WWW.IndIAneXPReSS.COM MCS/204/2020-22 RnI nO. MAHenG 2002/21899 A DIWAlI of DIffEREnt lAmps mumBaI, NOvemBeR 8, 2026 is it about ram returning? or about krishna killing narakasura? diwali can be all of these, depending on which part of india you are from lATe CITy 16 + 4 PAGeS ₹6.00 screen Vinod Kapri on putting a love story at the centre of his film Pyre d A I l y F R O M : A H M e d A B A d , C H A n d I G A R H , d e l H I , J A I P U R , k O l k A T A , l U C k n O W , M U M B A I , n A G P U R , P A T n A , P U n e , V A d O d A R A 104 132 163 91 inside Pages 8, 11 Celebrating l K advani’s 100th birthday PM narendra Modi new u.s. strIkes on Iran ‘he gave Party a foundation rooted in nation first’ ‘a mentor whose ideals endure’ BY M Venkaiah naidu all lit up for diwali ayodhya illuminated as part of the 10th edition of Deepotsav along the banks of the saryu, saturday. Over 36 lakh lamps were lit along the river on Diwali eve. AnI home for a wedding, Singapore-based tech executive shot dead in Faridabad Parking dispute led to killing, neighbour arrested why is ghee costing more? indian dairies have a big fat problem From el niño effect to a decline in growth of milk production, FSSai raids to GST cuts, there is a fats crisis Harish damodaran New Delhi, November 7 abhimanyu Hazarika Faridabad, November 7 a 42-year-oLD singaporebased corporate executive was shot dead, allegedly by his neighbour following a parking disputeataresidentialbuilding infaridabad’ssector21Cfriday night. the prime accused was arrested near DLf Chowk in Ballabgarh saturday evening by the police Crime Branch. the man killed in the incident was identified as Paramjith Dhankhar who worked as senior vice-president of a Vietnam-based It firm in singa- express special Paramjith Dhankhar, 42 pore. Hailing from Hisar, he worked earlier as the asia Pacific regional business head fortechMahindrainaustralia. Hehadarrivedinfaridabad on November 5 to attend his nephew’s wedding scheduled for later this month. according to investigators, the incident took place around 8.30 pm friday outside house number 641 in sector 21C. »contInued on paGe 2 tHe GUJarat Cooperative Milk Marketing federation (GCMMf) hiking the price of its amul cow ghee by rs 40 per one-litre pouch, and the KarnatakaMilkfederationbyasmuch asrs135,istelling.Indiaisseeing agrowthslowdowninmilkproduction. But the real problem is not of milk as much as fat. Between 2016 and 2025, India’smilkproductionincreased from 165.1 million tonnes (mt) to 216.5 mt, translating into a nation Page 9 uttaraKhand minister’s husband held for assault Lawrence aide harry Boxer who ran gang’s india ops held in uS Mahender singh Manral & parul kulshrestha NewDelhi,Jaipur,November7 Days after they nabbed absconding gangster Himanshu Bhau, law enforcement agencies (Leas) in the United stateshavearrestedHariChand Jaat,aliasHarryBoxer—aclose aideofjailedgangsterLawrence Bishnoi — after India’s central agencies alerted them to his location in California. Hari Chand Jaat, aka Harry Boxer Boxer, described by police as a “main mastermind” of the gang who ran its India oper- ations while abroad, was detained by the Us Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICe) agency on friday. this followed a joint operation by the anti-terrorism squad (ats), the rajasthan police's anti-Gangster task force (aGtf), and the National Investigation agency (NIa). Boxer allegedly issued threats to Bollywood actor ranveer singh and director »contInued on paGe 2 l Weighted average ex-dairy price 2026-27 Month (₹/kg) Apr 486 Butter % growth over 2023-24 skIMMed MIlk powder 2026-27 % growth over (₹/kg) 2023-24 20 267 -10.40 May 515 35.53 275 3.77 Jun 505 38.74 278 0.36 Jul 512 47.98 277 explained supply-demand mismatch Demand for milk fat-based products has gone up especially after GST rate cuts on ice-cream, ghee, butter and paneer. But supply is not keeping pace, leading to higher inflation in milk fat than milk per se. 4.92 Aug 515 50.58 279 11.60 Sep 528 53.04 291 11.92 Oct 537 54.31 295 18 SOURCe:IndUSTRy compound average annual growth of about 3%, according to the Us Department of agriculture. that rate of growth is »contInued on paGe 2 Jantar Mantar off map, Capital’s other protests have nowhere to go pragynesh New Delhi, November 7 Protests aGaINst the violence in Manipur, demands for reservation for Jaats in central government jobs and opposition to piped natural gas were among at least 15 demonstrations planned at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar between october and December. But on october 9, the site was taken off the list of designated protest spaces, with the DelhiPolicenamingthreealternatives—BurariGround,ramlila Ground and CBD Ground. for several groups, however, moving their demonstrations Trump, Qatar emir in talks over West Asia de-escalation l Ustaskforceto Mediator Qatar flags safe maritime hitiranlandtrade Washington: Building on a monpassage and ths-long naval blockade on Iran, the US military said Saturday that energy security associated press Washington, November 7 UsPresIDeNtDonaldtrump discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle east in a telephone call with Qatar’s emir, the Gulf state leader’s office said, as the Us military launched new targeted strikes on Iran and the region remained on edge. Iran is reviewing proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the Us about tehran’s nuclear programme, two Middle east government officials said. the development is raising hopesthatthetwosidescouldbe inchingtowardindirecttalkson one of the thorniest issues that trumpsaysmustberesolvedas partofanydealmeanttoendthe more than 8-month-old war. But one of the officials stressed that the Iranians, at leastatthemoment,remainunwilling to engage in negotiations with the trump administration over its atomic activities until the Us agrees to severalcoreconditionsthatIran it is launching a task force to help crack down on Tehran's movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material over its land borders and through the Caspian Sea. Task Force Iron Gate will also focus on stemming what US calls illegal revenue streams. ReuteRs has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement. the telephone call between trump and Qatar’s emir sheikh tamim bin Hamad al thani centered on international efforts to end tensions, according to a statement from the Qatari ruler’s media office. thetwodiscussedinparticular Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at reaching “a comprehensive agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and stability in the region.” Qatar has been mediating between the Us and Iran to end the war. Qatar and other Us-allied Gulf arab countries came under heavy fire by Iran earlier in the Us-Iran war and have been anxious to avoid a new escalation that could leave them »contInued on paGe 2 happening today the Naga students’ union held a press conference at the Press Club of India on October 22 instead of a protest tothesevenuesprovedfarfrom straightforward.someprotests never took place. the Naga students’ Union was among them; it had planned a demonstration againsttheviolenceinManipur »contInued on paGe 2 lIndIa face Pakistan at the U-19 one-day Asia Cup Group A match in Oman. For India, much of the batting interest will centre around Aaryavir Sehwag, son of ex-opener Virender Sehwag. ldefence MInIster Rajnath Singh will visit the Sherathang War Memorial in Sikkim. The minister will also interact with the soldiers who are deployed in the region. tRaCk tHese aND mORe ON WWW.indianexpress.com l GOvt DIsCOveRs NetwORk wHeRe meDICal INteRNs use wHatsaPP GROuPs tO Buy aND sell HOsPItal sHIfts Who’s on call at your Emergency Room? In Bengal, intern may be a paid stand-in sweety kumari other parts of the state, allowing interns to trade mandatory rotatory shifts for amounts WHatsaPP MessaGes all rangingbetweenrs200andrs hours of night and day come 600 per hour. withthejobatmedicalcolleges. one such group, named ‘InInWestBengal,thereisadiffer- ternship replacement’, conence. Many such chats across tains more than 255 members medical colleges in the state in- who regularly broadcast shift volve monetary transactions availability and the money exover hospital shifts and emerg- pected in return. ency room duties, the state Health page 1 which are bought Department has and sold for fixed rolled out a biometrates per hour. ric attendance sysofficials said that what tem now to check the practice. started as informal peer adjust- Health Minister sharadwat ments among medical interns Mukhopadhyay, who says he has turned into a cash-for-duty cameacrossadentalcollegeinnetwork that operates across tern performing duties on bemedicalcollegesinKolkataand half of an MBBs intern during Kolkata, November 7 anchor asurpriseinspectionatMurshidabad Medical College, held a meeting this month with principals and vice-presidents of medical colleges where this issue was discussed. sources said principals of three medical colleges – one based in Kolkata and two in North Bengal — said they had no idea about this “network” under their roofs. Giving the example of one suchWhatsapptransaction,an official said a message could be put up on the group asking if anyone was willing to take up an emergency room (er) shift, with timings specified, such as an “er evening from 3 pm today” and a “Night er from 10 l cash-for-dUtynetWork ₹200-600/hr mandatory rotatory shifts bought and sold, with some paying Rs 30,000 monthly 255 members in one WhatsApp group where interns post availability and the money offered in return pm to 8 am today”, followed by the money on offer. Minister Mukhopadhyay toldTheIndianExpressthatthe practice has been found to be Some use the arrangement to carve out time for higher studies. Others simply point to long working hours widespread, across “almost all” government hospitals. “We have identified many interns involved, warned them and now we are making biometric attendance mandatory.” officials said that, on an average, a medical college and hospital in Bengal has around 250 interns, who must put in minimum hours for an MBBs degree,performingdutiessuch astakingdowncasehistoriesof patients for a monthly stipend of rs 40,000 to rs 50,000. only onhealthgroundsoranemergency is an intern allowed exemption from duty, which can stretch from 6 hours to 24, with the requirement that the missed hours be completed later. “there is no attendance systemassuch...Noonechecks, honestly,” a Medical officer at one of the medical colleges and hospitals in Kolkata said. Informally, interns are known to swap duties or ask someoneelsetocoverforthem, but that this was being done for money was something officials say they were not aware of. “It isextremelyunethicaltoseeinterns bargaining over rates to swap duties as if they are grocery shopping,” a resident doctor at a government hospital said, on the condition of anonymity. on the ethical aspect, tapas Pramanick, Medical officer in the emergency Department at r G Kar Medical College and Hospital, told The Indian Express:“thereare10Medicalofficers at r G Kar, so everyone knows us by face. If someone wants to swap, it is always with one of the other nine Medical officers. But interns have been known to get ayurveda students and even non-medical friends to step in for them.” HealthDepartmentofficials said that in districts, they have found situations where junior doctors who have to put in long hours also roping in interns to perform some of their minor duties. Pramanick said: “rotatory internship is an integral part of the MBBs curriculum… meant todevelopclinicalskills,professional responsibility and competence for patient care. Duty adjustment may be permitted »contInued on paGe 2