DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BENGAL SCHOOL JOBS CASE HC cancels appointment of over 25,000 teachers, Mamata protests Orders return of their salaries with interest; state’s School Service Commission told to initiate fresh hiring ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, APRIL 22 ADIVISIONbenchof theCalcutta HighCourtMondaycancelledthe appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made throughtheStateLevelSelection Test (SLST) 2016 in schools sponsored and aided by the West Bengal government. The court alsoorderedthemtoreturntheir salaries with interest, and asked the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) to initiate a fresh appointment process. More than 23 lakh candi- dates had appeared for the SLST 2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. The bench, formed by the Chief Justiceof theHighCourton directions of the Supreme Court, heard 350 petitions and appeals relatingtotheselectionof teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group C and D staffers through the SLST 2016. The CBI had earlier arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and some SSC functionaries over allegations of irregularities in the recruitment process. Speaking at a rally in Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency, Chief Order illegal, will appeal before a highter court: CM RELATED REPORTS PAGE 3 MinisterMamataBanerjeecalled the court order illegal and said, “Our government will stand for those who lost their jobs and we willappealbeforeahighercourt.” The Bench, led by Justice Debangsu Basak, observed that the OMR sheets were manipulated, making the recruitments illegal. “We have no other way but to cancel the whole recruitment panel,” Justice Basak said. The Bench, also comprising JusticeMdShabbarRashidi,said, “Allappointmentsgrantedinthe selectionprocessesinvolved,beingviolativeof Articles14and16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled.” “We would rather have persons of integrity appointed as teachers through an untainted selectionprocessratherthanexposestudentstoelementssecuring appointments through an unscrupulousselectionprocess,” the Bench observed. “Persons who had been appointed outside the panel after expiry of the panel, as also those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointments, must return all remunerations and benefits received by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Man linked to Headley held for recce of TMC MP Abhishek’s house: Police Rege was ‘planning something big’, looking into his contacts: Kolkata cops SWEETY KUMARI & MOHAMED THAVER KOLKATA, MUMBAI, APRIL 22 BUSINESS AS USUAL Rajaram Rege being brought to Bankshall court in Kolkata, Monday. Express “Today, our officers arrested Rajaram Rege from Mahim in Mumbai. He had visited Kolkata, stayed here, and conducted a recce of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's offices and residence. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD BY UNNY ISRAELI MILITARY INTEL CHIEF RESIGNS OVER FAILURE IN OCTOBER 7 ATTACK D Gukesh, 17, after winning FIDE Candidates 2024 tournament in Toronto. Michal Walusza/FIDE Gukesh scripts history, youngest challenger to world chess champ AMIT KAMATH MUMBAI, APRIL 22 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 designatedtodecidethechallengerto 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 EXPLAINED KOLKATA POLICE said Monday that they have arrested a person from Mumbai, whose name had croppedupduringtheprobeinto the 26/11 terror attack for links with accused David Headley, for allegedly conducting a recce aroundtheresidenceandoffices 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 the police said they suspected a possible “terror attack” and “threat” to Banerjee’s life. `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 E 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,wouldconfesstobeing “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 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. REITERATES ‘WEALTH DISTRIBUTION’ CLAIM Day after, PM outreach in Aligarh: ‘Ended triple talaq, raised Haj quota’ Targets Cong, SP for ‘appeasement politics’, says they did nothing for community DHEERAJ MISHRA 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 appeasementbutneverdidanything 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 lives by making a law against triple talaq,” he said. “Earlier,thereusedtobefights duetolessHajquota.Briberywas prevalentandonlytheinfluential got the chance to go,” he said. 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 PAGE 12 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 THESUPREMEcourtonMonday 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 submittedbythedeanof theLokmanya TilakMunicipalGeneralHospital, Sion, Mumbai, said the report “has clearly opined that contin- PAGE 1 ANCHOR 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 PAGE 15 KAMAAL SAIYED & MANOJ C G SURAT, NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 Taiwan Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Naima Khatoon Gulrez BJP’s Mukesh Dalal receives the certificate of election after he won unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha seat, Monday. PTI CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SOUMYARENDRA BARIK CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AMU gets its first woman V-C: Naima Khatoon Cong rejected, others withdraw, BJP wins SC allows 14-yr-old rape survivor Amid India’s chip push, Surat seat ‘unopposed’ to terminate 30-week pregnancy Taiwan flags talent gaps, high import tariff RELATED REPORT 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 Modi and the BJP. “An FIR needs tobelodgedforincitingcommunal passions and hatred. ECI’s failuretotakesuitableactionwill further undermine its credibility as an autonomous institution A DAY after the nomination of the Congress candidate from Surat was rejected, the BJP’s Mukesh Dalal was declared elected uncontested from the LokSabhaseat,aftertheeightremaining nominees withdrew one by one. While four of them were Independents,threebelongedto little-knownpartiesandonewas a candidate of the BSP. Surat City BSPpresidentSatishSonavnealleged the hand of the BJP in the withdrawal of its nominee, Pyarelal Bharti. Monday was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Itisrareforcandidatestowin uncontested in Lok Sabha elections, with only 23 such known instances before this since Independence (not counting bypolls) as per the Election Commission website. Of these, 10 won in the first two elections, 1951-1952 and 1957, when the pool of candidates was small. Dalal is the first ever BJP leader to win uncontested. BeforeDalalwasdeclaredthe winner, the Congress moved the Election Commission, seeking that it postpone elections on the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, APRIL 22 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 VC Monday evening. The AMU Court had shortlisted three candidates for the postandforwardedthenamesto PresidentDroupadiMurmuforfinal selection last November. ProfessorMuzaffarUrujRabbani, formerDean,FacultyofMedicine, AMU, and Professor Faizan Mustafa,V-C,ChanakyaNational Law University, Patna, were the other frontrunners for the post. SourcessaidGulrez'sappointmentwasclearedbytheElection Commission(EC)withthecondition that it would not be publicised and no political mileage wouldbedrawnfromit.TheEC's go-ahead was communicated to 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 be held in Hindutva”,andpartlyinMalnad. the second phase on April 26. Though the “saffron wall” in As in other constituencies in the coastalKarnatakaregion,suchas this partof Karnatakatook some hit last year as the Dakshina Kannada, the Congress swept back to Hindu right wing has power in the state elecbeen a dominant force in tions — at present, four Udupi-Chikmagalur that Assembly segments in was at the centre of the hijab row a couple of DECISION the Chikmagalur area of 2024 Udupi-Chikmagalur are years ago. The Congress, with the Congress and in facing an uphill battle, is 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 challenge to break it down in the go toe-to-toe with the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. The Congress held UdupiUdupi-Chikmagalur and 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. But Hegde 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 region and the outreach 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 Kolkata
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.