DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA REITERATES ‘WEALTH DISTRIBUTION’ CLAIM Day after, PM outreach in Aligarh: ‘Ended triple talaq, raised Haj quota’ BY UNNY Targets Cong, SP for ‘appeasement politics’, says they did nothing for community 112 140 Gukesh scripts history, youngest challenger to world chess champ AMIT KAMATH MUMBAI, APRIL 22 NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal at the release of party manifesto in Mumbai on Monday. Ganesh Shirsekar Ajit Pawar releases NCP manifesto, supports caste census IF ANYONE still had any doubts about this, the era of the Indian teenage chess prodigies is here. Chennai boy D Gukesh, 17, has become the youngest winner of theprestigiousCandidateschess tournament, the event designated todecidethechallengerto take on the world champion. Playing black in the final round,GukeshdrewwithHikaru Nakamura of the US to take an unassailable lead and earn the righttotakeonChina'sDingLiren in a world title fight next year. The final moments of the highly-competitive event were notwithoutdrama.Gukesh'sfate dependedonthegamebetween E Why the win is ● significant EVER SINCE the pandemic, India has seen a chess boom. Streaming platforms have become popular and the GM count has gone to 84. Chennai hosted the Chess Olympiad and IPL-kind franchise league too kicked off. With this win, Gukesh has shown Indians don’t just have the numbers, but quality too. RELATED REPORT PAGE 15 MUMBAI, APRIL 22 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK RAJNATH VISITS SIACHEN, LAUDS ‘IRON-CLAD’ WILL OF SOLDIERS CID TO PROBE STUDENT MURDER: KARNATAKA CM PAGES 6, 12 PAGE 1 ANCHOR CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath with party candidates in Aligarh on Monday. ANI Hold PM accountable, it’s trial of EC too, says Cong; CPM also seeks action MANOJ CG NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 REFERRING TO Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that the Congress could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, the Opposition party on Monday asked the Election Commission (EC) to take action against him for his “divisive, objectionable and malicious” speech, saying he levelled “blatantly defamatory”, “false” and “unverified allegations” against it. Stating that it was a “trial of theEC”too,theCongresssaidthe poll panel “risks tarnishing its legacy and abandoning its Constitutional duty by setting a precedent of helpless inaction that will go down in infamy”. By evening, the CPI(M) and a groupof civilsocietyactiviststoo approached the EC to demand action against Modi. The CPI(M) asked the EC to immediately launch proceedings against CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NAIMA KHATOON Gulrez, the principal of Aligarh Muslim University’s Women’s College since 2014, has been appointed as the university's first woman Vice-Chancellor. She is learnt to have taken charge as the new V-C Monday evening. The AMU Court had shortlisted three candidates for the post and forwarded the names to President Droupadi Murmu forfinalselectionlastNovember. Professor Muzaffar Uruj Rabbani,formerDean,Facultyof Medicine, AMU, and Professor Faizan Mustafa, V-C, Chanakya National Law University, Patna, were the other frontrunners for the post. Sources said Gulrez's appointment was cleared by the Election Commission (EC) with the condition that it would not be publicised and no political mileagewouldbedrawnfromit. The EC's go-ahead was communicated to the Education Ministry on April 9. A PhD in psychology from AMU, the new V-C was appointed as a lecturer in the same department in 1988, before beingelevatedasprofessorin2006. She continued there before joining as principal of the Women’s College in 2014. She also taught at the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Man linked to Headley held for recce of TMC MP Abhishek’s house: cops EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NATIONALIST CONGRESS Party chief Ajit Pawar on Monday released the manifesto of his party for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,promisingtosupporta caste-basedcensus,classicallanguage status to Marathi, Bharat Ratna to Yashwantrao Chavan and MSP for farmers among other issues. The manifesto, based on the theme of 'Nationalist for the Nation', explains the party's role and its resolvetowardseconomicprogress throughpublicserviceandinfrastructural development. “In the manifesto, the party has emphasised on all crucial issuesfromlocaltogloballevellike support to a caste-based census, grantingclassicallanguagestatus two other contenders — Russia's IanNepomniachtchiandFabiano Caruana of the US. A win for eitherNepomniachtchiorCaruana would have seen them play Gukesh in a tie-breaker. Unable to take the pressure of watchingthetournament-deciding game on the adjoining board,Gukeshwentforawalkto soothe his nerves. It was his father who broke the news to him that he had walked into history. The new poster boy of Indian chess, known for his deadpan expression, would confessto being “completely emotional”. “I am so relieved and so happy. I was following this crazy game (Caruana vs Nepomniachtchi), and I was completely emotional, but now, after the Naima Khatoon Gulrez NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 A DAY after his remarks that the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “thosewhohavemorechildren”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday listed his initiatives for the Muslim community — from doing away with triple talaq to increasing the Haj quota. Addressing an election rally in Aligarh, he said: “Parties like the Congress and Samajwadi Partyalwayspractisedpoliticsof appeasement butneverdid anything for the political, social and economic uplift of Muslims. When I talk about Pasmanda Muslims, they get spooked. Because people at the top took the benefits and forced Pasmanda Muslims to live in such conditions.” “Thelivesof manydaughters, who were victims of triple talaq, were ruined. Due to this, the whole family would face problems. Modi has secured their AMU gets its first woman V-C: Naima Khatoon EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE DHEERAJ MISHRA D Gukesh, 17, after winning FIDE Candidates 2024 tournament in Toronto. Michal Walusza/FIDE E X P L A I NE D 60 `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 BUSINESS AS USUAL 174 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES 23/04/2024 ● SWEETY KUMARI & MOHAMED THAVER KOLKATA, MUMBAI, APRIL 22 TSMC and UMC, two of Taiwan’s biggest chip firms, at the Hsinchu Science Park. Soumyarendra Barik Amid India’s chip push, Taiwan flags talent gaps, high import tariff SOUMYARENDRA BARIK TAIPEI (TAIWAN), APRIL 22 A “CUMBERSOME” administrative structure, lack of experienced engineers, high tariffs on electronics component imports and inadequate infrastructure — these are some of the challenges that India needs to address before chip companies from the islandterritorystarttocommitserious investments, a top Taiwanese government representative said. Responding to a question from The Indian Express on what has stopped Taiwanese chip companies from investing in India, Joseph Wu, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, also said the country should focus on KOLKATA POLICE said Monday that they have arrested a person from Mumbai, whose name had cropped up during the probe into the 26/11 terror attack for links with accused David Headley, for allegedly conducting a recce around the residence and offices of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. Identifying the suspect as Rajaram Rege, 53, the police said he was “planning something big” against the MP. Sources in signing a long-negotiated free trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan that would allow companies in the semiconductor supply chain to import components, equipment and material to India easily. “India is known to be very cumbersomeinitsadministrative CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 the police said they suspected a possible “terror attack” and “threat” to Banerjee’s life. “Today, our officers arrested Rajaram Rege from Mahim in Mumbai.He hadvisited Kolkata, stayed here, and conducted a recce of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's offices and residence. He had obtained the mobile phone numbers of Banerjee and his PA, and tried to contact them,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (I) Murlidhar Sharma. The arrest comes a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJPof conspiringagainstherand nephew Abhishek Banerjee, and said they were “not safe”. Rege was taken to Kolkata Monday afternoon and booked under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation, and under provisions of the IT Act and theWest Bengal Maintenanceof CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC allows 14-yr-old rape survivor to terminate 30-week pregnancy EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Taiwan Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu EXPRESS NETWORK BENGAL: HCSCRAPS APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS, MAMATA PROTESTS PAGE 12 NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 THESUPREMEcourton Monday allowed a 14-year-old rape survivortoterminateheralmost30week pregnancy, terming it as a “very, very exceptional case where we have to protect her”. A bench presided by Chief Justiceof IndiaDYChandrachud, which perused a report submitted by thedeanof theLokmanya TilakMunicipalGeneralHospital, Sion, Mumbai, said the report “has clearly opined that contin- uation of the pregnancy against thewillof theminormayimpact negatively on the physical and mental well-being of a minor who is barely 14 years old”. Whilethemedicalboardsaid that “a certain degree of risk is involved in every procedure for medical termination”, it has “opined that the threat to life of the patient if termination of pregnancy is carried out at this stage is not higher than the risk of delivery at full term of pregnancy”, said the bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act allows termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks on the advice of a doctor. The right to seek abortion is determined by two registered medical practitioners as an exception if a pregnancy is 20-24 weeks under certain categories such as rape survivors. Exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, whichempowersittopassanorder necessary for doing complete justice in a case, the bench allowed the relief to the petitioner, and asked the dean of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Passengers at the Dadar railway station on Monday. Deepak Joshi Ridership in suburban trains 8.9% lower than pre-pandemic levels SWEETY ADIMULAM MUMBAI, APRIL 22 EVEN AS it has been over two years since life has returned to normal after the Covid pandemic, Mumbai's iconic suburban local train network, often hailed as the lifeline of the city, continues to witness a significantshortfallinitsridershipover thepre-pandemiclevelsin201920. Ridership data compiled for both Western and Central Railways suburban network of the Mumbai division over the past six financial years reveal thatwhiletheridershipslumped followingCovidpandemicinthe two years between 2020 and 2022, the aggregate passenger ridership across Western and Central railways (travelling on season ticket and daily ticket) was lower by 13.69 crore or 8.99 per cent in 2023-24 over that seen in 2019-20. Data shows that while the overallshortfallinridershipinFY '24 over FY '20 stood at 8.99 per cent,theshortfallinridershiprecovery in suburban local trains on the Western Railway is much higher at 18.46 per cent in comparison to 9.03% per cent on the Central Railway line over the pre-pandemic levels in 2019-20. Why the ridership has not recovered fully Officials in the Western and Central Railway say that the slow recovery to pre-pandemic levels is on account of various CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cong banks on welfare to erode coastal Karnataka’s saffron challenge AKRAM M UDUPI, CHIKAMAGALUR, MANGALURU, APRIL 22 BACK IN the 1990s, Kota Srinivas Poojary was a regular speaker at campaign events for K Jayaprakash Hegde, canvassing for the then Janata Dal leader in the erstwhile Assembly seat of BrahmavarinKarnataka’sUdupi district. Three decades on, much haschangedforthetwo.Poojary isnowtheBJPcandidatefromthe Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency,takingonHegdefor whom he once sought votes. Udupi-Chikmagalur falls partlyincoastalKarnataka,often Dakshina Kannada, where dubbed the “laboratory of polling is scheduled to beheld in Hindutva”,andpartlyinMalnad. the second phase on April 26. As in other constituencies in the Though the “saffron wall” in coastalKarnatakaregion,suchas this part of Karnatakatook some Dakshina Kannada, the hit last year as the Hindu right wing has Congress swept back to been a dominant force in power in the state elecUdupi-Chikmagalur that tions — at present, four was at the centre of the Assembly segments in hijab row a couple of DECISION the Chikmagalur area of 2024 years ago. The Congress, Udupi-Chikmagalur are facing an uphill battle, is with the Congress and in now banking on the Dakshina Kannada, the party Siddaramaiah government’s managed to win Puttur after alguarantee schemes and local most a decade — it remains a caste and community factors to challengeto break it down in the go toe-to-toe with the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. Udupi-Chikmagalur and The Congress held Udupi- VOTE SHARE (%) ■ BJP ■ Cong ■ JD(S) UDUPI CHIKMAGALUR* 56.2 38.63 1.44 62.46 32.09 Phase2 2014 2019 DAKSHINA KANNADA 53.23 41.33 2014 57.57 37.15 2019 *Note: JD(S) allied with Congress in 2019 and did not contest the seat Source: Election Commission Chikmagalur briefly after Hegde won it in a 2012 bypoll necessitatedbyDVSadanandaGowda’s resignation as MP following his appointment as Karnataka chief minister. ButHegde lost the seat two years later in the 2014 elections and the party failed again in 2019. It is an even bigger story of BJP dominance in Dakshina Kannada that was formed after delimitation in 2008. Support for Congress guarantees In Chikmagalur, some Congressworkersconcededthat the fight was a tough one. “The support for the BJP is reminis- centof theCongressinthe1980s and 1990s. Around 40% of the votersarewiththeBJP.Changing that is a huge task," said a local party worker. At a recent campaign event, Poojary said people were with the BJP as they wanted to see Narendra Modi return as the prime minister. He also promised them better roads between Udupi and Chikmagalur and the extension of rail connectivity in the region. For the Congress, the choice of Hegde — he was expelled from the party in 2015 and rejoined from the BJP only in March—isamoveaimedatcon- solidating its position with the help of the former state minister’s support base in Udupi district.“Peoplestillrememberthat Udupi was carved out of Dakshina Kannada district during my tenure as minister. The programmes launched for fishermen in the regionandtheoutreach I did as an elected representative will help me," Hegde told The Indian Express. The Congress is mostly relying on the guarantee schemes that propelled it to power in the state last year. In rural Chikmagalur, the schemes are popular, especially among CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi.