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

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

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THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
President Marcelo
Rebelo de Sousa.
PORTUGAL
Govtsayswon’t
paydamagesfor
colonialcrimes
Lisbon:Portugal’sgovern-
ment said Saturday it re-
fuses to initiate any
processtopayreparations
for atrocities committed
during transatlantic slav-
ery and the colonial era,
contrary to earlier com-
ments from its President.
Over 6 million Africans
were kidnapped and
forciblytransportedbythe
Portuguese and sold into
slavery. Rebelo de Sousa
hadsaidSaturdayPortugal
coulduseseveralmethods
topayreparations,suchas
cancelling the debt of for-
mercolonies.Thegovern-
ment said in a statement
sent to the Portuguese
newsagencyLusaitwants
to “deepen mutual rela-
tions,respectforhistorical
truth and increasingly in-
tense and close coopera-
tion, based on the recon-
ciliation of brotherly
peoples”. REUTERS
THAILAND
Foreignminister
resignsafterhe
lostDy-PMpost
Bangkok: Thai Foreign
Minister Parnpree
Bahiddha-Nukara has re-
signed, the government
said on Sunday, after los-
ing the position of deputy
prime minister in a cabi-
net reshuffle. Prime
Minister Srettha Thavisin
has received Parnpree's
resignation letter, gov-
ernment spokesperson
Chai Wacharonke told
Reuters. “Parnpree's res-
ignation will not affect
government work in for-
eign affairs as the foreign
ministry's permanent
secretary and officials
can work instead,” he
added. Parnpree could
not be reached for com-
ment. REUTERS
HAITI
Transitiongovt
tovotefornext
President
Port-au-Prince: Haiti's
transition council on
Saturday said it will vote
for the country's next
president on Tuesday as
part of efforts to bringthe
Caribbean country under
control amid rampant
gangviolence.Thetransi-
tioncounciltookpowerin
a ceremony on Thursday,
formalizing the resigna-
tion of former Prime
Minster Ariel Henry. The
transitionalgovernment's
mandate runs until
February 2026, by when
thereareslatedtobeelec-
tions. REUTERS
ITALY
Neo-fascistrally
marksMussolini
executiondate
Rome: Dozens of people
raised their arms in the
fascistsaluteandshouted
a fascist chantduring cer-
emoniesSundaytohonor
Italian dictator Benito
Mussolinionthe79than-
niversary of his execu-
tion. Dressed in black, the
neo-fascist supporters
marched through north-
ern Italian towns where
Mussolini was arrested
and executed at the end
of World War II, and also
in Predappio, Mussolini’s
birthplace. AP
WON’T CEDE SEIZED UKRAINE TERRITORIES FOR FROZEN ASSETS: FOREIGN MINISTRY
Russia threatens West with severe
response if its assets are touched
Kremlin says will target Western money in Russia to counter US, allies’ moves
REUTERS
MOSCOW, APRIL 28
RUSSIAN OFFICIALS threatened
the West on Sunday with a "se-
vere" response in the event that
frozen Russian assets are confis-
cated, promising “endless” legal
challenges and tit-for-tat meas-
ures. Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
said Russia would never cede
territories seized from Ukraine
in exchange for the return of
frozen assets.
“Our motherland is not for
sale,” Zakharova wrote on the
Telegram messaging app. “And
Russian assets must remain un-
touched... otherwise there will
be a severe response to Western
thievery. Many in the West have
already understood this. Alas,
not everyone.”
InresponsetoRussia’swarin
Ukraine, the United States and
its allies prohibited transactions
with Russia's central bank and
finance ministry and blocked
about $300 billion of sovereign
Russian assets in the West, most
of which are in European finan-
cial institutions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said in a separate com-
ment that there was still a lot of
Western money in Russia which
could be targeted by Moscow's
counter-measures.“Theprospects
for legal challenges (against con-
fiscationofRussianassets)willbe
wide open,” he said.
TORNADO HITS SOUTH CHINA
Aftermathof atornadoinsouth China’sGuangdong Province,Sunday.Thetornadowhich
struckSaturdaykilled5peopleand damagedover140factorybuildings,statemediasaid. AP
‘Foreign talent to replace unskilled Pak officials’
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
ISLAMABAD, APRIL 28
PAKISTAN’S CABINET has re-
laxed rules to hire foreign con-
sultancy firms to make up for
‘unskilled' bureaucrats and
speed up official efforts to bring
investment for various projects
in the cash-strapped country
from the Gulf and other nations,
according to a media report.
Thedecisionwastakentosup-
port the Special Investment
FacilitationCouncil(SIFC),thetop
HEAVY TOURIST PRESENCE MAKES HOUSING EXPENSIVE, FORCING ESSENTIAL WORKERS TO LIVE ON MAINLAND
As tourists move in, Italians are squeezed out on holiday island of Capri
CRISPIAN BALMER
CAPRI (ITALY), APRIL 28
FAMEDFORitsblueseas,breath-
taking views and cove-studded
coastline, the Mediterranean is-
land of Capri has been a tourist
havensincetheearlyyearsof the
Roman empire.
Unlike in the imperial hey-
day, when emperors made it
theirexclusiveplayground,Capri
now attracts visitors from
around the world, clogging its
narrow alleys, packing the piaz-
zas and blocking the beaches
during the hot summer months.
As many as 16,000 tourists a
day pour onto the rocky isle in
peak season, outnumbering the
12,900 residents. Most are day
trippers,butincreasingnumbers
Members of ‘Steppe Wolves’ unit in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine on Friday. Reuters
Ukrainian ‘Grandpa’ leads over-60s
volunteer unit fighting Russia forces
REUTERS
ZAPORIZHZHIA , APRIL 28
OLEKSANDRTARAN'Smobilear-
tillery unit isn't officially part of
Ukraine'smilitary,butthathasn't
stoppedhismenfromdestroying
Russian targets on their own
dime.“We ... get by thanks to the
pension fund,” the 68-year-old
commander— whosecall signis
“Grandpa”—saidwithachuckle.
Taran’s all-volunteer unit, the
Steppe Wolves, is comprised of
civil-military body created last
year to bring investment into the
country. According to The Express
Tribune, the Cabinet relaxed the
public procurement legal frame-
work to hire foreign consultancy
firms to strengthen the SIFC to
preparevariousprojectsbeforeof-
fering them to foreign investors.
“The foreign consultancy
firms will be hired for five years
as a replacement for Pakistani
bureaucrats who are found lack-
ing in project planning and exe-
cution,accordingtogovernment
sources,” the paper reported.
stay the night as ever more
homes are given over to holiday
lets, bringing its own problems.
“Capri is becoming a dormi-
tory for tourists,” said Teodorico
Boniello, head of the local con-
sumers' association. “There are
more people coming than we
can cope with and families can't
set down roots because they
can’t afford to stay.”
Capri is a microcosm of many
Europeanholidayhotspots.Locals
dependonvisitorsfortheirliveli-
hoods, but the advent of mass
tourism risks turning their pic-
ture-perfect beauty spots into
blobsofshufflinghumanity.Some
Italiantownsandislandsarestart-
ing to push back, albeit gently.
Venice last week became the
first city in the world to introduce
anentrancefeeforvisitorsinpeak
dozens of Ukrainian men mostly
over 60 years old who are too old
tobedraftedbutstillwanttofight.
They take orders from field
commandersandworkwithother
troops,contributingtothewaref-
fortdespitelackingofficialsupport
from the military. It is funded by
donationsandstockedwithfaulty
rounds they repair themselves as
well as weapons captured from
the enemy. Both are delivered to
thembyfront-linetroops.
“The commanders that pro-
vide us with targets are happy,”
However,thedecisionwillre-
flectpoorlyontheworkingof the
bureaucracy,whichcouldnotpro-
videqualityassistancetotheSIFC.
TheCabinethasapprovedasum-
mary through circulation on the
advice of the SIFC, which recom-
mendedgrantingexemptiondue
to the poor capacity of Pakistan’s
federal bureaucracy, confirmed a
senior government official
Saturday.Sourcessaidthatdueto
an incapacitated bureaucracy,
Pakistanwasstrugglingtoprepare
projects for investment by Saudi
Arabia, the UK and Kuwait.
Tourists in Capri Island, Italy, earlier in April. Reuters
saida63-year-oldfighterwithcall
sign “Zorro”. Taran said his unit
has been attempting to officially
joinUkraine’sarmedforcestodi-
rectly receive ammunition but
has been unsuccessful. The unit
also includes younger men who
have been ruled unfit to fight.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top
commander, Colonel General
Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on
Sunday Kyiv's outnumbered
troops had pulled back from
three villages where Russia has
concentrated significant forces.
Japan ruling party
loses all 3 seats in
House bypolls,
initial results show
Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida's governing
party, stung by an extensive
slush funds scandal, appeared
to have lost all three seats
in Sunday's parliamentary by-
elections, according to media
exit polls and preliminary
results.
The Liberal Democratic
Party's loss is considered a voter
punishment for its links to a
yearslong corruption saga that
erupted last year and has un-
dermined Kishida's leadership.
“We humbly accept the se-
vere results and we will do our
utmost to regain the trust from
the public as we continue our
effort to reform and tackle the
challengesm,” LDP Secretary
General Toshimitsu Motegi told
reporters in Tokyo. AP
PAK FOREIGN MINISTER
DAR APPOINTED DY PM
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Foreign
Minister Ishaq Dar was on
Sunday appointed as the
country’s Deputy Prime
Minister. According to the
CabinetDivision,theappoint-
ment was made by PM
Shehbaz Sharif. The move
camewhenbothofthemwere
attending a World Economic
ForummootinRiyadh. PTI
Won’t Take Up Seat If Elected
MELONI ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY AT EU POLLS
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday she will be a candidate at European polls
in bid to boost support for her Brothers of Italy party, though she won’t take up a seat if
elected. The June 6-9 EU Parliament vote is a test of strength for her rightist bloc. REUTERS
SENIOR U.S. OFFICIALS DIVIDED OVER GAZA
Israel may be violating
international law: State
Dept officials to Blinken
REUTERS
WASHINGTON, APRIL 27
SOME SENIOR US officials have
advised Secretary of State
Antony Blinken that they do not
find “credible or reliable” Israel's
assurances that it is using US-
suppliedweaponsinaccordance
withinternationalhumanitarian
law, according to an internal
State Department memo re-
viewed by Reuters.
Other officials upheld sup-
port for Israel's representation.
Under a National Security
Memorandum (NSM) issued by
President Joe Biden in February,
Blinken must report to Congress
by May 8 whether he finds cred-
ible Israel’s assurances that its
use of US weapons does not vio-
late US or international law.
By March 24, at least seven
State Department bureaus had
sent in their contributions to an
initial“optionsmemo”toBlinken.
Partsofthememo,whichhasnot
been previously reported, were
classified.Thesubmissionstothe
memoprovidethemostextensive
picturetodateof thedivisionsin-
side the State Department over
whetherIsraelmightbeviolating
international humanitarian law.
“Some components in the
department favored accepting
Israel'sassurances,somefavored
rejectingthemandsometookno
position,” a US official said.
ONLYU.S.CANHALT
RAFAHATTACK: ABBAS
Riyadh: Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas said on
Sunday at the World
Economic Forum that only
the United States could stop
Israelattackingthebordercity
of Rafah in Gaza, adding that
theassault,which heexpects
withindays,couldforcemuch
of the Palestinian population
to flee the enclave. REUTERS
Iraq passes stringent
anti-LGBTQ law, faces
diplomatic backlash
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD , APRIL 28
HUMAN RIGHTS groups and
diplomats criticized a law that
was quietly passed by the Iraqi
parliamentovertheweekendthat
wouldimposeheavyprisonterms
on gay and transgender people.
US State Department
spokesperson Matthew Miller
said in a statement that the law
passed Saturday “threatens
those most at risk in Iraqi soci-
ety” and “can be used to hamper
free-speech and expression.” He
warnedthatthelegislationcould
drive away foreign investment.
British Foreign Secretary
David Cameron called the law
“dangerous and worrying.”
Although homosexuality is
taboo in the largely conservative
Iraqi society, Iraq did not previ-
periods,Florencehasbannednew
holiday lets in the city centre and
theCinqueTerreparkontheItalian
Riviera started charging 15 euros
foraccesstoapopularcoastalfoot-
pathtotackleovercrowding.
Capri has doubled its own
visitors’ fee from 2.5 euros to 5
euros, which outsiders pay
when they catch a ferry from
nearby Naples or Sorrento from
April through to October.
“We are looking to persuade
more people to visit during win-
ter,” Capri Mayor Marino Lembo
told Reuters, sitting in his office
withthesmogof Napleshanging
far in the distance. But such a fee
looksunlikelytodissuadetourists
fromtravellingtoanislandwhich
hasmorethanfourmilliontagged
photos on Instagram, drawing in
an endless flow of visitors eager
Pro-Palestine protesters outside the annual White House
Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, Saturday. Reuters
Crackdowns at four
college protests lead
to over 200 arrests
THE NEW YORK TIMES
APRIL 28
MORETHAN200protesterswere
arrested Saturday at
NortheasternUniversity,Arizona
State University, Indiana
University and Washington
University in St. Louis, according
to officials, as colleges across the
countrystruggletoquellgrowing
pro-Palestinian demonstrations
and encampments on campus.
More than 700 protesters
have been arrested on U.S. cam-
puses since April 18, when
ColumbiaUniversityhadtheNew
York Police Department clear a
protest encampment there. In
several cases, most of those who
werearrestedhavebeenreleased.
At Washington University in
St. Louis, more than 80 arrests
were made and the campus was
locked down Saturday evening,
university officials said in a state-
ment, adding that campus police
were still processing arrests. Jill
Supporters of cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr pledge to oppose
LGBTQ in Kufa in 2022. AP
ously have a law that explicitly
criminalized it. The law passed
Saturday with little notice as an
amendment to the country’s ex-
isting anti-prostitution law. It
imposes a sentence of 10 to 15
years for same-sex relations and
a prison term of one to three
yearsovergender-transitionsur-
geries and for “intentional prac-
tice of effeminacy.”
toaddthesameviewstotheirso-
cial media pages.
Moreover, locals say it will do
nothing to help ease the housing
crisis,whichforcesmanyessential
workers, including teachers and
medics,toliveonthemainland.
Barelyoutof Naples,thoseon
a tight schedule start queuing in
the aisles to ensure they are first
off the boat to grab a seat on one
of a handful of small buses that
head up the hill to town.
Stragglers risk a lengthy wait. “It
wouldbelovelytoliveinCapri,but
it is very difficult. Even if I could
find a place, the rent would take
upallmysalary,”saidAntonioDe
Chiara, who was recently posted
as a child therapist on the island.
Stefano Busiello, 54, teaches
maths in a Capri high school but
livesinNaplesandhascommuted
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
‘Columbia 1968’
BEFORE STUDENTS set up a
pro-Gaza protest encamp-
mentonColumbiaUniversity,
some of them took an op-
tional course, “Columbia
1968” about protests against
Vietnam War. The 1968 pro-
testers occupied multiple
campus buildings for a week
and held the acting dean
hostageforaday,beforecops
violently ended the protest,
arrestingsome700students.
Stein, the Green Party candidate
forthe2024presidentialelection,
was among those arrested, a
spokesperson said.
Some colleges have backed
off andsoughttode-escalateten-
sions,whileatothercolleges,po-
lice have rushed in to break up
encampments and arrest stu-
dents and faculty members.
Nepal promises
friendly climate
for investment
Kathmandu: Nepal’s two-day in-
vestment summit kicked off
Sunday with its government so-
liciting external investment in
150 projects and promising the
mostfavourableclimateforthem.
The summit inaugurated by
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal
DahalPrachandaisbeingattended
byoverathousanddelegatesfrom
morethan55countries,including
140fromIndia.“Weoffer...thebest
climateforinvestmentthatwillbe
mutually beneficial and Nepal to
move on the path of economic
prosperity,”Dahalsaid.
India’sMinisterforCommerce
PiyushGoyalsaidinhiszoom-de-
liverythatinvestinginNepalwas
notonlyaprofitinspiredmoveof
India, but a part of PM Narendra
Modi’s‘NeighborhoodFirstPolicy.’
Luo Zhaohui, head of China’s
International Development
CooperationAgency,saiditwould
preferinvesting generouslyunder
theBeltandRoadInitiative. ENS
backandforthfor20years.“Ihave
never even tried to find a house
here.Icouldneveraffordoneand
things are getting harder.” Only
20% of staff in his school actually
live on Capri, he said, with every-
one else arriving on the ferries.
Roberto Faravelli, who runs a
Bed and Breakfast near the port,
says people like himself might
be willing to rent their proper-
ties to workers if the region of-
fered incentives to close the gap
on lucrative holiday lets.
“Thegovernmentneedstoen-
courage homeowners to offer
long-term rents. What we lack is
anyone trying to resolve these
problems,” he said. But mayor
Lembodidnotexpecttheauthor-
ities to intervene. “It is unfortu-
nate, but this is the market econ-
omy at work.” REUTERS
Lucknow

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
DECISION
2024
WHY I WILL
VOTE
&YOUSHOULDTOO
S SOMANATH
ISRO Chairman
‘Your vote is
an investment
in science’
V
oting is a right and
a privilege given to
me as a citizen of
India. I still remember the
first time I voted. I was ex-
cited to see my name on
the voters’ list, and much
before the election day, I
made sure that I got the
slip. I reached the booth
early to cast my vote. After
so many elections, I still en-
sure that I do not miss that
opportunity to vote, which
is my say in deciding the
future of this nation. It is
one of the most empower-
ing things I have done.
Your vote decides India’s
progress and is an invest-
ment in our scientific and
technological capabilities.
● Communal rift, Sena
split, Maratha quota
merge in Aurangabad
● Indira scored half-
century in toppling
govts: Rajnath
● 6 PM Modi rallies in
Maharashtra in 2 days:
Opp says BJP in panic
PAGES 5,7
US rejects 1/3rd of Fires in Nainital, Pauri Garhwal
MDH exports since mostly man-made: Forest dept
Oct over salmonella
FSSAI begins checks after Hong Kong,
Singapore ban MDH, Everest products
AGGAM WALIA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
THE UNITED States customs au-
thoritiesrefused31percentof all
spice-relatedshipmentsexported
byMahashianDiHatti(MDH)Pvt
Ltd over salmonella contamina-
tion in the last six months.
TherefusalratesinceOctober
2023 has doubled from 15 per
centforallshipmentssentinthe
year prior. The surge in refusal
rateoversalmonellacontamina-
tioninrecentmonthscomesata
time when both Singapore and
HongKonghavesuspendedsales
of certainMDHandEverestFood
Products Pvt Ltd products after
theallegeddetectionofacarcino-
genic pesticide in spice mixes.
Seasoned MP Gangwar dropped, BJP hits choppy waters in safe seat Bareilly
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
SHYAMLAL YADAV
BAREILLY, APRIL 28
LIKE THE last three decades,sea-
soned BJP MP Santosh Gangwar
had been preparing for the past
several months to contest from
his bastion Bareilly in the com-
ing Lok Sabha polls. But last
month, when the party an-
nounced its list on the day of
Holi, the 75-year-old’s support-
ers were shocked to find that he
had been dropped and instead,
CRISIS IN CONG AHEAD OF MAY 25 VOTE
Cong infighting hits INDIA bloc: Delhi
unit chief quits, cites tie-up with AAP
High command in damage control mode,
begins reaching out to other Delhi leaders
JATIN ANAND
& SAMAN HUSAIN
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
BARELYWEEKSbeforevotingfor
the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi,
the Congress Sunday plunged
into a crisis with senior leader
Arvinder Singh Lovely resigning
as the Delhi Congress president,
in protest against the party’s al-
liance with INDIA bloc partner
`600-CR DRUGS SEIZED FROM PAK BOAT OFF GUJARAT
A Coast Guard ship (left) and a Pakistani boat that was seized with 86 kg of drugs worth `600 crore off the Gujarat coast. The
Coast Guard also arrested 14 people on board the vessel after an overnight operation carried out in coordination with the
Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad and the Narcotics Control Bureau. @IndiaCoastGuard
A total of 11 shipments
amountingtonearlyone-thirdof
allshipmentsfromMDHcontain-
ing products categorised as
“spices, flavours, and salts” have
beenrefusedsinceOctober2023,
which is when the ongoing US
federal fiscal year started.
Between October 2022 and
September 2023, the refusal rate
stood at 15 per cent, data ob-
tainedfromtheUSFoodandDrug
Administration (FDA) revealed.
Additionally, all MDH export
shipmentsrefusedsinceOctober
2020wereonthegroundsof sal-
monellacontamination,thedata
showed.Whenconsumed,foods
contaminated with the bacteria
salmonella can cause a severe
stomach infection that affects
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
a former state minister who lost 2009whentheCongressbagged
theAssemblypollstwoyearsago it.Butinternaldifferencesledthe
had been fielded. BJP to drop him and opt for for-
As the BJP looks to increase mer state minister and ex-MLA
its Lok Sabha seat tally in Uttar Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar, 68,
Pradesh — one of the few Hindi who is being viewed as an “out-
heartland states where
it has the scope to do so
— the decision to drop
Gangwar has thrown its
re-election prospects
into uncertainty in a
constituencythatiscon- DECISION has
sidered one of its safest
2024
seats. Bareilly votes in
the third phase on May 7. largest and most dominant OBC
Gangwar, a former Union group in the region and has over
Minister, has won Bareilly since three lakh votes in Bareilly.
1989, with the sole exception of
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
AAP and over selection of party
candidates, bringing to the fore
the factional feud that has been
raging for some time.
TheCongresshighcommand
appeared to be in no mood to
placate Lovely as AICC in-charge
Deepak Babaria, who was the
target of Lovely’s attack in his
strongly-wordedresignationlet-
ter to Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge, announced
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
ANJALI MARAR
BENGALURU, APRIL 28
FIRES THAT have been raging in
the forests of Nainital and Pauri
Garhwal in Uttarakhand were
mostly man-made, the state for-
est department said Sunday
evenasthefirefightingoperation
with the help of an IAF helicop-
tercontinuedforthesecondday.
The blaze had been brought
undercontrolinseveralareas,of-
ficials said.
Teams of forest officials from
Rudraprayaghaveidentifiedand
arrestedatleastthreemiscreants
responsible for causing the fire,
the officials shared on X. Some
were accused of carelessly set-
ting their farmlands on fire,
which in turn spread to the
nearby forest areas.
“The fire has been happening
becauseofmischievouselements.
Wearemakingpeopleawareand
appealing to them not to ignite
anything,”Garhwaldistrictforest
sider” even though he is
from Bareilly district and
belongs to the same
Other Backward Class
(OBC)Kurmicommunity
astheveteranleader.This
angered the
Gangwars, a farming
community that is the
Rubbing salt into the com-
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
Lovely in New Delhi on Sunday. Amit Mehra
An IAF helicopter deployed
Saturday to control the
forest fire in Uttarakhand’s
Nainital district. PTI
officer Anirudh Swapnil was
quoted as saying by PTI.
“I have asked people to in-
form the (forest) department
whenevertheyfindanyoneignit-
ing fire in forests. Action will be
takenagainstpeopleignitingfire
PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at
a roadshow in Bareilly on Friday. PTI
in forest areas under the Indian
Forest Act, 1927,” Swapnil said.
On Saturday, state Forest
Minister Subodh Uniyal con-
vened a meeting with depart-
ment officials and took stock of
the situation. In addition, serv-
ices of the IAF were taken to
douse the fire.
According to the IAF, a Mi-17
V5 helicopter was deployed in
Nainital and surrounding areas
todousetheflames.Itconducted
the 'bambi bucket' operation –
releasing water over a particular
area from the top – along the af-
fected regions on Saturday.
Apart from the IAF helicopter
and Army personnel, Prantiya
Rakshak Dal volunteers and
homeguard personnel have also
been roped in to help in the fire-
fighting operations, Kumaon
CommissionerDeepakRawatsaid.
Uttarakhand has recorded at
least 202 forest fire incidents
since April 21, the second high-
est number after Odisha, which
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
The big
questions
THE DEVELOPMENT
comes at a time when
both parties are begin-
ning their campaign ef-
forts in Delhi. The big
questions now: will the
Congress be able to en-
sure transfer of its votes
to the AAP in four seats,
and will the party rank
and file unitedly fight for
its three candidates.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
Fresh violence
in Manipur:
One killed
amid gunfight,
mortar fire
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
IMPHAL, APRIL 28
ONE PERSON was killed and
three were injured after a gun-
fightbrokeoutintheearly hours
of Sunday at the border area be-
tween Meitei-dominated
Imphal West district and Kuki-
Zo-dominated Kangpokpi.
Sources said the gunfight
started at around 2.30 am, with
armed volunteers from Koutruk
village in Imphal West exchang-
ing fire with their counterparts
in the adjoining hills of the
Kangpokpidistrict.Itwasalleged
that Koutruk village was also hit
with locally made mortar shells,
knownas‘pumpi’,causingpanic
among residents.
Koutruk is one of the worst-
affected areas in Manipur since
violencebrokeoutinthestateon
May 3, with frequent reports of
firingbetweenvillagevolunteers
of thetwowarringcommunities.
In Sunday’s gunfight, a Kuki-
Zo man from L Molsang village
under Saitu-Gamphajol sub-di-
vision of Kangpokpi was killed.
He was identified as 44-year-old
Lammang Kipgen.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
EXPRESS NETWORK
RAHUL: MODI,
NAVEEN PARTNERS
EVEN IF NO ALLIANCE
ACTOR SAHIL KHAN
ARRESTED IN
MAHADEV BETTING
APP CASED PAGE 7,4
munity’s wound and exposing
the faultlines within the party,
earlier this month an audio clip
went viral in which a person be-
lieved to be Bareilly Mayor
Umesh Gautam was heard say-
ing, without naming anyone,
“Abhi toh patak patak kar
maarenge (He will be targeted
now).” The Indian Express could
not independently verify the au-
thenticity of the clip.
Gautam, who is from the
Brahmincommunity,wasoneof
the ticket aspirants. Asked about
the clip, he told The Indian
Express, “There was nothing
against him (Santosh Gangwar)
in the audio. I have nothing
`6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
KARNATAKA S.I.T. TO PROBE
Grandson of Deve
Gowda booked in
sex scandal, son
Revanna named too
KIRAN PARASHAR
BENGALURU, APRIL 28
HOURS AFTER the Karnataka
government decided to form a
Special Investigation Team to
probe the alleged role of JD(S)
MP and its Hassan candidate
Prajwal Revanna in a sex scandal
reportedly involving several
women, a woman, in her com-
plaint to police, also named his
father HD Revanna,
Holenarasipura MLA and son of
former Prime Minister HD Deve
Gowda, as an accused.
Prajwalis saidtohaveleft the
country for Germany. The
woman complainant told
Holenarasipura police that she
decided to step forward and
name Revanna and Prajwal after
watching online clips of other
victims narrating their ordeal.
Detailing her case, she alleged
that the abuse took place be-
tween 2019 and 2022.
Her complaint and those of
othersandtheFIRlodgedagainst
Prajwal will go to the SIT headed
by Additional General of Police
Bijay Kumar Singh. Team mem-
bers include IPS officers Suman
D Pennekar and Seema Latkar.
As a political storm erupted
in the middle of the Lok Sabha
elections in the state, Revanna’s
Masked men beat
cleric to death inside
mosque in Ajmer
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
JAIPUR, APRIL 28
THREE MEN beat a cleric to
death inside a mosque in
Rajasthan’s Ajmer late on
Saturday, police said, with the
deceased’sfamilyallegingthein-
volvement of persons trying to
take over the mosque’s control.
Police said Maulana
Mohammad Mahir, 30, lived in
the Mohammadi Madina
mosque, which also has a
madrasa, with around 15 stu-
dents.Thethreepersonsentered
the mosque from a back en-
trance at around 2 am on
Saturday before escaping the
same way.
“Some of the madrasa stu-
dents staying with Maulana
Mahir were present inside the
room that night. When the chil-
dren came out screaming at
around 3 am, the people around
came to know about the inci-
dent. After this, the police were
informed,” said Ramganj police
station in-charge Ravindra
Khinchi, adding that a murder
case has been registered.
Khinchi said the three are
againsthim.Thisisjustanexcuse”
But the audio left Gangwar’s
supporters and the Kurmi com-
munity unhappy, forcing state
BJP president Bhupendra
Chaudhary to rush to Bareilly on
April 8 to meet the veteran
leader. But Gangwar’s support-
ersgheraoedChaudharyandde-
manded that Gautam be sacked.
When asked about the contro-
versy caused, Gangwar said, “I
have nothing to say about the
mayor’s comments.Irespect the
party’sdecision(todenyhimthe
ticket) and I am doing my best to
ensure victory. I am concerned
only about that at this stage.”
In the backdrop of this deep-
X/@iPrajwalRevanna
Prajwal was the NDA’s
candidate in Hassan LS seat
which voted on April 26.
brother and former Chief
Minister HDKumaraswamy dis-
tanced the party from the mat-
ter.
“Deve Gowda and I have
never disrespected any woman.
The state government has or-
dered a SIT investigation, so let
the report come out. We will not
shield anyone. Let the truth
come out,” he said.
Earlier, in an interview to
Asianet Suvarna News,
Kumaraswamy admitted that
the BJP at the Centre had alerted
them about the video clips. “BJP
leaders told us that there were
issues in the Hassan Lok Sabha
segment and advised (us) not to
field Prajwal Revanna. But Deve
Gowda promised them a victory
there,” he said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
THE WORLD
U.S. MEMO: ISRAEL
‘MAY BE’ VIOLATING
INTERNATIONAL LAW
RUSSIA TO WEST:
TOUGH RESPONSE IF
ASSETS TOUCHED
suspected to have taken the
cleric’s phone with them.
Police said they are yet to
identifytheassailants,whowere
wearing masks. But Mahir’s
brother, Mohammad Amir, told
The Indian Express that they have
given names of three people to
police.
“My brother had told us
many times that some people in
the area were not happy with
him handling the madrasa.
Those people wanted to take
control of the institution. He
never liked living in Ajmer but
after the death of his mentor
Mualana Zakir Hussain last year
in October, he was given its
charge. We have given the
names of the people who might
be behind the killing.”
The station in-charge said
policehavenot yetfoundoutthe
motive for the murder.
Police have found two sticks,
the suspected murder weapons,
near the mosque and are scan-
ning CCTV footage. A dog squad
team was also called to the spot.
Mahir came to Ajmer from
Rampur in Uttar Pradesh about
seven years ago. His body has
beentakentoRampurandburied.
seated resentment among
Kurmis, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi held a 45-
minute roadshow in Bareilly —
he skipped the constituency five
years ago — on April 26 along
with UP Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath. The day before, the
PM addressed a public meeting
in Deuchara that is in Bareilly
district — but part of the adjoin-
ing Lok Sabha seat of Aonla —
whereGangwarsharedthestage
alongwithhim, Aonla candidate
Dharmendra Kashyap, and
Badaun nominee Durvijay Singh
Shakya. Earlier, Gangwar also at-
tended Modi’s events in nearby
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Lucknow
 2 THE SECOND PAGE WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

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FROM PAGE ONE FULL REPORTS ON

Cong infighting hits INDIA bloc
that the resignation has been ac-
cepted. Although Lovely made it
clear that he has only quit the party
post and not the party, a section of
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
brunt” of the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP)’s rise to power in the city “at
its expense”, were understood to
be planning their exit.
“Some challenges will come our
way due to his resignation but
challenges are inevitable and it's
not a challenge big enough to stop
he is understood to have decided
to maintain the status quo for
now.”
Sources close to Lovely said his
●Grandson of Deve Gowda booked in
sex scandal, son Revanna named too
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
announced his government’s
decision to form a SIT following
statement.
Holenarasipura town police
registered a case under IPC sec-
a letter from the State tions 354 (a) (sexual harass-
Commission for Women which ment), 354 (d) (stalking), 506
stated that “influential politi- (criminal intimidation) and 509
cians sought sexual favours” (intending to insult the modesty

EXPRESS EDUCATION the Congress leadership as well as

Contact for Advt. Booking: M/s Friends Publicity Service
(M): 9212665841, 9212008155
AAP leaders believed that he would
be joining the BJP again.
Lovely’s resignation is a setback
to the party in terms of optics and
perception. Coming four days after
former Delhi minister Rajkumar
Chauhan quit the party, the resig-
nation of Lovely, who has been
heading the Delhi unit since
August last year, is a blow to the
Congress's efforts for the May 25
elections in Delhi.
What is more worrying for the
Congress is that party insiders said
that more leaders may follow suit.
The high command has started
reaching out to its Delhi leaders to
control the damage.
Sources said the leadership may
appoint an interim Delhi unit pres-
ident, possibly Narendra Nath, a
former MLA and current in-charge
of the Delhi Congress’s disciplinary
committee who is considered close
to the leadership.
The high command is also said
to be unhappy with Babaria’s han-
dling of the affairs of the Delhi
Congress but it is left with little op-
tion as far as Lovely is concerned.
“The mood is to accept it as a fait
accompli and move on,” a senior
All India Congress Committee
(AICC) functionary said. “Lovely
wanted to contest from North-East
Delhi but the high command im-
posed Kanhaiya Kumar... he had
been sulking for some days,” an-
other leader said.
This is the second time that
Lovely has stepped down from the
post of Delhi Congress chief. In
2015, he resigned from the post af-
ter the AAP swept the Assembly
polls. In 2017, he quit the Congress
and joined the BJP, only to return a
year later.
Following Chauhan’s resigna-
tion, The Indian Express had re-
ported that all was not well in the
Congress’s state unit and that old
hands, who had “directly borne the
● Forest fires in Nainital mostly man-made, says forest dept
reported 221 incidents, according to
the Forest Survey of India (FSI). Data
fromUttarakhandForestDepartment
shows that at least 606 incidents of
forestfireshavebeenreportedacross
thestatesinceNovemberlastyear,af-
fecting 735.815 hectares of area. At
leasteightoftheseincidentswerere-
ported in the last 24 hours, affecting
11.75 hectares of land.
On Sunday alone, 42 large forest
fireswerereportedfromUttarakhand
whereas fewer incidents were re-
ported from Odisha (26), Jharkhand
(12) and Chhattisgarh (7). In all, 108
largeforestfireswerereported–cov-
eringMadhyaPradesh,Maharashtra,
Manipur and Tamil Nadu – on
Sunday.
● BJP hits choppy waters in safe seat
Pilibhit that went to the polls on
April 19 in the first phase.
Direct contest with SP
With Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) candidate Chhotelal
Gangwar’spapersrejectedduring
scrutiny,thecontestinBareillyhas
turned into a direct one between
theBJPandPraveenSinghAronof
the Samajwadi Party who de-
feated Santosh Gangwar in 2009
on a Congress ticket.
The unhappiness with the
BJP’schoiceofcandidateispalpa-
bleamongKurmivoters.Inthevil-
lageofDabhora,about30minutes
fromBareillytown,farmerSuresh
Gangwar, who claims to have
voted for the BJP in the past sev-
eralelections,said,“Manyofusare
disturbedaboutthecomment(of
themayor).BJPghamandmeinaa
gayihai(TheBJPhasbecomearro-
gant). He (Santosh) is our tallest
leader here. Some may vote
againsttheBJPandifnot,theywill
Like Chauhan, Lovely too cited
issues related to the functioning of
Babaria, the AICC in-charge of Delhi
and Haryana, and made allegations
against his conduct.
In his resignation letter to
Kharge, Lovely said that Congress
workers were against the alliance
with the AAP. “Delhi Congress unit
was against an alliance with a party
which was formed on the sole ba-
sis of levelling false, fabricated and
malafide corruption charges
against the Congress party and in
turn, whose half of the cabinet
ministers are presently in jail on
corruption charges. Despite that,
the party made a decision to ally
with the AAP in Delhi,” he stated.
Lovely, who was initially con-
sidered a frontrunner for the party
ticket from North East Delhi, also
said that since the Congress got
only three of the seven seats in
Delhi as part of the alliance with
AAP, he had withdrawn his name
to accommodate “other senior
leaders of Delhi Congress”. But the
tickets were given to two leaders
who were “total strangers” to
Delhi, he said, referring to North
West Delhi candidate Udit Raj and
North East Delhi candidate
Kanhaiya Kumar.
Lovely said he was also left on
his own when it came to quelling
dissent following the announce-
ment of the party’s candidates.
Targeting Kanhaiya Kumar,
Lovely said that his statements
praising Kejriwal have not gone
well with the Delhi party unit. “The
local party workers had an inher-
ent understanding that the alliance
was not done in appreciation of
AAP’s false propaganda of the de-
velopment of Delhi and was in fact,
a ‘compromise to improve the
chances of victory for the party as
part of the national alliance',” he
stated. Babaria, meanwhile, said
the Congress high command has
accepted Lovely’s resignation.
TheFSIclassifies10percentofthe
country's forests as highly prone to
fire. About 36 per cent cover is prone
toforestfire.LikeinUttarakhandthis
summer,nearly95percentofthefor-
est fires in India are triggered due to
anthropogenic activities, that is, due
to cigarette smoking, electric spark-
ing,deliberatelightingoffire.Besides,
natural causes like lightning, high
temperaturesanddryness,too,result
in forests going up in flames.
The March-May period is highly
prone to forest fires in India, as there
is rich biomass availability following
the winter season. In the absence of
pre-monsoon showers, the dry
forests cook up a perfect recipe for
fires.
With BSP candidate’s
papers rejected during
scrutiny, the contest in
Bareilly has turned into
a direct one between
BJP and Praveen
Singh Aron of the
Samajwadi Party
skip voting.” The village is part of
the Bareilly constituency.
In the village of Purnapur in
the nearby Aonla constituency,
another farmer, Harendra
Gangwar, said several of his rela-
tives in Bareilly were unhappy
with the BJP. “Though I am a
Samajwadi Party voter, several of
myfamilymembersvotedforthe
BJPinearlierelectionsbecauseof
Santoshji.Thistime,thisisnotthe
case.”
our work, it's all about filling up
some gaps,” he said.
“I accept his allegation that I
stopped him sometimes... it was
decision to quit the post was “an
emotional one”, triggered over “is-
sues related to his self-respect”. A
source said there had been several
because I felt that people who instances when party supporters
should not get promoted are being and workers confronted him and
promoted, which would have de- questioned the alliance with AAP.
moralised the other party work- The latest such incident was at a
ers,” Babaria said. temple on Hanuman Jayanti when
Responding to allegations of local Congress supporters ques-
fielding “outsider candidates”, he tioned his decision to go ahead
said, “There is nothing like outsider with an alliance.
candidates. The high command de- A senior Delhi Congress leader,
cides the candidates based on who however, said there could be more
is overall the best candidate for the to it. “He had not been coming to
state. It is the duty of all Congress the party’s Delhi headquarters for
workers to support those candi- many days... this cannot be a reac-
dates.” tion to the alliance (with the AAP);
Speaking to reporters later, the sole reason why he was put in
Lovely said, “I have submitted my charge of the Delhi unit was to en-
resignation from the post of presi- sure that the alliance went through
dent of the Delhi Congress, and smoothly.”
those who are alleging that I am “He is either under pressure
going to join the BJP to receive Lok from the BJP, which he had joined
Sabha candidature, you all know for some time in 2017, or unhappy
that I had myself introduced the because he was not considered for
party’s candidates a few days ago... a Lok Sabha ticket.”
My struggle is for the values of the Following the announcement
party that we have been fighting of the resignation, AAP minister
for since the last 8-9 years. We are Saurabh Bharadwaj took to X to al-
fighting the elections together but lude to alleged links between
the leadership never said that we
will start giving a clean chit to the
Lovely and the BJP: “Is BJP chang-
ing its candidate for East Delhi?”
AAP.” “It is not just my plight, it is However, speaking to reporters
the Congress workers' plight. I later, he said it was an internal mat-
wrote my grievances in the letter ter of the Congress.
(to Kharge)... At the moment I am Another senior AAP leader said,
not going anywhere, not joining “Even when the contours of our al-
any party. I will, however, discuss liance in Delhi were being finalised,
the matter with the party mem- it was clear to us that Lovely ji
bers to decide my next step.” would contest from North East
Haroon Yusuf, Naseeb Singh, Delhi. We believe it is because he
Sandeep Dikshit and Chauhan did not get a seat that he has re-
were among the leaders who vis- signed from the post.”
ited Lovely's residence. On the pos- On whether this comes as a sur-
sible way forward, a source close to prise or impacts the AAP, the leader
Lovely said, “Around 30 former said: “There was talk of this for the
MLAs and many supporters came past couple of days, especially af-
to express solidarity with him to- ter Chauhan’s resignation, but we
day with several suggesting that he were not sure. As for our campaign,
form his own party. But that is just it doesn’t really impact us because
one of the suggestions. Since he is our campaign is centred on Arvind
still a primary member of the party, Kejriwal.”
As per the latest FSI data of estofficers,fieldofficersandemploy-
Sunday,theprevailingfireinNainital ees to ensure accountability in fire
district has spread to neighbouring management.
districts, including Almora, Tehri In other parts of the country, the
Garhwal, Bageshwar, Champawat harsh summer has been making it
andsouthernPithoragarh,damaging conducive for forest fires. There is a
over 30 acres of forests. marginal uptick in the fire incidents
The state government has issued alongforestsof Koraput,Kandhamal,
aseriesofdirectivestocombatthecri- Sambalpur and Rourkela in Odisha,
sis. Principal Secretary Ramesh whichhasbeenreelingundersevere
Kumar Sudhanshu announced that heatwave since April 15.
all employees of the Forest Inthepastfortnight,thedaytem-
Department have been prohibited perature in Odisha has ranged be-
from taking leave during the current tween 40 and 45 degrees Celsius.
forestfireseason,exceptinspecialcir- In March, several hectares of
cumstances.Also,strictactionwillbe NilagiriforestsinTamilNaduwentup
taken against any negligence found infireasthestateexperiencedaspike
inforestfirecontrol.Theresponsibil- inthemaximumtemperaturessince
itywillbefixedontheconcernedfor- February.
● Violence in Manipur
Several people questioned Denouncing his killing, the Committee on
Chhatrapal Singh's track record. TribalUnity(COTU),SadarHills,announcedthe
Thoughhewonthestateelections imposition of a 12-hour shutdown on Sunday
from Baheri, which comes under – from noon to midnight in Kangpokpi district.
PilibhitLokSabhaconstituency,in COTU alleged that Lammang Kipgen was
2007 and 2017, winning the sec- killed in an unprovoked attack. The tribal body
ond time narrowly, he lost to the announcedthathewouldbeburiedatthemar-
SPinthe2022Assemblypolls.Till tyrs’ cemetery in Phaijang.
thefilingofthisreport,Chhatrapal The latest gunfight comes a day after two
Singh did not respond to calls CRPF personnel were killed and two others
from The Indian Express. were injured in Bishnupur district following a
Meanwhile, SP candidate blast at the paramilitary force’s outpost — one
Aron, who is from the Vaishya of the most brazen attacks on security forces
community,isbettingonsupport during the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.
fromMuslims.Ofthe19lakhvot- It also comes four days after three medium
ers in the seat, six lakh are from intensityblastsdamagedabridgeinKangpokpi
the minority community. To get district on National Highway 2 and impaired
theKurmisupport,heisreceiving the movement of traffic on this crucial road-
help from fellow party leader way. No group has claimed responsibility for
Bhagwat Saran Gangwar who the blasts.
contested the polls from Pilibhit. Polling for the second and final seat in
“The rejection of the BSP candi- Manipur concluded on Friday. Phase 1 of
date’s nomination has ensured pollinginthestate,onApril19,wasalsomarred
my victory, I have no doubt. If by violence — from allegations of gunfire out-
EVMs are not tampered with, no side polling booths to EVMs being damaged to
onecanstopmyvictoryhere,”he election officials being intimidated in parts of
said. the Inner Manipur constituency.
from women besides “raping
some of them”.
Sex video clips, allegedly in-
volving Prajwal Revanna, sur-
faced on social media three days
before Hassan voted on April 26
in Phase 2 of the elections.
Speakingtothemedia,oneof
the alleged victims accused
Prajwal of sexual abuse and
recording the entire episode. “I
have come out now after getting
to know hundreds of women
were exploited,” she said. Asked
why she did not complain ear-
lier, she said, “It is hard to live in
Hassan and take on the family.”
Most video clips were said to
have been either shot in Hassan
or Holenarasipura.
Although the clips were
widely circulated in Hassan dis-
trict, police did not initiate any
action against Prajwal until
Sunday.
Mohammed Sujeetha MS,
Hassan SP, told The Indian
Express that a case was regis-
tered after a victim gave her
● US rejects 1/3rd of MDH exports
the intestinal tract if not cooked
properly.
“Salmonella contamination
happens due to unhygienic prac-
tices. If you maintain hygiene
practices right through the value
chain,fromharvestingtoprocess-
ing to packaging, you should not
be getting salmonella,” a food
safety expert said.
The FDA had physically in-
spected MDH’s manufacturing
plant in January 2022, during
whichitnotedthatthe“plantdid
nothaveadequatesanitaryfacili-
tiesandaccommodations”.Italso
observed that the plant’s “equip-
ment and utensils were not de-
signed and constructed to be ad-
equately cleaned or maintained
toprotectagainstcontamination”.
MDH did not respond to an
email query seeking comments.
In the ongoing US federal fis-
cal year (October 2023 to
September 2024), 0.3 per cent of
allEverestexportshipmentshave
beenrefusedagainst3percentin
thepreviousfiscalyear.Inabsolute
numbers, a total of 5 shipments
have been refused since October
2023.Therefusalswereprimarily
over labelling-related violations.
Everest did not respond to an
email query seeking comments.
Overall,betweenUSFY21and
FY23,roughly10percentofallre-
fused human food shipments
originating in India belonged to
the“spices,flavours,andsalts”cat-
egory, second only to “miscella-
neous food related items”, which
accountedfor31percentofallre-
fusals. “Snack food items” and
“bakery products” recorded a re-
fusal rate of 9 per cent and 7 per
cent, respectively.
AccordingtoFDA’sguidelines,
if ashipmentisrefusedentry,the
importer can either destroy it or
export it out of the US. FDA does
notpublishdataonwhathappens
to shipments once they are re-
fused entry.
InUSFY23,productsexported
under the “spices, flavours, and
salts” category by Ahmedabad-
based Ramdev Food Products
Private Limited saw a refusal rate
of2percent,whichhasincreased
to3percentintheongoingFY24.
Over half of these refusals were
CLARIFICATIONS
& CORRECTIONS
28.04.24, PAGE 1
THE REPORT ‘Phase 2 turnout dips under 3 pc points over ’19; surge in
Rajasthan’ carried the incorrect turnout figures for Rajasthan and
Tripura.TurnoutinRajasthanwas65.03%andinTripura,itwas80.3%.
The error is regretted.
of any woman).
“We have taken a statement
from the victim and the case has
been handed over to the SIT.
They are going to probe the
case,” she said.
Incidentally, Prajwal had ob-
tained an injunction from a local
court to restrain the media,
claiming videos had been doc-
tored to tarnishhis image before
the elections. His polling agent
PoornachandraTejaswiMGfiled
a complaint with police, naming
persons who had circulated the
“morphed” clips.
Three days before polling,
more than 2,000 pen drives
were circulated across the
Hassanconstituency.“Pendrives
were kept on bus seats, at bus
stands and were given to people
in public places like parks. These
pen drives had more than 2000
files which included videos and
photos. After a few hours, we
saw these being widely shared
on WhatsApp. It was shocking,”
an official said.
over salmonella contamination.
Similarly,exportofspicesbyMTR
Foods Private Limited saw a re-
fusal rate of 1 per cent in FY23,
which has remained the same in
the ongoing FY24, also primarily
over salmonella contamination.
Ramdev Foods and MTR did
notrespondtoqueriesemailedfor
comments.
InresponsetoHongKongand
Singaporesuspendingsalesofcer-
tain MDH and Everest products,
the Food Safety and Standards
Authorityof India(FSSAI)hasini-
tiated country-wide quality
checks for different brands of
powdered spices.
HongKongsuspendedsalesof
three MDH spice blends and an
Everest spice mix for fish curries.
Singapore ordered a recall of the
Everest spice mix for containing
high levels of ethylene oxide,
which is unfit for human con-
sumption and a cancer risk with
long term exposure.
The Indian Express had earlier
reported that a total of 3,925 hu-
manfoodexportshipmentsfrom
India were refused entry at US
customs between US FY20 and
FY23.Ofthese,953shipments(24
per cent) were refused entry for
being “filthy” and 786shipments
(20percent)wererefusedforcon-
taining salmonella. The most fre-
quent product categories to face
entry refusals were spices, vita-
mins,mineralsandproteins,bak-
ery products, and seafood prod-
ucts. Moreover, India’s food
exports refusal rate stood at 0.15
percentduringthisperiod,seven
times China’s rate of 0.022 per
centandsixtimesMexico’srateof
0.025 per cent.
Incidentally,refusaloffoodex-
port shipments from India has
seenadownwardtrendinthelast
decade in absolute terms, from a
peak of 1,591 refusals in US FY15
to 1,033 refusals in FY23.
AstudybytheUSDepartment
of Agriculture published in 2022
found that between 2002 and
2019, India had the most
pathogen-relatedviolationswith
5,115 food import refusals out of
over 22,000 pathogen and toxin
violations that were identified, a
share of 22.9 per cent.

Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

3 DECISION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

2024 UTTAR PRADESH

CAMPAIGN PITCH Police book Akash Anand

Shah, Akhilesh spar over quota & clan for promoting hate, enmity
MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, APRIL 28
sarkar aatankwadiyo ki sarkar hoti hai.
AisisarkarTalibanAfghanistanmaicha-
lata hai. (Where children go hungry,
where women and girls suffer abuse,
HOURSAFTERBSPnationalcoordina- where youth are jobless, and where
tor Akash Anand addressed an elec- peopleareexploitedundertheguiseof
tion rally at a college ground in freerations,thegovernmentthereisof
Sitapur, police booked him for al- terrorists.Suchagovernmentisrunby
legedlypromotinghatredandenmity. the Talibans in Afghanistan),” he said.
ThreeBSPcandidates—Mahendra “...Bhajapa ki sarkar bulldozer ki
Yadav,ShyamAwasthi,ShyamAwasthi, sarkar nahi, yeh atankvadiyo ki sarkar
and Akash Kalra — and 36 others in- hai...Aisi sarkar ka samay aagaya hai ab
cluding the organiser of the khatam hone ka yahan par.
rally,VikasRaghuvanshi,have (The BJP government is not
also been named in the FIR. one of bulldozers, but of ter-
SP (Sitapur) Chakresh rorists.Thetimehascomefor
Mishrasaid:“Thespeechwas suchagovernmenttoend,”he
madeusingunparliamentary said.
language in an attempt to in- “…Ek ek jodi chappal, ek
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a BJP rally in Etah on Sunday. PTI SP chief Akhilesh Yadav addresses a public meeting in Bareilly on Sunday. PTI citeviolenceamongpeople.A lathi, ek ek joota nikal lijiye…
caseof violationof the Model BSP leader votemaanneaayeusihisabsey
CodeofConducthasbeenreg- Akash chappal, joota maar maar kar

Won’t scrap reservation, nor will BJP failed to guage public mood, istered.” Anand spoke batadena..jotumneyhamarey
Inapurportedvideoofthe at Sitapur
BSP rally, Akash Anand, who rally
seshikshacheenihaiushkeba-
dlevotenahiyehdandamilega.

let others do it: Shah in Mainpuri won’t win in 3rd phase: Akhilesh
the consecration ceremony but they did not turn
MAULSHREE SETH up at the event because of the fear of losing their
LUCKNOW, APRIL 28 vote bank. I want to ask them what they were
scared of? Now, even (SP veteran) Azam Khan is
UNION HOME Minister Amit Shah asserted on injail.ButtheBJPisnotafraidofsuchavotebank,”
SundaythatthisLokSabhaelectionisacontestbe- he added.
tweentheforcesthatorderedfiringatRambhakts Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
(duringtheBabriMasjiddemolition)andtheones overtheabrogationofArticle370,theUnionHome
who constructed the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Minister said, “Rahul baba, who is a friend of
Addressing a public meeting in Etah-Kasganj Akhilesh Yadav, said when the Bill was being
ahead of the third phase of polling, Shah also placed in Parliament that there would be blood-
claimedthattheBJPwillneitherremovereserva- shedintheValley,butnothinghappened.Pakistan
tions for SCs, STs and OBCs nor will it allow any- attackedIndiathinkingtherewasthegovernment
one to do so, calling it a "Modi guarantee". of 'Mauni baba Manmohan Singh' in the country
Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said, butinsteaditwastheregimeledbyNarendraModi
"RahulGandhisaysthatiftheBJPgets400seats,it that responded with a counter attack.”
willremovereservation.Iwanttosaythatwehad Attacking the SP for claiming to be the well-
afullmajorityfortwotermsbutNarendraModiis wishers of the Yadav community while fielding
a supporter of reservation." several members of just one family, Shah said, “I
At a rally in Mainpuri, the Union minister also havecometotellthepeopleof Mainpurithatfirst
invokedtheabrogationofArticle370andthe2019 it was Mulayam Singh Yadav who became the
Pulwamaattackthatleft40CRPFpersonneldead. chief minister and then his son went on to hold
“Before Narendra Modi became the country's thepost. ListingthemembersoftheYadavfamily
Prime Minister, different governments of the in the fray, Shah added, “After Mulayam Singh
Congress, Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Yadav’sdeath,hisdaughter-in-lawbecameanMP.
PartyattheCentreandthestatesatovertheissue Now,AkhileshiscontestingfromKannauj,Dimple
oftheRamTemple.Butinthelastfiveyears,itwas from Mainpuri, Akshay from Firozabad, Aditya
ensuredthatthecasewaswonandthetemplewas from Badaun and Dharmendra from Azamgarh.”
constructed after a groundbreaking ceremony.” “IwanttoaskAkhileshwhyhedoesnotgetany
Targeting the Samajwadi Party over “giving a other Yadav except his own clan to contest. They
numberofticketstothefamilymembers”ofparty think just about themselves,” he said, appealing
presidentAkhileshYadavinthenameof thewel- topeopletovotethe“family-centricparty”outby
fare of the Yadav community, Shah questioned choosingtheBJP.Healsodismissedfearsofdistur-
why they could not find any other Yadav for con- bance in polling, saying, “If anyone tries to create
testing the elections. anydisturbance,theElectionCommissionwilldeal
“TheShriRamJanmbhoomiTeerthKshetrain- with them.”
vitedbothAkhileshandhiswifeDimpleYadavfor —PTIINPUTS
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SAMBHAL, MORADABAD, APRIL 28
SAMAJWADI PARTY president Akhilesh Yadav
on Sunday claimed the BJP will not win any seat
inthethirdphaseof theLok Sabhapolls andthat
the ruling party misunderstood the direction of
the wind when it made its slogan of "400 paar".
Addressing a rally in Sambhal, Yadav also said
theSamajwadiPartyhadanadvantageinthethird
phase,sayingthatelectionsonMay7willbeheld
betweenSambhal and“his home” in Etawah and
Mainpuri.
"BJP people did not know the direction of the
wind,sotheykeptsaying400paar'(winningover
400seats)andwhentheyrealisedthepublicsen-
timentafterthetwophasesof election,BJPforgot
itsslogan,”theformerUPchiefministersaid."The
windthatcamefromthewest(westernUP)inthe
first phase will change the BJP government. The
similar trend was seen in the second phase also.
PeoplearenotacceptingtheBJP,”theSPchiefsaid.
“It is now your responsibility in the third
phase,” he added to those gathered for the rally
taken out in support of party candidate Zia ur
Rahman Barq.
Later while speaking to reporters in
Moradabad too, Yadav said the BJP's “language”
has changed from ‘400 paar' to issues of the PDA,
his coinage for “pichhde (backwards), Dalits and
Adivasis”.
"These elections are being held from this part
till our home. Netaji (SP founder Mulayam Singh
Yadav) has also been an MP from this area
(Sambhal).Votingisgoingtotakeplacefromhere
to Mainpuri. I can say that the BJP is not going to
is the nephew of BSP chief
supremo Mayawati, is heard
(Takeoutyourslippers,sticks,
and shoes. If anyone comes
callingtheBJPgovernment“gaddaroki seekingvotes,letthemknowthatthey
openitsaccountinanyLokSabhaseathere,”Yadav sarkar (a government of traitors)”. He took away our education, and now
said in Sambhal. is also heard urging people to hit rep- they'llonlygetastickinreturn),”Anand
Mulayam Singh, an ex-CM and the SP chief's resentatives of other parties seeking is heard saying in the clip.
father,waselectedanMPfromSambhalLokSabha votes with shoes, sticks, and slippers. The FIR has been filed under sev-
constituency twice in 1998 and 1999. “Jahan bachhe bukhe rahein, jahan eral IPC sections, including 502(2)
"Next to you, Samajwadi Party is winning in behan betiyon par atyachar ho, jahan (promoting enmity, hatred), and
Rampur and Moradabad and if all the Lok Sabha yuva berojgar ho, jahan janta ko free ra- Section 125 of the Representation of
seats nearby are winning, then will the people of tionkenaampargulambanadijayei.Aisi People’s Act, said a police officer.
Sambhal be left behind? When the seats where
BJP loses with the highest number of votes are
counted, the name of Sambhal Lok Sabha should
be included in it," he further urged the voters.
Yadav also said the election in Sambhal is an
opportunity to pay tribute to party MP Shafiqur
Rahman Barq, who was declared as the SP candi-
date but died earlier this year. After his death, his
grandson,ZiaurRahmanBarqgotthepartyticket.
“We gave the ticket to the very popular
Shafiqur Rahman Barq Saheb but he is no longer
with us. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to
him.Healwaysstoodfortherightsof hispeople,”
he said.
The SP chief also said that the Lok Sabha polls
areafightbetweenthosethatwanttoabolishthe
ConstitutionandtheINDIAblocandthesocialists
who want to protect the Constitution.
"Bharatiya Janata Party is conspiring to abol-
ish the Constitution and take away our and your
right to vote. So this is an election to save the
Constitution and our rights,” he said.
ThosewhoareouttochangetheConstitution
will be changed by the public, the SP leader said.
Asserting that the BJP has insulted the farm-
ers, Yadav said, "The INDIA alliance government
will waive off the loans of farmers. We will pro-
vide facilities to farmers.We will guarantee MSP
for crops.”

SP nominee booked for ‘threatening’ official, Akhilesh questions EC

MANISH SAHU
LUCKNOW, APRIL 28
AN FIR has been filed against
Sanatan Pandey, the Samajwadi
Party (SP) candidatefor the Ballia
Lok Sabha seat, which votes on
June1,onchargesofspreadingen-
mity and threatening the district
election officer. Pandey allegedly
made these remarks while ad-
dressingthemediaonSaturdayin
Ballia, according to the police.
Intheviralvideo,apersonbe-
lievedtobePandeyisheardsaying
thatin2019,thedistrictadminis-
tration had treated him unfairly.
He claimed he had accepted de-
feat, citing his trust in the EC, and
subsequently left the counting
centre.Pandeyallegedhewasat-
tacked outside the counting cen-
tre, and his vehicle was damaged
by“peopleonthesideof thegov-
ernment”.Inanothervideo,heal-
legedlysaidhewouldnottolerate
a repetition of such events this
Sanatan
Pandey is
SP’s Ballia
candidate
time. “If the people of Ballia de-
cidetodefeatme,Iwillgracefully
accept it and exit the counting
centre. However, if the people of
Ballia make me the victor then
neither the local administration
nor the BJP will be able to pre-
ventmefromobtainingmywin-
ning certificate,” he allegedly
said, adding “if they do (prevent
me), either my body or that of
the collector’s will come out”.
Sub-InspectorMakhanSingh,
the complainant, alleged that
Pandey’s statements amounted
topromotingenmity,amongvar-
ious segments of society. The
complainant also alleged the re-
markswereaimedatcausingob-
struction and physical harm to
the District Election Officer.
Reacting to the FIR, Akhilesh
said, “Cases should also be regis-
teredagainstthosewho,frombig
stages, are making comments on
the country’s Constitution, the
‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’ and
brotherhood. Will the EC takeac-
tion against them?”
The FIR has been filed for un-
dueinfluence,threattopublicser-
vant), promoting enmity, along
with sections 125 and 136 of the
Representation of thePeopleAct.

Ballotin
BSP leader
booked for
‘distributing
money’
Lucknow: An FIR has been
lodgedagainstBSPleaders
for allegedly violating the
Model Code of Conduct
following a video of
money distribution going
viral in Kaushambi.
Accordingtothepolice,
they received a complaint
aboutvideoscirculatingon
socialmediashowingdis-
tribution of money. “The
videos depict money be-
ing exchanged, counted,
andclearvoicesdiscussing
thetransactions,allegedly
takingplacenearthepub-
lic meeting organised by
the BSP on April 26,” the
police said.
“The videos also indi-
cate that the act was al-
legedlycommittedbyBSP
district president Mahesh
Chaudhary, along with
others identified as
Ratnesh,Vijay,andseveral
unknown individuals,” a
police officer added.
Thecasehasbeenfiled
under IPC sections 171-B
(bribery), 171-H (Illegal
payments in connection
withanelection),andsec-
tion 125 of the
Representation of the
People Act 1950. ENS

Lucknow
 4 EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

6 dead, 20 injured as bus, truck collide

Unnao:Sixpeoplewerekilledand
over 20 others were injured here
on Sunday afternoon when a
speeding truck collided head-on
withabus,rippingthroughoneof
its side, police said.
Thebusdriverfledthespotaf-
ter the accident, while the truck
driverhasbeenarrested,theysaid.
The accident took place near
SALUTE THE SOLDIER
You laid down your lives and made the supreme sacrifice in the high-
est traditions of the FIFTH ROYALS. Your inspiring and selfless deed
has always been a source of motivation to each one of us.
Jem Gangaram Desai
Nk Babu Rewane ,VrC
Nk Mugutrao Jagdale
Nk Vishnu Patil
Lnk Ananda Chawan
Sep Kashiram More
Sep Namdeo Chawan
JamaldipurvillageontheHardoi-
Unnao road in the Safipur police
station area, they said. Doctors at
the community health centre in
Safipur referred the injured per-
sons to the district hospital in
UnnaoandinKanpur.Ofthe20in-
jured, 11 were sent to Kanpur,
while9havebeentakentothedis-
trict hospital in Unnao. PTI
Sep Prahlad Saw
Sep Rajaram Nikam
Sep Govind Sontake
Sep Vithal Misal
Sep Vilas Salunkhe
Sep Yadav Dattatrray
Sep Anil Kumar Kadam
Actor Sahil Khan held by Mumbai
police in Mahadev betting app case
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 28
THE MUMBAI police crime
brancharrestedactorSahilKhan
from Chhattisgarh Sunday
morning in connection with the
Mahadev betting app case after
his anticipatory bail application
was rejected by the Bombay
High Court last Wednesday.
Thepolicesaidthatsoonafter
Classifieds
I Manbhari Devi W/o Sheespal
Sahil khan at a court in
Mumbai on Sunday. Express
his bail plea was rejected, Khan
hadfledMumbaiinacarandthe
policechasedhimacrossvarious
states including Goa, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana be-
in Chhattisgarh, police said.
Khan was produced before a
holidaycourtonSundayandwas
remanded to police custody for
three days, an officer said. While
on Bombay High Court orders,
Khanhadappearedforquestion-
ingbeforethepolice,butsources
said he did not cooperate much.
Thepolicerecentlyquestioned
Khan,47,abouttheMahadevbet-
tingapp,whichallegedlyenabled
illegalgamblingandtransactions
through the company. The house that collapsed due to the cylinder blast in Lucknow on Sunday. PTI
Thecrimebranchisinvestigat-
ingthepromotersoftheMahadev
Four of family injured critically as
bettingapplicationwhichhassev-
eral betting platforms connected
to it. One of these betting apps

house collapses in cylinder blast

Sep Mahadeo Kadam
Sep Laxman Gawas
Sep Dayanba Gawas
Sep Dhondu Mahadik
Sep Krishna Kale
Sep Krishna Patil
Sep Krishana Salunke
Lnk Jagnnath Pawar
P/Lnk Jagu Bache
Lt Ronald Mathew Serrao
CHM Goma Gawas
Hav Sandipan Naikode
Hav Krishnarao Pawar
Sep Baban Jathar
Sep Shrikant Hadkar
Sep Dnyanoba Takalkar
Sep Arjun Jadhav
Sep Balaji Sawant
Lnk Tukaram Waghmode
Lnk Ganpati Petkar
2Lt MR Ghanekar
Sub Tukaram Nikam
Hav Shripati L Chougale
Hav Tukaram Yadav
Hav Kisan Jagdale, VrC
Nk Bajirao Jadhav, SM
Nk Eknath Kardile, VrC
Lnk Clk K Purushottaman
Lnk Sadashiv Bait
Sep Eknath Mane
Lnk Maruti Madilgekar
Fondly remembered
COMMANDING OFFICER & ALL RANKS
FIFTH ROYALS.
Sep Ramchandra Kadam
Sep Vithoba Patne
Sep Yashwant Mane
Sep Govind Masalkar
Capt N Murlidharan
Nb Sub Namdeo Kore
Nb Sub K Tukaram Mundhe
CHM R Soma Gawade
Hav B Gulab Ghale
Hav Sudhakar Jadhav
Nk Vilas Joti Powar
I, MD SHADAB ANJUM son of MD
Lnk (TS) Vasudeo R Sawant
P/Lnk Ananda Ganpati Yadav
Sep Dilip Krishna More
Sep Kondekar Madhukar S
Sep Bhagat Sanjay Dagadu
Sep Mohan Karlekar
Sep Patil Narayan Bapu
Sep Raghunath Prasad Patel
Sep Gaikwad H Babasaheb
Sep Shriram Tatod
Capt Vinay R Sachan
P/Lnk Bharat Mhaske, SM
Sep Patil Prakash Bhagwan
Sep Pachange Fakkad Dagdu
Sep Shrikant Bodake
Maj Akash Singh, SC
Nk Nale Dinkar Maruti
Hav C Hambirrao Bapurao
Nk (TS) Ilake Pandurang J
Lnk Kadam Sambhaji Y
Vill-Shri Krishna Nagar, PO -
Barau, Teh- Khetri, Distt -
Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, in
service documents of my Son
JC- 543301A Nb Sub Manee
Ram my name is entered as
Manabharee Devi which is
wrong my correct name is
Manbhari Devi . 0050241177-1
ISARAFIL ANSARI resident of
Sindhi Colony Tiwari Tola Basti
have changed my name from
MD SHADAB ANJUM to MD
SHADAAB vide affidavit dated
23-04-2024 before Basti Court.
0050240988-1
''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
damageincurredasaresultof
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.
fore he was eventually tracked was allegedly owned by Khan,
down and arrested from a hotel the police said.
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF INCOME TAX
(INVESTIGATION), NORTH WEST REGION,
Hkkjr ljdkj / Govt. of India
vk;dj Hkou / Income Tax Department
1st Floor Income Tax Wing, Central Revenue Building Sector 17, Chandigarh.
TENDER NOTICE
DOMESTIC COMPETITIVE BIDDING
(Through call of open Tenders)
F.No: DGIT(Inv.)/CHD./Forensic Services/2024-25 Date: 26-04-2024
Three Years from date of signing Agreement,
PERIOD which may be extended by one more year as per
OF
the administrative convenience of the Director
General of Income Tax (Investigation), NWR,
CONTRACT Chandigarh to satisfactory performance of the
empaneled service providers.
The tender May be downloaded from e-procurement
documents can be website i.e., www.incometaxindia.gov.in
obtained from www.incometaxchandigarh.org
Last Date & Time Date: 24-05-2024
for receipt of Bid Time: 02:00 PM
Time and Date of Technical Bid : 11:00 AM on 04.06.2024
opening of Bids Financial Bid : 11:00 AM on 11.06.2024
Declaration of Bid & Meeting with qualified
Vendors : 11:00 AM on 18.06.2024
Tenders The Director General of Income Tax (Investigation),
addressed to NWR, Chandigarh
Place of Opening Office of the Director General of Income Tax
(Investigation), NWR, Chandigarh
of Bids
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, APRIL 28
FOUR MEMBERS of a family, in-
cluding a one-year-old girl, sus-
tained injuries when a cooking
gas cylinder exploded inside a
house in the Gazi Mandai area
of Lucknow city on Sunday
afternoon.
The two-storey house col-
KSRTC - SWIFT LTD
Anayara,
Thiruvanathapuram,
Kerala
E-Tender Notice
KSRTC SWIFT Ltd (A Govt. of Kerala
Undertaking) invites e-tender for the
supply of 10 Nos. of Fully Built AC AIR
Suspension 4 - Cylinder Diesel BS VI
Premium Superfast buses.
Last date for Tender submission:
13.05.2024, 06.00 pm The details are
available in: www.etenders.kerala.gov.in/
www.keralartc.com/ www.ksrtcswift.
kerala.gov.in.
Chairman & Managing Director
Thiruvananthapuram
27.04.2024
lapsed due to the impact of the
blast that is likely to have oc-
curredduetoaleakageinthegas
cylinder, the police said.
The victims, identified as
JagdishKashyap(65), hisdaugh-
ter-in-law Pinky Kashyap (38),
granddaughter Vidisha Kashyap
(1), and nephew Raj Kumar (52),
are currently undergoing treat-
ment at a hospital. Their condi-
tion is critical, doctors said.
According to the police, it
was found during the initial in-
vestigation that Pinky Kashyap
4 tourists killed as cab falls into canal
Srinagar:Fourtouristswerekilled
whiletwoaremissingafteravehi-
cletheyweretravelinginskidded
off the road and fell into the fast
flowingSindhcanalatGagangeer
ontheSrinagar-Ladakahnational
highway, officials said.
Two tourists were rescued in
a critical condition and were
rushed to Srinagar hospital for
was preparing food when she
noticed a gas pipe detachment,
which then caught fire. Before
the family could evacuate the
house, the explosion occurred,
resulting in the roof collapse on
those inside.
The police reached the spot
on receiving information and
pulled out the victims from the
debris. A fire department team
was also rushed to the site.
The housecollapsemayhave
resultedinseriousinjuriestothe
victims, officials said.
specialized treatment, officials
said. The rescue operations were
suspendedlateSundayduetoin-
cessant rains and darkness.
Officials said there were eight
tourists and a local driver in the
cab when it fell into the canal.
The rescue teams rushed to
the accident spot and launched
the rescue operations. ENS

Lucknow

5 DECISION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
I Hereby
Declare
BASAVARAJBOMMAI,64
Former Karnataka CM and
BJP's Haveri candidate
TOTAL ASSETS
`53.95 CR (2024)
`8.92 CR (2018)
Movableassets `10.49 cr
Immovableassets`43.46cr
Liabilities `5.46cr
Pendingcriminal None
cases
Education BE,BVB
Engineering
College,Hubballi
ANANDSWAMY
GADDADEVARMATH,46
Contesting LS polls first time,
Cong’s Haveri candidate
TOTAL ASSETS
`56. 55 CR (2024)
`13.74 CR (2013)
Movableassets `19.76 cr
Immovableassets `37.01cr
Liabilities `22.47cr
Pendingcriminal 1FIRfor
cases IPCoffences
Education BSc,RLS
Institute,Belgaum
‘Workers have no value in Congress … a lot of
dissatisfaction as kin of ministers are in the fray’
AKRAM M
BELAGAVI, APRIL 28
FORMER KARNATAKA Chief
MinisterJagadishShettarquitthe
BJP and joined the Congress in
April2023,justmonthsbeforethe
polls,sendingshockwavesacross
the party he had been associated
with for decades. Though he lost
from his home turf Hubli-
Dharwad, he was made an MLC.
He returned to the BJP in January
andisnowitscandidatefromthe
Belgaum Lok Sabha seat earlier
represented by his relative and
former Union Minister Suresh
Angadi. The Lingayat leader talks
about the campaign, his electoral
prospects, and his community’s
influence. Excerpts:
Would you have been happier
if the party fielded you closer
to home from Dharwad?
I do not differentiate as I have
alotofacquaintancesinDharwad,
Haveri, and Belgaum. People will
support me if I contest from any
of the three constituencies.
KEY ISSUES
Why Mamata is on back foot over High Court order in school jobs scam
ATRI MITRA
KOLKATA, APRIL 28
THE CALCUTTA High Court’s de-
cision April 25 to cancel the re-
cruitment of almost 26,000
schoolteachersandnon-teaching
staff has set off a
firestorm in West
Bengal amid the
ongoing Lok Sabha
polls,providingthe
Opposition BJP DECODE
more ammunition
with which to tar- POLITICS
get the ruling
Trinamool Congress (TMC).
At a rally in Malda town on
Friday, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi took aim at the TMC and
Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee,
saying,“TMCplayedwiththelives
of the youths in Bengal. About
26,000 people lost their liveli-
hoodsduetothemassiverecruit-
IMAGEOF THE DAY
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah holds a public rally in support of the party’s Lok Sabha candidate in
Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, in the city’s Chanapora area on Sunday. The NC is contesting all three seats in Kashmir. ANI
Cong to take legal action over Surat seat row
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 28
THECONGRESSwilltakelegalre-
course after the Lok Sabha elec-
tions in the Surat matter where
BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was
elected unopposed to the Lower
House on April 22, senior leader
Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in
Ahmedabad Sunday.
Surat Congress candidate
Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination
form was rejected on April 21 af-
terhisthreeproposerssubmitted
affidavits to Surat DEO Saurabh
Pardhiclaimingthesignatureson
the document were not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh
What is your assessment of
the ground situation?
I have worked hard to de-
velop Belagavi city and am ac-
quainted with the party organi-
sation here. Moreover, Angadi is
a close relative. I was the Leader
of the Opposition when he was
the district president and we
builtthepartyineverytaluk.Iam
awareof theproblemsof thecity
and the district and have a close
relationship with the people.
But you have been labelled an
“outsider”...
Itisnotadebatableissueatall.
Why did the Congress not talk
about it when (Chief Minister)
Siddaramaiah contested from
BadamiinBagalkotdistrictwhen
he is a native of Mysuru or when
(Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi
contested from Wayanad in
KeralainsteadofAmethi(thefam-
ily’s previous stronghold) in UP?
Even (ex-Congress presi-
dent) Sonia Gandhi contested
the Lok Saha polls from Bellary
(in 1999). In the current polls,
minister Shivananda Patil’s
mentscam.Those,whotookloans
and gave them to the TMC (to get
jobs),areontheroadsnow.Itisthe
BJPgovernmentattheCentrethat
is providing jobs to the youth.”
Hitting back, Mamata said,
“You have heard about maneater
tigers, but have you heard about
the job-eater BJP?
Didyouseetheglee
on the face of the
leaders of the BJP,
CPI(M) and
Congress after so
many people were
renderedjoblessby
the court?”
What did the Calcutta
High Court say?
InitsApril22order,aDivision
BenchofJusticesDebangsuBasak
andShabbarRashidicancelledthe
appointmentsof25,753teaching
and non-teaching staff and or-
dered them to “return all remu-
Congress
leader
Abhishek
Manu
Singhvi
Padsala,theCongress’ssubstitute
candidateinSurat,wasalsoinval-
idated on the same grounds.
The remaining eight candi-
dates, including one from the
BSP, withdrew their nomination
forms after which the DEO de-
clared BJP candidate Mukesh
Dalal elected unopposed from
Surat on April 22. On Friday, the
Congress suspended Kumbhani
from the party.
THE EXPRESS
INTERVIEW
WITH
JAGADISH
SHETTAR
FORMER CM AND BJP’S
BELGAUM CANDIDATE
daughter Samyukta is in the fray
from Bagalkot even though she
is from Bijapur. I do not under-
stand why Congress leaders are
raising this issue.
nerationsandbenefitsreceived …
along with interest calculated at
12% per annum from the date of
receiptthereoftilldeposit,within
aperiodoffourweeksfromdate”.
The court also ordered the CBI to
investigate further and submit a
report within three months.
What is the school
jobs scam?
The scam came to the fore
whenaHighCourtDivisionBench
comprising Justices Harish
Tandon and Rabindranath
Samanta set up a committee
headed by Justice (retired) Ranjit
Bag in February 2022 to look into
allegedirregularitiesintheschool
jobrecruitmentprocess.Thecom-
mitteesubmitteditsreportinMay
that year. Based on it, a Division
BenchofjusticesSubrataTalukdar
and Ananda Kumar Mukherjee
upheld then Justice Abhijit
Gangopadhyay’sdirectiveforaCBI
Senior advocate Singhvi as-
serted that a returning officer
cannot judge a signature’s au-
thenticity. “Legal recourse in
these matters happens after the
election.Nobodyistalkingabout
winningorlosingbutwearetalk-
ing about the principles of it. No
returning officer can judge a sig-
nature’s authenticity. That is not
a summary procedure. The re-
turning officer only has a sum-
mary procedure. He cannot de-
cidesignatures.Yes,hecandecide
(if) the man standing in front of
meisnot Abhishek Singhvi; he is
a different man. Those are the
summary things he can decide. I
wonderhow...(he)candecidethe
authenticity of signatures with-
In last year’s Assembly polls,
you were with the Congress.
Now, you are with the BJP.
How was the transition?
I left the BJP due to some inci-
dentsbutwasinvitedbackbyna-
tionalleadersandrejoinedwithin
ashorttime.I,alongwith(former
CM) B S Yediyurappa and (ex-
Union minister) Ananthkumar,
was involved in building the BJP
fromscratchinthestate.Myfam-
ily has been with the BJP since its
Jana Sangh days. It is our “maatr
paksha (mother party)”.
In the Assembly polls, the
Congress benefited from
Lingayat leaders like you
quitting the BJP. Has the
situation changed now?
A large number of Lingayats
will back the BJP.
What are your poll promises?
Belagavi is an important city,
with the third busiest airport in
Karnataka. A new terminal will
come up to boost connectivity. I
alsohaveplanstobringbiggerin-
dustries.Theavailabilityofhuman
Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Asansol on Saturday. PTI
probe into “irregularities” for
GroupCandGroupDpostsinthe
School Education Department.
Who have been
arrested to date?
Among the first high-profile
2024
out sending it to a forensics lab,”
Singhvirepliedtoaquestionfrom
The Indian Express.
Singhvisaidthereturningof-
ficer forgot about NOTA. “He
gave an interview in which he
proudly showed the handbook
of the EC, which says that when
somebody withdraws and no-
bodyisleft,thendeclarethecan-
didate left as elected. But that
handbook was made before
NOTA was born. NOTA is a can-
didate. As long as NOTA is alive
and kicking on the paper, you
cannot,” he stated. He ques-
tioned the actions stating that if
the BJP was so sure of winning
Surat, why they made it a “selec-
tion and not an election”.
resources makes Belagavi a good
placeforITcompanies.Ialsowant
to complete all railway and infra-
structure projects at the earliest.
Do you think unemployment
and inflation are poll issues?
Unemployment is a universal
issue and was there during the
Congress regime too. (PM Modi)
has done a lot for the generation
of employmentand many young
peoplearegettingjobsinthegov-
ernment and the private sector.
Belgaum, Chikkodi and
Bagalkot are among the seats
with state ministers’ children
in the fray...
Workers have no value in the
Congress.Thereisalotof internal
dissatisfaction among the
Congress’scadreasthekinofmin-
istersandimportantpoliticallead-
ersareinthefray.CongressMLAs
who say there is no scope for
workers feel that the criteria for
selecting candidates are having
powerful relatives and money.
Partyworkersandpeoplearedis-
appointed with the Congress.
arrests was then TMC leader and
state minister Partha Chatterjee
and his close aide Arpita
Mukherjee in August 2022. The
TMC faced the full heat of media
glarewhenmovableandimmov-
able property worth over Rs 100
BATTLEGROUND MAHARASHTRA
Communal rift, Sena
split, Maratha quota
merge in Aurangabad
AIMIM won the seat in 2019 by a narrow margin, but does
not have the support of Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA this time
SHUBHANGI KHAPRE
CHHATRAPATI
SAMBHAJINAGAR, APRIL 28
WITH TWO rival Shiv Sena fac-
tions caught in a battle of politi-
cal one-upmanship, and the
AIMIMseekingtoretaintheseat,
the Aurangabad Lok Sabha con-
test is seeing the fault lines criss-
crossing Maharashtra – a state
that has seen much political up-
heaval in the past five years –
converge in the constituency.
TheMay13LokSabhaelection
for the seat will be the first after
Aurangabad was renamed
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. In
this communally sensitive city,
bothSenafactions–onewiththe
ruling Mahayuti, the other with
the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) –
claim credit for the renaming.
The Sena (UBT), an ally of the
CongressandNCP(SharadPawar),
hasreposedfaithinChandrakant
Khaire,afour-timeMPwholostto
the AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel in 2019
by just 4,492 votes. The Shinde
SenahasfieldedCabinetminister
Sandipanrao Bhumre, an MLA
from Paithan, in the Jalna district.
Inbetweenservingcustomers,
SujataBirad,whorunsafoodstall
outside Aurangabad airport says,
“Everyone is confused. There are
so many parties and candidates,
and no guarantee who will re-
main with whom later.” Gajanan
Landge, a Maratha, who is eating
atthestallandworkswithanair-
line, points to another truism of
thiselectioninMarathwada.“Alot
will depend on which way the
Marathas and OBCs vote.”
The Maratha reservation
protests, the state government's
concession to them, and the OBC
fears about losing their share of
the quota benefits have driven a
rift between the two communi-
ties,whichisexpectedtobeakey
issue in the Marathwada region.
ButiffortheAIMIMit’sapres-
tige fight given Aurangabad was
one of its first poll wins outside
Hyderabad,forthetwoSenastoo,
itisthefirstelectoraltestofthere-
spective factions after the split.
Shinde Sena candidate
Bhumrestartsoutwiththedisad-
vantagethatheisseenasan“out-
sider”. Plus, Sena workers are be-
lieved to be with Uddhav
Thackeray,whohastheirsympa-
thy for Shinde splitting the party
founded by Uddhav’s father Bal
Thackeray.Thatthesplitisseenas
having been engineered by the
BJPisnothelpingtheShindeSena.
crore was linked to Chatterjee, as
werebundlesofcashrunninginto
crores. The ruling party subse-
quently expelled him from the
state Cabinet and the party.
Morearrestsfollowed,ofsen-
iorofficialsinthestateeducation
department, including North
BengalUniversityViceChancellor
SubireshBhattacharya,TMCMLA
and West Bengal Board of
Primary Education president
Manik Bhattacharya, and TMC
MLA Jiban Krishna Saha.
How is it playing out
politically?
Coming in the middle of the
Lok Sabha elections, the order is
a massive setback for the TMC,
which is now trying to do dam-
age control by saying not all
should lose their jobs. The gov-
ernment has also said it will
move the Supreme Court.
At an election rally in Raiganj
AIMIM’s Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel (left) with party
chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. File
VOTE SHARE (%)
IN AURANGABAD
Maharashtra
Voting
May13
■ AIMIM ■ SS ■ Cong
52.99 36.51
2014
7.66
32.09
32.47
2019
Note: AIMIM did not contest
in 2014. Shiv Sena (SS) was
undivided at the time
Source: Election Commission
Many,includingthosewhodonot
like the Sena (UBT)’s Khaire, say
the same: “In Aurangabad, there
is only the ‘Bal Thackeray Shiv
Sena’. We don’t recognise the
other (Shinde Sena).”
From “gaddar (traitor)” to
“khokesarkar(agovernmentrest-
ing on money power)”, the Sena
(UBT) has rolled out a campaign
to discredit the Shinde Sena.
Khaire is promising he will
bringindustriesandgeneratejobs
if hewins,andraisingissuessuch
as water shortage, a key concern
in drought-prone Marathwada.
Mindful of Aurangabad’s sig-
nificance, Chief Minister Eknath
Shindefought togettheseatinits
talks with the BJP. He has put his
weightbehindBhumre,address-
ingarallyhereonthedayhefiled
his nomination. Shinde also vis-
itedMarathaleaderVinodPatilto
FOR MORE LOG ON TO
INDIANEXPRESS.COM/ELECTIONS
● THE NEERJA CHOWDHURY COLUMN
BUZZ ABOUTANOTHER GANDHI AMID
CONGRESS’S RAE BARELI, AMETHI VACUUM
in Uttar Dinajpur district the day
thecourtgavetheorder,Mamata
Banerjeesaid,“Itisnotmandatory
toacceptallverdicts.Wewillchal-
lengetheorderinthehighercourt.
This order was passed as per the
BJP'sinstructions,amidelections.”
TheBJPandotherpartieshave
attempted to corner the govern-
ment and demanded the CM’s
resignation. BJP’s Tamluk candi-
date Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who
asajudgeruledinseveralcasesre-
lated to the scam, said, “The real
culpritsaresittingintoppositions
of state administration... If they
havethecourageandanyshame,
theyshouldquittheirpositionsof
power and face investigations.”
CPI(M) leader and senior ad-
vocate Bikash Ranjan
Bhattacharya, who has been
fighting the case, said, “It proves
that if the court wants, it can up-
hold constitutional rights and
unmask corrupt governments.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
elicitsupportforBhumre,inabid
to assuage the Maratha anger
over the reservation issue.
OfthesixAssemblysegments
in Aurangabad, all but one are
with the Shinde Sena and BJP.
Shinde is banking on this ground
support, apart from the poll “be-
ingallaboutPMNarendraModi”.
Samad Patel, who heads a
stamp registration office here,
says: “The fight between the two
Senas will divide the votes. This
may help the AIMIM.”
That would also be the Sena
(UBT)’s fear because, unlike the
rest of Maharashtra where
Muslimsareseenasvotingforthe
MVA en bloc, here the AIMIM is a
strongcontender;Muslimsarein
a majority in the constituency.
TheAIMIMisalso tryingtore-
tain the support of the Dalit and
backwardsegmentswithinOBCs
that it got last time on account of
itsalliancewiththeVikasBahujan
AghadiofPrakashAmbedkar.The
parties are contesting independ-
ently this time around
VishwajeetMaske,whoworks
for a private firm at the city’s
Kranti Chowk, says he fears the
votewill come down tosectarian
lines.“Wehavelivedwiththewa-
ter crisis for decades, graduates
are idling. Yet, when it comes to
voting, people turn to their caste
and community,” he says.
Thereisarealisationoftheim-
pact it has had on Aurangabad,
where tension between Hindus
and Muslims lies just below the
surface. A year ago, the two com-
munities clashed after Hindutva
groupsdrivingpastatemplerais-
ingslogansinMuslim-dominated
Kiradpura area hit a passerby.
AfrozeJaleelsaysthissuitsthe
politiciansfine,astheyhavenoan-
swer to inflation and unemploy-
ment. “Has any ordinary person
ever gained from a riot?”
Unfortunately, some people
have to lose their jobs, but they
should realise the consequences
of supporting a corrupt party.”
FortheBJP,anti-corruptionis
amajorpollplankinWestBengal
thathashelpeditcornertheTMC
for the better part of the three
years since Mamata returned to
powerinthe2021stateelections.
Apartfromtheschooljobsscam,
in which TMC leaders have been
arrested, the Mamata Banerjee-
ledpartyhasalsobeenunderthe
scanner in coal and cattle smug-
gling cases and the alleged mu-
nicipal jobs and ration distribu-
tion scams. The TMC and the
BJP-ledCentrehavealsobeenin-
volved in a face-off over the al-
leged withholding of Central
funds. The BJP has alleged that
thishappenedbecauseof alleged
irregularitiesintheimplementa-
tion of the schemes, something
the TMC has denied.
Lucknow
 6 GOVT & POLITICS WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

India,UKclosertopact Cong and CPM are two eyes

of BJP in Bengal, says Mamata
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
onelectricpropulsion EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, APRIL 28

systemforwarships A DAY after Congress MP Adhir

UK learnt to have sent formal proposal to India last month
AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
THE CENTRE and the UK govern-
ment are discussing the possibil-
Dimple Yadav campaigns in Mainpuri. X/dimpleyadav ityof anagreementtodevelopan
electricpropulsionsysteminIndia
to power domestic warships, The
HANGERS-ON Indian Express has learnt.
Indianwarshipsarecurrently
THESAMAJWADIPartyhaslatelybeenkeepingthecampaign- powered by diesel engines, gas
ing schedule of its Mainpuri candidate Dimple Yadav a secret. turbines or steam turbines. The
The details of the schedule and route of Dimple are being electric propulsion capability is
shared only with a handful of office-bearers. A senior leader meant to power larger warships
said this was being done to get rid of uninvited workers who with a displacement of over
often travel in Dimple’s cavalcade and also try to make it to 6,000 tonnes.
the stage at her poll events to be in the limelight. On Sunday, According to officials, the UK
too, Dimple, during the campaigning, requested the workers sent a letter of intent to the gov-
to attend her events only if the party had asked them to, but ernmentlastmonthondevelop-
many still showed up and tried to take photographs with her. ing the capability in India
through a government-to-gov-
ernment agreement.
Indian officials have been ex-
aminingtheformalproposaland
UPPER OR LOWER following its acceptance, the
contours and conditions of the
PUTTING ITS best foot forward, the Congress has fielded three agreement will be finalised.
of its Rajya Sabha MPs — K C Venugopal, Digvijaya Singh and The pact will also cover as-
Deepender Hooda — as candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
While Venugopal is an MP from Rajasthan, Singh got elected
to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. Hooda is an MP from
his home state of Haryana. All three of them have two years
left in their Rajya Sabha tenure. The BJP is in government in
Rane, Uddhav’s decades-old rivalry comes to a head in Konkan
all the three states and it goes without saying that it has the
numbers to get its candidates elected if the three Congress VALLABH OZARKAR
leaders win their Lok Sabha battle and by-elections are held RATNAGIRI, APRIL 28
for filling the vacancy arising out of their resignations as Rajya
Sabha members. THE ELECTORAL battle in
Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha
GO FIGURE constituency is not just between
Union Minister Narayan Rane
WITH POLLING in one-third of the Lok Sabha seats complete from the BJP and incumbent
so far, there is concern over the dip in turnout in the first two Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena UBT
phases,comparedto2019.However,theElectionCommission MPVinayakRaut.On the ground,
isyettoreleasethefinalturnoutfiguresforthetwophases.The it extends as a battle between
seat-wiseandstate-wisepercentagesareavailableontheEC’s Rane family loyalists and
Turnout App, but it carries the caveat that the data is only an Thackeray loyalists and further
“approximate trend”. In a departurefrom 2019, the EC has not into BJP versus Shiv Sena UBT —
had a poll day press conference yet, where data of the total old allies who have turned bitter
electors, voters, replacement of EVMs due to malfunction etc foes.
used to be released. The voting for first two phases was held Withbothsidespullingoutall
at a time when the matter of EVMs was sub judice in the thestopstowintheseat,thecon-
Supreme Court. With the top court giving its judgment on stituency is witnessing a flurry of
April 26, it remains to be seen if the figures will be released rallies. Deputy Chief Minister
from the third phase onwards. Devendra Fadnavis held a rally in
Rajapur on April 25 and Uddhav
pectssuchastraining,equipment
and infrastructure, it is learnt.
Once the agreement is
signed, officials said, the key ca-
pability will be developed
throughacollaborationbetween
the UK’s GE Power Conversion
and state-owned Bharat Heavy
ElectricalsLtd(BHEL).Bothcom-
panies have signed a memoran-
dumof understandingondevel-
opingthe‘IntegratedFullElectric
Propulsion System’.
The UK Royal Navy’s The
QueenElizabethClassaircraftcar-
riers are integrated full electric
propulsion vessels. In India, it is
learntthatthesystemwillfirstbe
testedonlandingplatformdocks
and next-generation destroyers.
The Indian Express had re-
ported in January that discus-
sions on the development of the
system had seen significant
movement during Defence
MinisterRajnathSingh’stwo-day
visit to the UK, with discussions
featuring at multiple levels.
InFebruary,theUK’sFirstSea
Thackeray held one in Ratnagiri
on Sunday, while many more are
linedup.Makingitaprestigebat-
tle,boththecandidatesareclaim-
ing that they will win by over 2.5
lakh votes.
Rane, who has announced
that it will be his last election, is
fighting to establish his su-
premacy in Sindhudurg and
Ratnagiri districts, whereas
Uddhav Thackeray is looking to
regain his bastion — Konkan.
The tussle between Rane and
Thackeray goes back nearly two
decades when, in 2005, Rane
(then with Sena) launched a re-
bellion along with over 10 other
Konkan-based MLAs. His move
then led to strong resentment
among the Sainiks in Konkan re-
gion and he was labelled a traitor
of Bal Thackeray.
Lord and Chief of Naval Staff
AdmiralBenKeysaidhehasbeen
in talks with Indian Navy Chief
Admiral R Hari Kumar about op-
portunitiesforIndiansailorsand
engineers to come to the UK and
see how they operate electric
propulsion ships, emphasising
that the move is gathering mo-
mentum despite hurdles.
Both countries have set up a
jointelectronicpropulsionwork-
ing group that met in the UK in
February.Adelegationmetagain
on the HMS Lancaster in March
last year when the Royal Navy
frigate made a port call at Kochi.
A joint working group on the
India-UK electric propulsion ca-
pability partnership had met for
the second time in November
last year to further discuss this.
In April last year, UK’s Chief
of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir
Tony Radakin had said that India
and the UK are holding detailed
discussions over sharing techni-
cal knowhow and experience on
these systems.
Sena UBT MP Vinay Raut at a
campaign rally in Kankavali
on Saturday. Narendra Vaskar
Rane then joined Congress
andwasre-elected.Whilehewas
considered unbeatable, the
Konkan strongman and six-term
MLA from Kudal constituency
was defeated by Vaibhav Naik, a
Shiv Sainik, in 2014.
Naik was then praised for ful-
fillingthedreamof lateShivSena
founder Balasaheb Thackeray,
RanjanChowdhuryclaimedthat
BJP was gaining in West Bengal
and blamed TMC for it, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
Sunday accused the Congress
and CPI(M) of helping the BJP in
the state.
AtaTrinamoolCongressrally
in Kaliachak in Malda district,
Mamata said: “In Bengal, we
don’t have any alliance with the
Congress. Here, the CPI(M) has
an alliance with the Congress.
Botharehand-ingloveswiththe
BJP... if you cast your vote for
Congress or CPI(M), then it
meansyouarevotingforBJP.The
CongressandCPI(M)arethetwo
eyes of BJP in Bengal.”
“The Congress and CPI(M)
leaders herehavebeen speaking
in the same voice of the BJP and
conspiring against pro-people
policies of the TMC govern-
ment... Do the people of Malda
wantmetosurrendertoCPI(M)?
We have all endured their atroc-
ities for 34 years. I had told the
CongressleadershipthatIwould
give them two seats — even
though they don’t have a single
seat in the Assembly here — and
they should not ally with the
CPI(M). But they did not listen to
us,” she said.
who once said that an ordinary
Shiv Sainik would one day defeat
Raneandhisempirewouldfallfor
betrayingSena.AsRaneisfielded
again, this time by the BJP, a simi-
lar resentment has started grow-
ing among the Sena cadres in the
Konkan region.
In2015,Raneagaincontested
against Sena candidate Trupti
Sawant from Mumbai’s Bandra
assembly constituency but lost.
Thedefeatwasafeatherinthecap
for Uddhav Thackeray’s leader-
ship, while it raised questions
about Rane’s political career and
his hold in the Konkan. This time,
heismakinganemotionalappeal
by stating it is his last election.
Two consecutive defeats of
Rane’s elder son Nilesh in Lok
Sabhaelectionswasattributedto
the long-brewing resentment
BJP chief J P Nadda at Bagula in Nadia district, on Sunday. PTI
Mamata has soft corner for
terrorists, alleges JP Nadda
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, APRIL 28
TARGETING THE TMC govern-
ment in West Bengal over alle-
gations of corruption, BJP na-
tional president J P Nadda on
Sunday accused Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee of resorting to
appeasement politics by oppos-
ing the implementation of the
Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA) and said that she wants a
governmentat the Centrewhich
is “soft on terrorism”.
AddressinghisfirstLokSabha
election rally in West Bengal at
BaharampurinMurshidabaddis-
trict, Nadda said, “We talk about
amongShivSainiksalongwiththe
common Konkan voters, most of
whom are considered to be the
Sena (UBT) loyalists. His younger
son Nitesh, however, won from
the Kankavli assembly con-
stituency twice.
After 2015, Rane has not con-
tested an election, however,
backed by Chief Minister Eknath
Shinde and Prime Minister
NarendraModi,heisnowcontest-
ingfromRatnagiri-Sindhudurg—
his first Lok Sabha election at the
age of 72.
As a bitter battle is expected,
Sena workers, who have been
againstRanesincehisrebellionin
2005, now say that Rane’s candi-
daturehashelpedthemtoconsol-
idatetheoldtimersandloyalShiv
Sainiks and they have mobilised
against him to defeat him.
forming a majboot sarkar (a
stronggovernment)butMamata
Banerjee wants a majboor sarkar
(helpless government). She
wantsagovernmentthatbelieves
inappeasement,corruption,and
discriminationandhasasoftcor-
ner for terrorists”.
“(PMNarendra)Modiji’sma-
jboot sarkar believes in develop-
ment, prosperity, national secu-
rity, and responds to terrorism
with surgical strikes,” he said.
Accusing the TMC of spread-
ing misinformation about the
CAA, he said the amended law
aims to grant citizenship, rather
than revoke it. “The TMC, for the
sake of vote-bank politics, op-
poses the CAA,” Nadda said.
DuringRaut’scampaignrallies
inKanakavalitehsilofSindhudurg
district,thestrongholdofNarayan
Rane, Sena workers and leaders
pledgedtodefeatRaneintheelec-
tionsandraisedsloganslike“Abki
baar,Ranefirsetadipaar(thistime
Rane will be defeated again)”.
“Rane is no where in the con-
testnow.AllSainikshavepledged
to defeat Rane and he would be
defeated for the third time when
wewillsetahattrickrecord,”said
SachinAchrekar,SenaUBToffice-
bearerfromKankavaliduringthe
campaign rally for Raut in
Nandagaon village.
Rane, however, is banking on
PM’s development agenda and
feels that he will win by over 2.5
lakh votes. However, Raut said,
“People of Konkan no more wish
to have the Gundaraj of Rane.”

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 5350 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL

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

ACROSS
1 Agreed that fellow politician
hadn’t told the truth (8)
5 A growing source of
light (4)
9 Worth turning into a pitch (5)
10 Area in which subjects
round the king get heated (7)
11 A butchery firm owned by
a combine? (5,7)
13 Sound move, plain to a
Russian (6)
14 Black marks for slanderous
attacks (6)
17 It occurs to one later that
this is the time to act (12)
20 Unorthodox priests who
may get up to mischief (7)
21 The dailies held back this
story (5)
22 Society is better off
without it (4)
23 A driver’s need on the
whole to be sober (8)
Solutions Crossword5349Across:1Easychair,8Auden,9Voluble,10Chafer,11Relief,
12American,15Director,18Acorns,20Extras,21Pilgrim,22Thing,23Economist
Down:2Arose,3Youwin,4Heldfast,5Rather,6Edifice,7Entrances,11Roadtests,13
Eurasian,14Protein,16Change,17Dodgem,19Nails
JUMBLED WORDS
As long as the Sun is
so helpfully placed,
you are being
encouraged to be
lively. Over the next two
weeks, one of your goals
should be to widen your social
circle. There’s no need to be
discriminating at this stage,
make friends with anyone
and everyone.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
If anything, the
build-up of planets
in philosophical
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson regions of your
chart has intensified, making it
more necessary than ever that
you continue to take a stand
on your principles. Why not
set an example to people
who are lacking your wisdom
DOWN and foresight?
1 Old Roman firm at GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
heart (4) Mercury, your
2 New moral we find in old ruling planet, is
writer (7) combining poetic
3 Unhappy because the beauty with a truly
whisky is nearly finished? profound sense of practical
(3,2,7) possibilities. You can express
4 Draw ten perhaps of whatever you want to say in
diamonds (6) the way you want to say it. It all
6 Join number one getting looks pretty nostalgic as well!
equal first (5) Just about right for the perfect
7 Firm action (8) day. Don’t spoil it.
8 An unconscious MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
pedestrian (12) The odds certainly
12 Murderer is a fool because seem to be stacked
wrong (8) against you this
15 Not a professor of divinity week, but I am
evidently (7) confident that after recent
16 He acts in a refined experiences you can cope with
way (6) just about anything. If you still
18 Fit sound project (5) see yourself as a soft little
19 One revered for reportedly
Cancer, stop it now. There are
doing very little (4) few people as tough as you
when roused.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
The Moon’s current
position in your
chart is something
of a special event.
This simple fact means that
you have every chance to
implement whatever major
DifficultyLevel2s
SOLUTION SUDOKU 5545
If you’reoneof those
Libranswhois
absolutelyhappy
withwhereyou’re
living,you’reinatinyminority.
Mostof you,eventhosewho
havemovedhomerecently,are
stillinastateof domestic
uncertainty.That’sasignthat
therecouldbefurther
improvementstocome.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
There’s something
delightful about
your serious-
minded
determination to ferret out the
truth. Now that you’re finding
it easier to say what’s on your
mind, other people will at last
have the chance to benefit
from your wonderfully
profound fund of wisdom.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
The entire week is
overshadowed by
the emphatic and
unambiguous
relationship between the Sun
and the Moon - in a profoundly
positive sense. This will be
entirely in your favour, and will
encourage you to take whatever
steps are necessary to better
yourself.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
You’re still in a
period of personal
revolution that at
times mirrors the
dramatic changes on the global
scene. Only another Capricorn
will understand your dilemma.
And only another Capricorn
can understand how you need
to re-arrange your finances.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 - Feb 19)
If you know what’s
good for you, you’ll
devote a great deal
of attention to
making sure that loved ones
and colleagues are perfectly
happy with your behaviour.
You may lavish presents and

improvements in your life attention on those whose

Instructions have been brewing over the favour you are seeking. You
Given below are four jumbled words. Solve the jumbles to make proper words and move TosolveaSudokupuzzle, past year. But, and this is a might get exactly the desired
them to the respective squares below. Select the letters in the shaded squares and everydigitfrom1to9 big ‘but’, you must obtain reaction.
SUDOKU 5546

jumble them to get the answer for the given quip. mustappearineachofthe partners’ support.
My dear friend, ___ __ __ of cant. - Samuel Johnson (5,4,4) PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) Your social activities
eachoftheninehorizontal Influences over your are becoming both
DAERR BOYCNU rowsandineachofthe creative fifth house broader and deeper.
nineboxes. bring us back to a Some of you may
theme which has rue the day you took on certain
been raising its head time after group commitments, but you
PSILO ADIDMY DifficultyLevel time over the past two years — have little option but to press
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; the need to feel that you are on and fulfil your duties.
doing something meaningful Actually, you rather like it
3s=Medium;4s=Hard;
with your life, not just drifting when you don’t have any
5s=VeryHard; with the herd. choice about what to do.
Answer: My dear friend, clear your mind of cant. - Samuel Johnson 6s=Genius
SOLUTION: DREAR/DARER, SPOIL, BOUNCY, MIDDAY

Lucknow
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7 DECISION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

2024
FIRST DIRECT ATTACK IN 5 YRS, AFTER PACT TALKS FELL THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Modi’s salvo at Naveen: ‘Odia

WhowillbewhereMonday,April29

Narendra
AmitShah

pride and language in danger’

Modi
■ Bagalkote ■ Madhubani,
(Karnataka) Begusarai(Bihar)
■ Solapur,Satara, ■ Guwahati(Assam)
Pune(Maharashtra)

Suggests BJD one

of ‘many parties
that extend Sharad
Rahul Gandhi pays tribute to social reformer Madhusudan Pawar Rahul
Das on his birth anniversary, in Odisha’s Kendrapara. PTI issue-based ■ Baramati Gandhi
support’ to BJP Patan(Gujarat)

Rahul: BJP, BJD are

Bilaspur(Chhattisgarh)

SUJIT BISOYI MallikarjunKharge

partners even if not BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 28 PriyankaGandhi ■ Threeralliesin

■ Gulbarga(Karnataka) Kalaburgi (Karnataka)
MAKING A direct attack on the

fighting polls jointly NaveenPatnaik-ledBijuJanataDal

(BJD) government in Odisha for

SUJIT BISOYI
Amit Shah, Narendra Modi and
Naveen Patnaik), which means
the first time in five years, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi Sunday
said that “Odia Asmita” (Odia
‘5 votes for BJP’ video
BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 28

CONGRESS LEADER Rahul

Gandhi on Sunday launched the
party’s Lok Sabha election cam-
paign in Odisha and accused the
ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of
runningthestategovernmentin
partnership with the BJP.
Addressing a rally at Salipur
in the Kendrapara Lok Sabha
constituency, Rahul said the BJD
andBJParepartnersevenasthey
are contesting elections against
each other in the state.
“They are in a marital rela-
tionship. You call it marriage or
partnership,butthefactremains
that both are together,” said
Rahul. Voting to elect 21 MPs
from Odisha will be held in the
last four of the seven-phase Lok
Sabha polls on May 13, May 20,
May 25 and June 1.
In an apparent reference to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
Rahul said, “Delhi’s uncle and
Naveen Babu (Odisha Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik) have
joinedhands...Ensuredbenefitfor
ahandfulofbillionaires...Thestate
was given to Adani while they
have given people 'PANN' (refer-
ringtoPatnaik'saideVKPandian,
Pandian is running the state.”
Rahul said Modi runs a gov-
ernment for a few billionaires in
Delhi, the same way Naveen
does for a handful of people in
Odisha. He had made similar ac-
cusationsduringtheBharatJodo
Nyay Yatra that passed through
the state in February. “The
Congress will start giving back
themoneytothepeoplethemo-
ment it will form govt in Odisha
and in Delhi as well,” he said.
Rahulpromisedcertainguar-
antees if voted to power in
Odisha. These include a mini-
mum support price (MSP) of Rs
3,000 for paddy, Rs 2,000
monthly to every woman, Rs
3,000 to unemployed youths,
200 units of free electricity, and
acookinggascylinderforRs500.
The Congress has been mak-
ing Odia Asmita (Odia pride) a
major poll issue considering the
growing influence of Pandian,
who hails from Tamil Nadu, in
BJD,andchosethebirthanniver-
sary of Madhusudan Das to
launch its campaign in the state.
Das was one of those who
helped create Orissa Province in
1936 andhis birthanniversary is
celebrated as Swabhiman Divas.
pride)isbeingfinished,indicating
thattheBJP’sentirepollcampaign
will be based on this issue.
“Odia Asmita is in danger.
Odia language is in danger. I
don’t think Odia people will tol-
erate it for long,” said Modi dur-
ing an interview to News 18.
On BJP’s closeness with the
BJD,giventhattheregionalparty
extended support to the Modi
government on several issues,
the PM said the BJD had ex-
tended issue-based support to
the Centre. “There are several
parties which extend issue-
based support to us,” he said.
The PM was also critical of
the state’s development. “There
are so many resources that the
statecouldhavebeentherichest
in the country. But what condi-
tion they have made of the state.
People of Odisha have aspira-
tions. I feel the BJP should get a
chance to serve the people to
take the state to new heights,”
said Modi, who had in February
called Naveen Patnaik his
“friend”. The development
comesdaysafterthealliancetalk
between the BJD and BJP failed.
BJP national president JP
Nadda meanwhile said on
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated with a painting of him with his late mother,
Heeraben, during a public meeting at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada on Sunday. ANI
Sunday that efforts are being
made to bring outsiders to rule
the state. Addressing a rally at
BerhampurinGanjamdistrict,he
said, “Is no one in Odisha eligible
to leadthestate? Do you want to
bring someone from outside to
leadyou?Willyouimport?Don’t
youwanttomakeasonofthesoil
the leader of the state?”
ThoughNaddadidnottakeany
name, his speech was ostensibly
referringtothegrowinginfluence
of bureaucrat-turned-politician
and Patnaik’s aide V K Pandian,
whohailsfromTamilNadu.
Former Tripura chief minister
and Rajya Sabha member Biplab
Deb,whoalsoaddressedtherally,
too raised the issue, “Why don’t
elected representatives run the
state? Did people vote for you
(Patnaik)sothatPandianrunsthe
government? Pandian will finish
youinthiselection.”Debsaidifthe
CM’sfatherBijuPatnaikwerealive,
hewouldhavebeenhurttoseethe
statebeingrunbyan“outsider”.
Appeasement mindset
in Cong manifesto: PM
AKRAM M
BELAGAVI, APRIL 28
PRIME MINISTER Narendra
Modi on Sunday once again re-
peated his jab at the Congress,
saying the Opposition party
would snatch people’s wealth
throughinheritancetaxand‘dis-
tribute it to its favourite vote
bank’ if voted to power.
While addressing a rally in
Belagavi Lok Sabha seat where
BJP candidate Jagadish Shettar is
up against Congress’s Mrunal
RavindraHebbalkar—thefirstof
the four scheduled in Karnataka
on Sunday — PM Modi also ac-
cused Congress leader Rahul
Gandhiof insultingthe‘rajasand
maharajas’ of the country while
being silent on the atrocities
committed by ‘nawabs, nizams,
sultans and badshahs’.
According to the PM, the
“mentalityof appeasement”was
apparent in the Congress mani-
festo. Referring to Rahul Gandhi
and Priyanka Gandhi, Modi said
the two have announced con-
ducting an ‘X-ray’ of the country
if voted to power.
“An X-ray of your property
will be done. They will do an X-
rayof banklockers,thetotalland
you have will be X-rayed, (and),
the vehicles you own will be X-
rayed. The money with women,
their ornaments and gold, and
their mangalsutra will be X-
rayed. This means, they will raid
every house and take over your
property,” Modi said.
part of ‘mock election’:
Karimganj poll officer
DEO: Statements of other agents being
recorded, poll officials served notice
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
GUWAHATI, APRIL 28
FOLLOWING A video purport-
edly showing a polling agent in
Assam’s Karimganj Lok Sabha
constituencyvotingfivetimeson
anEVMfortheBJPcandidate,the
District Election Officer has is-
sued a show-cause notice to
polling officials.
In a statement, the office of
the DEO suggested that the
video had been recorded during
a “mock poll” before voting offi-
cially began.
“As per procedure, polling
agents are allowed to cast a few
votes in favour of the candidate
during mock poll. Statements of
other polling agents are under-
way and polling officials have
beenservedshowcausenoticein
this regard,” the statement said.
In the video doing the rounds
on social media, Abdul Sahid — a
pollingagentforIndependentcan-
didate Abdul Hameed — can be
seen pressing the button for BJP
candidate and MP Kripanath
Mallahfivetimesinarow.
Voting in the Karimganj con-
stituency took place on April 26.
According to the statement
from the DEO’s office, following
complaints regarding the video,
the matter was brought before
the General Observer and the
polling team was summoned.
According to it, the Presiding
Officer of the polling station said
the video was taken during a
mock poll and the votes cast
were cleared before actual
polling began. Abdul Sahid, the
polling agent, also confirmed
this, the statement said.

Six rallies by PM Modi in 2 days: Indira scored half century in toppling govts,
Opp says BJP is in ‘panic mode’ we’re accused of killing democracy: Rajnath
MANOJ MORE
PUNE, APRIL 28
AFTER HOLDING a rally in
Kolhapur Saturday, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is set to
hold six rallies in Solapur, Pune,
Latur, Madha, Satara and
Dharashiv Lok Sabha con-
stituencies in the next two days.
While the BJP said the rallies
are being held due to increasing
public demand and as a part of
theparty’soutreachstrategy,the
Opposition claimed the BJP is in
a “panic mode” and was, there-
fore, banking on rallies by Modi.
“In Western Maharashtra,
the BJP is holding rallies in al-
most all constituencies. In
Marathwada, too, the PM has al-
ready held rallies in Nanded and
Parbhani, now he will again be
seen in Latur. This shows the BJP
isterrifiedof losingseatsandwill
not be able to cross even the
200-seat mark,” said NCP (SP)
Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.
BJP spokesperson Keshav
Upadhaye said, “The PM rallies
have been planned as part of the
strategy to reach out to the max-
imum number of voters. Each
andeveryseatisimportanttous.
ThePMisholdingmoreralliesbe-
Women labourers with their children in Karad on Sunday
near the venue of PM’s public meet to be held Monday. PTI
causeof theincreasingpublicde-
mand. People are excited to hear
hisspeechandplansforcountry.”
The rallies in Solapur, Karad
and Pune will be held Monday,
Malshiras, Dharashiv and Latur
will see PM rallies on Tuesday.
Most of the seats where the
PM will be holding rallies had
been won by the BJP-Shiv Sena
(undivided) alliance in 2019.
“'PM's rally will have a bearing
on 9 seats. Of these 9 seats, BJP-
Shiv Sena alliance had won 6
seats in 2019 elections,” a BJP
leader said.
Meanwhile, Modi’s Pune
rally Monday evening, which
wasearlierplannedatSPCollege
Ground,has now been moved to
Racecourse Ground.
BJP Maharashtra vice-presi-
dent Rajesh Pandey said, “The
PM’s rally will be held on the
128-acre Racecourse Ground
where22LEDscreenshavebeen
put up… We expect over two
lakh people to turn up.”
InthePunedistrict,thePrime
Ministerisholdingarallynotjust
for the party’s Pune city candi-
date, but also for those from
Baramati, Maval, and Shirur. In
each constituency, political ob-
servers said that the contest will
be a close one.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 28
A DAY after Union Home
Minister Amit Shah accused the
Opposition of “spreading lies”
over the Uniform Civil Code
(UCC) while campaigning in
Gujarat, Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh Sunday hit out at
the Congress for “toppling gov-
ernments”.
“Indira Gandhi scored a half
century in toppling govern-
ments,” he said at a press con-
ference in Ahmedabad. “Of the
132 times when the President’s
rule was imposed under Article
356, the Congress called for it
on 90 occasions. And we (the
BJP) are being accused of killing
democracy. I want to ask
Congress leaders if our govern-
ment or our Prime Minister
(Narendra Modi) has even once
toppled an elected govern-
ment,” he said.
Latching on to the com-
ments by Indian Overseas
Congress chairman Sam
Pitroda on inheritance tax,
Singh slammed the leader and
the party during poll gather-
ings in Anand and Bhavnagar.
“He (Pitroda) said a system like
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh in Ahmedabad on
Sunday. ANI
America should be imple-
mented in India as well. If some
head of a family passes away,
then 55 per cent of his property
should be given to the govern-
ment and only 45 per cent
should remain with his family.
Is this agreeable to you? Where
do these people want to take
the country to?” the BJP leader
said in Anand.
Last week, Pitroda triggered
a huge political row when he
spoke about the possibility of
discussing and debating the in-
heritance tax system prevailing
in some parts of the US.
Singh began his attack
against the Congress on Sunday
at the Ahmedabad press brief-
ing. During the 10-year-rule of
the United Progressive Alliance
(UPA), he said, an “Olympics of
corruption” was organised by
the Congress and that the party
“harassed maximum number
of elected governments”. “If ac-
tion is taken against corruption,
they (Congress) say that
democracy is in danger. If the
ED (Enforcement Directorate)
has done something wrong,
then you can go to court. If
something wrong has been
done, you can get relief from
the court. If you don’t, what is
the reason for it?” Singh asked.
“As far as the Lok Sabha
elections are concerned, its be-
ginning (for BJP) has been done
from Surat, where our candi-
date has been elected unop-
posed. But the Congress is lev-
elling allegations against us
that democracy is in danger. I
do not understand the basis of
such an allegation,” Singh said.
BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal
was elected unopposed from
Surat last week after Congress
candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's
nomination was cancelled over
alleged discrepancies in papers
and Independents in the fray
withdrew their candidature.
The "unopposed election"
prompted sharp attacks from
the Opposition.
“Before this, 28 MPs had
been elected unopposed.
Among them, 20 are from the
Congress... two each are of the
Samajwadi Party and the
National Conference,” Singh
said. “I think the Congress is
talking like this out of frustra-
tion (fearing defeat). The
Congress is saying that this
time democracy is in danger. I
want to state — and the entire
country knows this as well —
that if there is any party which
killed democracy in this coun-
try by bringing in Emergency...
it was the Congress.”
“The kind of atmosphere I
am seeing in the country this
time, I think Congress will be
decimated. Now, they don't
have strength to stand. I think
if you ask children after 10
years if what Congress is... they
will ask in reply 'Congress,
who?' The way dinosaurs went
extinct from Earth... similarly
Congress will also go extinct,"
said the BJP leader.
Lawmakers get
cut... I too have
taken it: Former
MP minister
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
RAJGARH (MP), APRIL 28
A FORMER Madhya Pradesh
minister,nowwithCongress,has
claimed that MPs and MLAs get
acommissionof Rs1lakhforthe
construction of each bus stop
and admitted that he too had
taken a bit of this cut.
DipakJoshi,sonof formerCM
Kailash Joshi, made the remark
while canvassing for Congress'
Rajgarh Lok Sabha candidate
Digvijaya Singh on Saturday.
“You all know or not? The
biggest commission an MP and
MLA gets is from the construc-
tion of bus stops in their area. I
won't lie. I have also taken a bit
of it,” he said.
“These bus stops have come
up because of the highest com-
missions (Rs 1 lakh per bus stop)
involved,” he said.
Indirectly referring to the MP
government's ‘Ladli Behna
Yojana' programme, Joshi said
“Rs 1200 is being put into the ac-
counts of sisters but the broth-
ers-in-law are being made to
cough up Rs 2,200 as electricity
tariff”.

OFF TRACK Ballotin

Bengal school suddenly gets wall and roof... thanks to polls
ATRI MITRA
MANIKCHOWK(MALDA),APR28
AT GADAI Char village on the
banksof theGanga in Maldadis-
trict of West Bengal, labourers
are busy constructing a school.
For the last two years, since the
mighty river gobbled up a sec-
tion of its primary school during
a flood, children used to attend
classes in rooms without roofs,
blackboards,abench,andatable.
There is no electricity at
Ghoritola Primary School, nor
any toilet. But for the last few
days, the “school” has been
buzzingwithconstructionactiv-
ity. Labourers have been erect-
ingnewwalls,layingdownroofs,
and even constructing a wash-
room. Thanks to the elections.
The primary school serves as
a polling station with two
booths, catering to over 1,300
voters from nearby villages.
With Malda Dakshin Lok
Sabha constituency set to vote
on May 7 in the third phase of
elections, the workers have a
week to complete the construc-
tionof theschoolbuildingwhich
will serve as polling booths.
“Two years ago, Gangaji
changed its course. She flooded
oneportionof thevillageandour
houses, school, and other build-
ings got submerged in the river.
So,wehadtomoveout,”says50-
year-oldSanjibMahato,aresident
ofthevillageborderingtwoother
states — Bihar and Jharkhand.
“The school building got ru-
The school in Malda’s Manikchowk block. Shashi Ghosh
ined in the flood. Every year
thereafter, the river flooded the
school. It has no roof, tables, or
chairs. Teachers come once or
twice a month. Our children
don’t know how to read and
write properly,” adds Shambhu
Mahato, 32.
Villagers say that most of the
youth go to Delhi, Haryana, and
Punjab to work as labourers. The
nearest hospital is more than 12
km away in Manikchowk.
“We have to cross the river to
reachthe nearest town.We have
no electricity. So, at night if there
issomeemergency,itisimpossi-
ble to move a patient to the hos-
pital in the town,” says 35-year-
old Bhola Mahato.
Accordingtoadistrictofficial,
Gadai Char is not the only village
tobeaffectedbyGangachanging
itscourse.“Everyyearbecauseof
theerosioncausedbytheGanga,
several villages and buildings in
Manikchowk and Kaliachowk
blocks get washed away,” says
AnupChakraborty,thelocalBDO.
Last year, during the pan-
chayatelections,thelocaladmin-
istrationhadinstalledamakeshift
structure that served as a polling
station. “This year, we are build-
ingabrickstructurewithasbestos
roof and toilet,” says the BDO.
“We are arranging all possi-
ble amenities for the polling of-
ficials as well as for the voters.
We also are planning develop-
ment projects for the village,”
says Malda District Magistrate
Nitin Singhania.
With no electricity supply in
the village, the officials are plan-
ning to install two generators for
thepollingday.“Wehavestarted
to install solar electricity system
in the village,” says the DM.
TheBDOisconfidentofwrap-
pingupconstructionbeforeMay
7. “Two days before voting, we
will install windows, doors, ta-
bles, and chairs also,” he says.
BJP wants 400 seats to change
Constitution: Sharad Pawar
Pune: NCP (S-P) chief Sharad Pawar Sunday said the intention
behind BJP raising the slogan of “Ab Ki Bar, 400 Paar” is to
changetheConstitution.AddressinganelectionrallyatSaswad
fordaughterSupriyaSule,Pawarsaid,“Iamworriedattheway
Narendra Modi and his colleagues are running the country.
ElectionstoZillaParishads,NagarPanchayatsandcivicbodies
are not being held. In future, they might not even hold Lok
Sabha and Assembly elections. The BJP is aiming at '400 paar'
with the intention to change the Constitution,'' he said. ENS
Cong names 2 Odisha candidates
Bhubaneswar: The Congress Sunday released the names of
two Lok Sabha candidates in Odisha. Former MP Nagendra
Pradhan is the new candidate in place of Dulal Chandra
Pradhan for Sambalpur Lok Sabha (LS) seat.The party fielded
former minister Suresh Mohapatra in the Cuttack LS con-
stituency. Denying ticket to Barabati-Cuttack MLA Md
Moquim, the Congress has fielded his daughter Sofia Firdous.
The list also named candidates for eight constituencies in the
Assembly elections. PTI
Lucknow

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
FOUNDED BY
Who wants 370 seats
§
§
RAMNATH GOENKA
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
leaders would prefer a PM with numbers closer to 270
CRIES FOR HELP Sanjaya Baru
Telangana student suicides underline the need ADDRESSING HIS POLITICAL party faithful in
Februarythisyear,NarendraModisetatarget
to make the system more assuring for the young
T
of370LokSabhaseatsfortheBharatiyaJanata
HE ALLEGED DEATH by suicide of at least seven students, six of them girls, in Party. Opinion polls of varying degrees of re-
different parts of Telangana after the declaration of intermediate (equivalent liability and transparency have given the BJP
anywherebetween330and390seats.Oneof
of Classes XI and XII) results is another grim reminder that despite several
them has even predicted a final tally of 411!
progressive interventions in recent years, much work needs to be done to al- That Modi would want such an impressive
leviate the anxieties of the country’s youth. The Telangana State Board of Intermediate victory for his third term is entirely under-
Education had arranged for counsellors for students in junior colleges to deal with exam- standable.Hispersonalstandingapart,amas-
related stress. State government representatives had also asked students to not be de- sive victory with a two-thirds majority in the
jectedbyadverseresultsandmakeuseof thesupplementaryexaminations.However,the Lok Sabha and an equally commanding one
in the Rajya Sabha, will allow the BJP to
loss of young lives speaks of serious systemic shortcomings that cannot be mitigated by
undertake fundamental changes to
reaching out to students just before the examinations. the Constitution.
Year after year NCRB data has provided significant pointers about the stress faced by PrimeMinisterModihashimself claimed
students. In 2022 according to the Bureau, over 13,044 Indian students ended their lives that such a convincing majority will enable
— 7.6 per cent of the total suicide fatalities in that year. The data shows a 70 per cent in- hisgovernmenttoundertakeimportanteco-
crease in the number of students who took their lives in the last decade. Suicidal behav- nomic reforms that will speed up India’s
iour is, of course, the culmination of several factors. It’s no secret, however, that compe- growthandmakeitadevelopedeconomyby
2047.This“majorityforreform”argumentcan
tition pressures and burdens of parental expectations take a toll on the well-being of
be easily dismissed. Prime Ministers P V
students — this is especially so because today, more than ever before, diverse sections of Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee did
people see academic excellence as a ticket to a better life. Schools, too, are harbingers of notenjoysuchparliamentarysupportandyet
the competitive mentality and teachers push their wards to higher levels of perform- pushedthroughsignificanteconomicreforms
ance. This routine disincentivises a child from searching for meaning in what is taught, and moved the economy forward. Prime
encourages rote learning and pushes the young to coaching centres where the demands Minister Manmohan Singh staked the future
ofhisgovernmenttosecureimportantstrate-
are even more punishing. Instead of being empathetic tests of the student’s aptitude, ex-
gicgainsforthecountry.Modifailedtoreform
aminations continue to be purveyors of a ruthless elimination system that dehumanises farmsectorlawsdespitetheclearmajorityhe
thelearners anddrives manyof thosewho failto makethecut to despondency. Designing enjoyed in Lok Sabha. Reform requires wise
flexible evaluation mechanisms for school goers, one of the objectives of NEP, 2020, is at leadership, not just numbers.
an early stage. The endeavour requires greater urgency. There is, however, a very different politi-
calreasonwhynotmany,includingwithinhis
Emotionalwell-beingisakeypartoftheNEP’sthrustoncreatinganenablingatmosphere
ownparty,wouldwantModitosecuresuchan
forstudents.However,mostschoolstodayaren’tequippedtorecogniseacryforhelp.Round-
the-yearsupportsystemsthatenhancetheresilienceandcopingskillsof students—espe-
impressivemajority.Afterhavingfoundthem-
selvespoliticallyshrunk,demeanedandmar-
cially those from marginalised communities —are extremely rarein the Indianschool-ed- ginalised during Modi’s second term, which
ucationlandscape.Educationistshavealsoemphasisedtheimportanceofcounselingparents important BJP leader, with an independent
and teachers. For long, it has been clear that the grueling system does not prepare the stu- political base, would want 370 for Modi?
dentforthe country’seconomicrealities.Atthesametime,the expansionof theeconomic Surely not the Rajnath Singhs and Nitin
Gadkaris,norperhapsevenanAmitShah.No
pie hasn’t kept pace with the rise in aspirations. The manifestos of most political parties in
BJPleaderwouldhaveforgottenthetreatment
the ongoing elections seem to be cognisant of this deficit. The urgent task after June 4 will
meted out to Sushma Swaraj, Prakash
be to translate words into action and make sure that the system doesn’t fail its young. Javadekar,RaviShankarPrasad,SureshPrabhu
andsoon,allcolleaguesofVajpayeewhowere
easedout,onebyone,byModi.Thatfatecould
A FRAGILE CONSENSUS
befall many who are still in office today.
It is the iron law of politics that politicians
want their leaders to depend on them rather
US Aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan is a victory for Biden.
But Ukraine remains cause for divisions in foreign policy
B
IPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR a military assistance package worth $94 billion was
approvedinWashingtonlastweek.TheassistancetoUkraine,Israel,andTaiwan
marks a major political victory for US President Joe Biden — he called
Wednesday a “good day for world peace” as he signed the Bill into law. For
months, Biden struggled to get the Republicans, who have a thin majority in the House of
Representatives, to support military aid to Ukraine amid Kyiv’s growing desperation to
stabilise the front against Russia. The Republicans had no issue with aiding Israel and
Taiwan, but a large section of them was dead set against greater support for Ukraine.
Sections of the extreme right backed by Trump would not allow the Speaker of the House Pallavi Gupta
to bring the issue to vote. By persuading the Speaker, Mike Johnson, to recognise the grav-
ity of the situation in Ukraine, the White House overcame that obstacle. Former President LOST IN THE din about India’s demographic
dividend is the silently rising population of
Donald Trump, distracted by his troubles in court, did not challenge the Administration on
older people in the country. The number of
this issue and made it easy for Biden. But the divide within the Republican Party over persons above 60 years is set to more than
Ukraine and Russian questions will continue. double from 100 million in 2011 to 230 mil-
The large section of the Republicans who voted against the assistance to Ukraine could lion in 2036, making up nearly 15 per cent of
demand the Speaker’s resignation. The battle over Ukraine reflects a deep divide over for- the total population. This is projected to fur-
eign policy issues in America. The US students protesting against US policy on Israel and ther rise to 319 million by 2050, nearly one-
fifth of the total population.
the rapidly diminished popular empathy for Israel in its war against Gaza is another ele-
Decliningfertilityratesandincreasinglife
ment of the breakdown. But the political class has closed ranks around the question of span are driving this transition. The average
China and there is strong support for containing Beijing’s designs in the Indo-Pacific. This householdsizeinIndiahasreducedfrom5.94
is reflected not only in the aid package for Taiwan but also in the formal decision to ban the in 2011 to 3.54 in 2021. Households with
Chinesesocialmediaapp,TikTok—theapp’simmensepopularityamongyoungvoterspre- smaller families and a growing number of
vented the move so far. However, TikTok is all set to go to court to challenge the decision. olderpeople,whomaysufferfromchronicill-
nesses, call for a reset of the health and social
All this reveals the fragmented authority in the US — by constitutional design to limit
care system. Care for seniors at home is a
thepowerof anybranchof thestate—andthedifficultiesitpresentsinbuildingpolicycon- growingconcernasitoscillatesbetweensocial
sensus on any issue. The political leadership has to constantly work hard to forge that con- care and health care, often blurring lines be-
sensus.ItisalsoausefulreminderfortheIndianelite,whosestakesintheengagementwith tweenthetwo.Thechangingfamilystructure
the US have become very large, to pay attention to the complexity of US domestic politics ispavingthewayforexternalassistanceincar-
and avoid jumping to hasty conclusions on the basis of the daily wrangling that goes on ing for older people at home.
in Washington. The scope of services provided at home
has expanded from assistance with activities
ofdailylivingtoroutinenursingcareaswellas
specialisedcare.AccordingtoaNITIAayogre-
Freeze Frame E P Unny port, healthcare offered at home can replace
upto65percentof unnecessaryhospitalvis-
its and reduce hospital costs by 20 per cent.
However, care practices at home are not
well-defined and standardised. Caregivers
who are well-trained and possess an empa-
thetic outlook are in short supply, and often
complain of being mistreated by families.
There are no specific grievance redressal
mechanisms for either the users or the care-
Leaders within the BJP and RSS, allies, and business
No Congress Party leader
liked the phase between 1972
and 1977 when every
national and provincial
leader was reduced to a
bystander by the towering
and domineering leadership
of Indira Gandhi. Provincial
Congress Party politicians
saw their standing fall and
support base dwindle when
Rajiv Gandhi secured over
400 seats in Parliament.
Rajiv Gandhi and the
acolytes in his darbar may
have been able to lord over it
with those 400 plus MPs,
but the party suffered an
ignominious defeat because,
at the constituency level,
ordinary voters saw their
leaders become pleaders.
FOR FUTURE READY SENIORS
Policymakers must prepare for ageing population, set standards for home care
The sex ratio of older people
is projected to increase to
1060 by 2026. Additionally,
since women in India are
usually younger than their
husbands, they often spend
their later years as widows.
Therefore, the policy should
particularly cater to the more
vulnerable and dependent
older single women so that
they can live respectable and
independent lives.
APRIL 29, 1984, FORTY YEARS AGO
AKAL TAKHT FOR UNITY
THEJATHEDAROFtheAkalTakht,GianiKirpal
Singh, along with other high priests, is busy
trying to find a way to forge unity among dif-
ferentfactionsofSikhleadersandtore-estab-
lish an atmosphere of peace and sanctity in
the Golden Temple complex. Political ob-
serversfeelthatalthoughapowerfulfactionof
the Akali Dal wants the Jathedar of the Akal
Takht to issue a “hukamnama”, he will not.
DENG ON TAIWAN
THE CHINESE LEADER, Deng Xiaoping, told
US President Ronald Reagan that Taiwan’s
WORDLY WISE
Here is my first principle of foreign policy:
Good government at home.
— WILLIAM E GLADSTONE
thantheotherwayround.NoCongressleader
likedthephasebetween1972and1977when
every national and provincial leader was re-
duced to a bystander by the towering and
domineering leadership of Indira Gandhi.
Provincial Congress politicians saw their
standingfallandsupportbasedwindlewhen
Rajiv Gandhi secured over 400 seats in
Parliament. Rajiv Gandhi and the acolytes in
his darbar may have been able to lord over it
with those 400-plus MPs, but the party suf-
fered an ignominious defeat because, at the
constituency level, ordinary voters saw their
leaders become pleaders.
No senior member of the BJP wants that
future for his party. After a decade of Modi,
many young leaders are asking themselves
how they can secure their future after Modi.
The Rajnaths and the Shahs may retire, but
whatabouttheyoungerlot.If theIndira-Rajiv
currency got demonetised so quickly, how
muchtimebeforetheModicoingetsdemon-
etised? By weakening party institutions and
hierarchies and centralising power, Modi is
doing to the BJP what Indira and Rajiv did to
the Congress.
What of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh? The organisation enthusiastically
canvassedforModiandhehasimplemented
many policies of the RSS. However, the
power equation between the RSS and Modi
has tilted in the latter’s favour after the 2019
elections. Would RSS leaders not want to re-
store their own standing and ensure that a
BJP governmentneeds them more than they
need it?
ThenthereareBJP’salliesandpotentialal-
lies — from Chandrababu Naidu to Naveen
Patnaik. Which chief minister would want to
dealwithaPMwhohassuchanoverwhelm-
ing majority in Parliament that makes him
treat them the way a Rajiv treated Anjaiah in
Hyderabad? None. Every CM, both non-BJP
andBJP,wouldpreferaPMresponsivetotheir
needs. A PM with 270 seats in the Lok Sabha
would be more respectful of them and more
willing to listen to them than a PM who has
no use for them.
In short, no politician with any individual
support base, be it a leader from within the
givers. Furthermore, the cost of hiring a care-
giverathomeissubstantial.Currently,itisthe
private,for-profitsectorthatoffersthebulkof
these services. Market estimates project the
home-basedcareindustrytogrowatarateof
15-19percentannually,fromnearlyUSD6-7
billion in 2021 to USD 21 billion by 2027.
Tobetterorganisecareathome,afewpol-
icy interventions are needed. First and fore-
most,recognise“home”asaplaceforprovid-
ingcareandasa“placeofwork”forcaregivers.
Thishasimplicationsfortherightsandsafety
of both users and providers. The Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI) recognises hospitalisation at
home in certain conditions.
Secondly,careathomeisadifferentpropo-
sitionthaninaninstitutionlikeahospitaloran
old-agehome.Thetermsof engagementand
treatment protocols must be tailored to the
home environment.
Thirdly, to meet the growing demand for
trainedcaregivers,streamlinetheirvocational
training,nomenclature,roles,andcareerpro-
gression. Finally, all this ought to be brought
together under a comprehensive policy on
home-basedcare,incorporatingaspectssuch
asaregistryof providersof suchservices;en-
suring transparency and accountability; es-
tablishing grievance redressal mechanisms;
and insurance coverage, among others.
The policy should also take cognisance of
the fact that women, in India, on average out-
live men by three years. The sex ratio of older
peopleisprojectedtoincreaseto1060by2026.
SincewomeninIndiaareusuallyyoungerthan
tieswiththeUnitedStateswouldremainun-
changed following peaceful reunification
with communist China. “The Chinese peo-
ple on both sides of the (Taiwan) strait can
increase their contact gradually and realise
peacefulreunificationthroughnegotiations,”
Deng said during a meeting with President
Reagan in the Great Hall of the People.
SGPC WALKOUT
THEWALKOUTBYagroupof SGPCmembers
and Akali Dal activists from the Akali Dal
meeting has marked the dissolution of the
Akali Dal (Talwandi) group. Although most
of the party workers who staged the walk-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
BJP or one from without, would want to em-
powerthePMsomuchthathebecomeseven
moreauthoritariananddomineering.Politics
is, after all, about power.
No business person too would want a PM
so powerful that he can continue to hound
themthroughinstrumentsavailabletoagov-
ernment. It is by now well known that the
thousands of crores garnered by the BJP
through electoral bonds and other means
wereextractedthroughsubtleandexplicitco-
ercion.Makenomistake.Mostbusinessfam-
ilies,allfromuppercastesacrossthecountry,
are fully committed to the BJP’s Hindutva
agenda.EverybusinessleaderIhavespokento
wants the BJP in office, but not an all-power-
ful and authoritarian PM.
Faced with arbitrary governance, many
business persons have derisked from home
byinvestingineconomiesthataremorewel-
coming of them. There has been a slow but
distinctexitof businesspersonsfromIndiato
destinations overseas. Many have acquired
NRIstatus.Considerthefactthatwhileprivate
corporate investment in India continues to
stagnate,theannualaverageoutwardforeign
direct investment from India to destinations
around the world has increased from around
$200millionperyearin2000-2005,toaround
$2.0 billion in 2010-15, and to a whopping
$13.75 billion in 2023-24.
Like the leaders of regional parties and
like many provincial leaders within the BJP,
many pro-BJP business leaders would also
prefer a PM in office with numbers closer to
270 than 370.
Finally, it is useful to recall that compared
to an annual average growth rate of less than
4percentintheperiodwhen“powerful”PMs
were in office, the era of “weak” PMs — from
1991to2014—sawtheeconomyrecordclose
to 6.5 per cent annual average growth rate.
Eachof thosePMs—Rao,VajpayeeandSingh
— took decisive policy steps with the world
recognising for the first time that India was
now a “Rising Power”.
The writer was member, National Security
Advisory Board (1999-2001) and Advisor to
the Prime Minister of India
their husbands, they often spend their later
years as widows. Therefore, the policy should
particularly cater to the more vulnerable and
dependent older single women so that they
can live respectable and independent lives.
TheMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare
(MoHFW), Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment (MSJE) and Ministry of Skill
DevelopmentandEntrepreneurship(MSDE)
have a pivotal role to play in the matter.
Greatercollaborationbetweenthemcouldget
the ball rolling on the required reforms. The
Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and
SeniorCitizens(Amendment)Bill,2019,seeks
toregulatehome-basedcareforolderpeople.
Itproposestheregistrationofinstitutionspro-
viding home care services and prescribing
minimumstandardsforthem.However,ithas
not been passed since being introduced in
Parliament in 2019.
While the emphasis on making India’s
youth population “future ready” is welcome,
it should not overshadow an equally critical
groupthatneedsattention.Theexperienceof
countrieslikeJapanshowsthatsystemstocare
for older people are essential for the younger
population to contribute to the country’s
economy. Besides, it is a society’s moral and
ethicalresponsibilitytocareforitspeoplebe-
yond their prime, reciprocating their lifetime
of physical, social, emotional, and economic
investment in the society.
The writer is specialist, Health
Systems Governance, Health Systems
Transformation Platform
out were members of the Talwandi group,
they did not want to give that impression.
The general secretary of the Akali Dal
(Talwandi) who led the walkout said they
wanted to pursue the “path of truth”.
MODINAGAR TENSE
MODINAGAR REMAINED TENSE following a
bloody clash between two rival unions at the
ModiTextileMillsresultinginthedeathoftwo
persons and grievous injury to another. The
dead are identified as Ram Nath and
Khushiram, both belonging to the Hind
Mazdoor Sabha (HMS). HMS member
BhagwanSinghreceivedinjuriesonhishead.
Lucknow

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
THE IDEAS PAGE
It is time to make food systems climate resilient, arrest groundwater depletion,
reduce GHG emissions, and reward biodiversity
FROM PLATE TO PLOUGH
by Ashok Gulati
EARTH DAY WAS observed on April 22. In
1970, millions of people came out in the US
in support of saving this planet — the only
one that is known to have intelligent life so
far.Theseconcernedcitizens,underthelead-
ership of Senator Gaylord Nelson, felt at that
time that humanity was damaging this
planet’s environment in its race to develop-
ment. The damage, they feared, could
threaten the diversity of life on this planet.
More than 50 years have passed, and many
Conferenceof Parties (COPs)have been held,
thelatestbeing COP28inDubai,UnitedArab
Emirates,inNovember-December2023.And
for the first time, agriculture was brought
into this agreement. But, India did not sign
it, unlikemost G20 countrieslikethe US, and
China. The reason behind India not signing
it was that the government thought it would
involve significant changes in agricultural
policies and farming practices.
However, the fact remains that the de-
mands for feeding the rising human popu-
lation are responsible for much of the biodi-
versity loss on this planet. It took homo
sapiensmorethan2,00,000yearstobecome
one billion in 1804. But the next billion was
added in just 123 years by 1927. And now,
within less than 100 years, humanity has
multiplied from two billion to more than
eight billion. No wonder if humanity had to
be saved from the mass famines and starva-
tion deaths, farming had to be done on large
swathes of land, clearing forests. In that race
Kaushik Das Gupta
IT WASTIME thatthe Baba’s bluff was called.
Yoga guru Ramdev and the company he has
founded,andisa faceof,havebeenirrespon-
sibleforfartoolong.Arangeof diseases,from
asthmatoarthritis,obesitytobloodpressure,
he has claimed, are no match for Patanjali’s
potions — andRamdev’s contortions.During
the pandemic when doctors and healthcare
workers were struggling against the ravages
of anunknowncontagion,Ramdevexploited
massanxietywithtrademarkconceit.Hehas
defiedordersof thehighestcourt of theland.
The entire country, as the Supreme Court
said in February, has been taken for a ride.
The Court’s insistence last week for a public
apology from Patanjali, in a prominent type-
face, was long overdue.
Also necessary is a meaningful debate on
the food Indians eat and the lifestyles they
lead.Currently,thathappensinmedicaljour-
nals, and academic and policy-making cir-
cles. Such conversations also take place in a
universe where misinformation, half-truths,
misdiagnosis co-exist — at times collide —
with a desire for good health, political cor-
rectnessandwell-meaningconcernsforsus-
tainability and environment. Then there are
times when these get entangled or are even
deliberatelycombinedtoproducenarratives
Healing the soil
against hunger, several species and genetic
diversity have been lost. But even large
parcelsof landundercultivationthroughtra-
ditional andorganic methods could not have
saved humanity. As Norman Borlaug, the fa-
ther of the Green Revolution, once said, this
planet can four billion people at the most on
itsown.If sciencehadnotcometorescuethe
situation,manywouldhavestarvedtodeath.
Science, like fire, if not used properly can
also harm. The Green Revolution, based on
high-yielding varieties, irrigation, chemical
fertiliser and pesticides did produce more
food than humanity needs today. In fact, as
per FAO, 30 per cent of the food produced
never reaches ourstomachsdue tohighfood
losses in the journey from harvest to retail
and high waste at the consumer end. So,
there is no dearth of food supplies, though
access to food is an income issue. To ensure
that people do not die of hunger, each coun-
try has to devise its own policies. India has
the largest food subsidy programme in the
world, the PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana, under
which813millionpeoplegetfreerice/wheat.
The issue of harming the planet by inap-
propriate policies has, however, remained
largely unaddressed. For example, the policy
of heavilysubsidisingtheuseof chemicalfer-
tilisers,especiallyurea,hasledtoskeweduse
of nitrogen(N),phosphate(P)andpotash(K).
The soils have been damaged and are starv-
ingfororganiccarbon.Theoptimallevelofsoil
organic carbon (SOC) as per the World Food
Laureate,RattanLal,shouldbebetween1.5to
2percent.TherealityofIndiansoils,however,
isthatmorethan60percenthaveSOCof less
than 0.5 per cent. Our soils are literally in the
ICU, but our policymakers appear to be blind
to it. Mere slogans of prakritik kheti or natural
farming are not going to bring our soils out of
ICU.Weneedtochangeourpolicies,especially
those of chemical fertiliser subsidies. A sim-
ple directional change from heavily subsidis-
ing the pricing of N, P and K to direct income
transfertofarmersandthenlettingtheprices
All the mini Ramdevs
Ill-informed influencers do disservice to all systems of healing
thatclaimto set rightwhat’swrongwith our
lifestyles.Inwaysthatdon’talways seem ap-
parent, the wellness discourses on YouTube,
Instagram and social media channels mimic
Ramdev’s pravachans.
It’snosecretthatIndiaisstaringatanepi-
demic of non-communicable diseases — di-
abetes, heart ailments, blood pressure, obe-
sity,evencancer.Foralargesectionof people,
their milieu, career choices, economic com-
pulsions and the air they breathe detract
from healthy living. The seemingly simple
solutions of eating properly and on time, ex-
ercising and sleeping well appear elusive.
It’s a situation tailor-made for peddling
quick fixes and do-it-yourself regimes.
Words like Ayurveda, yoga, heritage and
tradition are part of the allure. Combine that
with a dose of nostalgia for grandma’s food,
mitigating climate change, concern for
farmers — even animals — and a world of
succour beckons alongside a promise of ex-
oneration from complicity in the planet’s
tough problems.
There’s a problem though: Health, nutri-
tion and wellness are not articles of faith.
They are about attention to an individual’s
physiology and mental state that can only
come with expert knowledge and supervi-
The issue of harming the
planet by inappropriate
policies has remained largely
unaddressed. For example,
the policy of heavily
subsidising the use of
chemical fertilisers, especially
urea, has led to skewed use of
nitrogen (N), phosphate (P)
and potash (K). The soils
have been damaged and are
starving for organic carbon.
The optimal level of soil
organic carbon (SOC) as per
the World Food Laureate,
Rattan Lal, should be
between 1.5 to 2 per cent. The
reality of Indian soils,
however, is that more than 60
per cent have SOC of less
than 0.5 per cent. Our soils
are literally in the ICU, but
our policymakers appear to
be blind to it.
sion. The influencers on Instagram, YouTube
andsocialmediacandomanythings.Butthe
one thing they can’t do is take the place of
the physician or nutritionist — whether that
be one who uses the methods of modern
medicine or is versed in the skills of therapy
systems such as Ayurveda. At least not yet.
Most of them don’t even follow the car-
dinal gym trainer’s precept — take medical
guidance before embarking on an exercise
regime.Butthen,therecanbelittlecompunc-
tioninrousingcouchpotatoeswhenitcomes
withthemessagethathop,stepandjumpex-
ercises were part of the daily jhadu pochha
ritualsof theirdadisandnanis—notthelived
experience of the house help, mind you.
Could this be a problem of naïveté? The
benefit of doubt isn’t always deserved. The
CVs of several of these social media influ-
encers would show that they have under-
gone expert training, and protocols are quite
likely part of their practices in the offline
world. But who can resist the temptation to
play guru to virtual followers counting up to
hundreds of thousands of ks? Especially in a
society that has worshipped gurus for cen-
turies.The medical profession too is guilty of
exploiting the social propensity to turn the
already serious information asymmetry be-
C R Sasikumar
of N, P and K be decided by the market forces
can change a lot. But this needs advance
preparationsintermsof landrecordsoffarm-
ers,thecropstheyaregrowing,irrigation,etc.
Butallthiscanbedone,if oneisseriousabout
saving soils.
Take the case of groundwater in India. In
most states, it is depleting. In Punjab,
Haryana and Rajasthan, the situation is par-
ticularly serious, largely because free power
for irrigation, minimum support prices and
open-ended procurement of paddy (rice)
have encouraged rampant groundwater ex-
ploitation.Allthishasledtoanecologicaldis-
aster in this belt with the water table reced-
ing year by year, and paddy fields emitting
carbon at the rate of almost 5 tons/ha.
These policies are also leading to the loss
of crop diversity. For example, in 1960 in
Punjab, only 4.8 per cent of the cropped area
was under rice. Today, it is more than 40 per
cent, displacing maize, millets, pulses and
many oilseeds. Successful high-yielding va-
rieties of rice and wheat also lead to loss of
varietal diversity.
India,withonly2.4percentof theworld’s
geographical area, 4 per cent of global fresh-
waterresources,and18percentoftheworld’s
population,isunderhugestress,beititssoils,
water, air (GHG emissions) or biodiversity.
Unless we change our policies that are
peasant-positivebutalsoplanet-positive,we
willbecommittinga crimetowards ourchil-
drenandgrandchildren.Timeisrunningout.
Climate change is upon us, and extreme
weather events are likely to increase causing
massive damage to lives and livelihoods. It is
time to wake up and make our food systems
not only climate resilient but also bring back
our soils to health, arrest groundwater de-
pletion, reduce GHG emissions significantly,
andreward biodiversity throughgreencred-
its. Can we do that in time?
Gulati is Distinguished Professor at ICRIER.
Views are personal
tween the doctor and the patient into a
relationship of faith.
For a lot of their followers, social media
nutritionists or yoga instructors are the only
examples of systems of healing that have
evolved over centuries. This is deeply unfor-
tunate. There is a growing body of scholar-
ship on Ayurvedic practitioners trying to
work out remedies to afflictions that have
taken the shape of public health crises in re-
centtimes—eveninfindingremediestodis-
easeswhosehistoryislessthanacenturyold.
In her fascinating work on Hakim Ajmal
Khan, the historian Barbara Metcalfe writes
onthedebatesbetweenthemodernpioneer
of Unanimedicineandmissionarydoctorsin
Delhi in the late 19th early 20th centuries.
Khanwouldn’thesitatetocalloutmissionar-
ies equipped with a chest of pills and a rudi-
mentarytraininginmedicinefordoinginjus-
tice to the nuances of the allopathic system.
In similar ways, the wellness gurus do a
disservice to all systems of healing. They are
complicit in a more serious crime. The influ-
encer culture has spawned an ecosphere
teeming with mini Ramdevs, who could be
compounding a serious public health crisis.
kaushik.dasgupta@expressindia.com
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“Cultivating and nurturing positive expectations for mutually beneficial
cooperation between China and Europe is a good thing... as it ensures that the
constructive aspects of China-Europe relations in global strategic stability far
outweigh the destructive aspects...”
State of the
Opposition
Even as Modi image looms large over the
elections, situation for INDI alliance isn’t hopeless
K M Chandrashekhar
I CANNOT PREDICT the winner or the mar-
ginof victoryoncountingdayinJune.Ihave
invariablybeenwrong,exceptin2014,when
I was sure the Congress-led UPA would be
resoundingly defeated. In 2019, based on
media assessments, I had thought it would
be an even fight. In 1977, I bet Rs 1,000 with
my father on the election outcome. It was
inconceivabletome,livinginthedeepSouth,
that Indira Gandhi would lose. Hence, I
am not the Grand Prophet of electoral out-
comes that the mainstream media sees
Prashant Kishore as. I can only talk of the
strategies the leading contenders seem to
have adopted.
Letusbeginwiththetopseed,undoubt-
edlytheNDA,ledbyPrimeMinisterNaren-
dra Modi. More than ever before, Modi is
the NDA and the NDA is Modi. A sine qua
non for being in the NDA and even in the
higherbureaucracyistotalsubservienceto
Modi. Every minister prefaces every state-
ment with obeisance. Every government
activity, including normal functions, is at-
tributed to his wisdom and energy. Modi
claims credit not only for what his govern-
ment has done but also for the achieve-
mentsof pastgovernments.Centralschools,
whichhavebeenaroundforalongtime,are
now called PM Sri Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Everyrationshop,everypetrolbunkhasbe-
come a celebration of Modi. Even the RSS
has been quietly sidelined.
This is bolstered by a colossal publicity
campaign. Money flowed from the Centre
and states in the G20 carnival, which,
over the year, assumed the form of a great
Indian festival.
Thiswasaccompaniedbythecaptureof
mainstream media by corporates. Those
who remain relatively independent talk of
Adani and Ambani as the main perpetra-
tors, but the fact is that no corporate can
deny the ruling party. A comparison of rel-
ativeinvestmentinGujaratbeforeanddur-
ingtheModiregimewillestablishthishelp-
lessness. The corporates were duly
rewardedwithareductionincorporatetax
rates.ThedeclineinChineseproductionand
growth rates, the developing global eco-
nomic depression, and the fall of multilat-
eral trade rules contributed to India’s eco-
nomicstrength.Withphenomenalgrowth
ininfrastructureandrapiddevelopmentof
informationtechnology,Indiaisindubitably
in a happy place, even though rising in-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SECURING THE POLLS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘The vote
is safe’ (IE, April 27). The Supreme
Court’sverdictdismissingpetitionscall-
ing for 100 per cent verification of EVM
votes with VVPAT slips appears to be a
well-balanced, timely decision.
However, the Court’s suggestion for the
ECI to explore the feasibility of elec-
tronicmachinesforcountingVVPATpa-
per slips, coupled with the inclusion of
barcodes for party identification, is yet
anotherpragmaticapproachtostream-
line the verification process. Such tech-
nological innovations, if implemented
judiciously, could prove to be game-
changers in ensuring the reliability of
the electoral machinery, without caus-
ingconsiderabledisruptions.Whilede-
mands for heightened scrutiny merit
consideration, it is essential to weigh
them against practical constraints, in-
cludinglogisticalchallengesandpoten-
tial delays in result declaration. There is
a need for pragmatic solutions that
reconcile competing interests while
upholding the integrity of the
electoral process.
Khokan Das, Kolkata
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘The vote
is safe’ (IE, April 27). Justice Dipankar
Datta has prudently judged that the
question of returning to ballot papers
“does not and cannot arise”. The world
has moved to paperless systems for the
environment. Change, modernise and
advance to make life more efficient has
been the world order. The directions
of the Supreme Court to keep safe all
the EVMs and connected apparatus for
45 days should ward off all objections.
Those propagating the adoption of
paper ballots should understand
that from super-computers we cannot
go back to abacus or counting on
fingers. However, efforts to make
gadgets more efficient and perfect
should continue.
Subhash Vaid, New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA
equalities, inflation, unemployment, de-
cline of startups, and much higher con-
sumer credit pose future threats to the de-
mandside.Muchof whathasbeendoneby
theCentrehasbeenatthecostof thestates,
particularly those that are not “double en-
gine”, and Centre-state conflict is growing.
Hounding the Opposition is another el-
ement of the electoral strategy. The CBI, ED
and the NIA focus more on the Opposition
than on ruling parties and a person on the
scannerofanyoftheseorganisationscanes-
cape legal action if they switch parties. The
recent electoral bonds case and remarks by
some judges, including the Chief Justice of
India, seem to give the impression that, at
least for now, they are showing signs of re-
covering the independence given to them
by the Constitution. How long this will last
aftertheelectioncoulddependonthecom-
position of the next Lok Sabha.
What, then, of the Opposition? A few
months ago, the formation of the INDI al-
liancegavetheimpressionthatitcoulddam-
age the ruling front. With Nitish Kumar at
the helm, the coalition looked like it would
seriously try to win back lost space. Nitish
speaks Hindi and has vast experience as
Chief Minister. He might have been a credi-
ble challenger to Modi. But it looked as
though the Grand Old Party would have
noneof it.HavingwonKarnataka,primarily
because of solid anti-incumbency and the
efforts of local leaders, it got the mistaken
impression that the wind had changed di-
rection. The alliance hibernated for about
half a year, Nitish switched sides, Mamata
Banerjee decided to go it alone, the alliance
could not work on a joint minimum pro-
gramme,innerpartydemocracywasnotre-
stored in the Congress, and a stream of dis-
gruntledleaderslefttheOppositionparties,
particularly from the only substantial
national party in their midst.
Yetthesituationisnotentirelyhopeless.
Iftheyhavenotsucceededinuniting,atleast
therearemanyconstituenciesinwhichthey
have made electoral adjustments. Mahara-
shtra,BiharandBengalcouldprovetobede-
cisivebattlefields.Thesouthernstatescould
be a bridge too far for the ruling party, even
though the Modi effect could prove vital in
Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra. Arvind
Kejriwal’s arrest and the effort to demolish
the AAP brought the alliance partners to-
gether, but for how long, we do not know.
Overall,theModiimageovershadowsthe
electoral campaign. Yet democracy and the
Constitution need a strong Opposition. As
Modihimself saidatafunctioninParaunkh,
theancestralvillageofformerPresidentRam
Nath Kovind, “I want a strong Opposition in
the country; I am not against anyone.”
The writer is the former Cabinet Secretary,
Government of India
WRONG CONCLUSION
THIS REFERSTOthearticle, ‘AmirGarib’
(IE, April 27). The writer gives the cor-
rectfiguresbuthedrawswrongconclu-
sions. One per cent having 39.5 per cent
wealth and getting 22.6 per cent in-
come is gross and automatically grow-
ing inequality. Gross inequality and
povertyof averylargemajority,aretwo
sidesof thesamecoin.If youacceptone,
you have to accept the other.
Inheritance tax and wealth tax are two
effective ways of reducing such gross
inequality. Reducing poverty automat-
ically increases demand for goods and
services, and thus creates jobs.
Increased employment leads to a fur-
ther reduction of poverty. Our rulers,
whatever the political party, know this.
But they are not sovereign enough
to make the decision. They are
answerable to the rich and, in some
cases, are the rich. This explains why
bothmajor parties had aninstant knee-
jerk reaction against the imposition of
inheritance tax.
Subhash Athale, Kolhapur
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Amir Garib’
(IE, April 27). Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’spollspeechtargetedtheCongress
over Sam Pitroda’s comment on inheri-
tance tax, saying that people’s hard-
earnedwealthwillbetakenawaybythe
Congress and given to Muslims. This
prompted a debate over the redistribu-
tion of private wealth. The retaliation of
India’s rich is apparent. The writer also
concludedthattheexpropriate-and-re-
distribute model has lost its political vi-
ability. Is that so? The government pro-
vidingfreerationto80crorepoorIndians
is an example of distributive justice.
Moreover, there is deafening silence
when this model works the other way
round. Tribal lands are taken (expropri-
ated) and given (redistributed) in the
nameof developmentprojects,without
proper rehabilitation of the displaced.
L R Murmu, New Delhi
Lucknow

10 E EXPLAINED
How the rupee has ‘strengthened’ under Modi government
HARISH DAMODARAN
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
BETWEEN APRIL-end 2014 and now —
roughlythe time theNarendra Modi govern-
ment has been in office — the rupee has de-
preciatedby27.6%againsttheUSdollar,from
Rs 60.34 to Rs 83.38.
That’s marginally higher than the 26.5%
depreciation from April-end
2004 to April-end 2014. The
rupee fell from 44.37 to 60.34 EXPLAINED
against the dollar, in the pe-
riod when Congress-led UPA
ECONOMICS
was in power.
As India engages in global trade, the
strength or weakness of the rupee is a func-
tion of the exchange rate with the US dollar
and other global currencies. The rupee’s “ef-
fective exchange rate” or EER is an index of
the weighted average of its exchange rates
vis-à-vis the currencies of India’s major trad-
ing partners.
Thecurrencyweightsintheindexarede-
EXPLAINED AI
MICROSOFTLAUNCHESPHI-3:WHAT
ARESLMS,ANDWHATCANTHEYDO?
BIJIN JOSE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
MICROSOFT last week unveiled the lat-
est version of its lightweight AI model,
the Phi-3-mini, reportedly the first
among three small language models
(SLMs)thatthecompanyplanstorelease.
SLMs are compact versions of large
languagemodels(LLMs),whichcancom-
prehend and generate human language
text. The new model expands the selec-
tion of high-quality models for cus-
tomers, offering more practical choices
as they build generative AI applications.
Phi-3-mini basics
Phi-3-mini is an SLM that has 3.8 bil-
lion parameters (a measure of the size
and complexity of an AI model), and is
trained on a data set that is smaller in
comparison to LLMs such as Open AI’s
GPT-4.
The AI model is instruction-tuned,
which means it can follow a range of in-
structions given by the user, reflecting
how people normally communicate.
It is the first model in its class to sup-
port a context window — which helps an
AI model recall information during a ses-
sion — of up to 128,000 tokens, with lit-
tle impact on quality. A token is the fun-
damental unit of data used by a language
model to process and generate text.
Microsoft has described Phi-3 as a
family of open AI models that are the
most capable and cost-effective SLMs
available. In the coming weeks, the com-
pany will add more models, including
Phi-3-small and Phi-3-medium, to the
Phi-3 family.
Different from LLMs
SLMs like Phi-3-mini are more
streamlined versions of LLMs. When
compared toLLMs,smallerAImodelsare
your go-to institute for
general studies preparation
           
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Behind the cannibal stereotype: why Biden offended Papua New Guinea
ARJUN SENGUPTA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
PAPUA NEW Guinea Prime Minister James
Marape, last week, criticised United States
PresidentJoeBidenforimplyingthathisun-
cle was eaten by cannibals in New Guinea
during World War II.
Biden, during a campaign event at
Pittsburgh on April 17, had
saidthatafterhisuncle’splane
was shot down in New EXPLAINED
Guinea,“theyneverfoundthe
body because there used to
CULTURE
be, there were a lot of canni-
bals, for real, in that part of New Guinea.”
In response, Marape said: “President
Biden’sremarks may havebeena slipof the
tongue; however, my country does not de-
serve to be labelled as such [as cannibals].”
The people of New Guinea have long
triedtoshedthecanniballabel.Whilethere
have been documented cases of cannibal-
ism among tribes on the island, the use of
the stereotype has as much to do with
European ideas on race and civilisation.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
rived from the share of individual countries
in India’s total foreign trade. There are two
measures of EER, nominal and real.
Nominal EER or NEER
TheRBIhasconstructedtheNEERindices
of therupeeagainstbasketsof sixand40cur-
rencies.
The former is a trade-weighted average
rate atwhich therupeeis exchangeablewith
a basic currency basket, com-
prising the US dollar, the euro,
the Chinese yuan, the British
pound, the Japanese yen and
the Hong Kong dollar.
The latter index covers a
bigger basket of 40 currencies of countries
that account for about 88% of India’s annual
trade flows.
The NEER indices are with reference to a
base year value of 100 for 2015-16. Increases
indicate the rupee’s effective appreciation
againstthesecurrencies,anddecreasespoint
to overall exchange rate depreciation.
Chart 1 shows that the rupee’s 40-cur-
cost-effectivetooperateandperformbet-
ter on smaller devices like laptops and
smartphones.
While LLMs are trained on massive
general data, SLMs stand out with their
specialisation.Throughfine-tuning,SLMs
can be customised for specific tasks —
achieving accuracy and efficiency in the
process. Most SLMs undergo targeted
training, which demands considerably
less computing power and energy com-
pared to LLMs.
SLMs also differ from LLMs when it
comes to inference latency, which is the
time taken for a model to make predic-
tions or decisions after receiving input.
The compact size of SLMs allows for
quicker processing, making them more
responsive and apt for real-time applica-
tions such as virtual assistants and chat-
bots. As developing and deploying SLMs
isoftencheaperthanLLMs,organisations
and research groups with limited budg-
ets prefer using them.
In a blog post, Microsoft mentioned
use cases from India: “ITC, a leading busi-
ness conglomerate based in India, is
leveraging Phi-3 as part of their contin-
ued collaboration with Microsoft on the
copilot for Krishi Mitra, a farmer-facing
app that reaches over a million farmers.”
Phi-3-mini’s capabilities
Phi-3-mini has outperformed mod-
els of the same size and next size across a
variety of benchmarks in areas like lan-
guage, reasoning, coding, and maths, ac-
cording to Microsoft.
It requires less computational power
and has much better latency. With longer
context windows, it is capable of taking
in and reasoning over large text content
such as documents, web pages, and code.
Microsoft claims that Phi-3-mini
demonstrates strong reasoning and logic
capabilities, making it ideal for analyti-
cal tasks.
VAJIRAM & RAVI
Institute for IAS Examination
   
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    containsmorethan16,000chemicalsthatcan
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Eating ‘witches’, not humans
The Korowai tribe of New Guinea (they
live in the Indonesian province of Papua on
the western side of the island) number be-
tween 2,000 and 4,000. Anthropologist
Rupert Stasch wrote that “their spectacular
treehouses, their limited possession of fac-
tory-made commodities such as cotton
clothing, and their practice of cannibalism”
make them “a perfect fit with Westerners’
stereotypes of ‘primitive’ hu-
manity” (Society of Others:
Kinship and Mourning in a
West Papuan Place, 2009).
Althoughsomeanthropol-
ogists say the practice has
been discontinued, the Korowai gained
globalnotorietyascannibals.Buttheythem-
selves do not identify as such.
“The Korowai have no knowledge of the
deadlygermsthatinfesttheirjungles,andso
believe that mysterious deaths must be
caused by khakhua, or witches who take on
the form of men,” a 2006 Smithsonian
Magazinearticlesaid.Whenamemberofthe
tribe dies, his or her male relatives kill the
khakhua responsible (the dying person
TRADE-WEIGHTED NEER
(BASE: 2015-16 = 100)
■ 40-CurrencyBasket
170
139.77
150
130
90.76
110 133.77
90
83.65
70
2004-05 2013-14 2023-24
Note: Figures are for April-March financial year.
rency basket NEER has fallen by around
32.2% (from 133.8 to 90.8) between 2004-05
and 2023-24. The decline is even more —
40.2%, from 139.8 to 83.7 — for the narrower
six-currency basket NEER. During this pe-
Global treaty on plastic waste
Negotiators and observers from 175 countries including India are currently meeting in Ottawa to thrash out
a planet-saving treaty on plastic waste. Here’s why such a treaty matters, and why it is not going to be easy
ALINDCHAUHAN
NEWDELHI,APRIL28
PLASTICWASTEiseverywhere,fromthepeak
of Mount Everest to the floor of the Pacific
Ocean,inthebodiesof animalsandbirds,and
in human blood and breast milk.
Last week, thousands of negotiators and
observers from 175 countries arrived in
Ottawa, Canada, to begin talks on the first
globaltreatytocurbplasticspollution.Indiais
alsoa part of the talks,andis representedbya
senior official from the Union Ministry of
Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
Scheduled to run till April 29, this is the
fourthroundofnegotiationssince2022,when
theUNEnvironmentalAssemblyagreedtode-
velop a legally binding treaty on plastics pol-
lution by the end of 2024. The final round of
negotiations will take place in in South Korea
in November.
The proposed plastics treaty could be the
most important environmental accord since
the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change,
inwhichnationsagreedtocutgreenhousegas
(GHG) emissions.
Whyisaglobalplastictreatyneeded?
Sincethe1950s,plasticproductionacross
the world has skyrocketed. It increased from
just 2 million tonnes in 1950 to more than
450milliontonnesin2019. If leftunchecked,
production could double by 2050, and triple
by 2060.
Although plastic is a cheap and versatile
material, with a wide variety of applications,
itswidespreadusehasledtoacrisis.Asplastic
takes anywhere from 20 to 500 years to de-
compose,andlessthan10%hasbeenrecycled
tillnow,nearly6billiontonnesofthematerial
now pollute the planet, according to a 2023
study published by The Lancet. Around 400
milliontonnesofplasticwasteisgeneratedan-
nually,afigurethatisexpectedtojumpby62%
between 2024 and 2050.
Muchofthisplasticwasteleaksintotheen-
vironment, especially into rivers and oceans,
where it breaks down into smaller particles
suchas microplastics (piecessmaller than0.5
mmindiameter)andnanoplastic(piecesthat
are just 100 nanometres or smaller). Plastic
harmecosystemsandlivingorganisms,includ-
inghumans—thechemicalsareknowntodis-
turb the body’s hormone systems, and cause
Papua
PapuaNew
Indonesia Guinea
Australia
names him). And then they eat him. As a
KorawaimantoldtheSmithsonianMagazine:
“Wedon’teathumans,weonlyeatkhakhua.”
As acts of love and grief
Cannibalism in New Guinea has also
been documented among the Fore (pro-
nounced FOR-ay) people who live in the
highlands of Papua New Guinea. This tribe
of approximately 20,000 individuals (to-
day)consumedhumanfleshaspartof mor-
tuary rituals till about the 1960s.
For the Fore, this was an act of love and
grief.“If thebodywasburieditwaseatenby
worms; if it was placed on a platform it was
eaten by maggots; the Fore believed it was
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
of India’s major trade partners over 20 years
TRADE-WEIGHTED REER has been lower than its corresponding de-
preciation of 45.7% against the US dollar
(BASE: 2015-16 = 100) alone. The reason for that is its weakening
less relative to other currencies than vis-à-
■ 6-CurrencyBasket
vis the dollar.
120 The chart also shows that the bulk of the
103.70 NEER decline happened during 2004-05 to
110
89.21 2013-14. The rupee, in fact, strengthened
100 thereafter until 2017-18, before resuming its
90 weakening trend — albeit at a slower pace
101.79 than during the UPA period.
80
Real EER or REER
70
75.30 The NEER does not factor in inflation,
60 which reflects changes in the internal value
2004-05 2013-14 2023-24 of the rupee.
Source: Reserve Bank of India To illustrate, the Indonesian rupiah has
fallen 8.5% against the US dollar in the last
year.TheIndianrupeehasdepreciatedmuch
riod, the rupee’s average exchange rate less,by1.7%,inthisperiod.ButIndia’sannual
against the US dollar dropped by 45.7%, from CPIinflationrate,at4.9%forMarch,wasmore
Rs 44.9 to Rs 82.8. than Indonesia’s 3.1%. Thus, the Indonesian
Simply put, the rupee’s ‘effective’ depre- currency’s domestic purchasing power has
ciation of 32.2-40.2% against the currencies suffered less erosion relative to its interna-
EXPLAINED ENVIRONMENT
HOW PLASTIC ENTERS THE HUMAN BODY
AIR
FARMLAND INHALATION FRESHWATER
ANDOCEANS
INGESTION INGESTION
■ Plastic waste leaks ■ The waste breaks
into the environment, down into smaller
especially into rivers or particles and through
coasts, and gets dumped water, air, and food
in the oceans. enters the human body.
fromchemicalssourcedfromfossilfuels.Ifcur-
GLOBALPLASTICPRODUCTION rent trends continue, emissions from plastic
production could grow 20% by 2050, a recent
ANDPROJECTION report by Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory in the United States said.
1.2bt
1bt bt:billiontonnes Whatcantheplasticstreatyentail?
mt:milliontonnes While none of the treaty’s details are final
800mt yet, experts believe that it can go beyond just
putting a cap on plastic production in United
600mt
Nations member states.
459.75mt Itcould,forexample,layoutguidelineson
400mt
howrichnationsshouldhelppooreronesmeet
200mt their plastic reduction targets.
It could also ban “particular types of plas-
0t
tic, plastic products, and chemical additives
1950 1980 2020 2060
usedinplastics,andsetlegallybindingtargets
Source: Geyer et al. (2017); OECD (2022) forrecyclingandrecycledcontentusedincon-
sumergoods,”saidareportbyGristmagazine.
Thetreatycouldmandatethetestingofcer-
cancer, diabetes, reproductive disorders, etc. tain chemicals in plastics.
Plastic production and disposal are also It could also contain some details on a just
contributingtoclimatechange.Accordingtoa transitionforwastepickersandworkersinde-
report by the Organisation for Economic Co- velopingcountrieswhodependontheplastic
operation and Development (OECD), in 2019, industry for their livelihoods.
plastics generated 1.8 billion tonnes of GHG
emissions — which was 3.4% of global emis- Whatcouldbethepotentialroadblocksto
sions. Roughly 90% of these emissions came suchatreaty?
fromtheproductionof plastic,whichismade An ambitious agreement is far from guar-
muchbetterthatthebodywaseatenbypeo- souls to be saved… But far worse occurred
plewholovedthedeceasedthanbyworms throughouthistory,asthoseaccusedof con-
and insects,” researchers Jerome Whitfield, suming other humans, for any reason, were
Wandagi Pako, John Collinge, and Michael brutalised, enslaved, and murdered,” au-
AlperswroteintheirpaperMortuaryritesof thor Bill Schutt wrote in Cannibalism: A
the South Fore and kuru (2008). Perfectly Natural History (2017).
TheForestoppedconsuminghumanflesh “During the last years of the 15th cen-
inthe1960safteritwasdiscoveredthatitwas tury… millions of indigenous people living
thispracticethatwasleadingtothespreadof intheCaribbeanandMexicoweresummar-
a deadly disease — kuru (literally “shivering” ily reclassified as cannibals for reasons that
or “trembling”), later identified as a form of had little to do with people-eating. Instead,
transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy— it paved the way for them to be robbed,
thatwasannuallykillingasmanyas200Fore beaten,conquered,andslain,allatthewhim
in the mid-20th century. The incidence of
kuru has now declined, and no Fore has suc-
of their new Spanish masters,” he wrote.
Biden’s remarks — and Papua New
cumbed to the illness since 2010. Guinea’s reaction to them — must be seen
in this context, where the cannibal stereo-
The cannibal stereotype type has been used to justify the excesses
In both the above cases, consumption of of European colonialism.
human flesh was a part of social custom,
whichhelpedthetribesmakesenseofthein- What explains cannibalism
explicable,orprocessdifficultemotions.New In Darwinian terms, it is fairly simple to
Guinea’s famous cannibal tribes did not eat explainthecannibaltaboo.Eatingone’sown
justanybody,asBiden’sremarksappearedto islookeddownuponasitimpactsthehealth
imply.Theywerenot“savages”—stereotype of the species. If, as Darwin postulated, all
that has historically followed cannibals. species have a fundamental imperative to-
“At best, these ‘savages’ were pegged as wardssurvivalandpropagation,thepractice
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
tionalpurchasingpower,whereasithasbeen
the reverse for the rupee.
TheREERisbasicallytheNEERadjustedfor
the inflation differentials between the home
countryanditstradingpartners.If acountry’s
nominal exchange rate falls less than its do-
mesticinflationrate,aswithIndia,thecurrency
has actually appreciated in ‘real’ terms.
Chart 2 maps the rupee’s trade-weighted
REER for the last 20 years, taking a base year
value of 100 for 2015-16. It shows the rupee
has strengthened in real terms over time,
while ruling at 100 or above in 9 of the Modi
government’s10years.Thisisoppositetothe
trend of weakening seen in the NEER or its
exchange rate with the US dollar.
If one assumes that the rupee was ‘fairly’
valuedinbaseyear2015-16,anyvalueabove
100signifiesovervaluation.Tothatextent,the
rupeeisovervaluedtodayintermsof itsREER.
Any increase in REER means the costs of
productsbeingexportedfromIndiaarerising
morethanthepricesofitsimports.Thattrans-
lates into a loss of trade competitiveness —
whichmaynotbeagoodthinginthelongrun.
anteed. Some of the biggest oil and gas-pro-
ducing countries, as well as fossil fuel and
chemicalindustrygroups,havebeenlobbying
tonarrowthescopeof thetreatytofocusonly
on plastic waste and recycling.
As a result, treaty negotiations have been
deeply polarising so far. Since the first round
oftalksinUruguayinNovember2022,oil-pro-
ducing nations like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and
Iranhaveopposedplasticproductioncaps,and
have used a range of delaying tactics such as
arguingoverproceduralmatters,toderailcon-
structive dialogue.
Countries are yet to decide if the plastic
treatywouldbeagreeduponbyconsensusor
through a majority vote, according to a report
published in the journal Nature. Consensus
would mean that a single country could veto
the treaty, and prevent it from getting passed.
On the other end, there is a coalition of
around 65 nations — known as the “High-
Ambition Coalition” — which seeks to tackle
plastic production. The coalition, which in-
cludes African nations and most of the
EuropeanUnion,alsowantstoendplasticpol-
lution by 2040, phase out “problematic” sin-
gle-use plastics, and ban certain chemical ad-
ditives that could carry health risks.
TheUShasnotjoinedtheHAC.Whileithas
said it wants to end plastic pollution by 2040,
unlike the HAC, it advocates that countries
shouldtakevoluntarystepstoendplasticpol-
lution. “The underlying reason why the US is
not ambitious is we are a fossil gas country,”
US Senator Jeff Merkley (Democrat from
Oregon) told the Associated Press.
Fossil-fuelandchemicalcorporationshave
also been working to water down the treaty,
andhavesentarecordnumberof lobbyiststo
the negotiations in Ottawa. According to a re-
cent analysis by the Centre for International
EnvironmentalLaw(CIEL),196lobbyistsregis-
teredforthetalks,a37%increasefromthe143
lobbyists registered in the previous round of
the negotiations in Kenya last November.
“99% of plastics are derived from fossil fu-
els, and the fossil fuel industry continues to
clutch at plastics and petrochemicals as a life-
line.Thechemicalandfossilfuelindustriesop-
posecutstoplasticproduction,falselyclaiming
that the plastics crisis is not a plastic problem,
but a waste problem,” the analysis said.
It is due to such roadblocks that the pre-
vious three rounds of negotiations failed to
make significant progress towards finalising
the treaty.
of cannibalismisdirectlyantitheticaltothis.
However, there is plenty of evidence of
cannibalism across the natural world, from
single-celledorganisms,todinosaurs,topo-
lar bears, to humans.
Schutt argued that the incidence and
frequency of cannibalism can be explained
among various species — and different hu-
man communities — based on their local
environmental conditions. “Cannibalism
serves a variety of functions, depending on
the cannibal. There are even examples in
which an individual being cannibalised re-
ceives a benefit,” he wrote.
Palaeoanthripologist Carole A Travis-
Henikoff explained in her book Dinner with
a Cannibal (2008): “Starvation brings on
‘survival’cannibalism,whiletheingestionof
dead relatives is known as ‘endocannibal-
ism’ or “funerary” cannibalism [like in the
case of the Fore, an act of mourning].
‘Exocannibalism’referstotheeatingof one’s
enemies [like the Korowai, also known to
address skewed sex ratios], whereas ‘reli-
gious’ cannibalism relates to the actual or
simulated partaking of human flesh as part
of a religious rite.”
Lucknow

11 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
BRIEFLY
‘Mktstofocus
onearnings,
USFedcall’
NewDelhi:Quarterlyearn-
ings from corporates, the
US Fed interest rate deci-
sion and other global
trends will be the major
driving factors for deter-
mining movement in the
domesticequitymarketin
the week ahead, analysts
said. Besides, factors like
trading activity of foreign
investors,Brentcrudeand
rupee-dollar trend would
also influence trading. PTI
448infra
projectshitby
costoverrun
NewDelhi:Asmanyas448
infrastructure projects,
each entailing an invest-
ment of Rs 150 crore or
above, were hit by cost
overrun of more than Rs
5.55 lakh crore during
December quarter 2023,
anofficialreportstated.The
Quarterly Project Imple-
mentation Status Report
(QPISR) on Central Sector
Projects (costing Rs 150
croreandabove)forthe3rd
quarter of 2023-24, con-
tains detailed information
on 1,897 projects. QPISR is
preparedbyStatistics&Pr-
ogrammeImplementation
ministry.Outof1,897proj-
ects, 448 projects were
having cost overrun of Rs
5,55,352.41crore,whichis
65.2percentof theirsanc-
tionedcost. PTI
ITPCL:NCLAT
rejectsSBI’s
objection
NewDelhi:Appellatetribu-
nal NCLAT has rejected
SBI’s pleas opposing the
liquidation value of ITPCL
provided by the debt-rid-
denfirm’sleadbankerPNB
and said the country’s
largest lender cannot
“wriggle out” the debt re-
structuring process of the
IL&FS group’s thermal
power company. The
National Company Law
AppellateTribunalhasdis-
missed all three applica-
tions moved by SBI and
said it does “not find any
error in fixing the liquida-
tionvalueasof30.09.2018”
ofIL&FSTamilNaduPower
Company Ltd (ITPCL). PTI
Govttohold
summiton
criticalminerals
New Delhi: TheMinistry of
Mines, in collaboration
withtheShaktiSustainable
Energy Foundation
(Shakti),CouncilonEnergy,
Environment and Water
(CEEW), and Indian
Institute of Sustainable
Development (IISD), will
hold “Critical Minerals
Summit: Enhancing
Beneficiation and
Processing Capabilities”
fromApril29to30th,2024
here. PTI
FPIs sell Indian equities worth `6,300 cr
in Apr on sustained rise in US bond yields
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI,APRIL 28
FOREIGN INVESTORS pulled
out domestic equities worth Rs
6,300 crore in April on concerns
over tweaks in India’s tax treaty
with Mauritius and sustained
rise in US bond yields.
This came following a
whopping net investment of Rs
35,098 crore in March and Rs
1,539 crore in February, data
with the depositories showed.
Foreign Portfolio Investors
(FPIs) made a net outflow of Rs
6,304 crore in Indian equities
this month (till April 26), the
data showed.
“The trigger for this re-
newed FPI selling, in both eq-
uity and debt, is sustained rise
in US bond yields. The 10-year
bond yield now stands at
around 4.7 per cent, which is
hugely attractive for foreign in-
MEETS CHINESE PREMIER LI QIANG
Days after deferring India
visit, Musk lands in China
RAVIDUTTAMISHRA
NEWDELHI,APRIL28
TESLACEOElonMuskonSunday
arrivedinChina,barelyaweekaf-
ter he cited Tesla-related “obliga-
tions” to defer his much-antici-
pated India visit to meet Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
founders of an Indian space
startup. Amid a sharp decline in
production of Tesla units and
questions raised by its inventors,
Musk is expected to discuss the
rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving
softwareandpermissiontotrans-
fer data overseas with Chinese
government officials, news
agency Reuters reported.
Musk has been looking to ob-
tain approval to transfer data col-
lectedinChinatotrainalgorithms
for its autonomous driving tech-
nologies.Thecompanysince2021
hasbeenstoringalldatacollected
byitsChinesefleetinShanghaias
required by Chinese regulators.
While New Delhi has only
rolledoutanelectricvehiclepolicy
(EV)lastmonth,largelytoaccom-
modate the Texas-based car-
maker, Tesla operates its biggest
plant globally in Shanghai, pro-
ducing over 1 million units of
Model 3 and Model Y cars a year.
Chinese state media reported
thatMuskmetChinesePremierLi
QianginBeijingonSundayduring
whichLitoldMuskthatTesla’sde-
velopment in China could be re-
gardedasasuccessfulexampleof
US-Chinaeconomicandtradeco-
operation. Tesla has sold more
than1.7millioncarsinChinasince
itenteredthemarketadecadeago.
Moreover, Chinaisalso crucialfor
Tesla as it supplies its cars to New
Zealand,AustraliaandEurope.
Reuters reported that Musk’s
visit coincides with the Beijing
auto show, which opened last
week and ends on May 4. Musk’s
itinerary Sunday afternoon also
included a meeting with Ren
Expectations of future policy impact mkts
more than rate announcements: RBI paper
ENS ECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,APRIL 28
INDIAN EQUITY markets are af-
fectedmorebythechangesinthe
market’s expectations of future
monetary policy than the policy
rate surprise on the day the
ReserveBankof Indiaannounces
thepolicy,accordingtoaworking
paper released by the RBI.
This is in agreement with the
conventional thinking that eq-
uity markets are forward-look-
ing, the paper said. “We also find
that volatility in equity markets
is affected by both target factor
(announcement of the policy)
and path factor (expectations
about the policy) as markets di-
gest the policy announcements
and traders adjust their portfo-
lios throughout the day,” the RBI
analysispreparedbyRBIofficials
said.
“Using an alternative specifi-
cation to examine the potential
asymmetric impact, we find an
File
vestors,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief
Investment Strategist, Geojit
Financial Services, said.
While the tweak in India’s
tax treaty with Mauritius on in-
vestments made in India via
the island nation continues to
bother foreign investors, weak
Tesla CEO Elon Musk with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday.
Hongbin, a government official
who heads the China Council for
the Promotion of International
Trade,theorganiseroftheBeijing
auto show, the Chinese state me-
dia reported.
Prior to Musk’s visit to India,
policymakershadkickstartedthe
consultation process to release
guidelinesfortheEVpolicy.Hours
afterMuskannouncedonApril20
that he is postponing his visit to
India, Union Finance Minister
NirmalaSitharamanhadsaidthat
Indiaismakingpoliciestoensure
big companies are attracted to
Indiaforinvestment,especiallyin
lightofindustriesexpressingcon-
cerns around China.
Toattractinvestmentsintothe
EV space, the Centre has lowered
import duties to 15per cent from
100percentformodelsofelectric
cars with a combined cost, insur-
ance, freight prices of $35,000 or
aboveforfiveyears,akeyprecon-
dition for Tesla’s entry to test out
the “market potential” in India.
Earlier, the Centre is learnt to
have turned down China-based
File
increased negative sensitivity of
equityreturnswithrespecttothe
path factor when repo rate is al-
tered vis-à-vis when the rate is
leftunaltered,”theRBIpapersaid.
Forvolatility,thesensitivitytothe
pathfactorcontinuestobesignif-
icant, it said.
Accordingtothepaper,while
theintradayanalysiswithnarrow
windowsof 30and60minutesis
aimedatcontrollingforotherpo-
tential drivers of equity prices, it
cues from the global markets
with uncertain macro and in-
terest rate outlook didn’t augur
well for emerging market equi-
ties, Himanshu Srivastava,
Associate Director - Manager
Research, Morningstar
Investment Research India,
said.
Additionally, surge in com-
modity prices, especially oil
and higher US retail inflation
dashed hopes of an early rate
cut by the US Fed thereby trig-
gering a surge in the US 10-year
yield. This would have possibly
prompted foreign investors to
adopt a wait and watch ap-
proach, he added.
The positive factor is that all
FPI selling in the equity markets
is getting absorbed by domestic
institutional investors (DIIs),
HNIs (High Networth
Individuals) and retail in-
vestors. This is the only factor
that may reign in FPI selling.
BYD’s proposal to build a $1-bil-
lion EV plant in partnership with
Hyderabad-based Megha
Engineering and Infrastructures
LtdinJunelastyear.Therejection
of the proposal was in line with
India’s broad policy to filter
Chinese investments in crucial
sectors in India.
AvibrantEVecosystemispart
of India’s policy push to help re-
duceextremedependenceonim-
portedcrudeoil.India’soilimport
dependency for FY24 climbed to
87.7percentfrom87.4percentin
FY23, according to official data.
Cutting costly oil imports contin-
ues to be a key focus area for the
government, and it also found a
mention in the BJP manifesto for
the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A simi-
larstrategywasseeninthecaseof
mobile manufacturing where
Apple and other global mobile
phone manufacturers are receiv-
ing incentives under the Produc-
tion Linked Incentive Scheme to
beginmakingphonesinIndiaand
helpcreateabroadermanufactur-
ing base in the country.
may be noted that the monetary
policy announcements are ac-
companiedbyregulatoryandde-
velopmentalmeasureswhichcan
alsoimpactmarkets.“Thesparse
trading on occasions in the OIS
(overnight indexed swap) mar-
ketsaswellasotherdomesticand
global developments during the
narrow window can also impact
the analysis,” it said
As perthe regressionanalysis,
Reporatesurprises,ascapturedby
thetargetfactor,havealmostnoef-
fect on equity returns. “The mar-
ket’s expectations of the future
path of monetary policy, as cap-
turedbythepathfactor,however,
remain significant. This corrobo-
rates the conventional thinking
thatmarketsareforward-looking,
and the expected path of mone-
tarypolicycouldhaveimplications
for the cost of capital for corpo-
rates,affectingfutureearnings,and
hence, equity returns,” the RBI
analysissaid.
Further, equity markets’
volatility is affected by both the
Apart from equities, FPIs
withdrew Rs 10,640 crore from
the debt market during the pe-
riod under review.
Before this, foreign investors
invested Rs 13,602 crore in
March, Rs 22,419 crore in
February, Rs 19,836 crore in
January. This inflow was driven
by the upcoming inclusion of
Indian government bonds in
the JP Morgan Index.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. in
September last year announced
that it will add Indian govern-
ment bonds to its benchmark
emerging market index from
June 2024.
This landmark inclusion is
anticipated to benefit India by
attracting around $20-40 bil-
lion in the subsequent 18 to 24
months.
Overall, the total inflow for
this year so far stood at Rs 4,590
crore in equities and Rs 45,218
crore in the debt market.
AP/PTI
E
E X P L A I NE D
Policies
to attract
● investment
FINANCE MINISTER
Nirmala Sitharaman has
recently said that India
is making policies to en-
sure big companies are
attracted to India for in-
vestment, especially in
light of industries ex-
pressing concerns
around China. To attract
investments into the EV
space, the Centre has
lowered import duties
to 15 per cent from 100
per cent for models of
electric cars with a com-
bined cost, insurance,
freight prices of $35,000
or above for five years, a
key precondition for
Tesla’s entry to test out
the “market potential”
in India.
target and path factors, as mar-
kets digest the policyannounce-
ments throughout the day and
traders adjust their portfolios.
Stock prices react differently
when policy rates are altered
compared with when policy
rates are left unchanged, the pa-
per said. For returns, an in-
creasednegativeassetpricesen-
sitivity with respect to the path
factorisobservedwhentherepo
rate is altered. For volatility, the
sensitivitytothepathfactorcon-
tinuestobesignificant,however,
target factor is found to be in-
significant, it said.
The RBI analysis covers the
period starting with the implicit
adoptionofaflexibleinflationtar-
geting regime in India — from
January 2014 to July 2022.
Overnight Indexed Swap
(OIS) is an interest rate swap
wherethefloatinglegoftheswap
is linked to an overnight index
(MIBOR in case of India), com-
poundedeverydayoverthepay-
ment period.
In FY25, banks
may have to
slow down loan
growth: S&P
NEW DELHI: Indian banks’
credit growth, profitability and
asset quality would remain ro-
bust in current fiscal reflecting
strong economic growth,
but they may be compelled to
slow down their loan growth as
deposits are not growing at a
similar pace, S&P Global Ratings
has said.
In the Asia-Pacific 2Q 2024
Banking Update, S&P Global
Ratings Director SSEA Nikita
Anand said the agency expects
the sector’s strong credit growth
to moderate to 14 per cent in
FY25, from 16 per cent in FY24,
if deposit growth, especially re-
tail deposits, remain tepid.
Anandsaidthereisadeterio-
ration in loan-to-deposit ratio is
everybank,withloangrowthbe-
ing2-3percentagepointshigher
than deposit growth. PTI
Market Watch
MARKET VALUATION OF TOP 7 FIRMS RISES
THE COMBINED market valuation of six of the top-10 most valued firms
increased Rs 1,30,734.57 crore last week, with State Bank of India and ICICI Bank
emerging as the biggest gainers in line with an overall positive trend in equities.
Last week, the BSE benchmark advanced 641.83 points or 0.87 per cent.
‘Some parts of market
little overvalued, rest is
at very good valuation’
SWARUP ANAND MOHANTY,
ViceChairman&CEO,MiraeAsset
InvestmentManagers,theIndian
armofMiraeAssetofSouthKorea,
sayssomeparts(ofthestockmar-
ket)maybealittleovervaluedbut
enough companies are available
atgreatpricesforafundmanager
tobuildaportfolio.Inaninterview
to HITESH VYAS and GEORGE
MATHEW, Mohanty, who man-
ages assets worth Rs 1.61 lakh
crore, says, “there is a shift (of
money)tofinancialassets.Butnot
at the cost of the banks. Maybe
people have realised that this
(financial asset) is a good area for
investing.”
Newplayersarecominginto
themutualfundspace.How
doyouseecompetition?
Gonearethosedayswhenthe
brandwasreallyoverpowering.If
you look at the early days of mu-
tual funds, those were the days
when parents’ brand meant
everything. But now it has be-
comeabusinessof theproduct.If
youareabigname,youstartwith
acredential,butthentheproduct
or the track record has to fall into
place.Somelargeplayersarefind-
ing India to be good but simulta-
neouslythereareplayerswhoare
leaving also, which is very sad.
India is such an amazing country
forthefutureandwealthcreation
in India is really happening at a
very rapid pace. This is the mar-
ket. I don’t understand why peo-
ple leave. It is very easy to leave
Indiaandtrustme,re-entering(in
India)willnotbeaseasyasitwas.
Howdoyouseeconsolidation
inthemutualfundindustry?
Consolidation is a continuous
process. While some parts will
consolidate, I think the wealth
growthissuchthatitisencourag-
ing a lot of Indian players now to
alsostarttheirownassetmanage-
ment company. We have seen a
lot of Indian players seeking li-
cences. I also feel a lot of global
players are coming in but with a
better and a different approach.
Theyarecominginasapartneror
arecominginasasmallownerof
a large name and gradually in-
creasing their stake.
Alotof investorsarenow
beginningtostartlookingat
mutualfunds.Someareeven
pullingouttheirdepositsfrom
bankstoinvestinmutual
funds.Doyouthinkthis
phenomenonwillcontinue?
I don’t agree that bank de-
posits are coming to us (mutual
funds)yet.Datawillshowyouthat
againstoneSIP(systematicinvest-
mentplan),thereare10FDs(fixed
deposits). That is not happening,
and with the change in taxation,
the money has only grown with
the bank. But what is happening,
anditstartedprobablyindemon-
etisation,andgothastenedduring
Covid, is that there is a shift to fi-
CII launches charter for
startups with focus on
corporate governance
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,APRIL28
INDUSTRYBODYCIIhaslaunched
a charter for startups that enlist
voluntary recommendations on
corporate governance keeping in
view unique nuances to govern
startups.
The Corporate Governance
Charteralsoprescribesguidelines
appropriateforstartupsbasedon
the specific stages of their life cy-
cle. “This charter is designed for
entities incorporated under the
Companies Act, 2013 only, and
therefore the term ‘Startup’.
However,entitieswhichareinthe
natureofsoleproprietorship,lim-
itedliabilitypartnership,partner-
ships may adopt similar struc-
tures/ guidelines for corporate
governance within their organi-
zation,” the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) stated.
The purpose of this charter is
tohelpstartupsbecomeresponsi-
blecorporatecitizensandalsoen-
able them to share it with their
stakeholders to establish them-
selves as being well-governed, it
said. R Dinesh, President, CII, said
that early adoption of good gov-
ernance practices helps startups
gaintangibleandintangibleben-
THE EXPRESS
INTERVIEW
WITH
SWARUP ANAND
MOHANTY
VICE CHAIRMAN & CEO,
MIRAE ASSET INVESTMENT MANAGERS
nancial assets. But not at the cost
of the banks. Maybe people have
realised that this (financial asset)
is a good area for investing and
alsobecausefinancialliteracyhas
grown.
Whatarethereasonsforabig
jumpinthenumberof folios
andmonthlySIPs?
Wejusthave4.3crorefoliosas
against 9 crore demat accounts.
Indiaisprobablytheonlycountry
wheremutualfundfoliosareless
than demat accounts. So, yes, to
answeryourquestion,this(num-
ber of folios) used to be just 2.3
crorebeforeCovid,butpost-Covid,
in four or five years, we have
addedmorethantwocrore.So,fi-
nally, there is a change but we
have a lot of catching up to do.
So,peopleareslowly
becomingmoreof investors
thansavers?
Yes, we are beginning to see
that transition because every
month we are seeing the SIP
numbers consistently growing.
So, today if you say Rs 19,000
croreof freshSIPspermonth,itis
a sizable amount. You can start
sayingthattheretailinvestorsare
beginning to take this (SIP) route
to approach the capital market,
which is a good way.
Whatisyourassessmentof
India’sgrowthinFY25?What
wouldbethedriversof
growth?
If you go back to pre-Covid,
Indiawasmostlyaservicesector-
led economy and post Covid we
haveseenbroadeningoftheecon-
omy.Weareseeingsomedistinct
greenshootsofmanufacturingfi-
nally happening. Production
Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes
havedefinitelyledtotheground-
GUIDELINES
■ The Corporate
Governance Charter also
prescribes guidelines
appropriate for startups
based on the specific
stages of their life cycle
efits including long-term value
creation, stakeholders’ trust, bet-
ter access to finance from in-
vestors and banks, reduced re-
liance on promoters, effective
organisationalstructuresandim-
provedchancesoflong-termsur-
vival of the business.
Hehopedthatthegovernance
charter for startups will enable
earlyadoptionofgoodgovernance
practices amongst startups and
help them evolve into leaders of
tomorrow. Kunal Bahl, Chairman
oftheCIINationalStartupCouncil
and Co-founder of Titan Capital &
Snapdeal, said it is vital to embed
thetenetsofgoodcorporategover-
nance from the earliest days of a
startupsothat,overtime,theybe-
come part of the organization’s
DNA, helping guide and steer the
startup and all its stakeholders
through various stages of its
growthandevolution.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PTI
work for manufacturing which is
probably the biggest welcome
change for India.
If you look at the pre-Covid
time, the banking sector, which
constitutes37percentofNifty50,
wasplaguedwithNPAs(non-per-
formingassets)andlowcreditoff-
take.Covidkindofcleanedupthe
balance sheets of most of the
banks and today they stand as a
far stronger unit than earlier.
Nobodyhasthepaymentsystems
like India. The government push
towards infrastructure will start
yielding results in sometime. All
this will begin to play out. The
caveatcanbewecandoalotmore
in labour and land reforms. And
the icing on the cake will always
remainthedemography. Wehave
to address two very important
points.Firstisemployment.If the
unemployment grows then with
our demography there could be
an impact. The second part, from
a personal perspective, is that
more should be allocated to
healthcareintheBudgetbecause
malnutrition is also growing.
Howdoyoulookatcapital
market? Isitovervaluedor
adequatelyvalued?
Itisovervaluedinpockets.The
market has run up in small pock-
ets. If you look at the last two to
three years in particular, you
would have seen a good rally in
publicsectorunits(PSU),defence,
capital goods and some heavy
metals have done well. Maybe
some part of the market you can
say is overvalued. Also, I think
therehasbeenasignificantrunup
in smaller companies. If you take
outthatpartwhichaddressesthe
liquidityissuesof themarketand
thesefoursectorswhichhaverun
updramatically,wefeeltherestof
the market is at a very good valu-
ation… especially some of the
largercompaniesthatarelooking
very good nowadays. It is a fund
one managers’ market.
SEBIhasrecentlymentioned
aboutthebuild-upof frothin
certainsegmentsof the
market.Howbadisthe
situation?
I think the (SEBI’s) interven-
tionwastimely.Whenyoulookat
it from a regulatory framework
perspective,regulatorsarealways
sittingforinvestorsandnotforany
AMC. When you see 40 per cent
ofinflowsgoingtowardsmidand
smaller companies, that’s where
there was some amount of con-
cern. It is true that smaller com-
panieshaveliquidityissues.Ifyou
start owning them in large quan-
tities and then try to sell them,
theywillnotgetsold.Thatfrothis
valid. If you take out that froth,
there are enough other compa-
nies which are available at good
prices.Whatitwilldonowisthat
many will start correcting that.
FULLINTERVIEWON
www.indianexpress.com
AdaniConneX
to raise up to
$1.44 bn from
8 global banks
RAJESHKURUP
MUMBAI,APRIL28
ADANICONNEX, A joint venture
between Adani Enterprises (AEL)
and data centre operator
EdgeConneX, has entered into
agreementstoraisesustainability-
linkedfinancingof upto$1.44bil-
lion.ThiselevatesAdaniConneX’s
construction financing pool to
$1.65billion,includingitsmaiden
construction facility of $213 mil-
lion, which was executed in June
2023. The financing has an initial
commitmentof$875million,with
an accordion feature to extend it
upto$1.44billion.
The firm has entered into
agreements with ING Bank NV,
IntesaSanpaolo,KfWIPEX,MUFG
Bank,Natixis,StandardChartered
Bank, Société Générale and
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking
Corporation for the financing, it
said in a regulatory update.
“...Constructionfinancingisacore
elementoftheAdaniConneXcap-
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ustodeliveradatacentresolution
firmlyrootedinsustainabilityand
environmental stewardship,”
AdaniConneX CEO Jeyakumar
Janakaraj said. FE
Lucknow

12 IDEA EXCHANGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
MuzamilJaleel:Thisisthefirstmajor
electionafterAugust5,2019.Whatis
thesituationontheground?
We had the District Development
Committee meeting elections a few years
ago,butthisisthefirstmajorelectionandits
significance is also heightened with the
announcementbytheSupremeCourtthat
Assembly elections must be concluded by
September 30 this year. There was some
suspicion that the Government of India
wouldfindsomereasontodelaythem,but
fromtherecentspeechesbythePM,Home
Minister and others, it’s clear that these
Parliament elections will be followed im-
mediately by Assembly elections. So that
adds to the pressure of these elections.
The situation is evolving. Our five seats
areinfiveseparatephases. Sothe firstseat,
which is Udhampur, goes to polls as we
speak. I had the opportunity to travel to
some of the Assembly segments of that
Parliamentseatinthehillsof Jammu.Iwas
pleasantlysurprisedthatpeoplewerecut-
tingacrossreligiousdividebecausetheBJP
in these areas has often tried to divide vot-
ers, particularly on religious lines.
It’snotquitethecakewalkevenfromthe
JammuParliamentseatthattheBJPwould
expect. There are issues that the main-
stream media, barring some sections,
haven’treallyfocusedon.Farmersarecon-
cernedaboutthepriceofureaandotherin-
puts. Families that have traditionally con-
tributed to recruitment in the Indian army
are unhappy about the new system of re-
cruitment.Thereisalsodissatisfactionpost
thewritingdownof Article 370interms of
protection of jobs, land, basic identity...
MuzamilJaleel:AfterAugust5,2019,
theNationalConference(NC)was
waitingfortheSupremeCourtverdict.
Nowthatithascome,isArticle370still
apollissue?
Ofcourse,it’sanissue.
It’sanissuethatresonates We do have friends
with people in all three
areasoferstwhileJ&K.It’s who have talked about
an issue in Jammu, in the
three seats in the Valley,
it (Article 370) —
and more of an issue in TMC, DMK, the Left...
Ladakh than perhaps
anyone would have The Congress is
imagined.Thereisalotof
simmering discontent unable to find
and unhappiness about common cause with us
the post August 5, 2019,
situation.Kargilneverac- on this particular issue;
cepted what happened.
YoufindvoicesinLehthat it is disappointing but
want to stand up and be I do understand
countedintermsofwhat
they lost and what they
had been promised and
not given.
Yes, we had a setback in the Supreme
Court,butthisisnotthefirsttimetheSChas
passed judgment on the special status of
J&K. In the past, you have SC judgments
thathaveactuallyupheldJ&K’sspecialsta-
tusbutthatdidn’tstoptheBJPfrommaking
a political issue out of 370 and their desire
to abrogate it.
MANOJCG:Areyoudisappointedthat
themanifestosof theCongressand
otherpartiesof theINDIAbloc,
yourallies,arecompletelysilenton
Article370.
We do have friends who have talked
about it — TMC, DMK, the Left. They have
stucktheirnecksoutforJ&Kandareagainst
everything that happened on August 5,
2019. While the Congress is unable to find
common cause with us on this particular
issue,itisdisappointingbutIdounderstand.
Iunderstandthattheyhavetotradeofftheir
commitment to J&K with the wider elec-
toral arithmetic that they need to factor in.
Weareworkingontheassumptionthat
if not today, someday you will have a gov-
ernmentattheCentrethatwillbehappyto
engagewithusontheseissues.Let’snotfor-
get,theBJPhasbeenpromisingtoabrogate
Article 370 for decades. It’s only now that
theymanagedtodoit.SoI’mnotsuggesting
thatourstrugglewillbeashortone.Itmay
take long but it’s a commitment we’re
willing to make.
MuzamilJaleel:ItseemstheBJPisnot
contestingintheValley.Howdoyou
readit?
The BJP symbol will not be on the ma-
chine but the BJP is very much part of the
political electoral process. It’s like the NC is
not contesting in Jammu, Udhampur or
Ladakh, but we are part of the electoral
process. We are fighting together with the
INDIA bloc. We are supporting Congress
candidatesinthese seats. Similarly, the BJP
this time has chosen not to field their own
candidates but they are very much sort of
there.They’reactivelysupportingnewfor-
mations or an older formation that had al-
liedwiththempostthe2014elections.The
evidence of this is clearly visible on the
groundwhenseniorleadersoftheBJPcome
to Srinagar, including their general secre-
tary in-charge of J&K, Tarun Chugh. You
know who he meets. When the PM
or the Home Minister talk, they talk about
defeating the INDIA bloc, defeating the
CongressandtheNC.Theydon’ttalkabout
defeating,let’ssay,thePeople’sConference
or Apni Party.
MuzamilJaleel:IreadSajadLone’s
statementthattheyhavenothingtodo
withtheBJP.
TheyhaveeverythingtodowiththeBJP.
What was he doing in that meeting with
Tarun Chugh? You have a female leader of
theBJPwhocurrentlyhasaministerialrank
in the Khadi and Village Board. In a state-
ment, she said that we are sort of support-
ing, and the People’s Conference and Apni
party are allied with the BJP. Sajad, for his
own electoral interests, will try to deny it
‘
BJP symbol won’t be on the
machine but it’s very much part
of Kashmir’s electoral process
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on fighting the Lok Sabha elections in J&K,
the importance of the polls post the abrogation of Article 370, and what explains the calm in
the Valley. This session was moderated by Muzamil Jaleel, Deputy Editor, The Indian Express
but we know the truth.
MuzamilJaleel:Whataboutthe
People’sDemocraticParty(PDP)?They
saidtheywerereadyforanalliance
withtheNC.
Unfortunately, the PDP decided that
they would try to damage the INDIA bloc
andmadeaconsciousdecisiontofieldcan-
didates against the INDIA bloc.
The distribution of seats for this parlia-
ment election was to be done on a similar
formulaaccordingtowhichseatsweredis-
tributedfortheDistrictDevelopmentBoard
elections. When those elections were an-
nounced, initially the NC had wanted to
share seats on the basis of the 2019
Parliamentelections,becausewefeltthose
werethemostrecentelections.ThePDPand
thePCfeltthatthiswasunfair.Theyfeltthat
to compare DDC with the Parliament was
wrong. They suggested that we distribute
seatsonthebasisofthe2014assemblyelec-
tions,eventhoughtheNCtookahammer-
ing because of that. My party colleagues
went to the NC president, Dr Farooq
Abdullah,andsaidthepartyisgoingtosuf-
feronthisaccount.Hesaidit’smoreimpor-
tantthatweuniteandfightthoseelections
and party interests will come second.
So if that formula was suitable for the
DDC elections, then for a Parliament elec-
tion it has to be like for like. Therefore, dis-
tributionof seatsfortheParliamentwould
beonthebasisofthe2019Parliamentelec-
tion. Three seats were with the NC. We re-
tained those seats. Three seats were with
the BJP. Those seats were up for discussion
OMAR ABDULLAH
VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONFERENCE
WHY OMAR ABDULLAH
V
ice President of National Conference, Omar Abdullah
is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla.
In an alliance with the Congress for the polls, both
parties will be contesting from three seats each in Jammu,
Ladakh and Kashmir. This is the first major election in J&K
after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Chief
Minister of J&K from 2009 to 2015, Abdullah is also preparing
for Assembly elections in the Union Territory that are expected
to take place after the Parliament elections
— Ladakh, Udhampur and Jammu.
Unfortunately, the Congress couldn’t find
spaceforthePDPinthosethreeseats.Butif
the aim of the PDP was to keep the BJP out,
then it should have been willing to make
the sacrifice.
MuzamilJaleel:Thelevelof violence
hascomedown.Howdoyou
interpretthat?
Thingsarerelativelycalm,butyoudon’t
see the sort of peace that you want to. The
areas that were hitherto peaceful are now
moremilitancy-pronethantheyhavebeen.
Inmytime,areaslikeRajouri,Poonchwere
completelyclearofmilitancyandviolence,
buttheynowseeregularattacksagainstse-
curity forces and attacks that claim lives at
regularintervals.You’vehadencountersin
Newsmakers in the Newsroom
South Kashmir. The targeted killing of mi-
noritieshappenswith,unfortunately,regu-
lar frequency. So militancy still remains a
problem on the ground in J&K.
As far as street protests are concerned,
yes, you don’t see them the way you used
to.But,again,we’vehadperiodsofcalmlike
this. I remember in my time, 2011-2012,
right up to the middle of 2013, it was rela-
tivelypeaceful.Whatisresponsibleforthis?
To what extent have you been able to win
peopleover?Towhatextenthaveyoubeen
able to inject fear into people to stop them
fromcomingout?Thisisamatteronwhich
alotofuswilljusthavetoagreetodisagree.
My own sense is that you’ve made it so
difficult for people to come out and make
theirvoicesheard.Youpasssuchdraconian
ordersthateventhedependentsofgovern-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
beenabouthowthepoliticalpower
centreshavelargelybeenconcentrated
totwo-threefamiliesinKashmir,
historically.Soisthereabroader
disconnectwhenitcomesto
connectingwithKashmirison
theground?
Howmanyelectionsdoyouwantmeto
‘ win before you put to bed this disconnect
narrative?IwonthreeParliamentelections
on the trot. I won two Assembly elections.
I’vebeenchief ministerforsixyears.Idon’t
think I need to get into justifying my exis-
tencehere.I’mcontestinganotherelection
now.We’ll let the voters decide.Social me-
dia,eveninJ&K,isaverysmallechocham-
ber. Look at the response we get on the
groundinSrinagar,particularlyintherural
areas. Anyway, which political party does-
n’thaveahistoryorbackgroundofsupport-
ing people belonging to families? The only
party that can take that credit are the Left
ones.Anewspapersaidthatoneinfivecan-
didatesintheBJPbelongtopoliticalfamilies.
MuzamilJaleel:Whenyoutalkedabout
thesituationontheground,youspoke
aboutanenforcedsilence.Whatarethe
measuresthatthegovernmenthas
takentoensurethat?
Have you seen the regular frequency
with which people are called to police sta-
tions and asked to explain very innocuous
social media posts? Look at the way you
dealt with politicians, children and grand-
children;youforcedthemtoputadvertise-
ments in newspapers virtually disowning
their families. Now, this is something that
wesawinthedarkdaysof militancywhen
colleaguesofminewerethreatenedbymil-
itantsandtoldtodisowntheNC.Outoffear
for their lives, they would put advertise-
ments in local newspapers saying, I have
nothing to do with the NC and nothing to
do with mainstream pol-
itics.It’sadifferentmatter
The three MPs or that in the evening those
people would either call
the five will lay the us or land up at our
foundation for what is homes and say, please
don’tgobytheadvertise-
to follow in August- ment, I have done it to
save my life. Similar
September. You measures are now being
can’t disconnect this taken by the administra-
tion.Younggirlsarebeing
election from an told to put advertise-
ments in newspapers. I
election that’s have never seen a sepa-
ratist or a political state-
going to come two ment from them, but for
months later some reason the govern-
ment felt the need
to make an example out
of them.
NaveedIqbal:Thiselectionparticularly
seemstobealotaboutidentity.Howdo
threeMPsorevenfiveensurethe
protectionof identityfromhereon?
The three MPs or the five will lay the
foundation for what is to follow in August-
September. You can’t disconnect this elec-
tion from an election that’s going to come
two months later. The issues that you’re
bringing forth in this election, all of them
may not have a solution within the hands
of the members of Parliament. We’re not
fightingtheseelectionsinisolation.Weare
fighting them as part of a bloc. That bloc is
committed to certain protections for J&K.
WearehopingthatonJune5,whenthere-
sultscomeout,youwillhaveagovernment
in the Centre that at least as far as we are
concerned—theINDIAblocconstituents—
will be able to sit down to evolve a mecha-
nismorasystemofidentityprotection.Plus,
withamazingregularity,theGovernmentof
Indiahandsoutassurancestothepeopleof
Leh. First they promise them the Sixth
Scheduleandstepback.Nowthere’stalkof
othermodelsofprotection.Wearetwoter-
ritories that were born of the same womb.
We have the same concerns. We had the
same protections prior to August 5, 2019.
Whatever you’re giving them should also
begiventothispartofJ&K.That’ssomething
that five members of Parliament can do a
Illustration: Suvajit Dey lot for.
MuzamilJaleel:Whatisthesituation
inLadakh?
ment servants are not allowed to criticise Attheborder,contrarytowhatthegov-
the government. Let’s not even go there as ernmentwouldliketotellusthattherehas
to how free the media is in J&K and how been no Chinese incursion at all, we know
muchthepolicepressurisespeoplewhoare thattherehavebeen(incursions).Weknow
critical of the government. that there are parts of Ladakh that particu-
larlythenomadictribals,whorearanimals,
LizMathew:Youwereoneof thefirst are not able to access. There are parts of
leaderstoraiseapprehensionordoubts Ladakhthatourforcesarenolongerableto
abouttheINDIAalliance.Whatisyour patrol.Thesearereportsthatonehearsfrom
takeonitnow? peopleontheground.Thataside,politically,
I’m actually heartened by how much there’s a lot of unease. Kargil was never in
we’vebeenabletodointermsofseatshar- favourof whathadhappenedonAugust5,
ingandnarrowingthegapsthatexisted.I’m 2019,butlargesectionsof Lehwere.Today,
disappointedthatwehadtoseetheoriginal youfindstreetprotestsandhungerstrikes.
architect of this bloc, Nitish Kumar, leave. You have social leaders of Leh on hunger
Unfortunately, he’s made a habit out of strike for 20-21 days at a stretch, demand-
coming and going. But other than that, ing certain constitutional safeguards and
we’vedonebetterthanIhadexpected.Idid- protections. At this point, if the Congress
n’t expect a meaningful seat-sharing un- playsitscards right, the BJP doesn’t stand a
derstandinginUttarPradesh,butyouhave chance of retaining the Ladakh seat.
one. I thought that discussions with AAP
wouldcompletelyfallapart.Whilethey’ve MuzamilJaleel:GhulamNabiAzadhas
agreed to disagree in Punjab, I don’t think beenveryactiveinJ&Kafterleavingthe
manyofusexpectedthemtocometogether Congress.Howdoyouseeit?
inDelhiandfight.They’vesortof beenable I would like to correct your assertion —
to agree on some seats in states other than Ghulam Nabi Azad has been active in one
Delhi and Punjab. Similarly, in Bihar you small region of Udhampur constituency
have a good working arrangement. In and that region has been specifically cho-
Maharashtra,youhaveagoodunderstand- sen for him because dividing votes there is
ing between Sharad Pawar, Uddhav to the benefit of the BJP. His party, his can-
Thackeray and the Congress. Similarly, in didate,hehimselfhasnotcampaignedout-
TamilNadu.TheoneareawhereIthinkwe sideoffourorfiveassemblyconstituencies
shouldhaveandcouldhavedonebetter,but in the Chenab Valley. He has not been to
ultimately weren’t able to, is West Bengal. Udhampur or Kathua. They have made no
attempttocontestorfighttheseatinthose
AanchalMagazine:Alotof the Assembly constituencies. He has confined
commentaryagainstthenext himself to Doda, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah,
generationsof leadersinKashmirhas Inderwal and Banihal.
Lucknow

13 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024
CSK take
bragging rights
over Sunrisers
SYNOPSIS
Having blown hot and cold so far in
the campaign, Chennai Super
Kings put up their first all-round
show to thump Sunrisers
Hyderabad by 78 runs.
VENKATA KRISHNA B
CHENNAI, APRIL 28
Finding the ball bearing
Both Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers
Hyderabad are headquartered in Chennai,
their offices just a stone’s throw away from
each other in MRC Nagar. Their owners are
next-doorneighbours,justseparatedbyaroad.
Thisseason,Hyderabad'shasalreadyhadthree
250-plus scores. Against a weak Chennai at-
tack, with dew in play, 213 was not beyond
Hyderabad. But for the second successive
match,theirbattingunitfailedtofireasTushar
Deshpande accounted for Travis Head,
AnmolpreetSinghandAbhishekSharmainhis
first two overs. From there on, Hyderabad’s
chaseneverreallymovedthewaytheywanted
beforetheycrash-landedfor134,theirlowest
scorethisseason.Afterstrugglingwiththeball,
this was a confidence-building performance
fromChennai’sattack.AfterDeshpandelanded
thoseinitialblows,despitetheoutfieldsoaked
indew,RavindraJadeja(4-0-22-1)andShardul
Thakur (4-0-27-1) came up with economical
returns as Mustafizur Rahman and Pathriana
also played their part.
Slow start
In the eighth over of Chennai’s innings
withRuturajGaikwadandDarylMitchellstill
going at eight runs an over, the fans were be-
ginning to get slightly impatient. As Mitchell
took another single off Shahbaz Ahmed, in
theChennaidug-out,physiotherapistTommy
Simsek and Rajvardhan Hangargekar were
playing hand cricket, with both signalling a
six.Inaseasonwheresix-hittingrecordshave
been rewritten multiple times, Chennai had
not even come close to clearing the bound-
ary in the first eight overs. Those eight overs
summarisedChennai’sbattingasawholethis
season. Despite having enough firepower in
their ranks, they are yet to unleash them-
selves fully. Mitchell was still struggling, try-
ing too hard again. Gaikwad was striking at
176,butthatwasn’tgoingtobeenough,espe-
cially given the dew factor in play. In the pre-
viousmatchhereatChepaukdespiteputting
210onboard,Chennaiwereoverpoweredby
Lucknow Super Giants. A defeat here again
on Sunday would have landed a huge blow
to their play-off hopes.
Mitchell Dazzles
Inthemomentofcrisis,itwasMitchellwho
came to the party and provided the impetus.
The Kiwi welcomed Pat Cummins with a six
over long-off off the first ball he delivered in
theninthoverbeforeGaikwadendedthatover
with another disdainful six over mid-wicket.
Mitchell aced the role for which Chennai
boughthimforRs14crore.Thankstohishuge
frame and reach, the Kiwi can disrupt the
lengththatbowlersintendtohit,likehedidto
Ahmed, when he made room and hit him
straight over his head. Then off Cummins, af-
ter shaping to play a scoop, he brought out a
reverse-flick as he scored his first fifty of this
IPL off 29 deliveries.
Gaikwad, the superstar
IfMitchellwasadventurous,Gaikwadwas
all elegance and poise. As Jaydev Unadkat re-
sorted tocutters,Gaikwad made room on the
off-side and flicked him over fine-leg. When
BhuvneshwarKumardeliveredashortball,he
depositeditoversquare-leg.Battingon80with
five overs to go, a second successive century
looked likely. When he fetched two more
boundaries either side of the square in
Cummins' third over, he was on 89 off 46. But
from there, he was unable to find boundaries
before falling two short of a century.
Brief scores: CSK 212/3 in 20 overs (R
Gaikwad98,DMitchell52,SDube39notout)
bt SRH 134 all out in 18.5 overs (A Markram
32; Tushar Deshpande 4/27) by 78 runs
Jake’s journey: Choosing cricket over golf, silencing doubters, now IPL hero
PRATYUSH RAJ
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
WHENEVER Jake Fraser-McGurk walks out
tothenetsatArunJaitleyStadium,acoupleof
Delhi Capitals staff would clear the ground-
staff in front of the sightscreen and cow cor-
ner so that no one gets hurt. It's no surprise
as the 22-year-old Aussie, who came as a re-
placement player for Lungi Ngidi, has taken
theIndianPremierLeague(IPL)bystormwith
his power-hitting.
Jake explained his gameplan at the mid-
innings break after his 27-ball 84 against
Mumbai Indians on Saturday. “My role is to
go out there and score as many as possible in
the first six. If I go on, I go on. If I get ones and
twos, it's either because I've mishit it or
maybeit'sthelastballof theover,”hetoldthe
broadcasters.
Whatcatchestheeyeisthatthepowerhe
generates comes without any footwork. For
Jake,itisjust'standanddeliver'.OnSaturday
in Delhi, not even Jasprit Bumrah, the one
bowler who has held his own through IPL
‘There’s a reason you’ve won games for 15 years’
After doubts being raised about his prowess in T20s against spinners, Kohli takes on those questioning his intent in the IPL so far
SANDIP G
APRIL 28
AFTER a fiery 44-ball 70 not out against
GujaratTitans,ViratKohliturnedfierierwith
the microphone during a post-match chat
with the host broadcasters. He launched a
scathing attack on those who had criticised
his strike rate (which is 147.49 after 10 in-
nings, the second lowest among the top 10
run-getters so far this edition) as well as his
ability to attack spinners.
The RCB talisman, who was asked
whether he takes his numbers seriously —
during the knock he crossed 500 runs in a
season for the seventh time in the league, a
record — tucked into his doubters. “Not re-
ally.Allthepeoplewhotalkaboutstrikerates
and me not playing spin well are the ones
talking about this stuff. For me, it's about
winning games for the team and there's a
reasonwhyyou'vedoneitfor15years,you've
done this day in and day out, you've won
games for your teams,” he said, his calm face
Will shows the way for RCB
Visitors make mockery of 200-total to keep slim playoff hopes alive as Shubman Gill’s team falls further
SYNOPSIS
Belting Jacks and sweeping Kohli
charge RCB’s late revival in the
league
SANDIP G
APRIL 28
Belting Jacks
Will Jacks sleeps so soundly that he once
failedtowakeupduringanearthquakeof 5.2
magnitude in Antigua, when he was touring
the West Indies with England last year.
“Someof theguyssaidtheirwholeroomwas
shaking. But I was not aware of anything. I
was in my sleeping zone.”
On Sunday, en route composing a hun-
dred of the most belligerent tune, he was in
his hitting zone, transforming to an earth-
quake of devastating magnitude. He took a
while to find his notes. At one stage, he was
goingalongatarun-a-ball17.ThenJackssim-
plybrokefreewithhisneatswingsdownthe
ground, leaving the bowlers broken and
bruised.
His first six — a legside clout off Mohit
Sharma — seemed just a one-off. But soon,
he would hum riffs of pure violence. By the
end, it didn’t matter who the bowler was or
where he pitched the ball. Rashid Khan, the
spin-bowling czar, could only stare hollowly
into the distance, as Jacks flogged him for 28
runs, including four sixes. The last one
wrappedupthechaseof 201andcompletely
his ludicrous hundred.
The over was the crescendo of some seri-
ously outrageous hitting. The over before, he
had bludgeoned Mohit Sharma for 29 runs,
the sixes flowing as freely as the Sabarmati
river beside the stadium. But the currents
would not have been as powerful as Jacks'
strokes.Whatever little hopesGujarat Titans
nursed of defending the total was blown in
this boundary barrage.
Hishittingwasobscenelysimple.Talland
muscular, he made good use of his reach and
swung either straight down the ground or
across the line. All 10 sixes were smeared on
the leg-side, 83 of the 100 came through the
leg-side; 68 through the mid-wicket region
alone. He hit them with such power that
even the mistimed ones would speed to the
boundary.
To think that he ransacked 83 runs from
24 balls boggles the mind. For much of the
chase, people were hoping to see Virat Kohli
register another hundred. But it was meant
to be the turn of Jacks. He reduced Kohli to
almost a side-act, andthelegendwouldlater
tellthebroadcasters,“Iwasjusthappytostay
2024, was spared. In his five outings for the
Capitals, the Aussie has amassed 257 runs at
a strike rate of 237.50.
“Ifeellikethehard-hittingabilityissome-
thing I've always had. It's about developing a
nicebase,beingasstillaspossibleandswing-
ing big. There's a lot of timing involved, it's
about having a nice, strong core and upper
body,” he explained.
Not too long ago, the youngster almost
quit cricket to pursue golf, another sport he
isverygoodat.Jake'schildhoodcoachShanon
Young attributed his ward’s high backlift to
his love for golf.
“He is a very good golfer. At one stage, he
wanted to take up golf as a professional.
Believeitornot,evenIoncetoldhimtoswitch
to golf," Shanon told The Indian Express from
Victoria.
“Ifirststartedworkingwithhimwhenhe
was12yearsold.Ireckonhishighbackliftde-
veloped when he was 15 or 16. He started to
put his hands up because he almost had too
much power, and too much impact in terms
of getting that bat back. It was just natural.
What helped him is that his head stays still.
hiding a storm within.
He would drag on. “I'm not quite sure if
you haven't been in that situation yourself,
to sit and talk about the game from the box.
For me, people can talk about their assump-
tions day in and day out, but those who have
done (it) day in and day out, they know
what's happening and it's a kind of muscle
memory for me now,” he said.
The outburst has come in the midst of
scathing criticism that he has been batting
too slow for the contemporary demands of
thegame,anddebatesonwhetherheshould
be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad. The
lightning rod for criticism had been his pre-
vious outing, wherein he scored 51 runs off
43 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad. One of
the on-air critics was Sunil Gavasakar, who
remarked that “Kohli has only been taking
singles”,andshowedtheexampleof hispart-
ner, Rajat Patidar, who was attempting big
shots. Gavaskar would add: “Kohli needs to
change his approach and start taking more
risks.”
Before that, his 72-ball 113 against
Will Jacks and Virat Kohli added 166 runs for the second wicket to see RCB home comfortably.
around and watch him go.”
Sweeping Kohli
Thestandoutfeatureof Kohli’sknockwas
his remorseless sweeping. Usually sweep-
shy, it was his statement stroke in this game.
He would employ two varieties, the flat,
square one and the lofted, loopy one. All of
his sweeps were reserved for left-arm wrist
spinner Noor Ahmed. The first was when he
erred on the leg-side and he just helped it
along the way. The bowler immediately
shortened his length and Kohli cut him be-
hind point for another four.
But more interesting ones came later in
the piece. Noor beat him with a wrong’un
before slipping in the faster skidder. Kohli
knew this and hunkered to his knees in a
flash and slotted it through mid-wicket. The
next ball was faster and fuller and Kohli
cleared his front leg and slogged him over
Childhood coach Shanon Young (left)
with Jake Fraser-McGurk. EXPRESS
Hepicksuplineandlengthquickerthanany-
oneIhaveeverseen.Hehasdonethingsfrom
ayoungagethatIhaveneverseenanyonedo-
Virat Kohli took on strike-rate critics
after belligerent knock. Nirmal Harindran
Rajasthan Royals too was critiqued for its
strike rate (156), compared with JosButtler’s
long-on. It was the sort of ball he would have
often flicked for a double. But the masterful
batsmen is adding more layersto his batting,
evolvingwithtimeevenintheduskof hisca-
reer.
There, though, were grandeur strokes.
After the watchful start, he kick-started his
innings with a silken lofted off-drive off
Rashid. He just extended his hands and
snapped the wrists upwards at the moment
of impact to take the ball over the bowler's
head. The next over, he uncorked a pair of
imperious sixes off left-arm spinner R Sai
Kishore—astraight-batthumpoverhishead
off a short ball and a whippy flick over mid-
wicket, a shot that was all furious wrists. If
hitting spinners for sixes was his perceived
vulnerability, he has duly rectified it.
Kohli was intense and angry, pushing
himself on and celebrating milestones with
vintage enthusiasm. He would later say, in
Shanon recalls how Jake had
been written off at a very young
age, but his self-belief and the
hunger to prove everyone
wrong kept him going
ing with such ease,” he said.
Not a finished product
Earlier this week, Delhi Capitals head
coach Ricky Ponting was a bit critical about
Jake's ultra-aggressive approach.
“Jake played an incredibly good innings
against Sunrisers (he scored an 18-ball 65).
It's one thing to be out there and attack, but
you still have to have some game sense and
game awareness around you. It's not all just
crash and bang,” Ponting had said during a
select media meet.
However, the former Australia captain
wasalsolavishinhispraisefortheyoungster
and firmly believes that he could be a three-
formatplayerif getstospendmoretimewith
PLAYING TODAY
IPL: KKR vs DC, 7.30pm;
Live on: Star Sports Network & streaming on Jio Cinema
100 off 58 balls (strike rate of 172.41). Then it
has not been the first time that his strike rate
has faced scrutiny. Last year, Kohli had a sim-
ilarly explosive outrage, incidentally after a
game against Gujarat Titans. “A lot of people
feel my T20 cricket is declining, but I don't
feel like that at all. I feel I am playing my best
T20 cricket again.”
His take
He put the strike rate myth in perspec-
tivetoo. “Strikerates,allthosekindsof things
like I said in the past as well, you have to read
the situation and rise up to the occasion
when the situation demands, and that's
something I take a lot of pride in doing, and
I've been doing it for a while now,” he had
said.
He touched upon ‘self respect’ too. “And
for us as cricketers, have some self-respect,
[be aware of] why we are playing at this
level,” Kohli said.
The recent remarks would have been at
the back of his mind during his innings too.
He was as expressive as he used to be in his
Nirmal Harindran
an incensed tone: “There's a reason why you
do it for 15 years, for me, it's only about do-
ing the work, people can talk anything they
want to, they can talk about me not able to
push on (all the talk about strike rate), not
playing spin well, but you yourself know the
gamebetter.Wewantedtoplay moreforour
self respect.”
Soonthough,Kohliwasconfinedtoticking
singles and twos, as Jacks broke free and
wrappedupthegamein16overs.If Jacksren-
deredKohli’sbattingaside-show,heconsigned
the efforts of Sai Sudharsan (84 not out) and
Shahrukh Khan (58) to academic irrelevance.
Play-offs could yet be an unreachable shore,
but RCB is unwilling to surrender feebly yet.
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 200/3 in 20
overs (Sai Sudharsan 84 not out, Shahrukh
Khan 58) lost to Royal Challengers
Bengaluru 206/1 in 16 overs (Will Jacks 100
not out, Virat Kohli 70 not out) by 9 wickets
him.
"He's a serious talent, and so far he's not
anywhere near the finished product yet. I
told him right at the start of this tournament
that I would love to be able to spend more
time with him one-on-one and work with
him on his batting. It's not just his ball-strik-
ing, but also how he thinks about the game
and how he goes about the game. We've al-
ready made some pretty significant techni-
cal changes with him since he's been here
and I think it has worked wonders for him,”
Ponting said.
The Tall Poppy Syndrome
Shanon recalls how Jake had been writ-
ten off at a very young age, but his self-belief
and the hunger to prove everyone wrong
kept him going.
“He is a very quick learner and a very
coachable guy as well. The way he plays his
cricket,hedrawsalotof criticisminAustralia.
Unfortunately, in Australia, the term coined
for him is 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'. It means
the more successful one gets, the more peo-
ple try to pull them down. The way he plays
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
captaincy days. After every four or a six, he
would curl his fists, whenever he missed out
on a boundary ball, he would roar in angst.
Soon after he completed his half-century, he
thumped his chest and tugged at his jersey
furiously, his eyes seething with rage. The
moment captured the mood of his knock,
and later he would take on his doubters.
Resolved to show his mastery over spin
bowlers, Kohli lofted Rashid Khan’s googly
over his head, inside out. He then attacked
left-armspinnerNoorAhmed,sweepinghim
for a pair of fours and slog-sweeping him for
a flat six over long-on. Later, he cut Rashid
past backward point for a four to complete
his half-century.
The onslaught had begun with a brace of
sixes off left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, either
sideof thewicket.Inall,61(off 35balls)were
accrued against spinners. Moreover, unlike
inthehalf-century against SRH,hedidn’tde-
celerate after the Powerplay. Rather, he
upped the ante (strike rate of 146 raised to
168), despite Will Jacks taking much of the
strike.
IPL SNIPPETS
STANDINGS
M W L T Pts NRR
RR 9 8 1 0 16 0.694
KKR 8 5 3 0 10 0.972
CSK 9 5 4 0 10 0.810
SRH 9 5 4 0 10 0.075
LSG 9 5 4 0 10 0.059
DC 10 5 5 0 10 -0.276
GT 10 4 6 0 8 -1.113
PK 9 3 6 0 6 -0.187
MI 9 3 6 0 6 -0.261
RCB 10 3 7 0 6 -0.415
Thereisnohelpfor
bowlers:Siraj
Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer
Mohammed Siraj on Sunday rued
the lack of help for bowlers in T20
cricket, saying smaller grounds
and flat pitches are making 250-
plus totals the new normal. This
IPL, the 250-run mark has been
breached eight times as batters
have employed an ultra-aggressive
approach, making full use of the
'Impact player' rule and flat
surfaces on offer. "See, nowadays
cricket is really different, now 250-
260 is made in every second
match, earlier 250 was a rare
thing," said Siraj after RCB win in
Ahmdebad. PTI
‘Don’twanttocrib
aboutourbowling’
Their bowling may have come a
cropper in the loss to Punjab Kings
but Kolkata Knight Riders head
coach Chandrakant Pandit on
Sunday said they don't want to
"crib" about it in the middle of the
tournament and would rather
focus on the positives. Punjab
Kings rode on an unbeaten century
from Jonny Bairstow to smash the
record for highest T20 run-chase
when they knocked down a target
of 262 with eight balls to spare to
beat KKR by eight wickets in the
previous match at Eden Gardens.
"In the middle of the tournament,
we can't keep cribbing about it, we
have to see what is in our control
and how to execute our plans,"
Pandit said ahead of their clash
against Delhi Capitals. Pandit
underlined the fact that their
batting was clicking well and
scoring 200-plus totals at ease. PTI
is a lot similar to Glenn Maxwell and
Maxwell has been criticised his whole life.
The way Jake plays, a lot of people think he's
reckless, he doesn't have a lot of respect for
the game. It's actually the opposite,” the
coach said.
“He is the ultimate team guy and has got
areallygoodunderstandingof hisowngame.
The way he plays, it's all about freedom but
that requires a lot of courage as well. There
arealotof comments–likehedoesn'thitthe
ball through the offside, he can't rotate the
strike, he can only bat in the Powerplay, he
spends too much time on social media. I just
laugh at them. This kid is just 22, give him
the chance to grow.”
Being at the IPL will speed up Jake's de-
velopment, his coach feels.
“When he told me that he was going to
the IPL, I told him that whether he gets a
game or not, he will be surrounded by the
world's best players. 'They will be talking
about cricket a lot, you are lucky. You will get
to ask questions.' Now he is getting to learn
from the likes of Ponting, Sourav Ganguly
and Praveen Amre,” says Shanon.
Lucknow
 14 SPORT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

At Oly selection
trials, rookie
gives world
champ a scare
NAMIT KUMAR
NEW DELHI, APRIL 28
UNTIL HE joined the Army,
Sandeep Singh hadn't con-
sidered shooting as a career
choice. For nearly two years,
between 2021 and 2023, he
barely even practised. And
has competed in just one in-
ternational event.
Now, the young rifle shooter finds himself
in the mix for a Paris Olympics berth. And it
couldverylikelycomeattheexpenseforafor-
mer world champion, world number 1 and
worldrecordholdershooter,RudrankkshPatil.
As the first half of the Indian pistol/rifle
shooting trials for the Paris Olympics drew to
acloseonSaturday,themen's10mairriflecat-
egory is seeing an intriguing battle. But few
wouldhaveimaginedthatashooterwithlittle
international experience would push other
more established stars, who won Olympic
quotas, for a spot in Paris-bound team.
Patilhasbeenunexpectedlyupstagedinthe
first two of four trials in New Delhi this week.
TokyoOlympianDivyanshPanwar,SriKarthik
Sabari and Arjun Babuta finished top three in
thefinalofthesecondtrialonSaturday.But28-
year-oldArmyshooterSandeep'shighqualifi-
cationscoresof634.4and632.6(hefinishedon
top in both qualification rounds) leave him in
goodsteadtocontendforanOlympicberth.
Averagesofthebestthreeoutoffourqual-
ification scores, with bonuses for podium fin-
ishes in the finaland winning India the quota,
will determine the two-member Indian con-
tingent for each category.
Despite being less internationally experi-
enced and well-drilled as some of his oppo-
nents, Sandeep is not afraid to admit he isn't
lackinginbeliefatthemoment.“There'salong
way to go, but the confidence I have in my
shootingatthemomentismakingmefeellike,
if I do make the Olympics, there is no reason I
can't go there,” he says.
Born in Faridkot, Punjab, Sandeep picked
up shooting when he was stationed with the
armyinMhow,MadhyaPradesh,thesiteofthe
Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), where he
wouldpracticeatnightafterhisdutyintheday.
His army background and support gave
him the right tools to fine-tune his technique,
hesays,butitwasonlyafterheleftandgotex-
posure to the country's best shooters that he
began vastly improving. “The exposure im-
provedmealot,Iwastrainingandcompeting
withshooterswhohaverepresentedIndia,and
doing just as well as them,” he says.
Self-belief,accordingtoSandeep,hasbeen
key to his success as an athlete so far and has
manifesteditselfinthelackofintimidationhe
has shown this week while competing with
formerOlympiansandworldchampionsfora
spot to play in his sport's premier event.
Afteraslowrise,Sandeephadmadethere-
serveteamforTokyo,butafterhemovedoutof
Mhow in 2021, a few years went by without
much intense practice or competition. He re-
turned to his best in early 2023, representing
IndiaattheWorldCupinRio-hisonlyinterna-
tional event that he participated outside the
RPO(rankingpointsonly)series.Butthelackof
experiencehasnotonlyseenhimfalldownthe
nationalpeckingorderbutalsolimitedhisex-
posuretothefinalsofbig-ticketshootingcom-
petitions. That limitation showed in his less-
than-impressive showings in the finals of the
trials after he topped qualification, finishing
fifth and fourth respectively.
Eventhoughitremainsfarfromaforegone
conclusion as the trial moves to Bhopal next
monthtofinalisetheOlympicspots,Sandeep's
performances despite those limitations not
onlyshowsthedepthof thefieldof India'stop
shooters, but also how the selection process
may affect its medal chances.
K popped by Indian archers BRIEFLY
Citykeeppressureon
Arsenalwith2-0win
Nottingham: Manchester City took an-
Men’srecurveteambeat
other step in their bid to win a fourth
consecutivePremierLeaguetitlewitha
archerypowerhouse 2-0victoryoverrelegation-threatened
Nottingham Forest on Sunday, with
Koreaforsensational Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland on
WorldCupgold target. Pep Guardiola's men kept the
pressure on leaders Arsenal, pulling to
within a point of the Gunners -- who
held on to win 3-2 at Tottenham
NITINSHARMA Hotspurearlierintheday--inthetable
APRIL 28 with a game in hand. Gvardiol got City
on the scoreboard when he headed in
AS THE trio of Indian archers Tarundeep Rai, Kevin De Bruyne's corner kick in the
DhirajBommadevaraandPravinJadhavcom- 32ndminuteinanervousfirsthalfthat
pleted the 5-1 (57-57, 57-55, 55-53) win over saw Forest miss a couple of terrific
the renowned South Koreans to claim the chances. REUTERS
WorldCupStageItitleinShanghai,theIndians
huggedeachotherandsignalledavictorysign
to the coaching contingent in the stands. Big Maheshwariwins
names like Lee Wooseok, and two-time
OlympicgoldmedallistsKimJeDeokandKim
silver,locksOlyquota
Woojin had been taken down. New Delhi: Shooter Maheshwari
The win was India’s maiden win over ChauhanonSundaysealedIndia's21st
archerypowerhouseKoreainthemen’steam quota place for the Paris Olympics by
event at world level. It also meant that an winningasilvermedalinthewomen's
Indianmen’sRecurveteamemergedchampi- skeet event on the concluding day of
onsforthefirsttimeatanyArcheryWorldCup the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification
since 2010, when Rai along with Rahul Championship Shotgun in Doha.
Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar had defeated Indian recurve men's team of Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Pravin Jadhav after winning. Special arrangement Maheshwari,competinginhermaiden
Japan in the final in Shanghai. ISSF Final, lost 3-4 to Chile's Francisca
“Match se pehle Korea hai, yeh nahi socha CrovettoChadidinashoot-off forgold,
tha(Wedidnotthinkmuchbeforethatwewill ThelasttimeIndiahadwonamedalinaWorld climbedtothesecondspotbehindKoreainthe bronzemedalwitha6-0(35-31,38-35,39-37) afterbothweretiedat54hitsinthe60-
befacingKorea).Wewentwithonlyonemind- Cup was the bronze at World Cup Stage 3 in world rankings. With the final Paris Olympic win over Mexicans Matias Grande and shotfinal.ItisIndia'ssecondParisquota
set that was to give our best. We kept dis- Paris. The Indians tied the first set with the QualificationtournamenttobeheldinAntalya, Alejandra Valencia, 29-year-old Deepika place in the women's skeet. "I am
cussingourstrengthsandhowwecancounter Koreans 57-57. The second saw the Indian TurkeyfromJune14to17,theIndianteamwill Kumari won silver in the women’s individual thrilled. There has been a lot of hard
the rainy conditions. The communication team take the two set points on offer with a also have a chance to qualify through world recurve final. Though she suffered a 0-6 loss work over the years to get here. I am a
among us was the key for scoreof57ascomparedto rankings. They can collect points in the next against World champion and Asian games bit bummed about the shoot-off, but
each one of us and that’s 55shotbytheKoreans.Up two World Cups with two spots on offer for champion Lim Sihyeon of Korea in the final, overall,ithasbeenverysatisfying,"said
what worked for us. Of It was India’s maiden win by 3-1 in the final, the Paris for the teams, which don’t make it Kumari had scored wins over two Korean Maheshwari. PTI
course, such wins over Indianteamshotatotalof through qualifiers. archersonherwaytothefinal.Whileshehad
Olympic champions give over Korea in the men’s
oneconfidenceandweall team event at world level.
55ascomparedtoKorea’s With double Olympics medal winning finished 30th in qualification, the Jharkhand
53 to pocket the historic SouthKoreancoachBaekWoongKicoaching archer scored a 7-3 win over third seed Alcarazcruisespast
would like to take it fur-
ther,” said Bommadevara
It’s also Indian men’s gold medal. the Indian recurve team in Sonepat, the GermanKatharinaBauerinthesecondround
While it was drizzling archers have been reaping benefits of his ex- before registering wins over sixth seed Jeon
WildinMadrid
while speaking with the recurve team first triumph in Shanghai during the fi- pertise too. Hunyoung of Korea in the quarters followed Madrid: Two-time defending champi-
Indian Express from at any Archery World Cup nal,theIndianteamhitsix "If we see the qualification scores, Dhiraj's bya6-0winoverNamSuhyeonofKoreainthe ons Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Thiago
Shanghai. innertensascomparedto 693 was one of the firsts for Indian recurve semis on Sunday. Seyboth Wild in the third round of the
With 22-year-old
since 2010. onlyonebytheKoreansto archers.Withhimbreakingthe690pointsbar- It also meant that India topped the Madrid Open on Sunday, earning an-
Bommadevara being the become champions. rier, it will instill more confidence in other medals tally in Shanghai, haulingeightpodi- othercomfortablevictoryinhisreturn
onlymemberfromlastyear’sAsianGamessil- "Our first thought going into the final was archersaswell.Rightnow,ourarchershavean ums including five gold, two silver and one frominjury.Alcarazwon6-3,6-3forhis
ver medal winning men’s team in Shanghai, thatwedon’thavetotrysomethingneweven averageof 9.4withKoreansleadingtheworld bronze across compound-recurve events. secondstraightvictoryinhisfirsttour-
the Indian team had qualified in second spot ifwearefacingtheKoreans.Ourmentalitywas averagewith9.5.ButhereinShanghai,wesaw “It’s a historic world cup for Indian archers. I namentafterskippingMonteCarloand
fortheteamevent.WhileBommadevara,who to shoot as we did in practice. Release, follow ourteamimprovingtheiraverage.Foranatu- would like to term it as our peak perform- Barcelonabecauseofanarminjury.The
is the only Paris Olympics quota holder for through and timing shots went perfectly for ral archer like Dhiraj, some finetuning in his ance and we have to maintain it. To defeat a second-seeded Alcaraz had made his
India,hadshotaqualificationscoreof693,40- us today. Pure confidence se maara (We shot techniqueneedstobedoneapartfrommaking Korean team consisting of multiple Olympic debutatthetournamentwitha6-2,6-
year-oldTarundeepRaishot684with27-year- withfullconfidence).ItwasmyfirstWorldCup some adjustments for other archers in follow champions and that too in the final means 1winoverAlexanderShevchenko.No.
old Praveen Jadhav hitting 672 to help the gold and to win against Korea makes it more through and bow control in the run up to the that we are going on the right track for Paris 3-ranked Alcaraz is trying to become
Indianteamfinishwithatotalof 2049behind special for each of us," said Jadhav. qualifiers and the two World Cups,” said Olympics. We put them under pressure un- the first player to win three straight
Korea’s 2055. While the Indian recurve women's team Sanjeeva Kumar Singh, India’s high perform- der challenging conditions both in com- Madrid Open titles. He will next face
WinsoverIndonesiaandSpainbeforea5- had earlier scored wins over Koreans twice in ance director. pound as well as recurve here in Shanghai Jan-LennardStruff,hisopponentinlast
1 win over Italy in the semi-finals meant that 2013inWorld Cups,Sunday’s title win forthe While the Indian mixed team of and we would not be content with this re- year's final in Madrid. AP
theIndianscameintothefinalwithconfidence. Indian men's team also meant that India has Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat won the sult only,” concluded Singh.
Renuka, Harman lead India to facile win over Bangladesh
poses a threat with the new ball. That is ex- theystruggledtoaccelerate.Eventually,145/7
VINAYAKK MOHANARANGAN actly what she did in the first over after get- Our bowlers did a great job today, wasgoodenough,givenBangladeshhadnever
APRIL 28 ting hit for a four, trapping Dilara Akter on even though the scores were not scoredmorethan113whilebattingsecondin
the backfoot, as the ball beat the inside edge. enough on the board. They took ahomeT20I.Butgiventhemainaimofthisse-
RENUKA SINGH Thakur had another below- In Renuka's third over, Sobhana Mostary their responsibility well and gave ries is to prepare for the World Cup in
par WPL season even as Royal Challengers fell to a similar delivery, trying to force the us the win. As a batting group, we Bangladesh later this year, India must be self-
Bengaluru went on to win the title. After pace but seeing her middle stump rattled. wanted to show intent. The last criticalwhentheyevaluatetheirperformances,
pickingupjustonewicketin2023,sheadded Renuka returned in the 16th over to have going beyond just wins or losses.
onlytwomorein2024.Forapremiumbowl- Rabeya Khan caught at mid-on, finishing the
six overs, things didn't go On the bright side, Harmanpreet batted
ing asset, three wickets in two seasons is not day with 3/18 from her four overs. according to plan but till then we better than the last time she donned India's
a worthwhile contribution. But, as she tends While Renuka walked away with the played really welle.” blue. After the poor run in the home season,
to do when wearing India colours, the player of the match award, the defence was a she took a break and went back to the draw-
Powerplay strike bowler reappeared on clinicalteameffort.PoojaVastrakarchippedin --HARMANPREET KAUR ing board and looked in much better rhythm
SundayinSylhetasshepickedupthreewick- with two wickets, while the three spinners – INDIA SKIPPER during the WPL. During the time she spent in
ets in India's 44-run win over Bangladesh to Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka the middle, the skipper looked fluent once
take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Patil – were miserly and took a wicket apiece, Renuka Singh picked up 3 wickets in wanted to show intent. The last six overs, more, timing the ball better than anyone else
There could have been the temptation to applying the choke in the middle overs. India’s win over Bangladesh. File thingsdidn'tgoaccordingtoplanbuttillthen onthedayduringa22-ball30.Herteamwould
go with Titas Sadhu as the main fast bowler, Radha's tidy return to the international fold we played really well.” need more of that, and deeper in the innings,
but India stuck with Renuka and she deliv- would've especially pleased the Indian man- Indeed, while the margin of win was big as they look to address batting issues.
ered with two wickets in the Powerplay and agement given the conditions in Bangladesh though the scores were not enough on the enoughforaT20I,India'sbattingeffortwasun- BRIEF SCORES: India 145/7 in 20 overs
anotherlateronasBangladesh'srun-chaseof theywillencounterduringtheT20WorldCup board.Theytooktheirresponsibilitywelland derwhelminginthesecondhalf.From100/2in (Yastika 36, Shafali 31, Harmanpreet 30;
146 never got going. When she is able to nip andhermulti-dimensionalutilitytotheteam. gave us the win,” skipper Harmanpreet Kaur 12.2 overs, the next 46 balls brought just 45 Rabeya 3/23) beat Bangladesh (Nigar 51;
the ball back in on the angle, she always “Our bowlers did a great job today, even said after the match. “As a batting group, we runs. It's been a problem area for a while, as Renuka 3/18) by 44 runs

Second string shuttling first class as Uber Cup team make quarters
SHIVANI NAIK
APRIL 28
WITHORwithoutPVSindhu,Indianwomen's
badminton continues its audacious run at in-
ternational team events. This time around, a
squad with an average age of just above 20,
withoutthetopstars,hassecuredquarterfinal
qualification at the Uber Cup.
As has been the trend since February,
young Anmol Kharb put the calm, finishing
touches to a 4-1 win over Singapore, after she
beatWorldNo207LeeXinYiMegan.National
coachPullelaGopichanddubbedthisperform-
ance “the real growth of Indian badminton -
it's how well the second string fares.”
Gopichand calls not the Olympic, Asiad
or Worlds medals as the story of the rise of
this sport in India, but these two wins over
“For me, the story of badminton's revival
doesn't start with our All Englands or 2006
whenSaina(Nehwal)brokethrough.Itstarts
after being told ahead of Auckland that India
aren'tgoodenough.Wegot0medalsinteam
events in the 1990s, to the point now where
men are defending the Thomas Cup and
womenareAsianteamchampions.Nowjust
watch these women - Ashmita, Isha, Anmol,
Simran, Ritika, Priya, Shruti and Tanvi - take
us into Uber Cup quarters with confidence,”
he says.
The final group tie against a full-strength
China might be considered too tough on pa-
per,butthereisbubblingcuriosityabouthow
the likes of Isharani, Anmol or Tanvi and the
doubles team stack up, and what sort of fight
they show. No one's as talented or physically
giftedasSindhu.Butthecoachseesverygood
potential all around.
shegetsimpatientandhergamegoestopieces Future opportunities
as the rally lengthens. PostParisOlympics,plentyofspotsarego-
'Too casual' is an internet idiom in vogue, ing to open up in the Top 20 with retirements
butAshmitaallowsherflashygamewithlittle imminent.ButtheonlyIndianswholooktobe
defensive capabilities or intent to get punc- prepared to pounce on those chances are
tured. She has exceptional strokes, but not Anmol, Isharani and young Tanvi Sharma.
enough grit to put the shuttle back in bread- PostSindhu,Indiahasbeenproducingalot
and-butter exchanges. of runners in the Japanese mould - Akarshi
It's not unique to her. Kashyap,MalvikaBansod,
The likes of Michelle Li, Anupama Upadhyaya,
Carolina Marin and Tai Gopichandcallsnotthe and to an extent even
Tzu-Ying were all flashy Isharani. But where the
and fast and restless in Olympic, AsiadorWorlds Assamese can foray
their early years. But they medalsasthestoryof the ahead,andwhatAshmita
disciplined their minds to riseof this sportinIndia, but should really delve on as
tone it down and bring in heradvantageisthequal-
moreconsistency.Onslow thesetwowins overCanada ity of stroke-making,
courtswithopponentsde- andSingaporeon where Anmol, Tanvi and
fending 9 times out of 10,
Anmol Kharb wrapped up the 4-1 victory over Singapore. BWF/Badminton Photo the left-handed Ashmita
consecutivedaysbyanUber Isharani ter.
are slightly bet-

Canada and Singapore on consecutive days
by an Uber Cup squad comprising little-
known names, after the top players opted
out. Gopichand's glee is down to a rejection
from babudom 30 years ago.
“Back in 1990 (Auckland) and 1994
(Victoria), Indian badminton teams were not
cleared to go to the Commonwealth Games
because the government told us we had no
chancetowinagainstsome5-6teams.Iclearly
rememberCanadaandSingaporeweretwoof
those,” he remembers the sting of that rejec-
tion. A large part of the 1990s was spent in
oblivion.
On Sunday against Singapore, Ashmita
Chalihacouldn'tstartwithawin,goingdown
21-15, 21-18 to Yeo Jia Min. But national
champsPriyaKonjengbamandShrutiMishra
were assured in a 21-15, 21-16 win over Xiao
EnHengandYuJiaJin.IsharaniBaruahlogged
inanothergoodday,beatingInsyirahKhan21-
13, 21-16, before Simran Singhi and Ritika
Thakker won 21-8, 21-11 against Yi Ting and
Michelle Zan. Then Anmol mopped up her
usual fifth rubber with relish.
Isharani is collecting wins even when it's
widely visible that she can step up a notch.
Shruti plays the smart thinking game in the
front, while Priya is strong from the back and
has some wickedly innovative serves, the
coach adds.
“Thedepthinthesecondrungisgreat.Two
weeks back, Anmol and Tanvi didn't even
make quarters of a national ranking tourna-
mentwhichtellsusthatthereare8-10beyond
this group who are all at the same good level.
There's Devika Sihag, Rakshitha, Shriyanshi,
Anupama outside this group,” he says.
For all that optimism, all of India's future
anxieties can be scrunched into that first de-
feat against Singapore. It involves Ashmita,
whobackatthe2019GuwahatiNationalsgave
Sindhuanalmightyscareinthesemisandwas
promptly dubbed a wunder kid. Five years
older now, at 24, the up-and-down inconsis-
tency continues.
Bafflingly, Ashmita defeated the stubborn
fighter Michelle Li on Saturday in straight
games,andpromptlycrumpledagainstYeoJia
Min.Ashmitaisdangerousinthefirstfourral-
liesofapoint,pastwhichshebeginstoslacken.
When she can't land gettable winners early,
crumbles when asked to Cupsquadcomprising “Theywillhavetode-
deliver under pressure. little-knownnames. velop strokes on the run
Gopichandthoughin- which Sindhu was good
sists it's not an irretriev- at.Withoutstrokesorex-
able career. “She definitely has the game and ceptionalretrieving,youcan'tcrackTop20just
has had potential for seven years now. She onrunningspeed.Anmol,Tanvi,Isharanihave
gotIndiathecrucialwinatBATCafterSindhu them,butit'ssomewaytogo,”Gopichandsays.
lost, by beating (Nozomi) Okuhara. For the moment, he's happy with the
Yesterday, she beat Michelle Li. These are bunch that will not be fazed by playing the
good results. But she needs to get consistent. Chinese in China in their next tie, before the
You need to always sit with a stick and push quarterfinalsfetchup.Whileallattentionwill
her. If she can put her head down and in all beonIndia'sThomasCupdefence,India'sLittle
aspects is pushed out of her comfort zone, Women have ensured they give it a proper
she can get so good,” he says. spunky go.

VOL. XXII No.291 Registration No. DL-26003/2001 R.N.I. No. UPENG/2001/05674. Printed and published by R. C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited. Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, C-26, Amousi Industrial Area, Lucknow and
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