannot no longer afford to simply rely on legacy advan- our lives forever. Why did I give away the Mahavir Chakra Once the ceremony was over, the medal
tages. It has to contend with China's growing interests in the region. India must tread the War heroes are recognised for their own to the Naval Academy where it was accepted found its space in the sanctum sanctorum
fine line between engagement and interference, doubling down on the former without actions and courage — do their medals be- with great dignity and pride? My mind hur- of the Prerna sthal. As the cadets came up to
being seen as doing the latter. It must draw red lines vis-a-vis China in the Maldives – on long to them as individuals and become a tled back to half a century ago when my me, one of them said, “Personal acts of cold
legacy of their families? As the cadets came up to me, mother, clad in white, ascended the dais on courage are rare to come by, and when they
military presence, for example – while acknowledging that every country has national-
ist sentiments. In essence, Delhi must play the diplomatic game with finesse, as so many
The significance of heroic deeds often ex- one of them said, ‘Personal Republic Day to receive the medal awarded do, they shake the world by the immensity
tends beyond personal recognition; valour is acts of cold courage are rare to to her husband from President V V Giri. of their heroic content.”
rising powers have had to. invariably commemorated by the regiment, A thought had tormented me for years. It is then that I realised that like the INS
the service, and the nation. The actions are come by, and when they do, Perhaps the Navy, its well-being and the Khukri had found its final resting place in
honoured by the family, to cherish the mem- they shake the world by the longevity of its personnel meant more to my the sea, the symbol of courage, the Mahavir
ory and legacy of a son, a father, or a brother. immensity of their heroic father than his own life or the family he left Chakra belongs, finally, to the Navy.

NO 7 What is military heroism? Who does the

hero belong to in the final analysis? An act of
valour in battle enhances the commitment
Jersey numbers are part of sporting lore. No one will grudge of soldiers in the future. It defines the virtue
of service and gives a sense of protection to
BCCI’s decision to retire the number associated with Dhoni fellow men in the belief that they will not be
content.’ It is then that I
realised that like the INS
Khukri had found its final
resting place in the sea, the
behind. These were his men, he could not
abandon them.
My mother, sister and I eventually
For me it has been a journey of inspira-
tion that needed closure, to see my father’s
medal of honour displayed in the place
worked out our destinies. The thought that where he always belonged.
plagued me was, were we the real inheri-
tors of that courage? His actions revealed The writer is Chairperson and Executive

N
abandoned in the frenzy of conflict. A hero
symbol of courage, the that his family was the Navy and the men he Director Education, Innovations and
O INDIAN CRICKETER will ever wear MS Dhoni’s Jersey No 7 again. Just as Mahavir Chakra belongs,
can touch hearts and even shape the way we dearly loved and cared for. Training, DLF Foundation Schools and
they can’t wear Sachin Tendulkar’s 10. The Indian cricket board has de- view existence. finally, to the Navy. It is this that made me come to the Naval Scholarship programmes
cided to retire the number 7 after the same was done to Tendulkar's, a few
years ago. It’s probably the only denial of a privilege that no one — a player
nor a fan — will ever take offence to. It starts as an emotional move from the players, pick-
ing a number usually for a sentimental reason. And then, when it transplants organically
into the minds of the fans, it achieves iconic status.
Diego Maradona’s No 10 and Paolo Maldini’s No 3 were similarly retired in respect DECEMBER 16, 1983, FORTY YEARS AGO
and love by their football clubs. The experience of a charismatic athlete changes people
in many ways — turningthemfromkeensports watcherstounabashed fans.Wearingthe ASSAM AGITATOR TALKS his followers and their families and shifted
to the Akal Takht. He vacated the Niwas after
entire world community depended on a
peacefulinternationalatmosphere.Thetalks,
same jersey number gives theillusion of being involved in a specialbond with thatplayer.
Almost as if wearing a Tendulkar or Dhoni jersey can magically imbue the wearer with HOMEMINISTERPCSethitoldtheLokSabha a conflict with members of a militant youth lasting nearly two hours, were held in a cor-
talent. The sheer number of jerseys on adults with “18” and “45” (Virat Kohli and Rohit thatthe question of resumption of talkswith organisation,BabbarKhalsa.Membersof the dial atmosphere of mutual understanding.
Assam agitators had no relevance at this organisation forcibly occupied two rooms in
Sharma’s numbers) during the World Cup said much. Perhaps No 18 too will be retired
when Kohli ends his career. Had Rohit Sharma won the World Cup as a captain, his num-
stage because the agitation had slipped into
the hands of extremists. The minister said
the Niwas and despite a four-hour ultima-
tum by Bhindranwale, refused to vacate it.
TAMIL NADU ARRESTS
ber perhaps would have been retired; now one has to wait and watch. the efforts to find a solution to the foreign- OVER 18,000 PEOPLE belonging to the DMK
What happens when someone new tries to wear the jersey number of a legend? For
fans, it feels like a betrayal. The Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur found that out when
ers’ problem had received a setback because
of the recent bomb explosions.
A MEETING ON NUKES and 13 other parties were arrested all over
Tamil Nadu whenthey tried to picket central
hemadehisODIdebutwearingNo10.Notjustthefans,butevenRohithumorouslytrolled INDIA AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA expressed and state government offices to press their
him, tweeting “it takes guts to don that number but clearly you are the best example of BABBAR KHALSA DIGS IN grave concern over the heightened danger
of a nuclear confrontation and called for ur-
demands. They were, however, released in
the evening. The picketing was peaceful and
‘impossible is nothing’!” Soon after, the BCCI retired No 10. The erasure of a number from THE MILITANT SIKH leader, Jarnail Singh gent steps to achieve meaningful progress did not disturb normal life in the state. Those
the professional world of athletes seems to be the final act in the myth-making of a leg- Bhindranwale, vacated Guru Nanak Niwas on disarmament to defend world peace. The arrested for offences other than picketing
end. A number is folded away, a legend is immortalised. in the Golden Temple complex along with two countries felt the development of the have not been released.

11
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
THE IDEAS PAGE
For the sake of the Union
SC verdict on Article 370 goes by letter and spirit of Constitution, rectifies
Nehru’s blunder of indefinitely extending a temporary provision
RAM RAJYA
by Ram Madhav
THERE IS AN effort in some sections to insin-
uate that the Supreme Court Constitution
Bench’sverdictonArticle370wasacompro-
mised one and imply motives to the learned
justices.Buttherecouldn’thavebeenadiffer-
ent judgment going by the letter and spirit
of the Indian Constitution.
The Court’s assertion that the Article was
temporary in nature and its scope was
eroded over the decades to effect full and fi-
nal accession of the state into the Union of
India was an accurate description of the
events of the last seven decades.
Some argued that the Court’s decision
was a blow to “federalism”. First, nowhere in
theIndianConstitutionwasfederalismmen-
tioned. B R Ambedkar categorically stated in
the Constituent Assembly that India would
be a “union”, not a “federation”. Countries
like the US, Germany, and Australia were
formedonthefederalprinciple.Butthemak-
ers of the Indian Constitution envisaged a
“dual polity” sans the federalism of the
American or Western model.
When Home Minister Amit Shah argued
in Parliament that there couldn’t be two
Constitutions for one country, an anomaly
perpetuated by Article 370, some wise men
of the Congress Party sought to sermonise
about how severalcountries have more than
one constitution. In the US, Germany,
Australia, and a few other countries with a
federal polity, besides the federation, states,
too, have separate constitutions.
The states in the US have constitutions of
theirownwhichgrantcitizensaseparatecit-
izenship. While the 14th Amendment to the
Federal Constitution of the US prohibits de-
nial of any rights to its citizens in any state,
thestateconstitutionscanshowpositivedis-
crimination in favour of their own citizens in
jobs and admissions in educational institu-
tions, etc. Ambedkar was categorical that no
such dual citizenship was to be allowed in
the Indian Union. “The proposed Indian
Constitution is a dual polity with a single cit-
izenship.Thereisonlyonecitizenshipforthe
whole of India. It is Indian citizenship. There
is no State citizenship. Every Indian has the
samerightsof citizenship,nomatterin what
State he resides,” he averred in the
Constituent Assembly.
Ambedkaralsoexplainedthatwhileinthe
US, the federation was created by a number
of states coming together, and “the
Constitutions of the Federal and the States
Governments are loosely connected”, in our
case,“theConstitutionoftheUnionandofthe
Statesisasingleframefromwhichneithercan
get out and within which they must work”.
Hence the federalism debate and com-
parison with countries withmultipleconsti-
tutions are misleading, if not erroneous.
Ambedkar described the Indian polity
as having a “flexible federalism” then and
the Supreme Court called it “asymmetric
federalism” now.
Ihave mentionedinapreviousarticlethe
Hemant Sikka
FOR FARMERS in India’s rural hinterlands,
mechanisation isn'ta choice; it is a necessity.
Tractors help farmers save labour and opti-
mise their precious time, apart from boost-
ing crop yields.
The main workhorse on India’s farm-
lands, the tractor is a versatile machine. It is
a single source of power that enables agri-
cultural operations, right from field prepa-
ration and planting to harvesting and trans-
porting of produce. It is not surprising that
the tractor is an immense source of pride —
almost a family member — for rural house-
holds.Indiais,infact,theworld’slargesttrac-
tor market by volume, nearly 2.5 times of
China and 3.5 of the US. Nearly 9.5 lakh trac-
tors were sold domestically in 2022-23 and
4 million cumulatively in the last five years.
That said, tractors still touch only a frac-
tion of India’s agricultural landscape.
According to data from the National
Statistical Office’s Situation Assessment of
Agricultural Household survey, only 4.6 per
cent of farmers own tractors. The rest, most
of them smallholders, either rent tractors or
employ human and animal power. It causes
delaysinthecompletionof farmingtasksand
wastage across the crop value chain.
Giventhisscenario,whatactionscanpol-
icymakers take to promote farm mechani-
sation, especially in the context of emerging
agricultural technologies and the need to
ensuresustainableincreaseinoutput?While
government support for agriculture has
been robust — whether through investment
oppositionthatArticle306A(whichbecame
Article370)hadtoendurefromdifferentsec-
tions. In fact, it was placed before the
Constituent Assembly towards the fag end
in October 1949, and hurriedly pushed
through. The only significant intervention
came from Maulana Hasrat Mohani.
RespondingtoMohani’sspecificquestion
as to “why this discrimination?”,
GopalaswamiAyyangar,moverof theArticle,
replied that it was due to the “special condi-
tions of Kashmir”, but quickly added that it
was “the hope of everybody here that in due
course even Jammu and Kashmir will be-
come ripe for the same sort of integration as
has taken place in the case of other States”.
The Constituent Assembly debates record
thatthisstatementof Ayyangarwasreceived
with “cheers” from the members.
Ayyangar also explained that “when the
Constituent Assembly of the State has met
and taken its decision both on the
Constitution for the State and on the range
of federal jurisdiction over the State, the
President may, on the recommendation of
that Constituent Assembly, issue an order
that this article 306A shall either cease to be
operativeorshallbeoperativeonlysubjectto
such exceptions and modifications as may
be specified by him.”
In essence, the Article was introduced as
a temporary measure that shall cease to ex-
ist along with the state’s constituent assem-
bly. Even if we accept the latest argument of
theCongressPartythatArticle370wasacol-
lective decision, it was so only to the extent
of a “temporary provision”. But who is re-
sponsibleforitssurvivalfordecadeson,even
after the Constituent Assembly had ceased
to exist? It was another blunder committed
by Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1952 in the form
of the infamous Delhi Agreement with
On the farm, and beyond
Developingtractorsthatcanbeputtonon-agriculturalusecouldboostruraleconomy
in rural infrastructure, ensuring favourable
termsof tradeforfarmers through remuner-
ative minimum support prices and procure-
ment of crops, or financial assistance for the
purchase of machinery under the Sub-
Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation
(SMAC) scheme — what can the next set of
reforms be to take forward the already
established momentum?
In a recent step in the right direction, the
governmenthasreducedthenumberof tests
thatanynewtractormodelhastoclearatthe
CentralFarmMachineryTrainingandTesting
Institute,Budni(MadhyaPradesh),from17to
four.Moreover,thecompanies(originalequip-
mentmanufacturers)havebeenpermittedto
self-certify these tests. There has also been a
reduction in testing time at Budni from over
nine months to only 75 working days.
Steps such as these to simplify the earlier
lengthy process for obtaining certification
are consistent with the objective of promot-
ing trust-based governance at all levels and
easeof doingbusinessinIndia.Italsoenables
quicker introduction and adoption of new-
age technologies such as precision farming
and telematics-based analytics where the
tractor has a central role to play. These ad-
vanced digital technologies that can revolu-
tionise the future of Indian agriculture need
to be linked to the evolution of the tractor —
as a smart, flexible, efficient and highly spe-
cialisedmachinecateringtoemergingtrends
like crop rotation, intercropping and horti-
cultural farming.
The states in the US have
constitutions of their own
which grant citizens a
separate citizenship. While
the 14th Amendment to the
Federal Constitution of the
US prohibits denial of any
rights to its citizens in any
state, the state constitutions
can show positive
discrimination in favour of
their own citizens in jobs and
admissions in educational
institutions, etc. Ambedkar
was categorical that no such
dual citizenship was to be
allowed in the Indian Union.
There are, however, impending chal-
lenges. Theseinclude theimplementationof
theBharatStageTREM Vemissionstandards
for tractors and self-propelled machinery
from April 2024. The government, only in
January 2023, had rolled out the TREM IV
emission norms for tractors with over 50
horsepower. While this may make the ma-
chines more eco-friendly, it will also require
manufacturers to make investment in new
enginetechnologieslikeCommonRailDirect
Injection, Diesel Particulate Filters, Diesel
Oxidation Catalysts, electronics and semi-
conductors. It will increase the cost of mech-
anisation, making it more challenging
for farmers to maintain a balance between
efficiency and affordability.
India needs to look at farm mechanisa-
tion beyond tractors. Globally, the tractor in-
dustryisannuallyworth$60billion,whereas
the corresponding sales of farm machinery
are around $100 billion. It’s the other way
round in India, where the tractor industry’s
annualsalesare$7-8billion,asagainsthardly
$1.2 billion for farm machinery. The tractor
isultimatelyjust apower source.Toenhance
its utility, it is essential to develop matching
farmmachineryandimplementstailoredfor
different crops and landholding sizes, par-
ticularlykeeping in mind theneeds of small-
holders.Thegovernment'sMakeinIndiaini-
tiative can play a pivotal role in the
widespread development, testing, and
adoption of reliable yet affordable non-
tractor farm machinery customised for local
C R Sasikumar
Sheikh Abdullah.
TheDelhiAgreementhadsetseveraldan-
gerous precedents. It used the ominous ex-
pression that “sovereignty in all matters”
other than those mentioned in the
Instrumentof Accession “reside inthestate”.
This “shared sovereignty” argument was
fully exploited by leaders including in their
submissions before the Supreme Court. The
Delhi Agreement also granted a separate cit-
izenship to people of the state calling them
“statesubjects”,violatingtheonecitizenship
formulaenunciatedbyAmbedkar.Itallowed
for a separate flag and constitution to the
state, and a new nomenclature for the state’s
leadership as Prime Minister.
ItwasthesedistortionsthattheSupreme
Court sought to rectify by ratifying the
Modi government’s action of annulling
Article 370. In fact, it went one step further
byforeclosingallavenuesforitsreturnatany
future date.
We may rejoice over the fact that the sep-
arate constitution, citizenship, special sta-
tus etc for J&K are history now. Yet, we may
have to turn to the J&K Constitution for one
important thing. While the First Schedule of
the Indian Constitution defined Jammu and
Kashmir as comprising the territory which
was in the Indian state “immediately before
the commencement of the Constitution of
India”, the J&K Constitution, now abolished,
stated more explicitly that “the territory of
the State shall comprise all the territories
which on the fifteenth day of August 1947,
were under the sovereignty or suzerainty
of the Ruler of the State”. That includes
all those areas annexed by Pakistan
after Independence.
The writer, president India Foundation,
is with the RSS
crop conditions.
India’s farm mechanisation industry is
witnessing significant investments and col-
laborations, focusing on cutting-edge tech-
nologies to drive productivity, reduce envi-
ronmental footprint and align with global
sustainability goals. The government can
help the industry in this endeavour by dis-
couraging import of cheap low-quality ma-
chinery, especially from China, and ensuring
uniformandtimelydisbursementof subsidy
under SMAM to enable farmers to leverage
financial assistance better. A delay in
direct benefit transfer payments also has
a cascading effect on manufacturers,
impacting mechanisation.
Just as farm mechanisation has to go be-
yond tractors, we need to look at tractors be-
yond farming. Tractors don't sit idle. Over 30
per cent usage of tractors today is for non-
farm activities, mostly related to construc-
tion and transportation. It further amplifies
their value in the country’s rural economy.
Developing tractors with features and tech-
nologies customised for these tasks can un-
lock a new avenue for rural employment.
The evolution of the tractor in India is
closely linked to the future of sustainable
farming — that includes improving produc-
tivity and reducing drudgery — while ensur-
ing national food security and even making
India the breadbasket of the world.
The writer is president, Mahindra’s
Farm Equipment Sector
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“International talk of the two-state solution has long been vaguely aspirational
at best and at worst a cover for inaction as it slipped further from view. It looks
more hypothetical than ever now. Yet given the alternatives, it must become a
spur to diplomatic action.”
A journey
for organs
Transplants in India are relatively cheap
for foreigners. Private medical facilities
thrive, at times using illegal means
Sanjay Nagral
NEWSABOUTorgantransplantationswings
fromupliftingtodisheartening.Newspapers
carryfrequentstoriesofactsofspontaneous
solidarity by ordinary Indians donating or-
gansoffamilymemberswhohavesuddenly
passed away due to catastrophic injuries,
causingbraindeath.Thisdonationistocom-
plete strangers without any expectation in
return.Wehaverecentlywitnessedparents
donatingtheorgansof theirbabieswhoare
brain-dead in what must be a state of
unimaginable grief. There is also regular
news of extraordinary scientific break-
throughsintransplantation.Transplantation
isanexampleofsolidarity,scienceandteam-
work in healthcare.
Simultaneously there is news of scan-
dals, often involving the buying of organs
fromthevulnerable.Lastyear,aKolkatahos-
pital was at the centre of a news investiga-
tion which described street children from
Nepal being lured as kidney donors for
wealthy Indian and foreign patients. More
recently,newspapersreportedwhatseems
like an elaborate Myanmar-based ring
whicharrangedpaidkidneydonorsandgot
transplantsperformedinaprominentDelhi
hospital by faking documents. The buying
andsellingofhumanorgansisaveryoldand
globalphenomenon.Ithasbeendeemedil-
legal in most of the world including India.
This is not just from a moral prism but also
to protect the rights of the vulnerable. But
organcommercecontinues,giventheacute
demand and a world where the commodi-
ficationof thebodyisnormalised.However,
sellingorgansstillevokesrevulsion.Also,un-
ethical transplantation requires the collu-
sion of expert doctors whose professional
oathscondemnorgantrading.Moralityand
ethics collide with market medicine.
There is something new, though, in the
Myanmar news story. Transplantation has
grown exponentially in India, largely in the
private sector. Whilst public medicine fo-
cussed on primary care, the private sector
seized the gap in tertiary care. Transplants
needwell-trainedpersonnel,technology,ad-
vanced intensive care and an institutional
drive for good outcomes. These conditions
weremetinanexpandingprivatesector,es-
pecially corporate hospitals. We must ac-
knowledge that this has made transplanta-
tion,especiallyoforgansbeyondthekidney,
available to a section of Indians who previ-
ouslycouldn'taccessit.Butsomethingelseis
alsohappening.Thecorporatehealthsector
realisedthatthereisalotofrevenueinmed-
icaltourismandtransplantation.Manycoun-
tries in South Asia, Central Asia and Africa
havenotbeenabletodeveloptransplantfa-
cilities.Itwasamatteroftimebeforepatients
travelled from these countries to India.
Transplantation in India is relatively cheap
forforeignersincomparisontotherestofthe
worldthoughitcontinuestobecostlyforor-
dinary Indians — a strange dichotomy.
Medicaltourismseemslikeaperfectin-
dustry that should be a win-win. What’s
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
VULNERABLE HOUSE
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Protect
the House’ (IE, December 15). Our
Parliament’svulnerabilitywasexposed
bytwolaymen.Evenif wedisregardthe
justification that passes can be granted
to anyone, how could those men get
throughsecurityclearancewithteargas
canisters? Had any opposition mem-
bers issued the passes, the government
wouldstampthemasanti-national.The
government must take the BJP MP to
task as well.
Madhusree Guha, Kolkata
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Protect
the House’ (IE, December 15). This
seems to be an instance borne out of a
real or imagined angst against consti-
tutional institutions. It is, perhaps, a
continuation of the message meant
specifically for elected representatives.
On similar occasions earlier, charges of
sedition were brought on them. This
time too, if this is being contemplated,
it would be a repetition of that error in
judgment. The wise look for the mes-
sage and not merely at how it is carried.
R Narayanan, Navi Mumbai
ERASING CASTE
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘The only
castesthatmatter’(IE,December15).The
writer has tried to expand PM Modi’s
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THE GUARDIAN
wrongif,inaglobalisedworld,patientsfrom
othercountriesutiliseIndia’shealthcareex-
pertiseandthecountryearnsrevenue?The
logic of revenue assumes that profits made
bytheprivatesectoraresomehowploughed
back to Indians. But medical tourism for
transplantation is somewhat different. For
one, these are very sick patients who travel
to a foreign country with an alien language
andculture.Careoftransplantpatientsdoes-
n’t end with the operation. Both donor and
recipient need close follow-up. It’s debat-
ablehowwellthisisachievedwhentheyre-
turn. But the biggest challenge when a
donor-recipient pair travels across borders
istoestablisharelationshipanddistinguish
paidandvoluntarydonations.Embassiesare
supposed to issue certificates ruling out co-
ercion or payment but experience suggests
thattheydon’tfollowduediligence.Thenext
gatekeeper in India is Authorisation
Committees who have the mandate to rule
out trade. But conflicts of interest abound.
Hospitalsareinterestedinnumbersandrev-
enue.Transplantisagravytrainwhichmany
can board.
Hospitals now have marketing teams
whofanoutinIndiaandneighbouringcoun-
tries. In the absence of an organised mech-
anisminformalreferralsbasedonmonetary
commissionsarethenorm.Mostforeigners
are recruited through agents who organise
travel and paperwork. It’s a moot question
whether transplant doctors are aware or
hoodwinkedbyforgedpaperwork.Doctors
claim that it's not their job to detect sub-
terfuge.Buttheirprofessionaloathsputthe
onusonthemalso.It'snotdifficulttodetect
paid donations if there is a will and interest
in doing so.
In a country where trust in healthcare is
rapidlyunderthreat,newsofalargenumber
of foreigners getting transplants is double-
edged.Theprojectof deceaseddonationaf-
terdeathisdependentonhighlevelsoftrust
in the transplant system. A few years ago,
news of foreigners receiving heart trans-
plants from deceased donors in Chennai
hospitals under the laughable pretext that
there were not enough Indian patients re-
sulted in a significant drop in donations.
We are thus faced with another classic
conundrumofscientificprogress.Thosedy-
ing of organ failure will desperately try to
procure an organ and a transplant. If that’s
theonlyway,theywilltravelacrossborders.
Andif thereisanoptiontheywillpay.Given
itscurrentpoliticalchaos,thereishardlyany
kidney transplantation in Myanmar. What
elsewillapatientwhoneedsitdowhenthey
know it’s available in neighbouring India?
Andwhatwillaprivatehospitalwiththeca-
pacity to perform the procedure do but de-
liver it quickly and earn revenue? A mone-
tised health system will seize any
opportunity by legitimate — but if needed
even illegitimate — means.
As the world has shown, donation after
deathisthefutureof organtransplantation.
InIndia,wecontinuouslyappealtoordinary
Indians to donate organs after death. The
campaign has also been led by the PM. But
willcitizensbealtruisticif theysensescan-
dal? Also, is it fair that we exhort them to
donate but if they need a transplant most
can’t afford one? Every news on organ
transplantation poses difficult questions
and tests us collectively.
The writer is a Mumbai-based surgeon
narrative to counter the opposition de-
mandforacastecensus.Theargumentis
fallacious that at the centre of caste is
“poverty” and once this is removed by
PM Modi’s mantra of “Sabka Saath,
SabkaVikas”,itwilldismantlecaste.This
proposition flies in the face of the NCRB
report that reveals that caste atrocities
against SCs and STs have increased. RSS,
in its meeting in Haryana this year, has
also acknowledged the perennial prob-
lem of caste discrimination.
L R Murmu, New Delhi
CLIMATE URGENCY
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘A small
step’(IE,December15).Forthefirsttime
in its 28 years of climate negotiations,
COP pledged to transition away from
greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.
However,thisambitiousgoalwilltestthe
commitment of the nations to walk the
talk. The changeover necessitates a re-
designing of policies, subsidies and reg-
ulations by countries. Along with tech-
nologicalsupportforcarboncaptureand
renewable energy adaptation, invest-
ment worth billions of dollars is neces-
saryfor“transitioningaway”inajustand
equitable manner for the developing
world.Ashortfallinfinanceisthebiggest
hurdle.With2023beingthehottestyear
ever recorded, arresting climate change
has gained urgency.
Khokan Das, Kolkata
 12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hereby given to the public at large
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, PWD (ROADS) that deceased Mr. RAM LAL was owner of ''IMPORTANT''
Regd. Office: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala-147001
ASSAM, CHANDMARI, GUWAHATI-3 CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in
apartment K1-1001 in Supertech Ecovillage-1, Whilst care is taken prior to
Bisrakh Jalalpur, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh acceptance of advertising
No. CE/STBR/SOPD-G//R&R/09/2023-24/10 (Contact No. 0175-2921547, 96461-07129, 96461-18893)
201306. Mr. RAJENDER & YOGESH are the copy, it is not possible to verify
PRESS NOTICE INVITING TENDER (RE-BID) Tender Enquiry No: (RfS No): 03/CE/GNDP/2023-24 Dated: 08.12.2023 only legal heirs of the deceased. However its contents. The Indian
Office of CE/GHTP, Lehra Mohabbat invites bids for Setting up of 100 members of public are hereby notified that if Express (P) Limited cannot be
The Chief Engineer, PWD, (Roads), Assam, Chandmari, Ghy-3 on
MW solar power plant in the ash dyke area of GNDTP, Bathinda, along anyone having any adverse claim in respect held responsible for such
behalf of the Governor of Assam Re-invites Bids online for Repair/ with the associated transmission line for power evacuation to 220 KV contents, nor for any loss or
Rehabilitation of Bridges in Sarupathar LAC of Assam from eligible of said apartment of whatsoever nature are
GNDTP sub-station, Bathinda on BOO basis for providing solar power damage incurred as a result of
registered Contractors for 1 (one) No. Package of Repair/ Rehabilitation to PSPCL for 25 years, through tariff based competitive e-bidding hereby advised to place their claim within 14
transactions with companies,
of Bridges under Mukhya Mantrir Path Nabikaran Achani (MMPNA) for process followed by e-reverse auction. For detailed NIT & tender spec- days from present publication and contact at associations or individuals
2023-24 for an amount of Rs. 26.927 Lakhs (approx). Details may be
ifications, please refer to https://eproc.punjab.gov.in from09.12.2023 268/2, Street No. 12, B-Block, Bhajanpura, advertising in its newspapers
from 10.00 AM onwards. Delhi-110053 with appropriate written or Publications. We therefore
seen at website http://assamtenders.gov.in and also at the office of
Note:- Corrigendum and addendum, if any, will be published online at evidences. Please note that claims received recommend that readers
the undersigned (State Bridge Design Branch) during office hours. https://www.bharat-electronictender.com/ only. GHTP-101/23 without written evidence will not be considered. make necessary inquiries
Note: 1. The approximate N.I.T. Value is inclusive of GST, L.C. etc. before sending any monies or
Chief Engineer, PWD (Roads), entering into any agreements
Janasanyog/CF/4250/23/16-NOV-23 Assam, Chandmari, Guwahati-3. with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.
SR. NAME OF BOARD/ NAME OF WORK OPENING DATE AMOUNT/EMD WEBSITE OF THE NODAL OFFICER/CON-
NO. CORP./AUTH NOTICE TENDER CLOSING DATE (APPROX.) IN BOARD CORP./AUTH TACT DETAILS/EMAIL
(TIME) RUPEES
1. THE 9968604725
DESIGN,SUPPLY, 15.12.2023 80000/-
www.vitaindia.
Regd. Office: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala-147001 BALLABGARH 05.01.2024 vitablb@gmail.com
INSTALLATION AND org.in
CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in COOP. MILK Regd. Office.: PSPCL Head Office, The Mall, Patiala
PRODUCERS COMMISSIONING OF
Contact No. 96461-18758 CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813; Website: www.pspcl.in
UNION LIMITED BLAST ROOM
Tender Enquiry No: 03/SE/MHP/P-411 Dated: 15.12.2023 (Contact No. 96461-22185)
Dy. CE/O&M Circle, Mukerian Hydel Project, PSPCL, Talwara invites e- 23429 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in
Tender Enquiry No.: 306/SSD-149/2023/RDSS
open tenders for outsourcing the work of Routine & Preventive
Maintenance, Breakdown Maintenance and Annual Overhauling of Dy. SE/Sub-station Design/ TS Organization, C-1, Shakti Vihar,
Generating Units, Switchyards and other allied equipment through con- PSPCL, Patiala invites E-tender for design, manufacturing, Testing
tractor at Power House No.- 1 to 4 of Mukerian Hydel Project Stage-I, and delivery of 15kV NCTs of assorted ratio under Revamped
SR. NAME OF NAME OF WORK NOTICE OPENING DATE AMOUNT/ WEBSITE OF THE NODAL OFFICER/CON-
PSPCL, Talwara (Pb). No. BOARD/ TENDER CLOSING DATE EMD (APPROX.) BOARD CORP./AUTH TACT DETAILS/EMAIL Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). For detailed NIT & Tender
Last Date for downloading tender documents: 02/01/2024 upto 17.00 Hrs CORP./AUTH TIME IN RUPEES Specification please refer to https://eproc.punjab.gov.in from
1 MUNICIPAL ESTIMATE FOR BALANCE 13.12.2023 56.43 LACS https://etenders.hry.nic.in 7015891509 15.12.2023 (11.00 AM onwards).
Last Date for Bid Submission: 22/01/2024 upto 15.00 Hrs. CORPORA- WORK OF COMMUNITY 04.01.2024 manojbagotia@gmail.com

For detailed NIT & tender specifications, can be downloaded from

TION GURU- CENTRE (CIVIL WORK, Note: Corrigendum and amendments, if any, will be published
GRAM PLUMBING WORK AND
PSPCL website https://eproc.punjab.gov.in In case tender, process is ELECTRICAL WORK) IN online at https://eproc.punjab.gov.in
VILLAGE BAJGHERA, C 903/23
not completed due to any reason(s), no Corrigendum will be published NEWLY EXTENDED AREA,
in newspapers. Details regarding corrigendum may be seen on e-ten- ZONE NO. 2, GURUGRAM
dering website only. C 912/23 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in
23458/HRY

Government of Jharkhand
Directorate of Tourism
MDI Building, 2nd Floor, HEC Campus, Dhurwa, Ranchi, Jharkhand
TEL NO: +91 651 2400493, E-MAIL: dirjharkhandtourism@gmail.com
VERY SHORT TENDER NOTICE
Visit us on www.tourism.jharkhand.gov.in
Ref. No: i;ZŒ@fuŒ@izŒ - 15@2022- 1233/2023
Selection of Agency for Setup, Operation & Management of Tent City for Eco Retreat - 2024 at
Netarhat location in Jharkhand for a period of 30 day (Call-2) (Jan, 2024 - Feb, 2024)
The Directorate of Tourism (DoT), Govt. of Jharkhand intends to Selection of Agency for Setup,
Operation & Management of Tent City for Eco Retreat-2024 at Netarhat location in Jharkhand for a
period of 30 day (Jan, 2024 - Feb, 2024) therefore, invites interested agencies to submit their Bids.
Interested agencies may download the document from 16/12/2023, 15:00 Hours onwards from the
Department of Tourism website:-www.tourism.jharkhand.gov.in/.
The Bid Due Date is on 26/12/2023 at 1400 hours. A Technical Bid & Financial Bid opening
Conference will be held on 26/12/2023 at 1430 Hours at the office of Directorate of Tourism (DoT),
Govt. of Jharkhand.
All subsequent notifications, changes and amendments will be posted only on the website
www.tourism.jharkhand.gov.in
DoT reserves the right to cancel this invitation and/or invite fresh Bid with or without amendments to
this invitation, without liability or any obligation for such invitation and without assigning any reason.
Sd/-
Director,
Tourism

OFFICE OF DIRECTOR
SHRI ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE
CHHAINSA, FARIDABAD, HARYANA, 121004
Tel. No. 0129 2840600, E-mails: dirsabvgmc-fbd.dmer@hry.gov.in,
directorsabvgmcfaridabad@gmail.com, Website: www.sabvgmcfbd.edu.in
Advt. No.: SABVGMC/Rectt./2023/08 Date:
GOVERNMENT OF HARYANA
ADVERTISEMENT FOR FILLING UP THE POSTS OF JUNIOR RESIDENTS FOR
SHRI ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE,
CHHAINSA, FARIDABAD, HARYANA
Twenty Three (23) posts of Junior Residents (SC-09, EWS-01, GC/PH-03, GC/ESM-04, BCB-02, BCA/ESM-01,
BCA/EWS-01, SC/ESM-01, EWS/PH-01) are proposed to be filled up for the period of one year, for Shri Atal Bihari
Vajpayee Government Medical College Chhainsa, Faridabad through walk-ininterview. The applicants have to submit
the completed applications by every 1st Tuesday till 12:00 Noon, with strictly prescribed application form along with
supportive documents and non-refundable application fee of Rs. 1000/- for General Category and Rs. 250/- for
Reserved Categories (for Haryana Domicile only) in form of Demand Draft, in favour of Director Shri Atal Bihari
Vajpayee Government Medical College, Chhainsa, Faridabad payable at Ballabhgarh. 50% concession in the above
fees is granted to the women candidates (both general and reserved category) as per Government Instructions. PH &
ESM candidates are exempted from the application fee. The application forms received after 12:00 Noon on every 1st
Tuesday for the interview scheduled on every 1st Thursday (extendable to next day if candidates come out to be more)
will not be considered and will be straight way rejected. In case of gazetted holiday on day of scrutiny or interview, it
will be automatically shifted to next working day.
The other details & terms and conditions may be downloaded from Institute website http://www.sabvgmcfbd.edu.in.
It is also informed that interested candidates may visit our website http://www.sabvgmcfbd.edu.in/ on regular basis for
all updates.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:
1. MBBS/equivalent Foreign degree from Institution/University recognized by the NMC/MCI.
2. Must be having a valid registration certificate either issued by NMC (erstwhile MCI)/ Haryana State Medical
Council.
3. Foreign Medical Graduate should have passed the Foreign Medical Graduate examination (FMGE) conducted by
National Board of examination.
4. Score of the exit examination (FMGE) conducted by NMC/ National Board Examination, New Delhi for FMG can-
didates will be considered as equivalent to MBBS score for the purpose of calculating the pre – merit of all the
Foreign Medical Graduate (FMGs).
5. Other candidates possessing only a pass/ fail certificate and no score card for the FMGE, the Score will be con-
sidered as 50% only and pre – merit will be calculated accordingly.
Age:-
- Age not less than 22 years and not more than 45 years upto last date of submission of application form.
- The benefit of relaxation in upper age in respect of candidate belonging to SC/ST, BC, ESM etc. will be given as
per instructions issued by General Administration Department (GAD) from time to time and is restricted to Haryana
Domiciles candidates only.
*Age and qualification will be counted up to the closing date of submission of application form
Pay Scale:- Rs. 56100/-+NPA
OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
NOTE:-
1. Application performa can be downloaded from the website www.sabvgmcfbd.edu.in
2. The interview will be held in the office of Director, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College,
Chhainsa, Faridabad. The candidates must bring all the essential certificates/documents i.e. (matriculation certifi-
cate, MBBS mark sheets, Degree Experience Certificate, Registration attempt certificate of MBBS, Caste certifi-
cate etc.) in original for verification at the time of interview.
3. The appointment would be for the period of one year, subject to satisfactory work and conduct report. However, the
services can be terminated immediately without prior notice, if the work and conduct are not found satisfactory.
4. Experience will be considered only if it is obtained from NMC recognized/permitted Medical College.
5. Incomplete application in any form and without self-attested copies of educational certificates and other relevant
documents will be rejected.
6. Number of posts can be increased or decreased on the basis of actual requirement against sanctioned posts with-
out any prior information/notice.
7. The applicants who are already in Govt. /Semi Govt. /Corporation or Autonomous Body, should bring fresh, ‘No
Objection Certificate’ at the time of interview, failing which the applicant will not be considered for interview.
8. No individual interview letter will be sent and no TA/DA will be paid for attending the interview. Candidates are
advised to regularly check the website of medical college www.sabvgmcfbd.edu.in for the latest update.
9. The final decision regarding the selection/recruitment of any candidates would be at the discretion of Chairperson
of the selection committee.
10. In case a candidate fails to join within stipulated period, the seat will be offered to the next candidate as per the
merit list.
11. The recruitment would be as per Haryana Reservation Policy.
Date /Time for Receiving the application forms: Every 1st Tuesday till 12:00 Noon
Date/ Time of Scrutiny of documents: Every 1st Tuesday from 12:00 Noon onwards
Date/ Time of Interview: Every 1st Thursday at 10:00 am onwards (extendable to next day, if more number
of candidates come)
VENUE OF INTERVIEW: Office of Director,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Chhainsa, Faridabad
Sd/-
Director
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Government Medical College,
23475/Hry Chhainsa, Faridabad, Haryana
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

13 BIG PICTURE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

J&K & KARAN SINGH

OCTOBER 26, 1947:
‘Maharaja’ Hari Singh signs
Instrument of Accession.
‘Yuvaraj’ Karan Singh is
then 16 years old
APRIL 21, 1948: UNSC
passes ceasefire resolution
JUNE 20, 1949: Singh is
appointed Reagent of J&K
JANUARY 26, 1950:
Constitution of India is
implemented; Article 370
accords special status to
J&K
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 17, 1952: AUGUST 9, 1953: Sheikh MARCH-JUNE 1957: J&K
1951: Sheikh Abdullah is Singh is made Sadr-e- Abdullah arrested, his holds first Assembly
PM of J&K Riyasat government is dismissed elections

MARCH 30, 1965: Singh FEBRUARY 24, 1975: PM
is made Governor of J&K Indira Gandhi and Sheikh
Abdullah sign Kashmir
1967: Singh is Union Accord, reaffirming
Minister Article 370
1989-90: Singh is India’s MARCH 2015: PDP forms SEPTEMBER 2016: Army NOVEMBER 2018: BJP AUGUST 5, 2019: Centre
Ambassador to the US govt with BJP base in Uri attacked pulls out of govt; abrogates Article 370
President’s Rule in
December

Kashmir through Karan Singh’s eyes

A NINE-DECADE
A
CONVERSATIONwithKaran goes to Jammu and Kashmir quite often.
Singh is like walking He usually spends all of June and some

through a history museum
— filing past signposts and
scanning through artifacts
that link current events to a long and trou-
bled past. Of course, there is a disclaimer —
his history perhaps tells only one side, a sig-
nificant side nevertheless, of Jammu and
Kashmir’s story of hope and despair, turmoil
and transition. It’s a fabled story, yet not yet
fully told.
History never looks like history for Singh,
the 92-year-old son and successor of
Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of
Jammu and Kashmir, as he has lived through
it and is now witnessing a new chapter un-
fold from a distance. His life, in many ways, is
deeply intertwined with the tumultuous
journey of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947.
Looking back, one realises that Singh was
born days after Lord Irwin inaugurated New
Delhi as the new capital of India (the Delhi
which always evoked mixed emotions in an
average Kashmiri) in March 1931 and two
days before revolutionaries Bhagat Singh,
Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged. And we
meet on a day history perhaps repeated as a
farce — two men with smoke cans had ear-
lier in the day jumped into the Lok Sabha
chamber.
The Supreme Court judgment on Article
370somedaysagohadtransportedhimback
to the events that unfolded after
Independence — years that shaped and per-
haps transformed his life. Kept on top of a
stack of papers arranged neatly on his study
table was a copy of the Proclamation, the
document which he had issued as an 18-
year-old yuvaraj in 1949 and which the
Supreme Court earlier this week said re-
flected the full and final surrender of J&K’s
sovereignty to India.
There is a glimmer in his eyes as he picks
up the document. He was, in fact, more ex-
cited when, a while later, he switched on the
‘Saregama Carvaan’ kept on his table and the
room was filled with the familiar voice of
Ameen Sayani. An aristocrat, Singh has a re-
fined taste in art, music and literature and
deepknowledgeof Hinduism,BhagavadGita
and the Vedas. He is nonchalant as he re-
counts the sequence of events post 1947.
The Maharaja exiled and a
princely proclamation
“My father signed the Instrument of
Accession on October, 26, 1947. All of 1948, I
was in America in a hospital. I came back in
1949. My father was persuaded to leave the
state. That was a very painful thing for him,”
Singh recalls. He links it to India taking the
Kashmir issue to the United Nations.
“We had gone to the United Nations. I
think we need not have gone. It wasn’t nec-
essary. We should have settled it ourselves. I
think it was Lord Mountbatten who per-
suaded (Jawaharlal) Nehru to go there say-
ing that you are now the leader of the new
postcolonial societies and you should make
an example of how peaceful resolutions are
done… not realising that once you went to
the UN, you get bogged down…we are still
bogged down 75 years later,” he says.
A Congressman, Singh, however, gives
Nehru the benefit of the doubt. “It is not fair
todemoniseNehru...forthisbecausehewent
to the United Nations in good faith.”
And squarely lays the blame at Sheikh
Abdullah’s door.
“In the course of the UN negotiations, we
had agreed to a plebiscite. Now who was go-
ing to win the plebiscite for us? Sheikh
Abdullah,whowastheleaderof theNational
Conference, which led the anti-Dogra, anti-
our-familymovementinthestate.The result
was that Abdullah was able to call the shots.
He, because of his great antipathy to my fa-
ther, told Nehru that he cannot win the
plebisciteaslongasMaharajaHariSinghwas
in the state. He must leave and the Maharani
must leave too,” Singh recounts.
Singh says he was in the US for treatment
when history took this dramatic turn in his
state. “I came back (from the US) in February
1949. We were summoned to Delhi in April
of that year. That is where Sardar Patel re-
quested my father: ‘Maharaj saab, will you
please stay out of the state for six months or
a year?’ In fact, it became a life-long exile.
He never came back…only his ashes re-
turned, which I brought when he passed
away in 1961.”
‘Yuvraj’ Karan Singh was just 18 when his
father was exiled. Hari Singh agreed to leave
but said his son should be appointed the
Reagent of the state. “And I stayed back. The
JOURNEY
15 days in September in Srinagar every year.
He has a palace in Jammu too where he goes
on shorter visits. His elder son Vikramaditya
and daughter-in-law Chitrangada, the
daughter of Madhavrao Scindia, look after
the property in Kashmir while his younger
son Ajatshatru is in charge of the Jammu
property. Ajatshatru joined the BJP in 2014
Scholar, philosopher, politician, 92-year-old Karan Singh has had an incredible front-row view of while Vikramaditya left the Congress last
year. “He lost interest in politics,” Singh says
Kashmir’s history. MANOJ C G talks to the man as he maps his personal and political journey, of his elder son.
His daughter Jyotsna is Director of the
a wide arc that is closely intertwined with the region’s past and its present family-run Amar Mahal Museum and
Library in Jammu and helps him with his
cultural activities, something that keeps
Singh busy these days. His house in
Chanakyapuri is a piece of history in itself,
filled with antique statues, paintings and
artifacts. He built the house in the early
1960s, even before he moved to Delhi in
1967. “Panditji (Nehru) had come for the
housewarming…When I built this house,
this area was a jungle. Now it is a posh local-
ity. I was always interested in national pol-
itics, so I wanted a permanent house here,”
he says with a gleam in his eyes.
Therearenophotographsof theCongress
pantheon in his study. There is, however, a
photograph of him with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. “I haven’t met him very of-
ten. But on my 90th birthday, I had written
to him requesting him to release a special
edition of the Bhagavad Gita. He agreed. He
invited ustohishouseand wehadafunction
there... I hardly ever met him when he was
the Gujarat chief minister.”
‘I am still in the Congress’
Singh has welcomed the Supreme Court
verdict upholdingtheCentre’s 2019decision
to repeal J&K’s special status under Article
370. But it washis father who, in 1927, issued
two proclamations giving only residents the
right to government jobs and barring non-
residents of J&K from buying land or prop-
erty.
“Kashmir was very poor. (Outsiders)
would have come and bought up the whole
of Kashmir and we would have been land-
Karan Singh at his home in Chanakyapuri on Wednesday. Chitral Khambhati lesslabourersif hehadnotreservedtheserv-
ices. Where would the people of Jammu and
Kashmirgo? (Theproclamations)ultimately
became Article 370. It wasn’t a malign act; it
was a step taken to save the people from be-
ing overrun by much richer neighbours.”
He, however, sees no contradiction in
welcoming the verdict now. “I welcomed it
because there is no point trying to aim for
something which is not possible. It is a done
deal now. Why keep hitting your head
against the wall?”
It is a pragmatic view. After all, Singh is
92 and has been part of J&K’s journey over
the last 76 years.
(Left to right) Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan At 92, Singh is a keen follower of national
Singh administers the oath of office and international politics. “Divine grace.
to then PM of J&K Bakshi Ghulam People ask me what is your secret weapon. I
Mohammed; with PM Nehru; with say this is my secret weapon,” he says, dis-
Indira Gandhi and former J&K PM playing his kada (bracelet) with ‘Om
and later Chief Minister Ghulam Namashivaya’ inscribed in Hindi. “I gave one
Mohammed. Express Archive of these kadas to Rahul Gandhi…some time
ago,” he adds.
Although he is still in the Congress, he is
not active politically. He was dropped from
Proclamation,whichinawaysupplemented On May 1, 1951, Singh issued a second A year later, Singh dismissed Abdullah’s The wheels turned again after the the Congress Working Committee in 2018
the Instrument of Accession, was signed by Proclamation, convening a Constituent governmentandputhiminjail,which,Singh Congress split post Emergency. Singh, who and was also not renominated to Rajya
Karan Singh in November 1949 as the Assembly for framing a Constitution for the says, gladdened his community. “Then all stood with Indira and was among a few Sabha.
Reagent,” he says. state. “Abdullah was so anti-Dogra. He made those people said yeh acha hua. I told them Congress leaders who won from North India “I am still in the Congress. Rahul Gandhi
Who wrote the proclamation? “I didn’t a big song and dance about abolishing the that you showed black flags wherever I in 1977, was on the other side a few years was here the other day to shoot a video of
writeit.Itmusthavebeenlegallydrafted.My monarchy… and the Constituent Assembly went…I told them had I not accepted (the later.Inthe1980elections,whichsawthe re- his talk with me on Hinduism. All the posts
hunch is that it was met. It was to decide post), there was nobody turn of Indira Gandhi, that I have held are because of the Congress.
drafted by somebody in who is going to be the whocouldhavereinedin Singh fought on a ticket I don’t feel like leaving the Congress. Nehru
theGovernmentof India. head of the state. The Abdullah.” of the Devaraj Urs-led was my mentor, Indira took me in her
It came to me from the We need not have gone head of the state was to Abdullah, of course, I didn’t write the Congress(U) from Cabinet and kept me for 10 years at a
state government,” he be elected by the state had a different version. Udhampur. “It was a stretch. Rajiv sent me to the US as
says. Abdullah was in
to UN... I think it was Assembly. They elected And somewhere in be-
proclamation (in 1949). tough election. By that Ambassador. Sonia Gandhi gave me three
charge of the state as Lord Mountbatten who me the Sadr-i-Riyasat tween is history. It must have been legally time, Sheikh Abdullah consecutive terms in Rajya Sabha after I
Head of the Emergency (President),” he says. and Indira Gandhi were took on (A B) Vajpayee from Lucknow in the
Administration. Singh
persuaded (Jawaharlal) “That put me in an A ringside view drafted. My hunch is on one side, but I won,” 1999 Lok Sabha elections. They have been
says he was not forced to Nehru... (But) it is not awkward position. On of politics that it was drafted by he said. good to me,” he says.
issue the proclamation. one hand, Abdullah had What would count So life moves on for Singh, a journey
“I was also an Indian
fair to demonise Nehru forced myfather into ex- Singh remained the
somebody in the as a regret for someone whose arc is intertwined with that of inde-
nationalist. I wanted for this because he went ile and here I was, ac- Sadr-i-Riyasat till 1965, Government of India. It who served as Reagent, pendentIndiaandJammu&Kashmir.Anan-
very much to be part of to the United Nations in cepting a position which when the post was abol- came to me from the Sadr-i-Riyasat and ecdote he offers at the end of our conversa-
the mainstream. We he had created. I ac- ishedandSinghtookover Governor in Jammu and tion, about his birth in a Cannes hotel,
grew up reading Nehru’s good faith.” cepted nonetheless be- as the first Governor of state government” Kashmir and then illustrates just how.
books. Those were the cause Nehru wanted me the state, a position he served as an MP for 40 “HotelMartinez,Rooms318,319and320.
booksthatinspiredus.Asayoungman,Iwas toacceptitandIwantedtobepartof thenew continued in till 1967. “By then, I was getting years(fourtermseachinLokSabhaandRajya I was a famous baby. My father was then at-
very keen to try and help, whatever I could India,” he says. Nehru, he says, was very fond bored withJ&K. I said Iam notgoing to spend Sabha)? “The only regret I have is we have tending the first Round Table Conference (in
do. It was a privilege and an extraordinary of Singh and used to call him ‘Tiger’. therestofmylifehere.IpressedIndiraGandhi, not been able to sort out the J&K problem in- London) as a representative of the Indian
situation when I was appointed Reagent at Singh recalls that his taking over as the whoIknewverywell…becausePanditjiused ternationally after so many years. But that princes.When(myparents)sailedfromhere,
the age of 18,” he says. Sadr-i-RiyasathadangeredhisDogracommu- to come to Srinagar quite often. I was a house was not in my hands.” I was already in my mother’s womb. My fa-
A year later, at 19, Singh married Yasho nity. Even his father was apprehensive. “He guest at Teen Murti…” At 36, Singh was in- Singh refrains from getting drawn into ther took the whole third floor of the
Rajya Lakshmi, 13, and the couple would wasapprehensivethattheywouldthrowme ducted into the Indira Cabinet as a Cabinet questions about Delhi’s handling of Jammu Martinez.” Years later, Singh and his wife
spend six months in Srinagar and the re- out at some point of time. There was a risk. I minister.ButsincehewasnotanMP,hestood and Kashmir post Independence. went back and stayed in the suite where he
maining in Jammu. thought the risk was worth taking,” he says. for election and won from Udampur. In 1967, Singh moved to Delhi though he was born.
 14 CLASSIFIEDS & TENDERS
Classifieds
PERSONAL
I Chirag Verma S/o Sh.Mahesh
Verma R/o House No.84, Village
Dallupura, Vasundhra Enclave,
Delhi-110096 have changed my
name to Chirag Dedha for all
purposes. 0040703606-1
I,MANISHA D/O CHINTAMANI
BASNET R/O RZ-B-22,FIRST-
FLOOR,VIJAY ENCLAVE, DELHI-
110045.HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO MANISHA BASNET.
0040703686-8
I,LEENA JAGGI/LEENA UPPAL,
W/O.PANKAJ HANS,ADD-
TOWER-12 ,4A,OZONE-
PARK,APARTMENTS,SECTOR-
86,FARIDABAD, HARYANA-
121002,changed my name to
LEENA HANS,for all,future
purposes. 0040703723-5
I,CHINTAMANI S/O BHOPAL
BASNET R/O RZ-B-22,FIRST-
FLOOR,VIJAY ENCLAVE,DELHI-
110045.HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO CHINTAMANI BASNET.
0040703686-7
I, Ravishankar Kumar S/o Bhola
Prasad Pandey R/o B-962,Street
Number 1, Shastri Nagar,North West
Delhi,110052,have changed my
name to Ravi Pandey
0130038831-1
I,Santra Devi,W/o-Anar
Singh,R/o-Village
Badrai,District-Charkhi
Dadari,Haryana,have changed
my name From Santa Devi to
Santra Devi for all purposes.
0040703743-3
I,Rheya Vashisth D/o Bhairav
Vashishth R/o T 10-808,RPS
Savana,Sector-88,
Faridabad,have changed my
name to Riya Vashishth.
0040703686-3
I,Sachin Kumar Jaiswal,S/o
Gopal Ji Jaiswal R/o-AP-113-B
Pitampura,Delhi-110034,have
changed my minor daughter
name Shaivi Rowaan to Shaivi
Jaiswal 0040703693-1
I,Rekha W/o Arvind Kumar Arora
R/o H.No.324-A,G.F.,
Indraprasth-Colony,Sector 30-
33,Faridabad have changed my
name to Rekha Arora.
0040703686-2
I,Rajiv Kumar Lamba S/o
Dilbagh Rai Lamba R/o,D-
57A,Moti Nagar,Delhi-15,have
Changed my name to Rajeev
Kumar Lamba.
0040703693-7
I,Puja Agrawal,W/o-Sh Sunil
Agarwal,R/o-316-B,Pocket -
2,Mayur Vihar Phase-1,Delhi-
110091,have changed my name
from Puja Agrawal to Puja
Agarwal.I shall be known as
Puja Agarwal for all future
purposes. 0040703743-2
I,Nisu Mehta W/o Gaurav
Mehta,R/o D-406, BPTP
Princess-Park,Sector-
86,Faridabad have changed my
name to Nisha Mehta.
0040703693-3
I,Nishant, S/o Sh.Rajiv
Katiyar,R/o H.No-5,Block,A-1,
Mohan Garden,New Delhi,-
110059,have Changed my name
From Nishant to Nishant
Katiyar for all,future purposes.
0040703727-2
I,NANDA V. BHOYAR,mother
of,Ravi Vasantrao Bhoyar,
Presently,residing at, H.No.830,
Near-N.M.C.Garden,
Navabpura,
Mahal,Nagpur,Maharashtra-
440032,have changed my
name,from NANDA V. BHOYAR
to NANDA VASANTRAO
BHOYAR,vide-Affidavit, Date-
15.12.2023. 0040703693-10
I,MOHAMMAD Salim Alam,S/o-
Masroor Ali, R/o-242,kucha mir
ashiq chawri-bazar,delhi
6,Delhi G.P.O.,North-
Delhi,Delhi-110006,have
changed my name Mohd
Salim,for all,future purposes.
0040703727-6
I,Bineet Kumar Maunikhiya S/o
Rajesh Kumar, R/o,D-20, Mohan
Garden, Uttam-Nagar, New
Delhi-110059,have changed my
name to Bineet Chaudhary.
0040703727-8
I,DEWINDER SINGH,S/O SARDUL
SINGH R/O NE-36-A,VISHNU
GARDEN,NEW DELHI-
110018,CHANGED MY NAME TO
DEVINDER SINGH,FOR ALL
PURPOSES. 0040703727-5
I,GAJENDRA,S/O.JHANGIR
SHARMA,ADD-A-27,HARI-
VIHAR DAIRY WALA-ROAD,
KAKROLA,DWARKA,DELHI-
110078.changed my name to
GAJENDRA SHARMA,for
all,future purposes.
I,GULAB SINGH,S/o KUNDAL
LAL,R/o H- 254,OLD
SEEMAPURI,DELHI-
110095,declare that name-of-
my has been wrongly-written
as GULAB in my-passport
Documents
passport.no.U4024215.The
actual-my-name is GULAB
SINGH.,For all,the future
purposes. 0040703693-4
I,Gyan Mehera S/o Har Bhagwan
R/o-1/7085 second-
Floor,Gali.No.5,Shivaji
Park,Shahdara Delhi-
110032,Have Changed My
Name To Gyan Mehra,For All
Purposes. 0040703693-8
I Sushil Garg S/o Sh.Inder Sain
Garg R/o H.No.3, Third Floor,
Front Side, Rohtak Road (Near
Peera Garhi Chowk), Inder
Enclave, Paschim Vihar,New
Delhi-110087 have changed my
name to Sushil Garg Danodia
for all purposes. 0040703606-3
I,KAMLA W/O CHINTAMANI
BASNET R/O RZ-B-22,FIRST-
FLOOR,VIJAY ENCLAVE, DELHI-
110045.HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO KAMLA BASNET.
0040703686-9
I,MANOJ JAIN S/O.SUKHMAL
CHAND JAIN,,R/O.59,RISHAB
VIHAR,NEAR CROSS RIVER
MALL,KARKARDOOMA,DELHI-
110092.HAVE CHANGE MY
NAME TO MANOJ KUMAR JAIN.
0040703693-6
I,Pinki Yadav W/o Satish Kumar
Yadav,R/o P.O-Ujwa, Hasan
Pur,Delhi-110073,have changed
my name to Pinki.
0040703686-10
I,Laxminarayin Petwal S/o
Ramanand Petwal,R/o
Thakurpur Nepali farm
Khairikhurd Shyampur
Dehradun-249204 have
changed my name to
Laxminarayin. 0040703727-3
I,Kanhiya Kumar Jha,S/o-Krit
Narayan Jha,R/o-Plot.No.11A,
Arjun Park,Nangli
Dairy,Najafgarh,Nangli
Sakrawati,South West, Delhi-
110043,have changed my,name
to Naveen Kumar Jha,for
all,future Purposes.
0040703727-4
I,KULDEEP KAUR,W/O.INDERJIT
SINGH KHANUJA,ADD-JA-
49A,LIG-FLATS,NEAR-SWARG
ASHRAM MANDIR,HARI-
NAGAR, WEST-DELHI-
110064,changed my name to
KULDEEP KAUR KHANUJA,for
all,future purposes.
0040703723-4
I,KRISHAN MUNDE S/O N N
MUNDE,R/O C-213A,LAXMI
PARK,NANGLOI,NEW DELHI-
110041,HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO MUNDHE
KRISHNA,FOR ALL,FUTURE
PURPOSES. 0040703727-9
I,KISHORE KUMAR
LUTHRA,S/O.KARAM
CHAND,ADD-C-43 &
43A,UGF,BACKSIDE RAMDUTT-
ENCLAVE , UTTAM NAGAR NEW
DELHI-110059. Changed my
name to KISHORE KUMAR,for
all,future purposes.
0040703723-1
I,KISHAN S/O SURAJ KUMAR R/O
PLOTNO.E-
42C,GALINO.12,BHARAT VIHAR
EXTN.BEGUMPUR,DELHI-
110086.HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO KISHAN KUMAR.
0040703686-6
I,JC NO.206828Y NB SUB (Retd)
SuKhbir Singh R/O K10|30 (Ist
Floor)DLF Phase-
2,Gurugram,(Haryana),Inform
that In my Army service record
my wife name is Anita,which is
incorrect.The Correct name is
Anita Saroha for all future
purposes. 0040703743-1
I,Hatim Ali Khan S/o Taswar
Husain Khan R/O C-70, Indra
enclave,Nithari,North,west
Delhi-110086,have changed my
name to Hatim Ali.
0040703727-7
I,Bhairav Dutt S/o Ram Kishan
Sharma R/o T 10-808,RPS
Savana, Sector 88, Faridabad,
have changed my name to
Bhairav Vashishth.
0040703686-4
I,Arvind Kumar Arya,S/o Jagan
Nath R/o,H.No.324-
A,G.F.,Indraprasth-Colony,
Sector-30-33,Faridabad,have
changed my name to Arvind
Kumar Arora. 0040703686-1
I,BISWAJIT BHOWMICK S/o Late.
B. Bhowmick R/o Flat no. 303
Tower-A3 Plote no.-7 Near
Noida Metro Station 50 Golf
City-7 Sector-75 Noida Gautam
Buddha Nagar have changed
name to BISHWAJIT
BHOWMICK. 0040703678-1
I,Apoorva A Singh,W/o Amit
kumar Maity,R/o D-3/27,T/F,
Vinod puri,Vijay Enclave,Palam
Village, Delhi-110045,That have
Changed Name From Apoorva
A Singh To Apoorva Maity,for
all,future purpose.
0040703727-1
I,Anubha Shrivastava D/o
Mahesh Prasad Shrivasatava,
R/o.Flat.No.406,T-11,RPS
Savana,Sector-
88,Faridabad,have changed my
name to Anubbhaa Shrivastav.
0040703693-2
I,ANWER UL ISLAM S/O.
NOORULISLAM, R/O.B-35
GROUND-FLOOR,FRIENDS
COLONY-WEST,DELHI-
110065.HAVE CHANGE MY
NAME TO SHEIKH MOHAMMED
ANWER UL ISLAM. 0040703693-5
I,ANOOP KUMAR S/O VINAY
KUMAR R/O HNO.42, POCKET-
9,SECTOR-22,ROHINI,DELHI-
110086.HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO ANOOP KUMAR
GUPTA. 0040703723-3
I, Vimla Devi W/o Sanjay Pratap
Singh R/o H.No. 12, Gyan
Khand-3, Indirapuram,
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-
201010 have changed my name
to Bimla Singh for all future
purposes. 0040703614-1
I, Vijay Pratap S/o Balcharan
Singh R/o Saradpara
Khaprawa, Khapurwa,
Bahraich, Kaiserganj, Uttar
Pradesh-271902 have changed
my name to Vijay Pratap Singh
for all future purposes.
0040703615-1
I, VISHAL/VISHAL
MAHAWAR/VISHAL KUMAR
MAHAWAR, S/O-RATTAN
KUMAR R/O. HOUSE. NUMBER-
28-29, FIRST-FLOOR, BLOCK-
G,POCKET-2, SECTOR-11,
ROHINI, DELHI-110085, have
changed my name to VISHAL
KUMAR. 0040703761-1
I, Bharti Shokeen,W/o Mrinal
Khatri, R/o Plot No-94B, First
Floor, Khasra No-24/25, Shanti
Kunj Main, Vasant Kunj,South
West Delhi-110070 have
changed my name to Bharti
Khatri for all purposes.
0040703675-1
I, Biloo, W/o Mehfooz Ahmad,
R/o J-12, DDA Flats, Turkman
Gate, Asaf Ali Road, Delhi-
110006, have changed my name
to Bilqis Begum, for all
purposes. 0040703625-1
I, VIJAY LAXMI KAUL, D/o-KASHI
NATH JALLA, R/o FLAT.No.C-
405, SATISAR APARTMENTS,
PLOT No.6, SECTOR-7,
DWARKA, SOUTH WEST DELHI,
NEW DELHI-110075, inform
that VIJAY LAXMI JALLA and
VIJAY LAXMI KAUL, both are
one and same person.
I, UMESH WANKHEDE S/o RAM
DAS WANKHEDE R/o Plot No
348, 2ND Floor, Shakti Khand
3RD, Indrapuram, Vasundhra,
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-
201012, have changed the
name of my minor son
ATHARVA WANKHEDE aged, 14
Years, and he shall hereafter
be known as ATHARV
WANKHEDE. 0070878932-1
I, Shrinidhi Sharma D/o Ramesh
Chander Sharma R/o-H.No.35B
Rajpur khurdh-
Extension,Near-Ram Chander
market,New Delhi-
110068,have changed my
name Siri Nidhi to Shrinidhi
Sharma,for all future purposes
0040703616-1
I, Rakesh Kumar Sharma S/o
Chand Ram Sharma R/o 2955-
A/221, Vishram Nagar, Tri
Nagar, Delhi-110035 have
changed my name to RAKESH
SHARMA for all future
purposes. 0040703670-1
I, ROHY BASHIR, W/o Azam
Perwez, R/o RZ-201/2001B, Gali
No.24, Tughlakabad Ext.,
Alaknanda, South Delhi, Delhi-
110019, have changed my
name to ROOHI AZAM, for all
future purposes. 0040703686-5
I, RAJEEV ANAND S/o SHRI RAM
ANAND R/o B-180 BLOCK-B,
SECTOR-41 NOIDA, GAUTAM
BUDH NAGAR, UTTAR PRADESH
201301, have changed my
minor Daughter’s name from
SAIBA aged 17 years to SAIBA
ANAND forever. 0070878866-1
I, RAJEEV ANAND S/o SHRI RAM
ANAND R/o B-180 BLOCK-B,
SECTOR-41 NOIDA, GAUTAM
BUDH NAGAR, UTTAR PRADESH
201301, have changed my
minor Daughter’s name from
SAIBA aged 17 years to SAIBA
ANAND forever. 0070878866-1
I, Raj Baida S/o Patan
Imamsahib Raju R/o-170,
Sector-19, Faridabad have
changed my name to Raj
Kumar 0040703616-2
I, MANDHIR BHANDARI S/o
CHANCHAL SINGH THAKUR
R/O D 8 GROUND FLOOR, RPS
PALMS, RPS CITY SECTOR-88,
KHERI KALAN(113),
FARIDABAD HARYANA-121002,
have changed my minor
Daughter’s name from
SHARANYA aged 08 years to
SHARRANYA BHANDARI
forever. 0070878924-1
I, HARKIRAN
MEDIRATTA/HARKIRAN KAUR
W/O. RAMINDER SINGH
R/O.187, DDA FLATS, JAIDEV-
PARK, EAST PUNJABI-BAGH,
DELHI-110026, have changed
my name to HARKIRAN KAUR
KHURANA. 0040703761-4
I, HARKIRAN KAUR KHURANA,
W/O RAMINDER SINGH, R/O-
187.DDA-FLATS, JAIDEV-PARK,
EAST-PUNJABI BAGH, DELHI-
110026, have changed my
minor child’s name, from
HARNOOR KHURANA to
HARNOOR KAUR KHURANA.
I, GURBANI KHURANA, D/O.
RAMINDER SINGH, R/O.187,
DDA-FLATS, JAIDEV PARK, EAST
PUNJABI-BAGH, DELHI-110026,
HAVE CHANGED MY NAME,
FROM GURBANI KAUR
KHURANA. 0040703761-3
I, FAHEEM KHAN, S/O.FAYYAZ
KHAN,ADD-C-39, THOKAR.NO-
8, SHAHEEN-BAGH, JAMIA-
NAGAR ABUL-FAZAL ENCL- II,
OKHLA-SOUTH EAST-DELHI
110025, changed my name to
FAHIM KHAN, for all future
purposes. 0040703761-5
I, Deep Lal Rai S/o Hirday Rai
R/o A-10, Amrit Nagar,South
Extension Part-1, Lodi Road,
Delhi-110003 have changed my
name from Deep Lal to Deep
Lal Rai for all purposes in
future. 0040703645-1
I, Chirangi Lal Sharma s/o
Chandra Mani Devrani R/o H,
No C-30 M.B.R Enclave,
Pochanpur Extension, South
West Delhi, Delhi-110077 have
changed my name to Chiranji
Lal permanently. 0070878854-1
I, Chirangi Lal Sharma s/o
Chandra Mani Devrani R/o H,
No C-30 M.B.R Enclave,
Pochanpur Extension, South
West Delhi, Delhi-110077 have
changed my name to Chiranji
Lal permanently. 0070878854-1
I Radheshyam Prasad, S/o- Late
Mr. RAMKRIPAL R/o- House
A173, Gulab bagh,
Uttamnagar, Delhi, Pin 110059
have changed my name to
Radheshyam prasad agrawal
for all future purposes.
0070878943-1
I Indrawati Devi W/o Sh.Ramesh
Kumar R/o Buchawas,
Mahendragarh, Haryana-
123034 declares that my
correct name is Indrawati Devi
and Date of birth is 01.01.1968.
0040703606-2
I Chirag Verma S/o Sh.Mahesh
Verma R/o House No.84,
Village Dallupura, Vasundhra
Enclave, Delhi-110096 have
changed my name to Chirag
Dedha for all purposes.
0040703606-1
I Sushil Garg S/o Sh.Inder Sain
Garg R/o H.No.3, Third Floor,
Front Side, Rohtak Road (Near
Peera Garhi Chowk), Inder
Enclave, Paschim Vihar,New
Delhi-110087 have changed my
name to Sushil Garg Danodia
for all purposes.0040703606-3
I, Irum Salim W/O Mohd Salim
R/o 242, kucha mir ashiq chawri
bazar delhi 6, Delhi G.P.O., North
Delhi, Delhi, 110006, have
changed my name to Irum
Saalim, for all future purposes.
I, BALWANT SINGH S/O MR.
RAJENDRA SINGH R/O J-1/387,
DDA FLATS, KALKAJI, NEW
DELHI-110019, HAVE CHANGED
MY NAME FROM BALWANT
SINGH TO BALWANT SINGH
MANRAL. I MAY BE KNOWN BY
THE NAME BALWANT SINGH
MANRAL HENCEFORTH.
0040703617-1
I, Aman Ilahi S/o M Aslam Islahi,
R/o H-88, Jaitpur Extn Part 2,
Badarpur, Delhi-110044 have
changed my name to Amaan
Ilahi.
0070878938-1
I, Ajau Kumar S/o Jasbir Singh
R/o-D-3, Samridhi Appartment
GH-9, Sector-21-D, Faridabad
have changed my name to
Ajay Kumar
0040703616-3
I hereby known as ANKITA, D/o.
Mr SURESH CHAND ASIWAL
R/o C-2/343, Madangir (S) New
Delhi-110062, Delhi, have add
surname name “ASIWAL” on
my name and shall hereafter
be known as ANKITA ASIWAL
for all future purposes.
0040703621-1
I Indrawati Devi W/o
Sh.Ramesh Kumar R/o
Buchawas, Mahendragarh,
Haryana-123034 declares that
my correct name is Indrawati
Devi and Date of birth is
01.01.1968.
0040703606-2
LOST & FOUND
Lost Original lease deed dated
18.08.2021, registered as
document No. 7605/2021,
executed by Sh. Sanjay Kumar
s/o Sh. Dal Chand in favour of
M/s AMP Solar Urja Pvt. Ltd. If
found, please contact at
sbhardwaj@ampenergyindia.c
om / +91-8130560344.
0070878881-1
Lost Original lease deed dated
18.08.2021, registered as
document No. 7605/2021,
executed by Sh. Sanjay Kumar
s/o Sh. Dal Chand in favour of
M/s AMP Solar Urja Pvt. Ltd. If
found, please contact at
sbhardwaj@ampenergyindia.c
om / +91-8130560344.
0070878881-1
PROPERTY FOR RANT
13500 sq feets commercial road
front third floor 4 lifts STARPLUS
MALL near Muktidham
nashikroad railway station
Lodging Hotel IT Hospital
9850086022 . 0050232260-3
13500 sq feets commercial road
front third floor 4 lifts STARPLUS
MALL near Muktidham
nashikroad railway station
Lodging Hotel IT Hospital
9850086022 . 0050232260-2
SERVICES
ASTROLOGY
FREE ADVISE IMMEDIATELY
SOLUTION Benefit only on
phone Business,
Lovemarriage, Loveproblem,
Gruhkalesh, Vashikaran,
Shatruproblem, Karanibadha,
Laxmibandhan AKABARKHA -
9667680453, Kurla, Mumbai.
0070877719-6
MISCELLANEOUS
PUBLIC NOTICE
BE IT KNOWN TO ALL THAT MY CLIENTS SH.
SHOBN SINGH, S/O. LATE SH. HEERA SINGH
AND SMT. KASHTI DEVI, W/O. SH. SHOBN
SINGH, R/O. D-1/160, STREET NO. 7, 2 PUSTA,
SONIA VIHAR, DELHI- 110 094, HAVE
DISOWNED AND DEBARRED THEIR SON
BHAGAT SINGH AND HIS WIFE BHAVNA BISHT,
R/O. D-1/160, STREET NO. 7, 2 PUSTA, SONIA
VIHAR, DELHI- 110 094 FROM THEIR ALL
MOVABLE AND IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES DUE
TO THEIR DISRESPECTFUL, DISOBEDIENT
AND ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR TOWARDS MY
CLIENTS. FROM NOW ONWARDS MY CLIENTS
HAVE NO CONCERN WITH THEM AND ANYONE
DEALING WITH THEM IN FUTURE SHALL BE
DOING SO AT HIS/HER OWN RISK AND
RESPONSIBILITY.
Sd/-
GAURAV KHULBE & BHANU MOHAN
ADVOCATE
B-121, BGS BLOCK, TIS HAZARI COURT
DELHI-110 054
PUBLIC NOTICE
It is hereby informed to public at large that My
clients Sh. Darshan Lal, S/o Sh. Wazir Chand
and Smt. Varsha Rani, W/o Sh. Darshan Lal,
Both R/o A- 43, Mansa Ram Park, Uttam
Nagar, Delhi-110059, have severed off/
disconnected their all relations/connections
with their children namely, Akshay Mehta,
Asha Rani, Seema Handa, Archna Babbar
and Ragini Chauhan and
debarred/disowned them from their all
movable and immovable properties for all
intents & purposes due to their bad behaviour
and misconduct. If anybody deals with them,
he/she will be liable for the consequences.
Sandeep Mishra,
Advocate
(D/774/2017)
Ch. No.75A, Civil Wing,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
PUBLIC NOTICE
THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY
INFORMED THAT MY CLIENT SH. SHYAM
SUNDER GUPTA S/O LATE SH. S.P. GUPTA
R/O C-5-D/58-B JANAKPURI, WEST DELHI
110058, HAS SEVERED ALL HIS RELATIONS
WITH HIS SON MR. RAHUL GUPTA AND
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW MRS. HIMANSHI BOTH
R/O C-5-D/58-B JANAKPURI, WEST DELHI-
110058 DUE TO THEIR BAD HABITS AND
DISOBEDIENCE. MY CLIENT HAS ALSO
DISOWNED, DEBARRED AND DISINHERITED
HIS ABOVE NAMED SON AND DAUGHTER-
IN-LAW AND ALL THEIR HEIRS AND ISSUES
FROM ALL HIS MOVABLE AND IMMOVABLE
PROPERTIES WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.
ANYBODY DEALING WITH MR. RAHUL
GUPTA AND MRS. HIMANSHI WILL DO SO AT
HIS/HER/THEIR OWN RISK AND
RESPONSIBILITIES AND MY CLIENTS WILL
NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY
ACTS, DEEDS OR DEALINGS OF MR. RAHUL
GUPTA AND MRS. HIMANSHI.
Sd/-
JOGENDER KUMAR (Advocate)
D-1001/05
Ch. No.840, Lawyers Chambers Dwarka
Court Complex, Sector-10 Dwarka,
New Delhi-110075
The Executive Engineer, TUDA (Tripura Urban Planning &
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE INDIANEXPRESS, Development Authority) invites e-tender against PNIeT No.:
26/EE/TUDA/2023-24 dated 06.12.2023 for "Design-Build-
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023 Operate (DBO) of Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) along
with Co-treatment of used water and Septage with 5 years
of Operation and Maintenance in three towns
Dharmanagar, Kailashahar & Kumarghat of Tripura (2nd
Call)." with following salient details.
1. Estimated Cost: Rs. 28,09,32,164.00 (Rupees Twenty
Eight Crore Nine Lakhs Thirty Two Thousand One Hundred
and Sixty Four only)
2. Bid Fee: Rs. 11,800.00 (Rupees Eleven Thousand Eight
Hundred Only) (including 18% GST)
3. Earnest Money: Rs 56,20,000 (Rupees Fifty Six Lakhs and
Twenty Thousand Only)
4. Time of Completion: 24 months.
5. Last date & time for online Bidding: 29.12.2023 up to
1500 Hours.
6. Bid Opening Date and Time: 29.12.2023 up to 1600 Hours.
Note: The bid forms and other details including online
activities should be done only in the e- procurement portal
https://tripuratenders.gov.in. Submission of Bids
physically not permitted.
Sd/-
(Er. N.K Jamatia)
Executive Engineer
Tripura Urban Planning & Development
ICA/C/3605/23 Authority Agartala, Tripura(W)
PUBLIC NOTICE
Be it known that my clients (1) Sh.
Bhushan Lal Bhatia S/O L. Mahabir Bhatia
(2) Smt. Renu Bhatia W/O Sh. Bhushan
Lal Bhatia, BOTH R/O Flat No 15-D, BB
Block, Janakpuri B-1, West Delhi, Delhi-
110058 have disowned and severed all
their relations with their son-in-law namely
SHIVA KHANNA (Aadhar No. 8566 2429
5478) S/O L. Mukul Khanna and their
daughter Mrs. Himanshi Bhatia (Aadhar
No. 5569 2623 9685) D/O Sh. Bhushan
Lal Bhatia and W/O Sh. Shiva Khanna and
debarred them from their movable and
immovable properties and assets with
immediate effect. Any person dealing with
them in any matter or any civil or criminal
matter shall be doing at his/her/their own
risk, cost and responsibility.
Sd/- MANORMA MASIH (Advocate)
PMGSY
Enrl. No. D-776/2005
SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, 4TH CIRCLE, HPPWD, WINTERFIELD,
PUBLIC NOTICE SHIMLA H.P., 171003
It is notified for the information of general
public that my client Mr. Piyush Rana s/o
HIMACHAL PRADESH PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Sh. Subhash Chand Rana has lost the
original documents i.e. Allotment Letter
UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA (PMGSY-III)
e-PROCUREMENT NOTICE
dated 27.07.2010 executed in favour of
Mr. Dinesh Kumar Goyal & Mrs. Babita
Goyal in respect of Residential Flat No-
The Superintending Engineer, 4th Circle, HPPWD Shimla-171003 on behalf of Governor Himachal Pradesh invites the Percentage
107, 1st Floor, Tower B-5, built on Plot
No GH-8, Sector-1, Supertech Eco Rate bids in electronic tendering system for construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III in the district of
Shimla for the following package from the eligible contractors registered with HPPWD/CPWD/P&T, Railways/other state Govt.
Village-1, situated at Greater Noida,
Gautam Budha Nagar, U.P. Our client /Central Govt agencies.
has also lodged a FIR on 15.12.2023 for
the same. If anyone found the same, Sr. Name Packag Name of work Period of Estimated cost Total Cost Bid
please contact on 9911838238. of e No. construction in Rupees security
No in Rupees (in lacs)
Parveen Kumar Advocate
Distt. in Days (in lacs) in
Seat No. 111, Civil Side, Construction Maintenance
(excluding Rupees
Bar Room No. 1, part part
GST) (in lacs)
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi (excluding (excluding
GST) GST)
1. Shimla HP-09- Up-gradation of Cheog Tiyali 510 Rs 1897.27 Rs 143.61 Rs 2040.88 Rs
695 Dhamandri to Sainj Road Km. 0/0 to lacs lacs lacs 40.82
IN THE COURT OF SH. AJAY GARG, 23/895.(SH: ROFD Protection works, lacs
ADJ-01, KKD, COURTS DELHI Road side drain, Metalling and Tarring,
PC 49/2023 N.D.O.H. 14.02.2024 Panel concrete road furniture, dumping
P1 Sh. Naveen Roy S/o Hare Krishna Roy R/o site 0/0 to 23/895( Package No. HP-
have Flat No. 62, Plot No. 74, Aashirwad
09-695)
Apartment, Inderaprastha Extention, Delhi-
110092 2. Shimla HP-09- Up-gradation of Kelvi to Sainj road Km. 510 Rs 1215.66 Rs 96.16 Rs 1311.82 Rs
...Petitioner 715 9/0 to 25/00.(SH: Improvement of lacs lacs lacs 26.24
Versus passing places, Missing Cross lacs
R1 The State, Represented Through: The
drainage works, side drain, Parapets,
Sd/- Chief Secretary, Players Building, Delhi
Crash Barriers CC pavement Tarring
Secretariat, GNCT of Delhi, Indraprastha,
I.T.O., New Delhi-110002 and road signs etc., including five year
routine maintenance)
R2 Smt. Saran Devi W/o Hare Krishna Roy,
R/o Flat No. 62, Plot No. 74, Aashirwad ( Package No. HP-09-715)
Apartment, Inderprastha Extension,
Delhi-110092 M. 9958313138 3. Shimla HP-09- Up-gradation of Matiana Mahori to 510 Rs 2181.72 Rs 154.16 Rs 2335.88 Rs
694 Chhaila Road Km. 0/0 to 25/650 Km. lacs lacs lacs 46.72
R3 Sh. Praveen Roy S/o Hare Krishna Roy
R/o Plot No. 63, Shivani Apartment, (SH: Improvement of passing places, lacs
Inderprastha Extention, Delhi-110092
Missing Cross drainage works, side
M. 873034825 / 9350750032
drain, Parapets, Crash Barriers CC
-- ---------------
pavement Tarring and road signs etc.,
...Respondents
PETITION UNDER SECTION 276 OF including five year routine
maintenance).(Package-No.HP-09-
THE INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT FOR
GRANT OF PROBATE IN RESPECT OF 694)
THE ESTATE OF DECEASED SH.
HARE KRISHNA ROY S/O SH. 4. Shimla HP-09- Up-gradation of Dhabas to Sarahan 510 Rs 1319.39 Rs 113.23 Rs 1432.62 Rs
BHAGWAT ROY R/O FLAT NO. 62, 696 and Road Km. 0/0 to 23/895.(SH: ROFD lacs lacs lacs 28.65
PLOT NO. 74, AASHIRWAD
HP-09- Protection works, Road side drain, lacs
APARTMENT, INDERPRASTHA
EXTENTION, DELHI-110092. 693 GSB, WBM, BC AND BM, crash barrier
, road furniture, dumping site 0/0 to
Notice is hereby given to the general public
10/0 ( Package No. HP-09-696) and
that any person having objection for Grant of
Letter of Administration of the Movable and Up-gradation of Shakeldhar to Nahol
Immovable Property of the deceased Sh.
Road Km. 0/0 to 8/840.(SH:
Hare Krishna Roy S/o Sh. Bhagwat R/o Flat
Imrovement, Passing Places, missing
No. 62, Plot No. 74, Aashirwad Apartment,
CD ,side drain crash barrier, CC
Inderprastha Extension, Delhi-110092 in
respect of Flat No. 62, situated at Plot No. Pavements and Tarring BM, crash
74, Aashirwd Apartment, Patparganj barrier , road furniture, dumping site
Inderprastha Extension, Delhi-110092 0/0 to 8/840 ( Package No. HP-09-693)
Whereas the 14/02/2024 at 10’O clock in the
forenoon has been fixed for hearing of the Non-registered bidders may submit bids, however, the successful bidders must get registered in appropriate class with appropriate
case, notice is hereby given that person
authorities before signing the contract.
having any interest in the administration of
the shares and debentures concerned may if Cost of form in Rupees 5000/- for Per Package (non-refundable) (Online)
he/she desire appear in this Court of the said
Availability of Bid Documents and mode of submission: The bi7d document is available online and should be submitted online
14/02/2024 and see the proceedings before
in www.pmgsytenders.gov.in. The bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of the
the grant letter of Administration.
Given under my hand the seal of this court on bids, the bidder is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities.
this 08/12/2023.
The technical bids will be opened in the office of Superintending Engineer, 4th Circle, HPPWD, Winterfield, Shimla H.P.,
Sd/-
SEAL Additional District Judge (01) 171003 on 11.01.2024 at 1100 hours.
East, KKD, Delhi.
Submission of Original Documents: Nil
The site for the work is available.
Last Date/ Time for receipt of bids through e-procurement: 10.01.2024 upto 1700 Hours.
All the required materials like Cement/Steel/Bitumen/Explosive etc. shall be arranged by Contractor at his own level.
Further, the payment for routine maintenance to the contractor shall be regulated based on his performance of maintenance
activities.
The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than ninety days after the deadline date for bid
submission.
Bidders may bid for any one or more of the works mentioned in the Table above. To qualify for a package of contracts made up of
this and other contracts for which bids are invited in the same NIT, the bidder must demonstrate having experience and resources
sufficient to meet the aggregate of the qualifying criteria for the individual contracts.
Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The Employer shall not be held liable for any delays due to system failure
beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for
any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidder’s responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the
tender.
For further details please log on to http://pmgsytendershp.gov.in
The undersigned has right to extend or cancel the bids without declaring any reasons there-of.
Superintending Engineer
4th Circle, H.P.P.W.D
Winterfield, Shimla-171003
4409/HP Fax: 0177-2805097.
Tel: 0177-2653455.

15 REVIEWS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
SHALINI LANGER
THE THING about fairy tales is that a lot of
the time these involve a dolled-up Princess
looking out the window of a fancy tower
waiting to be swept off her feet.
And there are few fairy tales to parallel
that of Priscilla Presley nee Beaulieu, who
found herself at 14 being courted (but
strangely not coveted) by a rock star who
hadtheworld,especiallyitswomen,swoon-
ing over him.
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, based on the
book Elvis and Me,startsoff beautifullyfrom
this perspective. A prepubescent girl, a ver-
itable Alice, who has stumbled into a dream
world. In the day she attends school, learn-
ing arithmetics and French, in evenings, she
goes on dates with Elvis, their paths having
crossed at a German air base where he is
servinghis conscription time during WW II.
He is lonesome, or so his friends say, for
company from home. She is just what he
sees home as: pure, virginal, pre-stardom,
holding true to his Catholic upbringing, and
his beloved late Momma’s idea of her son.
How can she resist?
It’s as the film goes on that Coppola
seems to lose touch with that ephemeral
quality that drew her two characters to-
gether at the start.
In what would seem incongruous for
these times, Priscilla, now 16, is allowed by
her parents to move to Graceland in
Memphis, into Elvis’s home, on the condi-
tion that she finish her schooling. He prom-
ises a good Catholic school for the same.
And then, like all Princes, or heroes, or
movie/rock stars, he is never home, waging
thelatestbattlehehasdecidedtofight.Once
Priscilla has somehow done the graduation,
she suggests she could join a job. He won’t
have it. “I want you there when I get home,”
Elvis tells her.
Even physically, Jacob Elordi’s Elvis tow-
ers over the diminutive Cailee Spaeny’s
Priscilla. And then, he proceeds to wear her
down, deciding what she should wear,
what colour, how her hair should be, when
she can come to see him wherever he is,
how to keep quiet about his various pecca-
dilloes (not bothering to hide them), and
even now and then telling her to go home to
her parents.
When the wedding proposal finally
comes, it comes out of the blue. When the
baby follows, it just happens. Elvis holds off
sex for a long time in their relationship, out
of some moral idea of “the right time” — but
more likely due to his vague concepts of
virtuosity, especially when it came to him-
A Distant View
LEAVETHEWORLDBEHIND★★★■
Director:Sam Esmail
Cast:JuliaRoberts,EthanHawke,MahershalaAli,Myha’laHerrold,KevinBacon
Streamingon:Netflix
ROHANNAAHAR
THERE’S A sense that everybody involved
with Leave the World Behind, the apocalyp-
ticthrilleronNetflix,wantsapatontheback
for asking the Big Questions.
Not content with merely
making its point, delivering
therequisitethrillsandmov-
ing along, Leave the World
Behind seems to suffer from
a near-constant inferiority
complex. In its desperation
for prestige — director Sam
Esmail gives himself the
rathernarcissistic‘writtenfor
the screen and directed by’
credit — it sacrifices the pulp
at its core.
It’s never really clear if
we’remeanttotakeanything
in it seriously. Julia Roberts
plays Amanda, a misan-
thropicmiddle-agedwoman
whodragsherhusband,Clay
(EthanHawke),andtheirtwo
kids,foraweekendgetawayinthecountry-
side. As it turns out, they picked the perfect
time to rent out a luxury home in the mid-
dleof nowhere,becausehoursafterthey’ve
settled in, the world seemingly ends.
Among many other ominous portents,
Amanda and Clay spot stray deer in the gar-
den.Then, atthesupermarket,shenoticesa
man stocking up on supplies. A passenger
airlinerdropsoutofthesky;hundredsofself-
drivingTeslasrunamokonthehighway.The
internetisdown;theyhavenowayofknow-
ingwhat’sgoingon.It’sallverydisconcerting.
Thatevening,adapper-lookingmanand
Leaving Out a Lot
KEVINHART&CHRISROCK:HEADLINERSONLY★★■
Director:Rashidi NataraHarperStreamingon:Netflix
FORSUCHaminutelymanicuredpieceof‘con-
tent’, Kevin Hart & Chris Rock: Headliners Only
certainlyleavesalotof wrinklesinplainsight.
Whether or not this was by design is another
argument altogether. The Netflix documen-
tary is on the surface a noble effort to recreate
the magic of The Original Kings of Comedy —
Spike Lee’s seminal film that united four ma-
jor Black comedians on the same stage over
two decades ago — but despite a handful of
moving moments, Headliners Only can’t help
butfeellikecovertadvertisingforaspecialthat
Netflix hasn’t even announced yet.
Hart seems to be the orchestrator here. To
provethathedoesn’tfeelthreatenedbythefar
The King and I
self. Elvis and Priscilla spend hours together
in the bedroom,cavort anddo everything —
but.Whentheydo,weseenomorningafter.
We know how this story goes, having
seen it even on cinema just a year ago. We
now know how this story goes entirely
strippedof Elvis’smusic.Granteditismeant
his teenage daughter show up at the door.
Amanda is instantly suspicious. Played by
Mahershala Ali, the man claims to be the
owner of the rental home; he was forced to
return because of the blackout in the city.
As the two families join hands, Esmail
takes his foot off the pedal,
having semi-committed
himselftofleshingthesechar-
acters out a little. For all in-
tents and purposes, these six
characters are meant to rep-
resentallofhumanityfor140
minutes; they’re archetypes.
It’s not like Leave the
World Behind was always
doomed to fail. If anything,
the movie is unusually well-
made. Esmail seems to be
having a ball — in addition to
the three major action set-
pieces,eachof whichisspec-
tacular — he can’t help but
draw attention to his flashy
filmmaking.Why,then,does
the movie never come to-
gether? The style over sub-
stanceapproachaside,it’sprobablybecause
ofEsmail’scuriouscreativedecisiontoerase
any sense of mystery surrounding these
strange events. Once it becomes clear that
youaren’tmeanttoparticipateinthedrama,
youcan’thelpbutshakeyourheadindisap-
pointment. Leave the World Behind comes
from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher
Ground banner. You’d assume that they’d
associate themselves only with ‘important’
storiesaboutthehumancondition,buthere
they are, proudly stamping their names on
a movie in which Julia Roberts yells at a
hordeof wildanimalsforthreefullminutes.
moreaccomplishedRock,hecameupwiththe
idea to do a one-week joint show at three dif-
ferent New York City locations. He even
planned a grand gesture for the end. He’d call
the unsuspecting Rock back up to the stage,
and then present him with a live goat in front
of 20,000 people. Because, he’s the GOAT. Get
it? Even when he’s first narrating the plan (to
Jay-Z),youcan’thelpbutwonder,“Theyknow
that this is a terrible idea, don’t they?” But Jay
Z seemed to be very impressed.
When the plan fails spectacularly — Rock
is clearly embarrassed, and the goat begins
poopingalloverthestage—you’releftwithno
choicebuttoadmiretheleveloflunacyondis-
Cinema & Music
PRISCILLA★★★
Director:SofiaCoppola Cast:CaileeSpaeny,JacobElordi,AriCohen
to be Elvis as seen by the woman who had
the best vantage view to him, but can that
view be entirely devoid of what Priscilla
thought of his music? It’s the music that de-
fined him, and then redefined him, mould-
ing him and eventually distorting him, but
also making him the man he was.
The Good,
Bad & Ugly
ALAKASAHANI
EVEN THOUGH the allure of the entertain-
ment world draws many young ones into its
fold, rarely does anyone looks beyond their
cutenessandnaturalperformancestounder-
stand thetoll it takesonthem.First Act, asix-
episode documentary by Deepa Bhatia, not
only tries to tell their stories of struggle and
successbutalsoexplorestheirvulnerabilities
and difficulties.
The series, at the very onset, pieces to-
gether glimpses of children of different age
groups being auditioned. While young chil-
drenaremostlytongue-tiedorfidgety,older
kidsarticulatebetterwhenaskedabouttheir
ambition. Some children have their acting
coach making them chant that they would
becomeakalaakaroneday.Othershavetheir
parents drilling the same into their head.
The dream of their children becoming
‘superstars’or‘appearingonTV’canbeover-
powering for parents. In such cases, making
thechildrenbagactingassignmentsbecomes
a project for some parents. In the worst case
scenario,itturnsintoanobsession.Whenthat
happens, the unscripted series — serving as
a cautionary tale — repeatedly points at the
possible ‘loss of childhood’.
As First Act tries to give a well-rounded
picture of child artists’ life, it speaks to a host
of actors, their parents and those who work
withthem.Previouslysuccessfulchildartists
Sarika, Jugal Hansraj, Parzaan Dastur, and
DarsheelSafarysharetheirexperiences.Most
poignant insights are offered by Sarika, one
of India’s most successful child actors who
transitionedtobecomeastarasanadult.She
recalls walking barefooton the railway track
inthepeakofsummerinspiteoffallingill.She
alsosharesherdreamofwearingaschooluni-
form that was never fulfilled.
play, and more pertinently, wonder why they
simplydidn’teditthisportionout.Eventhough
Rock was obviously not into it, and Dave
Chappelle — we’ll get to him in a moment —
hadjumpedshipatthefirstopportunity,Hart
continued to pretend like this overly perfor-
mative gesture was actually genuine.
Priscilla ultimately is another addition At one time, when Elvis again extends
to Coppola’s long list of lovely, lonely hero- his stay for a shoot, telling Priscilla to keep
ines — both lonely in their loveliness and “the home fires burning”, she shows a rare
lovely in their loneliness. Spaeny’s tragic spark to counter: “The flames are burning
turn, her breakable quality notwithstand- low.” He doesn’t take it kindly.
ing, she seems almost as much a mouldable It’s the closest this film comes to
doll Coppola as Priscilla was for Elvis. Burning Love.
The question that bothered Safary, after pulsions.ForEktaMethai,workingasajunior
enjoyingapeakofsuccesswithTaareZameen artist meant contributing Rs 500 per day to
Par (2007), is ‘what next?’. Parzan Dastur’s their household income. But finding work
cuteness in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) won continuestobeastruggle.SinceKrutiShastri,
many hearts. Though this was followed by asinglemother,couldn’tearnenoughmoney
somehecticyearsofbalancingschoolandact- cookingatothers’homes,herchildrenNidhi
ing,todayhetalksaboutbeingthick-skinned and Yuvraj faced the camera from the age of
about rejections. After the astounding suc- 3 and 4, respectively.
cessof SlumdogMillionaire(2008), Though in some cases, finding
AzharuddinMIsmailfoundithard FIRSTACT work has proven to be rewarding
to adjust to his modest life. After ★★★★ for these children and their fami-
fighting drug abuse, he is now liesintermsof moneyandfame,it
hopefuloffacingthecameraagain. Director:Deepa has come at a cost.
The experiences of successful Bhatia Several industry veterans are
former child stars provides a per- Streamingon: criticaloftheproblematichandling
spective that many parents and PrimeVideo ofchildrenonthesets,mainlylong
youngsters chasing the dream of waitingperiodsanduseofmanip-
beingfamousneedtoconsider.Theparentsof ulative methods to get the right emotion.
Ronnish Maini shifted to suburban Mumbai AmoleGupte,whoisthecreativeproducerof
from Delhi when he was a little over two First Act, says: “The journey has to be enrich-
years old. Their justification for making this ing as an art form not as a vehicle for fame.”
move: Ronnish wanted to be on television. DirectorShoojitSircarexpresseshisdispleas-
Ronnish, probably, was parroting what had ureovertheimaginationofchildrenbeingre-
been suggested to him. strained. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra
Bhatiafollowsthestoryofseveralchildren warnstheparentsagainstbeingfleeced.First
aspiring for a career in showbiz — trying to Act, hopefully, would make the parents and
understandtheirmotivationsaswellascom- industry people take note of these.
minute of the actual comedy that was per-
formedonthis‘historic’show,whichonlyadds
tothesneakingsuspicionthatNetflixissaving
thethematerialforlater,or—andthisismore
likely—thestreamerdoesn’towntherightsto
a single word of the performance.
Ironically,themainreasonbehindHartand
Rock coming together is the least interesting
thing about this film, which is infinitely more
engagingwhenthetwocomedianslookback
on their lives and the many setbacks that
they’ve experienced. We also get lively com-
mentarybylegendssuchasJerrySeinfeld,Bill
Burr and Wanda Sykes, but Headliners Only
focuses solely on what Hart and Rock have
Hart,we’retold,wantedtomodelthisshow done for other comics.
on the same lines as The Original Kings of Rock recalls when he was singled out by
Comedy, and while Rock readily agreed, Eddie Murphy as a teenager. And Hart insists
Chappelle said no. He eventually showed up that Rock did the same for him many years
justtheonetimetosupporthisfriends.There’s later,eventhoughthefilmestablishesthatthe
confusiononscreen,butthefilmdoesn’tseem comic Keith Robinson was the one who actu-
to clock it. In fact, they don’t even show a allymentoredHartwhenhewasstartingout.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
STREAMING
WATCH BY
LIST ALAKA
SAHANI
THEDELINQUENTS
MUBI
Writer-director Rodrigo Moreno’s
2023 heist film has bank employee
Morán (Daniel Elias) plan a scheme
to liberate himself from corporate
monotony: he’ll steal enough money
to support a modest retirement,
then confess and serve prison time
while his co-worker holds on to the
cash. His accomplice Román heads
to a remote place to hide the funds.
There, he encounters a mysterious
woman who will transform his
life forever.
REACHERS2
PRIMEVIDEO
Reacher Season Two begins when
veteran military police investigator
Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) re-
ceives a coded message that the
members of his former US Army
unit are being mysteriously mur-
dered. Reacher reunites with three
of his former teammates to investi-
gate. The show is created by Nick
Santora, based on the novels by
Lee Child.
1670
NETFLIX
Jan Pawel Adamczewski (Bartlomiej
Topa) is a landowner in the village of
Adamczycha and wants to become
the most famous man in Polish his-
tory. Unfortunately, he is hindered
by his daily life as a landowner, a
conniving neighbour and the declin-
ing noble Republic. His family, full
of zany characters, add to the drama
and intrigue in this mockumentary-
style comedy.
LEILA’SBROTHERS
BOOKMYSHOWSTREAM
This Iranian drama, directed, written
and co-produced by Saeed Roustayi,
revolves around Leila (Taraneh
Alidoosti), who has spent her entire
life caring for her family. To alleviate
their poor financial condition, Leila
makes a plan with her brothers.
The story reveals a section of
Iranians’ struggle to make ends
meet at a time when the country is
caught in the grip of international
economic sanctions.
Oneof themovie’smosteffectivemomentsis
a hard cut to Robinson that director Rashidi
Natara Harper makes towards the end, when
Hart is taking a victory lap of sorts. The movie
itself seems to be suggesting that Robinson,
who was recently left partially paralysed be-
cause of a stroke, should’ve been up there
with Hart.
It’s like the movie is actively withholding
the comedy. A scene in which Rock goes on a
quickriffaboutnevergoingtomeetingsonan
empty stomach is probably the funniest bit in
the film. It brings back memories of the HBO
specialTalkingFunny,orthebackstageportions
of The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. The
onlytimeintheentirefilmthateitherofthem
is on stage — Hart makes a joke about Will
Smith’smeltdownattheOscars,andthecam-
era instantly cuts to Rock — is an instant re-
minderof whatHeadlinersOnlyneededmore
of.Itwaslyingthereinplainsight,likeapunch-
line up for grabs. RN
 16 CALENDAR WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 5236 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL

ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)

ACROSS
1 Belief in proof of guilt (10)
8 Drink almost everything?
No, the whole lot (5)
9 He escaped to become
famous (7)
10 There’s no accounting for his
performance (7)
11 US state without an interior
becomes a country (5)
12 Play, but cheat (6)
14 The Parisian sees off the
tenant (6)
17 Record list of many
deer (5)
19 Be a toff disguised being
eccentric (7)
21 Notice a wild
flower (7)
22 Soldiers from Tunis (5)
23 Let one down
lightly (5,1,4)
Solutions Crossword5235Across: 1Decode,4Sampan,9Divisor,10Synod,11Curse,
12Napkins,13Abstractart,18Minaret,20Trace,22Trail,23Onlyone,24Cheers,25
EyelidDown:1Deduce,2Cover,3Dessert,5Aesop,6Pannier,7Nudist,8Transaction,14
Bandage,15Totally,16Emetic,17Behead,19Ruler,21Atoll
JUMBLED WORDS
You may have
been having a
bumpy ride in a
relationship
recently, but there’s no doubt
that you are quite capable of
giving as good as you get.
Leave intensely personal
affairs on one side and get
on with the business of
day-to-day survival.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
Today’s lunar
patterns combine a
need for relaxation
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson with a desire to stay
active. The best way to enjoy
yourself should therefore be to
pursue a number of your
favourite interests or hobbies.
After all, a little bit of what you
fancy does you good.
DOWN GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
This is traditionally
2 It’s not allowed to charge
a day for fiddling
public (7)
around at home,
3 Sinuous slave dance (5) completing chores
4 To be consistent he must of no great consequence. I
be in the middle (6) have to report that, unexciting
5 Until that is put in order this is as the prospect may be, this is
useless (7) indeed due to be a day to
perform necessary, if
6 Diana madly in the swim (5) unglamorous, duties. You’ll
7 Refers to great improvement in have fun later.
tobacco products (10)
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
8 Does it make things sticky for
motorists? (7,3) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong Certain facts of life
are inevitable for all
13 Unusually tactile those born under
network (7) the sign of the Crab.
15 Though particular the place is For example, you often
in a mess (7) experience emotional conflicts
and insecurities which you
16 Company gets some grain for find it difficult to talk about.
money in Russia (6) Now is the time to start
18 Mob breaks up after sailor bringing such deep feelings
produces weapon (1-4) into the open.
20 Blunder on stage (5)
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
You have a tendency
at the moment to
bury your head in
the sand and ignore
certain warning signals. Try
to follow your intuitions and
listen to your dreams. The
messages will be very subtle
but, if you pay careful
DifficultyLevel2s attention, you’ll get an
SOLUTION SUDOKU 5412
A number of planets
are lined up in
generally positive
formations, and
Venus, that most graceful and
charming celestial body, is
now coming to your aid,
making your day-to-day
affairs that much more
pleasant. However, if it comes
to extending goodwill, you
have to make the first move.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
It is indeed a fine
moment to indulge
in practical chores
especially if you’re
teaming up with other people.
DIY activities are favoured, as
are casual and low-key social
gatherings. But, also, it seems
to me, are relationships in
which you are actively helping
partners achieve their ideals.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
Do not let a minor
matter depress you.
Rather than
dwelling on secret
problems you should set about
tackling them with all the
practical skill and experience at
your disposal. Seek expert
assistance where necessary, for
I do not think you can do
everything by yourself.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
Opportunities for
progress and
growth are often
disguised as
challenges which at first seem
to be nothing more than
difficulties or problems.
However, such tricky
situations should be seen as
the grit which produces the
pearl in the oyster.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
Devote a little time
and energy to
spending and
investments,
no matter how small or
apparently unimportant.
Social engagements will be
most enjoyable if they’re of a

Instructions entirely different slant slightly traditional, restrained

Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, on what’s happening. nature. This means that
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 adventurous activities could
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)
SUDOKU 5413

theanswerforthegivenquip. be off the agenda.

mustappearineachofthe It’s heavy going,
Onlyingrowth,reform,andchange,paradoxicallyenough,is_______tobefound.-Anne nineverticalcolumns,in I know. But PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
MorrowLindbergh(4,8)
eachoftheninehorizontal according to the Social gatherings
IYEER LMUTTU rowsandineachofthe stars you are in should veer towards
nineboxes. control at home. You can the large and
translate your celestial impersonal rather
potential into reality by than the small and intimate.
KMIRS ACRCUY making sure that family Important money decisions
DifficultyLevel members and anyone else ought to have been taken by
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; you live with do what they’re now. Take an unfussy and
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; told. Financial pressures are down-to-earth approach in all
be found. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh 5s=VeryHard; high, but family and property personal discussions. Your
Answer: Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to 6s=Genius deals can wait. clarity means happy partners.
SOLUTION: EYRIE, SMIRK, TUMULT, CURACY

SALUTE THE SOLDIER Army Institute of Technology

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPUR
No. NIT/2023-24/23384-93
A»´fIYf»fe³f BÊ-d³fdUQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 594/2023-24
Date: 14.12.2023

Constable Dighi Hills, Pune - 411 015 d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fûÊ IZ d»fE IZ ³Qi/Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS IZ Ad·f¹ffÔdÂfI e dU·ff¦fûÔ EUÔ C³fIZ Ad²fIÈ °f ÀfÔ¦fN³fûÔ ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f EUÔ A³fb·fUe ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ
BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS ¸fZ³M ´fidIi ¹ff WZ°fb Afg³f»ffB³f d³fdUQf¹fZÔ Af¸fÔdÂf°f I e þf°fe W`:
Sindhe Bhashkar Dashrath A³fb¸ffd³f°f
ITBP salutes its braveheart Constable Sindhe Tender Enquiry SITC of HVAC work at Hospital Building Medical College, Pali.
IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f »ff¦f°f (÷Y.)
490.00
Army Institute of Technology is interested in ‘Construction of UBN: RRC2324WSOB01207 Lakh
Bhaskar Dashrath of 24th Battalion, who
RCC Slab for Classrooms and Tutorial Rooms’. SITC of HVAC work at Hospital Building Medical College, Sirohi. 340.00
made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty UBN: RRC2324WSOB01208 Lakh
Tender Fee : Rs. 1,000/-, EMD : Rs. 40,000/- d³fdUQf ÀfZ Àf¸¶fd³²f°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ d³fdUQf Vfb»I , ²fSûWS SfdVf, OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ U Jû»f³fZ I e °ffSeJ ÀfdW°f Àf¸´fc¯fÊ dUUS¯f EUÔ ÀfÔVfû²f³f UZ¶fÀffBÊM
on this day in Jammu & Kashmir in 1991. http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in °f±ff http://roads.rajasthan.gov.in/rsrdc ´fS QZJf þf ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI
Resident of: Village-Sonari, Distt- Nasik, Maharashtra Last date of submission : 07 Jan 2024 ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdþM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdþÀMOÊ I SUf³ff AfUV¹fI W`Ü ¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY
Refer www.aitpune.com for details
Constable email : project@aitpune.edu.in.
Suresh Kumar Tele : 7249250184 / 185
ITBP salutes its braveheart Constable Suresh
Kumar of 19th Battalion, who made the
supreme sacrifice in the line of duty on this
day in Jammu & Kashmir in 1994.
Resident of : Village -Gandar, Distt-Kangra,
Himachal Pradesh

Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited

CIN: U40102GJ2003SGC042906
Regd. & Corporate Office, Visnagar Road,
Mehsana, Gujarat-384001
Toll free No.19121 OR 1800233155335 www.ugvcl.com
E-TENDER NOTICE
Tenders are invited for Partial Turnkey Based Contract of
CONVERSION OF EXISTING 11 KV HT LINE NETWORK IN
TO UNDER GROUND CABLE NETWORK WITH RING MAIN
SYSTEM items/material required to complete works FOR
VARIOUS LOCATION UNDER UGVCL with GIS Mapping /
Geo-Urja Mapping (Developed by GUVNL) and Asset Tagging:
1. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/45
2. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/46
3. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/47
4. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/48
5. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/49
6. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/50
7. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/51
8. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/52
9. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/53
10. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/54
11. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/55
12. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/56
13. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/57
14. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/58
15. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/59
16. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/60
17. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/61
18. UGVCL/TECH-PROJECT/ROBUST UG/FT/62
Details of tenders can be viewed & downloaded on
www.ugvcl.com & can be viewed, downloaded & submitted
on-line on https://tender.nprocure.com.
C.E. (OP), UGVCL, R&C OFFICE, MEHSANA

17 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
BRIEFLY
Greattostartsome
gymwork:Stokes
London: England all-rounder Ben
Stokessaid that his rehabilitation af-
ter a knee surgery last month has
been going on well and he's hoping
to make further progress in the next
two weeks. The 32-year-old was un-
able to bowl in the final three Ashes
Tests against Australia this year and
only featured as a batter at the recent
World Cup in India. On Friday, Stokes
took to Instagram to share a video of
his workout in the gym following the
surgery, which mainly involved small
squats. "2 week post knee op. First 2
weeks was just relentless icing to get
the swelling down and very small
amounts of exercises to keep my knee
moving," he wrote. "Great to be able
to start some work in the gym, hop-
ing for good progression over the next
2 weeks. Rehab been going really
well," said the Test captain. PTI
Ankaragucuprez
bannedforgood
Istanbul: The Turkish Football
Federation (TFF) said on Thursday its
disciplinaryboardhadimposedaper-
manent ban on Ankaragucu club
president Faruk Koca for punching a
referee after a game in the country's
top soccer league. The TFF board also
ruled that Ankaragucu, a club in the
top-tier Super Lig, should pay a two-
million-lira ($69,000) fine and would
play five home games without fans as
a result of the unrest involving fans
and club officials. Various other
Ankaragucu officials received bans,
cautions and fines in relation to
Monday's incident. At the end of their
home match against Rizespor, Koca
wentonto thepitchand punchedref-
ereeHalilUmutMelerinthefaceafter
Rizespor scored a 97th-minute
equaliser in the 1-1 draw. PTI
ArcherSheetalin
goldmedalround
New Delhi:Armless archer Sheetal
Devi was the cynosure of all eyes dur-
ing Friday's proceedings at the inau-
gural Khelo India Para Games here as
sheadvancedtothegoldmedalround
of the women's compound competi-
tion. The 16-year-old Asian Para
Games champion scored 696 points
tomakeittothefinalroundtobe held
on Saturday at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium. Sheetal, representing
Jammu and Kashmir, has been mak-
ing waves in recent months with two
medals in her maiden appearance at
the Asian Para Games. PTI
Men’shockeyteam
losestoSpain
Valencia: The Indian men's hockey
team began its 5-Nation Tournament
on a disappointing note, losing 0-1 to
lower ranked Spain. Alvaro Iglesias
scored the only goal of the match in
the 29th minute. The Indian team,
which has qualified for the 2024 Paris
Olympics after winning gold at the
Hangzhou Asian Games, is ranked
third in the world while Spain is
eighth. Before Friday, India and Spain
had played against each other twice
this year. India beat Spain in a World
CupgroupmatchinJanuarywhilethe
European side was victorious in a
tournament at home in July. PTI
How Sudharsan prepared for bouncy wickets Jamal takes six on debut
VENKATA KRISHNA B
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 15
JUST A few hours after landing in
Johannesburg the previous Friday, Sai
Sudharsan got down to what he loves the
most after batting – running. It has become
an uncompromising aspect of his fitness
drills, inspired by Virat Kohli andput in place
by his mother Usha Bharadwaj.
For the past 12 months, even his career
symbolises his favourite drill, where he is
crossing each and every small milestone,
withtheultimatedreamof wearingtheIndia
cap closer than ever. With Ruturaj Gaikwad
being theloneotheropenerinthe side,there
is a strong chance the left-hander gets to
wear the India cap when they face South
Africa in the first ODI at the Wanderers on
Sunday.
Having received the surprise call-up dur-
ing the Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign,
Sudharsan wasted no time in preparing for
conditions in South Africa. For a country
which has traditionally been the most chal-
lenging for Indian batsmen thanks to the
bounce on offer, Sudharsan has been spend-
ing the last few weeks, using tennis balls to
get used to it.
“During the IPL, I was introduced to the
tennis racquet training, which has now be-
come my favourite drill at the nets,”
Sudharsan told the Indian Express.
“Whenever I get an opportunity, I don’t miss
it because it helps me in improving my reac-
tion time. When you practice it for weeks, it
helps a big deal in playing the bounce, be-
Deepti’s fifer has England at sixes & sevens
Off-spinner takes 5 for 7 as visitors collapse from 108 for 3 to 136 all out; India Women lead by 478 runs at stumps on Day Two
VINAYAKK MOHANARANGAN
DECEMBER 15
WHEN DEEPTI Sharma came on to bowl in
England's first innings – perhaps later than
most expected – the scoreboard read 108/3
after 25 overs. When she was done bowling,
England were bowled out for 136 in 35.3
overs, conceding a 292-run lead to India as
wickets tumbled on Day 2 at the DY Patil
Stadium on Friday.
Itwasastunning50-minutecollapsetrig-
gered by Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana,
bowling in tandem to spin a web around
England's batting lineup. Deepti finished
withsensational bowlingfiguresof 5/7in5.3
overs as a total of 19 wickets fell in Navi
Mumbai on the second day. India, choosing
tonotenforcethefollow-on,finishedtheday
at 186/6 with a mammoth lead of 478 runs.
50 minutes of mayhem
England began the day rather well, tak-
ingthelastthreewicketsquicklyenoughand
making sure that India's first innings was
wrapped up on 428, with just an addition of
18 runs to their overnight tally. When their
batting innings began, they lost Sophia
Dunkley early to Renuka Singh Thakur once
again as the Indian pacer got the English
opener for the fourth time in four outings on
this tour.
Pooja Vastrakar then got a prize wicket in
captain Heather Knight before the brilliant
NatSciver-Bruntonceagainrescuedherside.
There was a gift from the visitors in the form
of Tammy Beaumont's run out that ended
what would be the only significant partner-
ship of their batting effort.
DeeptiwasthefifthbowlerHarmanpreet
Kaur turned to, with the ace offspinner not
beingbroughtonuntilafterlunchforherfirst
over. But when she did get her hands on the
red-ball with the sun beaming down on the
pitch, she made it talk and how.
In her first over, she flighted one outside
the off stump that landed on a good length
and turned, bounced just enough to see
Danni Wyatt feed a catch to short leg. From
there on, the floodgates opened. About 20
minutes later, a bizarre sequence of events
wouldprovetobe theundoingof AmyJones.
The wicketkeeper-bat played a strong push
tothe legside, middling theballwell enough
but it hit Smriti Mandhana at short leg flush
on the helmet. The ball then looped up to
Shafali Verma at leg slip as India celebrated,
even while Mandhana was on the turf first
andthenheadedoff togetherheadlookedat,
all the while having a wry smile on her face.
Two minutes and two deliveries later,
Sophie Ecclestone's stay ended as Deepti got
onetoturnfromoutsideoff again,buttokeep
a bit low this time as the tall England star
failed to get her bat down in time.
Sneh Rana special
Atthisstage,itlookedlikeEnglandwould
needamiracleknockfromSciver-Bruntwho
once againlooked in supreme touch. The all-
rounder extraordinaire has a knack for mak-
ing run-scoring look easy, and while no
England batter looked comfortable, she was
reeling off the boundaries and even looked
solidindefence.Theonlyhalf chanceshehad
given during her knock of 59 had come
against Renuka when an outside edge fell
shortof thefirstslip.Itlookedlikeonly aspe-
cial delivery could end her stay, and it came
from Sneh Rana shortly after Ecclestone's
wicket.
Rana was in the middle of what was an
erraticspell,strugglingtocontrolherlineand
lengths. But in the 31st over she got the ball
to rip back in from a good length so sharply
that Sciver-Brunt couldn't get her feet sorted
and was cut in half as the ball crashed into
Sai Sudharsan is expected to make his
India debut in the first ODI in
Johannesburg on Sunday. File
cause you are playing it from 16-18 yards.
One thing I’ve noticed is, it has improved my
reactiontimealotbecausewhenyougofrom
domestic to international, you face quicker
bowlers. And when you are starting off with
tennis ball, it helps in getting the fear out of
the way as well because you won’t get hurt.
And then when you face the cricket ball, the
instincts take over,” he says.
Aheadof theODIseries,thathegottoplay
the first unofficial Test against South Africa
A, helped him a bit to get acclimatised to the
Deepti Sharma celebrates the dismissal of England’s Lauren Filer on Day 2 of the only Test at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday. AP
the off stump. It was a bolt out of the blue
that effectively sealed England's fate in the
first innings. Rana would get another wicket
in her next over with a similar delivery, this
timeCharlieDeanshoulderingarmsandget-
ting out LBW.
Deepti, who scored an impressive 66 in
the first innings to keep her run of scoring a
half-centuryineveryTestshehasplayed,then
got a chance to show off her third dimension
too.Oneof thebestonthefieldinthiscurrent
Indian squad, she got down low to take a
swerving return catch offered by Kate Cross.
The final blow would come an over later as
DeeptigotonetostraightenpastLaurenFiler's
outside edge and onto the stumps.
India could have asked England to bat
onceagainbutchosetohaveagointheirsec-
ond innings. The intent was to score quick
runs and the likes of Mandhana, Shafali,
Jemimah and Deepti played their cameos
even as England's spinners got their turn to
pick up a few wickets as well. Harmanpreet
Kaur, like her Mumbai Indians teammate
earlier, looked a class apart however, and
made sure India's second innings would ex-
tend for a while into Day 3.
In the end, the second day firmly be-
longed to the Indian offspinners as – from
12.58 pm to 1:47 pm – they threw England
off the track in the match with a brilliant dis-
play of guile and control. At the heart of it all
was Deepti Sharma, an allrounder who
showed why the longer the format the more
impactful she is.
BRIEF SCORES: India: 428 & 186/6
(Harmanpreet Kaur batting 44;Charlie Dean
4/68) vs England: 136 (Nat Sciver-Brunt 59;
DDeepti Sharma 5/7).
With India not short on options
when it comes to the opening
slot, Sudharsan knows,
opportunities like this won’t
come often.
conditions. In his break-through IPL season
this year for Gujarat Titans, where he scored
an eye-catching 96 in the final against
Chennai Super Kings, Sudharsan spent lot of
timeimprovinghisbatting,especiallysquare
of off-side,whichhebelieveswouldhelphim
in South Africa. “When you are playing re-
allyquickfastbowlers,itisimportanttolearn
howtousepace.Youdon’tneedtousepower
all the time. I see it as evolving because, as a
batsman you need to be multi-faceted in
terms of how you play in different condi-
tions,” Sudharsan says.
With India not short on options when it
comestotheopeningslot,Sudharsanknows,
opportunities like this won’t come often.
While the IPL came after his first full domes-
tic season, Sudharsan has also been climb-
ing the ladder rapidly.
A Duleep Trophy call-upwas followed by
a white-ball leg tour to Sri Lanka with India
A. And then came a two-match stint with
Surrey in the County circuit before he re-
turned home for the Duleep Trophy. And
now the call-up to the India team is another
box ticked for the southpaw, who has man-
aged to put behind the disappointment of
missingtheUnder-19WorldCupcutin2020.
“There are lot of openers going around
‘Wanted to maximise help spinners got’
ANIL DIAS
NAVI MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
INDIA ALL-ROUNDER Deepti Sharma is a
meticulous planner. She loves to strategise
and then try to execute her plan. It’s no won-
der then that she loves playing Test cricket.
On Day 2 of India’s one-off Test against
England at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi
Mumbai on Friday, she showed just how ef-
fectiveherplanningcanbe,claimingherfirst
Testfive-forwhileonlyconcedingsevenruns.
On a day when very early on it was clear
that the pitch would assist spinners, Deepti
wasn’thandedtheballstraightaway.Skipper
Harmanpreet Kaur chose to make Deepti
wait and it was only a couple of overs before
drinks — India’s 26th over to be precise —
that she gave the 26-year-old the ball.
Deepti had no qualms about being made
to wait. For someone used to the demands
of thefast-pacednatureof white-ballcricket,
she likes to savour the scattered Test oppor-
tunities that women cricketers get.
Being made to wait also allowed her to
plan “When I was fielding at slips, I was just
watching what the bowlers were doing and
wondering what I could add on to get wick-
ets.Iwaswaitingtocomeintotheattack.The
wicket was helping the spinners and we
thought about maximising it. We wanted to
bowl in the right areas,” Deepti said after the
day’s play.
The spell was nothing short of stunning.
andthereislotof competitionanditnoteasy
to get an opportunity. Thanks to our domes-
tic and India A set-up, it has given me lot of
exposure when it comes to playing in differ-
ent pitches and conditions. Even in this Vijay
HazareTrophy,weplayedonunusualpitches,
whichtestedyouasanopener.Itwasidealin
terms of adapting. It is important you keep
your eyes open and learn. I don't try to copy
others. But what I do is, watch them and un-
derstand what is making it work for
them....liketakingonthebowlersinchalleng-
ingconditionsandhowtodominatethemto
get out of a tight situation,” Sudharsan adds.
Surrey stint
Reading the conditions and situation is
something that former England batsman
AlecStewart harped on,during his stintwith
Surrey, where he is the director of cricket.
While it is unusual for County teams to hand
a professional contract to those without an
international cap, Sudharsan was an excep-
tion with former England batsman Vikram
Solanki, who is with Gujarat Titans, helping
him strike a deal.
"At Surrey, they gave me a lot of freedom.
Usually as a professional there is lot of pres-
sure on you to score runs. But Stewart was
veryaccommodativeandunderstoodwhere
I stand in my career. He just told me to look
atitasanopportunitytounderstandthecon-
ditions. He spent a lot of time in teaching me
how to read the pitches, which was an eye-
opener for me. As an opener, it makes a dif-
ferencebecauseyouaretheonewhosetsthe
tone and when you read it well, it helps the
team as well,” Sudharsan says.
OKUHARA IN SEMIS
Former world No.1 Nozomi Okuhara cantered into
the women's singles semifinals, while ace doubles
shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto
fought their way into the doubles last four stage of
the Odisha Masters Open in Cuttack on Friday. PTI
Nat Sciver-Brunt top-scored for
England with 59. AP
She needed less than 6 overs to get the
England innings undone. She wiped out the
middle-lower order as England, from a com-
fortable 108/3, crumbled to lose the next
seven wickets for 28 runs, being bowled out
for 136. The fact that Deepti raced to a five-
wicket-haul in just 33 balls is a remarkable
feat. In fact, completing a five-wicket haul in
just5.3oversmarkstheshortestsuchspellin
women's Test cricket history.
In terms of records, Deepti, who scored a
patient 113-ball 67 in India's first-innings to-
tal of 428, became only the second Indian to
but Australia lead by 355
REUTERS
PERTH, DECEMBER 15
PAKISTAN PACE bowler Aamer Jamal is hav-
ing a Test debut to remember, rattling
through Australia's accomplished batting
lineup on Friday to secure a six-wicket haul
in the series opener in Perth.
Australia racked up an imposing first in-
ningstotalof 487courtesyof DavidWarner's
belligerent 164, leading by 355 after the vis-
itors reached 132-2 from 53 overs at stumps
on day two, but Pakistan's attack toiled
bravely and showed genuine promise.
With first-choice quick Naseem Shah
nursing a shoulder injury, Shaheen Afridi is
leadinganinexperiencedfastbowlinguniton
a Perth Stadium deck known for pace and
bounce. "Ithink(I'm)quitesatisfied(with)the
way the bowlers were able to fight back. It's
always difficult for the youngsters," Pakistan
bowling coach Umar Gul said. "The way they
brought us back from the first session on the
first day, I think so far we are very satisfied."
A 126-run opening partnership between
WarnerandUsmanKhawaja(41)threatened
to put the game out of reach early, but Afridi
broke through to send Khawaja on his way.
Returning to the attack in the 73rd over,
wicketless and conceding above five an over,
Jamal exploited the conditions by shortening
hislengthandluringinbothWarnerandTravis
Head (40) who were soon caught behind
square. "Igatheredmyconfidencebackwhen
I came back in my third spell, I backed myself
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
NUMBER PLATE
5.3
Number of overs it took Deepti
Sharma to complete her fifer — the
least in women’s Test cricket.
Deepti’s bowling figures were
5.3-4-7-5.
score a fifty and claim a fifer in the same
match in women’s Tests. “Personally, I love
Test cricket. I just wanted to contribute, be it
with the bat or the ball. I love to play Tests
because you can take your time. More im-
portantly, you have a lot of time to stage a
comeback if you lose your way slightly.”
Not to say that India lost their way when
England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Tammy
Beaumont were looking steady in the mid-
dle, but they will be thankful that they man-
aged to stage a comeback. “We handled the
pressure well initially when Nat and Tammy
got a good partnership. We held our nerves
well (in that phase) and just wanted to take
it over by over,” Deepti said.
Deepti claimed her first wicket with just
her second ball, getting rid of the dangerous
Danny Wyatt (19), who began with a string
of fours. Wyatt was caught at short leg for a
bat-pad dismissal, and it was the wicket that
sparked a shocking England collapse.
On Day Two, Jamal’s pace
seemingly rose with his
newfound confidence as his
speeds approached 140 kph.
andthat'showwegotthemout,"the27-year-
oldtoldreportersondayone."(We)plannedto
bowlthempropershortballstocutthemoff."
On day two, Jamal's pace seemingly rose
withhisnewfoundconfidenceashisdelivery
speeds approached 140 kph. As Mitchell
Marsh continued merrily to 90, Jamal up-
rooted the stumps of Alex Carey (34) and
Mitchell Starc (12) with fuller deliveries
which nipped off the seam. When the right-
armer had Australia skipper Pat Cummins
caught at slip to record his maiden test 'five-
for', he kissed the turf and accepted the em-
brace of his team mates.
A carbon copy dismissal of Nathan Lyon
to close the innings gave Jamal figures of 6-
111,thesixth-bestreturnforaPakistanbowler
on Test debut. "We were expecting from
Aamer Jamal that he can bowl for us a long
spell and good pace," Gul said. "I think he did
his job and we are quite happy with him."
Pakistan enter day three with Imam-ul-
Haq on 38 and nightwatchman Khurram
Shahzad on seven.
BRIEFSCORES:Australia487(DavidWarner
164, Mitchell Marsh 90; Aamer Jamal 6/111)
vsPakistan132/2(Imam-ul-Haq38batting;
Mitchell Starc 1/24)
 18 SPORT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

Hardik steps into big shoes MI had informed Sharma

Taking away MI captaincy can unburden Rohit the batsman, while bringing back Hardik a calculated move
SANDIP G
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
EIGHT YEARS ago, Hardik Pandya walked
into an illustrious Mumbai Indians dressing
room with his heartbeat racing and mind
freezing.Hereturnstothesameplace,where
there are still illustrious names, but as the
team’s all-powerful captain. Between the
summer of 2015 and the winter of 2023,
Pandya emerged as one of the most skilled
all-rounders in the world, bestowed with a
personality that burnishes his gifts. An oc-
casionally controversial figure but always an
colourful personality, he returns not as the
prodigal son but as a proven one, after two
successful years with Gujarat Titans.
There would nothavebeenamorefitting
candidate to succeed Rohit Sharma, in terms
of stature, aura and the inside knowledge of
how the club functions. Hardik need not get
familiarized with the dressing room, or the
dressing room with him. He was that im-
movable piece of furniture you had lend to
the neighbour for a wedding. Or Hardik re-
turning from a lengthy injury layoff rather
than spending time polishing his leadership
craft with another franchise.
EventheTitansgroupheforgedintheim-
age of Mumbai Indians, stoked in the Rohit
brand of captaincy. In his persistence with
youth,inhisfaithintheplayershehaspicked,
inhishands-onapproach,therewereshades
of Rohit, like virtuosos from the same gha-
rana. Not that Hardik is a Rohit-clone, but
there are lines that overlap. They are anti-
thetical too—Pandya is a firebrand; Rohit the
cool-head. But you see the influences, and
Rohit’s presence could be the ice to Hardik’s
fire.
The shift, presumably, would be friction-
less. Neither he nor Rohit would feel vibes of
discomfort. The burden of Rohit’s success,
thejoint-mostIPL-titlewinningcaptainwith
MS Dhoni, would not crush Hardik.
Responsibilities seldom daunt him, rather
they harnessthebestoutof him.Fatherhood
and captaincy (along with the backlash from
Coffee With Karan faux pas) had gone a long
way in making him more mature and wise.
Similarly, Rohit is too professional and ac-
commodating a cricketer to nurse hurt, to
scheme a rebellion in anger or to be torn by
petty ego. Or let those emotions manifest
outwardly. It’s the game’s truism—that no
one is a captain forever. The IPL team he in-
MI to have new skipper this IPL season. PTI
herited had luminaries such as Harbhajan
Singh, Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard.
For an outsider, the change of captaincy
might embody the cut-throatism of fran-
chisecricket ataclubthatharbourscoldsen-
timents in its pursuit for success, a club that
splashes millions as readily as they axe the
underperforming millionaires Not winning
the trophy in three years might have catal-
ysed this step, but it could have been driven
by sheer long-term planning and the need
to reboot. At times, in the last few seasons,
they have seemed like a team in need of a
fresh coat of paint. Or it could be that there
would not have been a better window to ac-
quire his signature. He could turn out to be
what MS Dhoni and Rohit were to their fran-
chisees — an Indian captain.
When CSK picked Dhoni, he was India’s
captain in just the blossoming T20 format.
Soon he would take over other formats and
become one of India’s greatest leaders. Rohit
became the captain on the weight and merit
of IPL success. There is no guarantee that
Hardik would join the pantheon or for that
matter he could be as successful as Rohit or
Dhoni, but he is worth investing in, and
seems a calculated step forward rather than
a blind gamble.
Win-win
The move could be a win-win for both
Rohit and Hardik. Rohit is 36, closer to the
end of his career. He is the country's all-for-
mat captain, the rigours would take its toll.
The year-long grind would take its toll, men-
NUMBER PLATE
87
Number of IPL games Rohit
Sharma as won as Mumbai Indians
captain. He has been incharge of
MI in 158 matches and won five
titles.
talandphysical,onhim.TakingawayIPLcap-
taincy could unburden him and perhaps un-
lock the destructiveness of his batting. Last
two editions, he has hoarded only 600 runs
in 30 innings, at an average of 20 that is be-
neath his overall standard of 29, and a strike
rate of 125 (career strike rate is 130).
Hardik is just 30, an age when maturity
andpeakformarecontentbedfellows,when
he is both young and experienced. He is
damningly injury-prone. However, he has
not missed significant chunks of the league
due to injuries (unlike the international
games).
The team is a curious blend of T20 leg-
ends and youngsters cutting their teeth in,
one that has the 36-year-old Kieron Pollard
with 637 games on his profile page and a 22-
year-old Nehal Wadhera with an experience
of 14 games. Most of Rohit’s lieutenants in
the five titles are treading the sunset of their
career. To relate to a younger generation, the
likes of Tilak Varma, Dewald Brevis and
Hrithik Shooken, a younger captain could be
more beneficial.
But the relevance of Rohit would not di-
minish. He would be the first person Hardik
would consult for planning and strategies,
thefirstfacehewouldsearchonthefield.His
words would command both value and re-
spect. Hardik would do well to tap from his
wisdom and knowledge..
It’s an unavoidable circle of change in
sport. A few years ago, Dhoni was leading
KohliandRohit.KohliwouldthenleadDhoni
and Rohit. Now. Rohit is captaining Kohli—
and both almost led India to its greatest ever
World Cup triumph. A lot of Dhonisms and
Kohlisms still remain in the team, just as the
ideals of Rohit would shine brightly in
Hardik’s team too. That would be Hardik’s
biggestchallengetoo—topreservethelegacy
of Rohit and make his own legacy too.
about change in captaincy
before the World Cup
DEVENDRA PANDEY
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
ROHIT SHARMA was informed by Mumbai
Indians at the start of the World Cup about
HardikPandyareturningtotheMIfoldforthe
upcoming season, this time as captain.
According to sources, Pandya had agreed to
move from Gujarat to Mumbai on one condi-
tion that he be made the franchise captain.
The Indian Express understands that Rohit
was made to understand the franchise
roadmap going ahead around the start of the
WorldCup.Hewasinformedabouttheimme-
diateneedforachangeincaptaincyinaseries
of meetings and agreed with the plan to play
under Pandya for the forthcoming season.
Pandya was recently brought back by MI
from Gujarat Titans in a trade. The Indian
Express learnt that Pandya had made it clear
to the MI owners that if the franchise wants
himbackintheside,hewillleadtheteam.The
franchise management after consultations
agreed to Pandya’s wish and later informed
SharmaaboutitduringtheWorldCup.Sharma
hadbythenleftittothefranchisetodecidethe
team’s future.
In a press release on Friday, the franchise’s
global head of performance Mahela
Jayawardene stated, "It is part of legacy build-
ing and staying true to the MI philosophy of
being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have al-
ways been blessed with exceptional leader-
shiprightfromSachintoHarbhajanandRicky
toRohit,whowhilecontributingtotheimme-
diate success have always had an eye on
strengthening the team for the future. It is in
keeping with this philosophy that Hardik
Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai
Indians for the IPL 2024 season."
The release furthermore stated, "We ex-
pressourgratitudetoRohitSharmaforhisex-
ceptionalleadership;histenureasthecaptain
of the Mumbai Indians since 2013 has been
nothingshortofextraordinary.Hisleadership
has not only brought unparalleled success to
theteambuthasalsosolidifiedhisplaceasone
of the finest captains in the history of the IPL."
Back in 2013, after MI had got off to a poor
startunderthecaptaincyofRickyPonting,the
franchise would turn to Rohit Sharma to lead
them. It was a call that resulted in their first-
ever league title. Since then, Rohit has led the
team to four more titles – the joint-most for
“It is part of legacy building and staying
true to the MI philosophy of being
future-ready. Mumbai Indians have
always been blessed with exceptional
leadership right from Sachin to
Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who
while contributing to the immediate
success have always had an eye on
strengthening the team for the future.
It is in keeping with this philosophy
that Hardik Pandya will assume
captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the
IPL 2024 season.”
MAHELA JAYAWARDENE,
MUMBAI INDIANS GLOBAL HEAD PERFORMANCE
any captain alongside MS Dhoni.
Pandya,whohadleftMIforGujaratacou-
pleof seasonsback, led thenewfranchise toa
title in their first-ever IPL season. Defending
thetitlethisyear,PandyaandComadeittothe
final again but lost against the Chennai Super
Kings.
"The feeling of coming back to Mumbai is
veryspecialforalotofreasons.Howmycrick-
eting journey started in 2015 with MI, them
noticingmein2013,"Pandyahadsaidonhisre-
turntohisfirstIPLfranchise."WhenIlookback,
thewholespanof10yearshasbeensomething
very special. It has not sunk in yet that I’m fi-
nallybackwheremywholecricketingjourney
started.Ihaveachievedallthepossiblethings."
Hardik’stradebacktoMumbaiwasoneof
the highlights of the player trading window
ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 auction. To
accommodatetheIndianall-rounder,thefran-
chisehadtradedAustralia’sCameronGreento
Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Earlier, the Titans’ statement revealed the
reasonbehindthemlettinggooftheircaptain.
“As the first captain of Gujarat Titans,
Hardik Pandya has helped the franchise de-
livertwofantasticseasonsthatresultedinwin-
ning one IPL championship and one appear-
anceinthefinal.Hehasnowexpressedadesire
toreturntohisoriginalteamMumbaiIndians.
We respect his decision and wish him all the
very best in his future endeavours,” said
Vikram Solanki, Director of Cricket.

‘Olympiad success convinced B’desh beats

GMs to travel to Chennai’ India, enter final
ELO points are on offer for Candidates hopefuls
VENKATA KRISHNA B
CHENNAI, DECEMBER 15
WHEN ORGANISERS of chess' Chennai Grand
Masterswentintoahuddleacoupleofmonths
back, still long way from putting the tourna-
ment in place, they faced an all-important
question. With the chess calendar already
packedandmostofthetopplayershavingtheir
eyes set on the World Rapid and Blitz tourna-
ment and many staying in the comfort of
Europe,theywereunsureifanyofthetopplay-
erswillevenremotelyshowinterestinfeatur-
ing in a tournament.
With the London Chess Classic and World
RapidandBlitzeventsandwichedbetweenthe
markedwindow,pullingtopplayersforanin-
vitational event was the biggest challenge.
Though this was India’s highest ranked
competition(2711),itwasastandaloneevent,
a first of its kind in the country. There was no
historyortraditionassociatedwithitlikeTata
Steel Chess event in Kolkata or any other Fide
tournaments on the circuit. As GM Srinath
Narayanan, part of the organising committee
fortheChennaiGrandMasters,reachedoutto
thelot,hesaysthereceptionwasoverwhelm-
ing. “I think the success of the Olympiad (last
year)helpedinpeoplehavingafavourableper-
ception towards travelling to India and com-
mitting to the tournament. So, as such when
we contacted the players for the tournament,
we mostly received favourable response for
comingoverhereandplaying.AndthenIndia
has been one of the superpowers in chess in
the last few years. So we have the infrastruc-
ture and a developing eco-system which is
pulling the players. I would say everyone
knowswhatIndiaisandtheywerewaitingfor
a super tournament of this kind,” Srinath tells
The Indian Express.
Thistournamentallowsthescopeofadding
a few ELO points sought after by those in the
frayfortheCandidates,whichmeantthelikes
of D Gukesh, Ajrun Erigaisi, Parham
Maghsoodloo didn’t think twice before com-
mitting. Levon Aronian too agreed to come
overandAlexandrPredke,PavelEljanov,Sanan
Sjugirov all flew down despite some of them
having the option to play in the Bundesliga.
“It'saprettystrongtournamentwithstrong
playersinthefray.It'sexcitingforthebestplace
in the world to play against our best players.
Andthere'salsotheaddedelementof thisbe-
ing one of the last tournaments in the circuit
thisyear.Itdidn'trequirelotof convincingbe-
cause I think the main thing is the kind of op-
position you are playing and the location,”
Srinath adds.
Thetightcalendarmeant,someoftheplay-
ers arrived in the city only on the tournament
eveandintheopeninground,manywerestill
complaining about jet lag and lack of sleep.
Aronian, especially, who drew with Gukesh
saidhehadonlyfivehoursofsleepsinceland-
“I think the success of the Olympiad
(last year) helped in
people having a
favourable perception
towards travelling to
India and committing
to the tournament. So,
as such when we contacted the
players for the tournament, we
mostly receivedfavourableresponse
for comingover here andplaying. “
GM SRINATH NARAYANAN,
PART OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE
ing in Chennai on Thursday. “We had only
around40daystoputthiseventinplaceandit
was close. The idea had been there for several
months, but concrete plans came into place
onlytwomonthsback.ButIthinkwehavegot
agoodstartintermsoftheplayerswehaveon
board,”Srinathsays.ThattheTamilNadugov-
ernmentshowedintereststraightawaytohost
theeventdidhelpagreatdealinpullingoffthe
tournament at a short notice. Having hosted
theOlympiadsuccessfullylastyear,itisunder-
stoodthatthestategovernmentisworkingto
make this event an annual affair, particularly
because of the following the sport enjoys in
these parts. “Last year, I didn’t get to enjoy
Chennaibecauseweweremostlystationedat
MahabalipuramfortheOlympiad.ButIknow
this city has a long standing tradition with
chess and I didn’t have to think twice before
agreeing to come,” Aronian said.
Gukesh holds Aronian
PTI adds: Local star Dommaraju Gukesh
began his campaign in the Chennai
Grandmasters Chess Championship with a
drawagainstAmericanGMLevonAronianon
Friday.
In another match, experienced player P
Harikrishna beat rapidly improving Arjun
Erigaisi in an all-Indian battle. Iranian GM
Parham Maghsoodloo, the top seed, was
beaten in the opening round by Ukraine's
Pavel Eljanov. The game between Sanan
Sjugirov of Hungary and Alexandr Predke of
Serbia ended in a draw.
Playing with black, Gukesh managed to
hold the highly rated Aronian to a draw as he
attempts to secure a spot in next year's
Candidatestournamentwithagoodperform-
ance here.
Results:Round1:PentalaHarikrishnabeat
ArjunErigaisi,ParhamMaghsoodloo(Iran)lost
to Pavel Eljanov, Levon Aronian (USA) drew
Dommaraju Gukesh, Sanan Sjugirov
(Hungary) drew Alexandr Predke (Serbia).
Standings after round 1: 1-2. Pentala
Harikrishna,PavelEljanov-1point,3-6.Levon
Aronian,DommarajuGukesh,SananSjugirov,
Alexandr Predke - 0.5 points, 7-8. Arjun
Erigaisi, Parham Maghsoodloo - 0.
Dubai: Ariful Islam's counter-punching fifty
and a fiery spell by left-arm pacer Maruf
Mridha helped Bangladesh score a facile
four-wicket win over India to reach the final
of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup here Friday.
On a slightly double-paced pitch, Indian
batters struggled to get going before getting
bundled out for 188 in 42.4 overs, with
Musheer Khan (50) and Murugan Abhishek
(62) doing all the scoring for them. Maruf
took 4 for 41 to give early jolts to India in the
second semifinal. Despite some jitters,
Bangladesh went over the line pretty com-
fortably in 42.5 overs with Islam (94 off 90
balls) defending the Indian charge with an
engaging innings.
However, Maruf kickstarted India's poor
day with a superb opening spell. The pacer
found some bounce and swing upfront to
reduce India to 13 for three inside seven
overs. Openers Adarsh Singh, Arshin
Kulkarni and captain Uday Saharan returned
without troubling the scorers much.
But Musheer and Abhishek shared an
84-run alliance for the seventh-wicket to
rescue India from a precarious 61 for 6. They
batted quite fluently and Musheer brought
up his fifty off 59 balls with a single long-off
Mahfuzur Rahman.
Abhishek clobbered Sheikh Jibon for a
huge six over long-off to bring his fifty in 64
balls. However, both the batters departed
without building further as India sank to a
modest total. In reply, Bangladesh too made
a shaky start and were 34 for three in 9.4
overs.
But Islam found an able alley in Ahrar
Amin (44 off 101 balls) as the duo milked
138 runs for a stubborn fourth wicket stand
to peg India back. Islam was a bit circum-
spect to begin with but once found his range,
the right-hander played some delectable
shots around the park to deny Indian
bowlers for a long while. Bangladesh lost a
couple of more wickets towards the end, but
that only created an artificial excitement.
UAE stun Pakistan
In the first semifinal, UAE shocked fan-
cied Pakistan by 11 runs to set up a date with
Bangladesh in the final. UAE made 193 all
out largely thanks to a 55 (57 balls) by cap-
tain Aayan Khan and a 46 off 70 balls by
opener Aryansh Sharma. They then de-
fended the target zealously to bowl out
Pakistan to 182 all out with three balls to
spare.
Brief scores: India: 188 all out in 42.4
overs (Murugan Abhishek 62, Musheer
Khan 50; Maruf Mridha 4/41, Sheikh Jibon
2/29) lost to Bangladesh: 189 for 6 in 42.5
overs (Ariful Islam 94, Ahrar Amin 44;
Nawan Tiwari 3/35) by 4 wickets. UAE: 193
all out in 47.5 overs (Aayan Khan 55, Aryansh
Sharma 46, Ethan D'Souza 37; Ubaid Shah
4/44) beat Pakistan: 182 all out in 49.3 overs
(Saad Baig 50, Azan Awais 41; Ayman
Ahmed 2/18, Hardik Pai 2/35) by 11 runs.
—PTI

Vol XCII- 30 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05 R.N.I. No.506/1957 Printed and Published by R.C.Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida -201301 and Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., Mauza-Daryapur, Police Station-Shahpur, Danapur District-
Patna, Bihar-801503 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 &10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002. Editorial office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9&10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500.
Advertising office: The Indian Express (P) Ltd.,Express Building, B1/B, Ramnath Goenka Marg, Sector 10, Noida-201301. Phone:01206651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Delhi): Rakesh Sinha ** ** Responsible for selection of News under the PRB
Act. Copyright: The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

19 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

GOLD USD RATE OIL SILVER

`63,100 `82.99 $75.10 `78,100
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market, gold per 10g, silver per 1 kg; Crude oil (Indian basket) as of December 14

SENSEX: 71,483.75 ▲ 969.55 (1.37%) NIFTY: 21,456.65 ▲ 273.95(1.29%) NIKKEI: 32,970.55 ▲ 284.30 HANG SENG: 16,792.19 ▲ 390.00 FTSE: 7,611.44 ▼ 37.54 DAX: 16,819.89 ▲ 67.66
International market data till 1900 IST

India, UK working on
mobility regime for
service sector workers
under FTA: Official
RAVI DUTTA MISHRA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
INDIA HAS sought an easier mo-
bility regime for its service sec-
tor workforce during the ongo-
other. It covers employees of
services firms and self-em-
ployed service suppliers.
Thedegreeof mode4market
access is limited as it deals with
commitments that provide a
right of entry and stay only to
Imports shrink 4.3%, trade
deficit narrows in November
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
INDIA’S MERCHANDISE exports
growth slipped into the negative
zone in November, as challenges
in the key markets saw no sign of
easing, but the government in-
sisted green shoots are “stabilis-
EASING TRADE
IMBALANCE
Merchandise exports
and imports (in $ bn)
■ Exports ■ Imports
■ Trade deficit
global merchandise trade to de-
cline 7% in 2023.
Barthwal said trends show
that the closing months of the fi-
nancialyeardeliverthebestper-
formance for exports and look-
ing at the export orders “we
should be able to sustain and
reach a decent level this year”.
The decline in exports in
from gems and jewellery, iron
ore, pharma and minerals.
While exports this financial
year have been over $33 billion
every month, the higher base of
last year is amplifying the chal-
lenges being faced by the ex-
porters.
Apart from demand, another
factor impacting export num-
For 2nd day, markets
hit new highs on Fed
rate cut prospects
unchangedWednesday,foresees
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
three rate cuts next year.
“Equitymarkets are witness-
ingaSanta rallyglobally postthe
DOMESTIC EQUITY indices con- dovishoutlookbyUSFedandfall
tinued their bull run Friday with in dollar index. This along with
the Sensex zooming past the strong FII buying and healthy
71,000 mark for the first time, macros,supportedthe positivity
propelled by the prospects of in- in Indian markets,” said
terest rate cuts by the US Federal Siddhartha Khemka, Retail

56.95
ingFTAnegotiationswiththeUK highly skilled individuals and ing” and for the full year ship- Novemberandmuchof thisyear bers is year-on-year decline in Reserve in the next year. Research Head, Motilal Oswal

54.48
as both countries are still trying those transferred from an affili- mentscouldreach“decentlevels.” has been due to the fall petro- prices of crude oil that is directly The Nifty also extended its Financial Services Ltd.
to resolve pending issues in the ate of a company with a com- Exports in November were leum and engineering products impacting the realisations of pe- rally to scale new highs, and Buying was seen in IT, PSU

34.89

deal, a senior government offi-
cial said on Friday.
“We are telling the UK that
our service firms can operate in
the UK only if they can hire peo-
pleoverthere.Sothevisaregime
should be such that it can facili-
tatethis.Theyhavemigrationre-
lated concerns. Brexit happened
on the immigration issue. So we
are trying to balance the con-
cerns of both the countries,” the
official said.
The Indian Express had re-
ported that talksare going on in-
volving short-term work per-
mits for its service sector
workforce under the movement
of natural persons (mode 4) cat-
egory. Mode 4 refers to services
traded by individuals of one
WTO member through their
presence in the territory of an-
ICT import duty: India
challenges WTO panel
ruling in favour of EU
RAVI DUTTA MISHRA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
SETTLEMENT TALKS between
India and the EU on the ICT
(Information and
Communication Technology)
import duty case have broken
down after seven months as
NewDelhitookthemattertothe
appellate body, the World Trade
Organisation’s highest court for
dispute resolution.
Brussels had dragged New
Delhi into WTO’s dispute settle-
ment mechanism in 2019, chal-
lengingitslevyof importdutyon
a wide range of ICT products on
ground that the duty was incon-
sistent with global trade norms
and was hurting €600 million of
its tech exports to India.
“India and the EU have nego-
tiated to arrive at a mutually
agreeable solution (MAS)forthe
past seven months, but the EU
has now filed for adoption of
panel report on December 7 and
therefore, India has appealed
against it on December 8 in the
WTO,” Additional Secretary in
theCommerceMinistryPeeyush
Kumar told reporters.
Hesaid that duringthenego-
mercial presence in the UK.
The visa issues in the trade
talks with India continue to be
sensitive issues as UK’s Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak is facing
pressure to tackle record net mi-
gration figures. High levels of le-
gal migration have dominated
Britain's political landscape for
overadecadeandwasoneof key
reasons for it to leave the
European Union.
EarlierthismonththeUKan-
nouncedplanstoslashthenum-
ber of migrants arriving by legal
routes by raising the minimum
salarytheymust earnin askilled
job by a third. However, India is
looking toharnessitsstrength in
the service sector in the free
trade agreements that it is look-
ing to sign, especially with the
UK and European Union (EU).
tiations,the EU wasseeking cus-
toms duty concessions on cer-
tain goods, which was not ac-
ceptable to India as it violates
WTO rules. These concessions
can only be given in a free trade
agreement, Kumar added.
Indiahasimposedhigherdu-
ties on ICT products as it looks to
boostthemanufacturingof elec-
tronic products with the help of
the production-linked incentive
scheme.Thecurrentstrategyhas
also paid off as India’s electronic
products have been on the rise
even as broader goods exports
havedeclinedduringthecurrent
fiscal.
Therewerefearsthatthedis-
pute could affect India’s efforts
toboostelectronicproductman-
ufacturing — a strategic sector in
whichIndiais tryingto cutitsre-
liance on China.
However, amid the current
deadlock over the appointment
of judges at WTO’s appellate
body, a decision on the ongoing
India-EU dispute could take
years. Several disputes are al-
ready pending with this body
and reforms to address the issue
are expected to be taken up dur-
ing the WTO's 13th Ministerial
ConferenceinFebruarynextyear.
down 2.8% on year to $33.9 bil-
lion, while imports saw a con-
tractionof 4.3%to $54.98billion.
Trade deficit came down to
$20.58 billion in the month, a
steep decline from a high $29.9
billion (revised from $31.46 bil-
lion) in October.
In the first eight months of
the financial year merchandise
export growth has been in posi-
tive territory only in August and
October.
“Green shoots are getting
strengthened. We have beaten
25% fall in vegetable oil
imports in Nov: SEA
India’s overall vegetable oil imports fell 25% y-o-y in the
first month of the 2023-24 oil year, an industry body said.
■ India,theworld’sleading
vegetableoilbuyer,importsrefined
andcrudevegetableoilsinthe
edibleoilcategory.
■ Amongcrudevegetableoils,the
importofRBDpalmoleindeclined
inNovember2023to1.71lakh
tonnesfrom2.02lakhtonnesin
India will buy crude from Venezuela,
any country not under sanctions: Puri
SUKALP SHARMA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
INDIA WILL buy crude oil from
Venezuelaasanumber of Indian
refineries are equipped to
processheavycrudes,Petroleum
Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
said.With the United States (US)
easing sanctions on Caracas in
October, India’s imports of
Venezuelan oil are set to resume
after three years. The minister
saidthatasamajorinternational
consumer of crude oil, India is
33.9
22.06 20.58
Nov 2022 Nov 2023
the global trends though the
global trade is suffering,”
Commerce Secretary Sunil
Barthwal said, and cited the
United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development Report
(UNCTAD) which has estimated
theyear-agoperiod,butshipments
tripledfrom53,497tonnesinOct.
■ IndustrybodySEAsaidthe
currenteffectiveimportduty
differenceof8.25%between
crudepalmoil(CPO)andrefinedoil
encouragesimportsofrefined
palmolienasopposedtoCPO.
Petroleum Minister
Hardeep Singh Puri. PTI
willingto buy oil from any coun-
try that is not under sanctions.
At least three Indian refiners
shipments. These two product
categories account for almost
half of India’sexports.Petroleum
products exports are down by
15.17%inthefinancialyearwhile
engineeringgoodshavedeclined
1.78%.
The support to the export
earnings have been provided by
the emerging sector of electron-
ics where the growth of 23.56%
has been seen this financial year
but in value terms it is less than
a quarter of petroleum exports.
In November support also came
■ 2022 ■ 2023
All figures in lakh tonnes
VEGETABLEOILIMPORTS
15.45
11.60
VEGETABLEOILIMPORT
BREAK-UP
Edibleoils: 11.48
Non-edibleoils: 0.12
INEDIBLECATEGORY
Crudevegetable 26.34%
oilimports
13.26
9.77
Refinedvegetable
oilimports
15.41%
2.02 Source: PTI,
Solvent Extractors
1.71 Association
are understood to have booked
Venezuelan oil cargoes, which
areexpectedtolandinIndiaover
the next couple of months.
BharatPetroleumCorporationis
alsolookingtostartimportsof oil
fromtheLatinAmericancountry.
“Many of our refineries, in-
cluding(IOC’s)Paradip(refinery),
are capable of using that heavy
Venezuelanoil,andwewillbuy...
It’s when Venezuela came under
sanctionsthattheywerenotable
to supply,” Puri said, adding that
Indiaiswillingtobuycrudefrom
anycountrynotundersanctions.
troleum product exports.
In April-November exports
weredown6.5%downto$278.8
billion while imports during the
period were down 8.67% to $
445.15 billion. The value terms
gap in exports in April-
Novemberperiodofthisyearand
last year is $20 billion of which
$16 billion is due to petroleum
and gems and jewellery sectors.
The merchandise trade
deficit during April-November
stoodat$166.35 billionregister-
ing a decline of 12.08%. FE
India will face
little disruption
from G7 move
on Russian
diamonds: Govt
New Delhi: The government on
Friday said G7 nation's decision
to impose curbs on direct im-
portsof Russian-origindiamonds
will have a minimal impact on
India's diamond trade, a govern-
ment official said on Friday.
Indian officials are continu-
ously in touch with the G7 tech-
nical team on the issue and they
have managed to resolve certain
issueslikecheckingof diamonds
at only one place.
The G7 leaders have decided
to introduce import restrictions
on non-industrial diamonds,
mined,processed,orproducedin
Russia, from January 1, 2024, fol-
lowed by further phased restric-
tionsontheimportof Russiandi-
amonds processed in third
countries from March 1.
Commerce Secretary Sunil
Barthwalsaidaslongasdiamonds
are processed in India, there
should not be further checks on
that because India can maintain
tracking of rough diamonds. PTI
DOMESTICAIRTRAFFIC
UP9%INNOVEMBER
New Delhi: Domestic air passen-
ger traffic rose by 9 per cent to
more than 1.27 crore in
November, according to official
data released on Friday.
IndiGo remained the largest
domestic carrier but its market
share declined to 61.8 per cent in
November from 62.6 per cent in
October. PTI
ended above the 21,000-mark
for the second straight day.
The BSE Sensex advanced
970 points, or 1.37 per cent, to
close at a new high of
71,4823.75. In the last two trad-
ing sessions, the 30-share index
has gained around 1,900 points,
or 2.7 per cent. The NSE Nifty 50
rose 274 points, or 1.29 per cent,
to settle at an all-time high of
21,456.65. The index has rallied
530.3 points, or 2.53 per cent in
the last two sessions.
“The buoyancy continued in
the market as investors were ex-
pecting the clouds over US eco-
nomic growth to recede by H2
CY24 and that the economy
wouldachieveasoftlandingaided
by normalisation in monetary
policy,” said Vinod Nair, Research
Head, Geojit Financial Services.
The US Federal Reserve,
which kept the key interest rate
SBI hikes MCLR by 5-10 bps,
other lenders likely to follow
Mumbai: The country’s largest
lender State Bank of India (SBI)
has increased its marginal cost
of fund based lending rate
(MCLR) by 5-10 basis points
(bps) across various tenors, ef-
fective today.
The hikes in MCLR by the
lender come even asthe Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo
rateunchangedat 6.5 percent in
its monetary policy announced
on December 8. This move is
likely to be followed by other
lenders, resulting in costlier
bank,metals,andoilandgassec-
tors. Cash marketvolumesstood
sharply higher (second highest
ever) as compared to recent av-
erages. PSU bank stocks ex-
tended gains for the eleventh
straight trading session. The
combined market value of all
BSE-listed companies surged by
Rs 2.76 lakh crore on Friday,
markinganoverallincreaseof Rs
8.55 lakh crore for the week,
reaching Rs 357.78 lakh crore,
said Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head
RetailResearch,HDFCSecurities.
On Friday, foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) were net buyers
of Rs 9,239.42 crore in domestic
equities. Domestic institutional
investors were net sellers of eq-
uitiesworthRs3,077.43crore.So
far in December, FPIs have put in
Rs 42,733 crore into the domes-
ticequitymarketcomparedtoRs
9,001 crore in November.
loans for borrowers.
Theinterestratesonone-and
three-monthMCLRshavebeento
8.2percentfrom8.15percentear-
lier. One basis point (bps) is one-
hundredth of a percentage point.
For six- to three-year MCLRs, the
rates have been revised up by 10
bps.Thelenderisofferinginterest
ratesof8.55percentand8.65per
cent on six-month and one-year
MCLRs,respectively.Thenewrate
ontwo-yearMCLRis8.75percent
andonthethree-yeartenoris8.85
per cent. ENS

India GDP can

touch $5-tn by
RIL & JSW among 14 ‘Made for India’ AI model unveiled
bidders for govt’s green Ola’s languagesandgeneratetextin10
JATIN GROVER
2026: Panagariya NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
Bhavish
Aggarwal
Indian languages, including
Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil,

ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
ECONOMISTARVINDPanagariya
Friday said there are good
prospectsthatIndiawillbecome
theworld’sthirdeconomybythe
end of 2026, sooner than nearly
all current predictions.
“Duringthepasttwodecades,
India has grown at an annual av-
eragerateof10.22percentincur-
rent dollars. At this rate, India’s
GDP in current dollars will reach
$5trillionin2026and$5.5trillion
in 2027,” said Panagariya, who
wasearlierViceChairmanofNITI
Aayog and is now an Economics
professoratColumbiaUniversity.
Indiaisnowtheworld’sfifth-
largest economy after the USA,
China, Japan and Germany.
Risks in Samsung, Pixel phones: CERT-In
New Delhi: After flagging multi-
ple security threats in iPhones
overthepastseveralmonths,the
Indian Computer Emergency
Response Team (CERT-In) has
now detected certain high-risk
vulnerabilities in Samsung and
Google Pixel phones, according
to latest advisories issued by the
government agency.
TheissueinSamsungphones
pertains to Android versions
11,12,13, and 14, whereas for
Google Pixel phones, the secu-
hydrogen incentives
REUTERS
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15
RELIANCE INDUSTRIES , JSW
Energy, Torrent Power and
Bharat Petroleum Corp are
among 14 companies that have
bid for incentives under India's
green hydrogen plan, according
to a government agency.
Twentycompaniesincluding
RelianceIndustries,AdaniGroup,
JindalIndia,Larsen&Toubroand
Bharat Heavy Electricals have
alsosubmittedbidsforincentives
to manufacture electrolysers,
statements from Solar Energy
Corp of India said.
Both sets of bids were
rity threat was detected in secu-
rity patch levels prior to
December 5, CERT-In said.
The security risk notification
flaggedbyCERT-Ininthephones
of these brands may help any
hacker bypass security restric-
tions and access sensitive infor-
mation of users, cybersecurity
experts said.
“Multiplevulnerabilitieshave
been reported in Samsung prod-
ucts which could allow an at-
tackertobypassimplementedse-
opened on Friday, the state-
ments showed.
InJuly,Indiainvitedpilotbids
under its $2 billion programme
to incentivise production of
green hydrogen and manufac-
turing of electrolysers.
Bids for 0.55 million metric
tons of green hydrogen produc-
tion have been received against
the invited 0.45 million tons, the
statementsshowed.Thecompa-
nies include Acme Cleantech,
Sembcorp Green Hydrogen,
CESC,GreenkoZeroCandAvaada
GreenH2,theysaid.Foraninvita-
tion to set up 1.5 gigawatts of
electrolyser manufacturing ca-
pacity, bids for 3.4 GW were re-
ceived, the statements showed.
curity restrictions, access sensi-
tive information, and execute ar-
bitrary code on the targeted sys-
tem,” the CERT-In advisory said.
For Google Pixel, CERT-In has
said the “vulnerabilities could be
exploited by a remote hacker to
execute arbitrary code, gain ele-
vated privileges, obtain sensitive
information or cause denial of
service condition on the targeted
system”. The companies have re-
leasedthenecessaryupdatesand
asked users to upgrade. FE
OLA CO-FOUNDER and CEO
Bhavish Aggarwal Friday un-
veiled Krutrim, a ‘made in India’
large language model (LLM) and
generative artificial intelligence
(AI) platform on the lines of
ChatGPT and Bard.
Theplatform,ownedandde-
veloped by Krutrim Si Designs,
the AI venture of Aggarwal, is
trained on 2 trillion tokens or
pieces of textual information,
44% increase in value of
home sales in 9 months
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 15
HOUSING UNITS worth Rs 3.49
lakh crore were sold across the
top 7 cities in the first nine
months of calendar year 2023
as against Rs 2.43 lakh crore in
the same period of last year, reg-
istering a rise of 44 per cent,
says a report.
This is 7 per cent higher than
the entire 2022 sales value of
around Rs 3.27 lakh crore, ac-
cording to a report from
Anarock.
Atthe current salesmomen-
tum, the ongoing December
quarter is expected to see Rs one
lakh crore worth housing inven-
launched
‘Krutrim’
Kannada, Telugu, Odia, Gujarati,
and Malayalam. Krutrim Pro will
be launched by the company in
the January-March quarter.
having the largest representa- Currently, Krutrim is accessi-
tion of Indian data. ble to people in batches on a
Krutrim, which means ‘artifi- sign-up and the company will
cial’ in Sanskrit, will come in two open it for all users by January.
models—abasemodelandaPro. “The current AI models just
Just like ChatGPT, the current ba- can’t capture India’s culture,
sic version of Krutrim is capable knowledgeandaspirations,given
of answering people’s prompt or our multicultural and multilin-
query.Itcanunderstand22Indian gual context,” Aggarwal said. FE
tory sold in top cities, taking to-
tal sales value above Rs 4.5 lakh
crore, it said.
The rise in housing sales
value in January-October period
of 2023, exceeding that of entire
2022, points to a large number
of high-ticket value homes sold
this year, Anarock said.
Overall sales value of homes
sold in nine months was highest
in the Mumbai Metropolitan
Region (Rs 1.64 lakh crore) fol-
lowed by NCR (Rs 50,188 crore).
Sales value in Kolkata was low-
est at Rs 9,025 crore.
Pune saw 63,483 units sold
till September 2023 with total
salesvalueof Rs39,945crore,in-
dicating higher sales of low-
ticket value homes.
 IYF¹FFÊ»F¹F IYF¹FÊ´FF»F³F Ad·F¹Fa°FF
»FûIY ÀUFÀ±¹F ¹FFadÂFIYe J¯O, Q³°ûUFOÞF
(RYû³F/R`Y¢ÀF ³Fa.- 07856-252362- BÊ-¸FZÕX -eedan-phe-cg@nic.in)
d³FdUQF ÀFc. IiY./397-408/»û.VFF./IYF.A./»Fû.ÀUF.¹FFa. /2023
// d³FdUQF AF¸FaÂF¯F ÀFc¨F³FF //
Q³°ûUFOÞF, dQ³FFGIY: 05/12/2023
20 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM
EIYeIÈY°F ´Faþe¹F³F ½¹FUÀ±FF ´Fi¯FF»Fe Aa°F¦FÊ°F ÀFÃF¸F ßû¯Fe ¸ûa ´FaþeIÈY°F NZIZYQFSûa Àû ´Fi´FÂF "E" ´Fid°FVF°F QS ´FS d³F¸³Fd»FdJ°F IYF¹FÊ WZ°Fb (Online) d³FdUQF AF¸FadÂF°F
IYe ¦F¹Fe W`Ü IYF¹FÊ IYF ³FF¸F: þ»F þeU³F d¸FVF³F IZY Aa°F¦FÊ°F ÎÀF¦F»F dU»ûþ IYF IYF¹FÊÜ OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, PWD (ROADS)
ASSAM, CHANDMARI, GUWAHATI-3
No. CE/STBR/MMPNA/Ratabari/40/2023-24/3
PRESS NOTICE INVITING TENDER (RE-BID)
The Chief Engineer, PWD, (Roads), Assam, Chandmari, Ghy-3 on
behalf of the Governor of Assam invites Re-Bid online for Roads &
Bridge projects in Ratabari LAC of Assam from eligible registered
Contractors for 1(one) No. Package of Repair/ Rehabilitation of Steel
BUG Bridges under Mukhya Mantrir Path Nabikaran Achani (MMPNA)
for 2023-24 for an amount of Rs. 79.61 Lakhs (approx). Details may be
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PUNE seen at website http://assamtenders.gov.in and also at the office of
(An Autonomous Institution of Ministry of Education, Govt. of India) the undersigned (State Bridge Design Branch) during office hours.
Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune-411008. Website: www.iiserpune.ac.in
Note: 1.The approximate N.I.T. Value is inclusive of GST, L.C. etc.
RECRUITMENT FOR THE POST OF COUNSELLOR Sd/-
Institute invites online applications from Chief Engineer PWD (Roads),
Assam, Chandmari, Guwahati-3.
Indian nationals for the positions of “Counsellor
JANASANYOG-CF-4247-23-16-NOV-23
(On Contract)” on consolidated emoluments.
For detailed information please visit
d³FdUQF IYe ÀFF¸FF³¹F VF°ûÊ EUa A³¹F þF³FIYFSe UZ¶FÀFFBÊM ´FûMÊ»F http://eproc.cgstate.gov.in ´FS QÍVF°F W`Ü www.iiserpune.ac.in and click on the link
Me´F :- d³FdUQF OFC³F»FûO IYS³û IYe Aad°F¸F d°Fd±F dQ³FûaIY 20.12.2023 W`Ü
WXÀ°FF/-
“Opportunities- Non-teaching / Project”.
IYF¹FÊ´FFÕX³F Ad·F¹Fa°FF The last date for submission of online
ÕXûIY À½FFÀ±¹F ¹FFadÂFIYe JaOX
06335 Qa°FZ½FFOXF
application is 05.01.2024.
Advt. No: 78/2023 Dated 15.12.2023 REGISTRAR

Office of Superintending Engineer,

3rd Circle, P.W.D. Pithoragarh.
E-Mail: sepwdpth@rediffmail.com
Letter No. 7262/962C-03(Yata ‘C’)/2023 Dated: 14.12.20223
National Competitive E-Tender Notice
The Superintending Engineer 3rd Circle, Public Works Department Pithoragarh
invites tender through E-Tendering (Two Bid System) on behalf of Hon’ble Governor
of Uttarakhand for following works. All other information will be available online from
date 20.12.2023 at 5.00 PM onward on website http://www.uktenders.gov.in.
S. Name of Work Earnest Cost of Validity Period of Contractor’s
N. Money Tender of Tender Completion category of
(in Lac) (`) (day) (months) registration
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Improvement and Hotmix Category A &
work of Dangoli- Sailani- higher for
Darimkhet- Harbad- Dofad- Road works,
Dharmghar- Kotmanya-
in State
Pankhu- Thal- Satsiling
Motor Road (SH-60) 8.50 5000.00 120 12 Govt./ Govt.
(Kotmanya to Baradband +18% of India
Prabhag) in Km. 107.00 to G.S.T
111.00 and 3 year
maintenance in Vidhan
Sabha Gangolihat District
Pithoragarh under State
Sector.

Office of Superintending Engineer

PWD Bulandshahar Circle, Bulandshahar
Short Term E-Procurement-Inviting Tenders
No. 8856 /96M/E-TENDER/BSR CIRCLE/2023-24 Dated 07-12-2023
On behalf of Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Superintending Engineer Bulandshahr Circle, U.P.P.W.D.,
Bulandshahr invites following percentage rate bid online through http://etender.up.nic.in from the eligible and
approved Contractors registered with P.W.D. class as per column no. 10 below category as applied from Date
20.12.2023 to 27.12.2023 upto 12:00 Noon as per the prescribed T-2 of Govt. of U.P. The technical bids will
be opened online on dated 27.12.2023 at 12:30 P.M. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening
of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened online on the next working day, at the same time any validity
of bid will be considered from the original date. The date and time of opening of the financial bid shall be
notified on the website.

CXq´fiq ´ffUSX MÑfÔÀfd¸fVf³f

IYfSX´fûSXZVf³f d»fq, BÊ- d³fdUQf
Af¸fÔÂf¯f Àfc¨f³ff A³fb·fUe I f¹fÊQf¹fe
ÀfÔÀ±ffAûÔ ÀfZ dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f ¸fÔO »f,
¦fiZM S ³fûEOf IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f d³f¸³f I f¹fûÊÔ WZ°fb BÊ-d³fdUQf¹fZÔ BÊ-
´ffZMÊ »f etender.up.nic.in ´fS d³fdUQf Jb»f³fZ I e
dQ³ffÔI I û 12.00 ¶fþZ °fI AfÔ¸fdÂf°f I e þf°fe W`Ü BÊ-
d³fdUQf Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f ´fS AUI fVf I e dÀ±fd°f ¸fZÔ BÊ-
d³fdUQf A¦f»fZ I f¹fÊ dQUÀf ¸fZÔ Jû»fe þf¹fZ¦feÜ 1. d³fdUQf
ÀfÔ£¹ff MXe-26/2023-24: dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O, Wf´fbO
IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f d³f¸ffʯff²fe³f 132 IZ 0Ue0 EI »f´f±f Wf´fbO
(220) -²fü»ff³ff »ffB³f ¸fZÔ 05 ³f¦f ³f`S û¶fZÀf ¸f»MeÀfdI ÊM
MfUS À±ffd´f°f I S d³f¸ffʯf dI ¹fZ þf³fZ Àf¸¶fd³²f°f I f¹fÊÜ
²fSXûWXSX SXfdVf ø 0 5,00,000/- d³fdUQf ´fi´fÂf Vfb»IY
ø 0 2,950/- (I S ÀfdW°f)Ü Jb»f³fZ IYe dQ³ffÔIY
11.01.2024Ü BÊ-d³fdUQf IZ ´fi±f¸f ·ff¦f CÀfe dQ³f
d³f²ffÊdS°f Àf¸f¹f ´fS ÀffUÊþd³fI ø ´f ÀfZ Jû»ff þf¹fZ¦ff EUÔ
·ff¦f dõ°fe¹f (´fifBþd¶fO) Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f °fQû³fbÀffS
½fZ¶fÀffBM ´fS Àfcd¨f°f I e þf¹fZ¦feÜ BÊ-d³fdUQfAûÔ I û d¶f³ff
I ûBÊ I fS¯f ¶f°ff¹fZ AÀUeI fS/dU·ffdþ°f I S³fZ I f
Ad²fI fS A²fûWÀ°ffÃfSI °ffÊ IZ ´ffÀf ÀfbS dÃf°f SWZ¦ffÜ
IÈ ´f¹ff dUÀ°fÈ°f þf³fI fSe, OfC³f»fûO, A³¹f ÀfÔVfû²f³fûÔ EUÔ
BÊ-d³fdUQf ´fiÀ°fb°f I S³fZ IZ dQ³ffÔI °fI dUÀ°ffS AfdQ IZ
Àf¸¶f³²f ¸fZÔ IÈ ´f¹ff etender.up.nic.in ´fS »ffg¦f 1. The Bid Security and Tender Document fee must be deposited through Internet Banking only.
Afg³f I SZÔÜ WXÀ°ff./-A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff, dUôb°f 2. All registered contractors have to upload Turnover certified by C.A. of last 5 years and details of maximum
cost work satisfactorily completed in last 5 years on Chanakya Software before submission of tender.
´ffSXZ¿f¯f ¸fÔOX»f, CXq´fiq ´ffqMÑfqIYfqd»fq, 400 Details of e-tender uploaded on http://etender.up.nic.in shall also be uploaded on UP PWD Chanakya
IZY0Ue0 CX´fIZY³Qi, ´ff»fe, ¦fiZMXSX ³fûEOXfÜ (¸fû¶ffBÊ»f software, before last date & time of submission of bid.
3. Terms & other conditions related to bid are available on http://etender.up.nic.in
ÀfÔ£¹ff: 07290059731) 'SXf¿MÑX dWX°f ¸fZÔ DYþfÊ 4. In PWD technical evaluation of tenders is to be done by Prahari Software URL for Prahari is
¶f¨ff¹faZ" ´fÂffÔIY :- 1826 dUq´ffq¸fÔq /¦fiZq³ffq/T- http://wms.uppwd.gov.in/Prahari/.
5. Bid security will be as per the prevailing rules/orders at present.
26/2023-24, dQ³ffÔIY: 14.12.2023
Executive Engineer Superintending Engineer
UPID-198971 Date 7/12/2023 Bulandshahar circle, PWD
UP t l 11 5 AKS (8) CD-2 PWD,
Ghaziabad www.upgov.nic.in Bulandshahar
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023 21
22
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a
result of transactions with companies, associations or
individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications.
We therefore recommend that readers make
necessary inquiries before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements with advertisers or
otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner
whatsoever.
HARYANA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Bays No. 33-36, Sector-4, Panchkula-134109
Telephone No. 0172-2582531; Fax No. 0172-2572359
Website: http://herc.gov.in, E-Mail: herc-chd@nic.in
PUBLIC NOTICE
Discussion Paper for inviting Comments/
Objections from stakeholders/ general
public for finalization of draft Haryana
Electricity Regulatory Commission (Forum
and Ombudsman) Regulation, 2020, 3rd
amendment 2023.
All general public/stakeholders litre requested to
submit their objections/comments/suggestions on
the above-mentioned draft discussion paper avail-
able on Commission website i.e. https://herc.gov.in,
to the Secretary, Haryana Electricity Regulatory
Commission, Bays No. 33-36, Sector-4, Panchkula-
134112 either in person or through post or e-mail
secretary.herc@nic.in. The last date of submission
of objections/ comments/ suggestions is
05.01.2024 till 05.00 P.M. The public hearing will be
held on 08.01.2024 at 11.30 A.M. in the Court
Room of the Commission.
Sd/-
Dy. Secretary (P),
HERC, Panchkula.
23449/HRY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023
HARYANA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Bays No. 33-36, Sector-4, Panchkula-134109
Telephone No. 0172-2582531; Fax No. 0172-2572359
Website: http://herc.gov.in, E-Mail: herc-chd@nic.in
PUBLIC NOTICE
Discussion Paper. for inviting Comments /
Objections from stakeholders/ general
public for finalization of draft Haryana
Electricity Regulatory Commission
(Electricity Supply Code) Regulations, 2014
(4th Amendment) Regulation, 2023.
All general publici stakeholders are requested to
submit their objections/comments/suggestions on
the above-mentioned draft discussion paper avail-
able on Commission website i.e. https://herc.gov.in
to the Secretary, Haryana Electricity Regulatory
Commission, Bays No. 33-36, Sector-4, Panchkula-
134112 either jn person or through post or e-mail
secretary. herc@nic.in. The last date of submission
of objections/ comments/ suggestions is
05.01.2024 till 05:00 P.M. The public hearing will be
held on 08.01.2024 at 11:30 AM in the Court Room
of the commission
Sd/-
Dy. Secretary (P),
HERC, Panchkula.
23448/HRY
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Office of Director, State Forensic Science Laboratory
(Neharu Nagar, RPA Road, Jaipur. Ph. 0141-2301584, Fax 0141-2301859
E-Mail director.fsl@rajasthan.gov.in
File No :: N-5(3)-/ »fZ¶fû-ªf³f/ Manpower/2021-00255/15225-28 Date: 07/12/2023
E-Bid Invitation Notice- 13/2023-24
Bids of State Forensic Science Laboratory, Jaipur for Rs. 255.00 lakh of
Forensic Scientific Assistant for DNA/Cyber Division procurement are
invited from interested bidders up to 29-12-2023. The particulars of bid may
be visited on the procurement portal (http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in,
http://sppp.raj.nic.in) of the state website.
UBN No. FSL2324SLRC00039
Head of the Office
State Forensic Science Laboratory,
DIPR/C/15760/2023 Jaipur
IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f Ad°fdSX¢°f ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹f³°ff,
Àff½fʪfd³fIY d³f¸ffʯf d½f·ff¦f, Àfa·ff¦f-IYûMXf
IiY¸ffaIY: 2011, dQ³ffaIY: 07.12.2023
d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff-25/2023-24
NIB No: PWD2324A3905
SfþÀ±ff³f IZ Sfª¹f´ff»f ¸fWûQ¹f I e AûS ÀfZ dþ»ff I ûMf/¶fc³Qe ¸fZÔ IZ ³Qie¹f ÀfOI B³R fÀMш S d³fd²f ¹fûþ³ff (CRIF)
IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f C¨¨fÀ°fSe¹f ´fb»f I f d³f¸ffʯf I f¹fÊ QÀf Àff»f I e ¸fS¸¸f°f IZ d»fE BÊ.´fe.Àfe. ¸fûO ´fS 2 I f¹fÊ C´f¹fbö ßfZ¯fe
¸fZÔ ÀffUÊþd³fI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f SfþÀ±ff³f ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ EUÔ Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS/IZ ³Qi ÀfSI fS IZ Ad²fIÈ °f
ÀfÔ¦fN³fûÔ/IZ ³Qie¹f »fûI d³f¸ffʯf dU·ff¦f/OfI EUa QcS ÀfÔ¨ffS dU·ff¦f/SZ»UZ B°¹ffdQ ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ, þû dI SfþÀ±ff³f
ÀfSI fS IZ EE ßfZ¯fe IZ ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ IZ Àf¸fI Ãf Wû, ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS ¸fZ³M ´fidI ¹ff ÀfZ Afg³f »ffBʳf d³fdUQf¹fZÔ
Af¸fÔdÂf°f I e þf°fe W`ÔÜ d³fdUQf ÀfZ Àf¸¶fd³²f°f dUUS¯f UZ¶f ÀffBÊM http://dipr.rajasthan.gov.in U
http://pwd.rajasthan.gov.in, http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf þf ÀfI °ff W`Ü
¹fc.¶fe. E³f d³f¸³ff³fbÀffS W` Ü
UBN No. PWD2324WLOB16915, PWD2324WLOB16919
B¨LbI ÀfÔUZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdþM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ UZ¶f ÀffBÊM http:://
eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdþÀMOÊ Wû³ff AfUV¹fI W`Ü ·f½fQe¹f
WXÀ°ff./-(E.IZY. ÀffWXc)
Ad°fdSXöY ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹f³°ff
DIPR/c/15827/2023 Àff.d³f.dU. Àf¸·ff¦f IYûMXf