eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE ‘EVERY TIME I HAVE WRITTEN A SCRIPT KEEPING AN ACTOR IN MIND, IT HASN’T WORKED’ LUCKNOW,LATECITY JANUARY21,2024 16+4PAGES,`6.00 Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Scan for more information ‘Vocal for Local’ creating employment opportunities Hamara Sankalp 4 times increase in Khadi sales in last 10 years; Employment opportunities created in villages through promotion of Khadi and rural enterprises' products Viksit Bharat In Poonch, torture of 5 more slipped under radar, J&K police ask for medical records NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 JAMMU, JANUARY 20 Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes a dip in the sea during his visit to Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday. PTI RELATEDREPORTS,PAGES4,8 eyewitnesses since they were picked up alongside the three from Topa Pir who died.” Wazir Hussian, the father of Riaz and Farooq, told The Indian Express that his family had received, for each son, Rs 2.5 lakh in compensation — Rs 1 lakh fromtheciviladministrationand Rs 1.5 lakh from the Army when the men were discharged. The former sarpanch of Topa Pir, Mehmood Bhat, confirmed that he had helped the families getthechequesfromtheciviladministration. The Army spokesperson did not respond to queriesabout the five men. Theambushof theArmyconvoy took place on Mughal road between Dehra Ki Gali and Bufliaz. The next morning, eight civilians were picked up from Topa Pir in Poonch district’s Bufliazarea,andfivefromRajouri district’s Thanamandi area. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Darshan of old idol put on hold, stage set for opening tomorrow Flowers, water from across the country in rituals around new idol Bhagwat: Jan 22 a beginning, end bitterness RAM MANDIR MAULSHREE SETH AYODHYA, JANUARY 20 LESS than 48 hours before the consecration scheduled for January22,anelaborateandprotracted set of rituals around the 51-inch idol of Ram Lalla were completed Saturday. The new idol’s eyes, still covered with cloth, underwent different “adhivas” rituals, which involved draping the entire frame in a variety of flowers brought from locations across the country including Tamil AYODHYA THE INAUGURATION 1 DAY TO GO Nadu, Maharashtra and Kolkata, sources involved in the rituals told The Indian Express. These flowers, an estimated 50 kg, include: lotus, rose, jasmine and chrysanthemum. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 AHEAD OF the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, RSS SarsanghchalakMohanBhagwat has called for an end to the “bitterness”,“dispute”and“conflict”. “Now, the conflict that has arisen, as for and against the dispute, should be ended. The bitterness that has arisen in the meantime should also end. The enlightened people of society must see that the dispute ends completely. Ayodhya means a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Land scam’ case: ED questions Fresh FIR filed against Jharkhand CM Soren at his home Azam’s son for ‘illegal plotting of river land’ CM invokes Adivasi support, targets BJP: ‘They can’t do anything politically... trying to do things behind a veil’ ABHISHEK ANGAD RANCHI, JANUARY 20 AFTER SKIPPING the Enforcement Directorate's summons seven times, Jharkhand Chief MinisterHemanSorenwas questionedforseven-and-a-half hours at his residence here on Saturday, amid a show of strength by his ministers and supporters. The money laundering case against Soren pertains to an allegedlandscam.Itislinkedtothe ownershipof alandparcelmeasuring 7.16 acres, in Bajra area of Ranchi, allegedly acquired Hemant Soren addresses supporters after the ED questioning, Saturday. PTI Centretofence India-Myanmar border,endfree movement:Shah ANKITA UPADHYAY ARUN SHARMA During a patrol in Poonch after the Dec 21 attack. File ANNOUNCEMENT IN ASSAM Citing Govt order, AIIMS shuts down OPD on Jan 22 until 2.30 pm DECEMBER 21 KILLING OF FOUR SOLDIERS through “proceeds of crime” involving illegal sale of Army land. IASofficerChhaviRanjan,alsoan accused in the case, is currently in judicial custody. The ED officials arrived at Soren's residence at 12.30 pm and left a little before 8.30 pm. Soon after the ED team left, Soren stepped out to address his supporters. Alleging a BJP conspiracy to topple his government, he said: “An Adivasi has become the Chief Minister with your support, with the blessings of Adivasis and Moolvasis… These people (BJP) can’t do anything politically, therefore they CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, JANUARY 20 A FRESH case has been registered against former MLA AbdullahAzam Khanin Rampur over allegations that “he and some others got illegal plotting done of river land”. In October last year, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, his wife Tanzeen Fatima, and Abdullah Azam Khan were convicted and sentenced to seven years in jail in a 2019 case of alleged forgery of Abdullah’s birth certificate. While Azam is lodged at Sitapur district jail, Abdullah is Former MLA Abdullah Azam Khan in Hardoi prison, while Tanzeen is in the Rampur jail. Speaking about the case, Rampur Additional Superintendent of Police AK Srivastava said, “A complaint was submitted at Kotwali police station by Halka Lekhpal Sanjay Kumar. He wrote that following orders from Rampur SDM, a probe was conducted in which it was found that river land was DELHI’S ALL India Institute of MedicalSciences(AIIMS)willremainshutforhalf dayonJanuary 22inviewof theRamTempleinauguration in Ayodhya, it said Saturday. Its out-patient department (OPD) will remain closed until 2.30 pm, though emergency and critical services units will function normally. Similar arrangements have been put in place at the other CentralGovernmenthospitalsin the Capital, including the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. This comes after the Centre Thursday ordered half dayfor all offices,institutionsandindustrial establishments under it across the country “to enable employeestoparticipateincelebrations” in view of the Ayodhya event. Citing the Centre’s order, a memorandum issued by the AIIMS administration Saturday said, “The Government of India hasdeclared22ndJanuary,2024 half day closing till 14:30 hrs…asRamLallaPranPratistha at Ayodhya will be celebrated across India.” “Since AIIMS Delhi is on high alert for one month till February 21, critical clinical services will remain functional, the memorandum added. The memorandum, signed by AIIMS Administrative officer Rajesh Kumar, did not mention whetherOPDserviceswillbehit, SaysitwillbesecurelikeBangladesh border,‘willendeaseof coming,going’ SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, JANUARY 20 MAKING IT official, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced that the Centre has decided to fence the entire length of the currently porous India-Myanmar border to stop free movement of people. Addressing the passing out paradeof newlyappointedcommandos of the Assam Police in Guwahati,Shahsaid:“Ourborder withMyanmarisanopenborder. The Narendra Modi government has taken a decision that the India-Myanmarborderwillbesecureandthewholeborderwillbe fenced like the Bangladesh border.ThegovernmentisreconsideringourFreeMovementRegime (FMR)agreementwithMyanmar, and is going to end this ease of coming and going.” Whiletherehavebeenreports thattheCentreisplanningsucha move, Shah's public announcement confirms the decision. India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km border along the Northeastern states of Manipur, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PRATIP ACHARYA & NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, JANUARY 20 THREE MINUTES and twenty seconds. That’s the total time it took The Indian Express to zip to BreachCandyfromMarineDrive onabusyweekendafternoonvia the soon-to-be-open 2.07-km twin tunnels that lie partly under the sea and a hill. The nearly 6-km stretch on the surface takes at least 30 minutes and re- quires motorists to cross seven traffic signals. Come February and Mumbaikars too will save time and fuel as they breeze through the toll-free tunnel. Set to be inaugurated in the second week of February, the tunnels start near Girgaon(aheadof MarineDrive), extend north under the Arabian Sea, Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill, and end at Breach Candy’sPriyadarshiniPark.They are a part of the 10.58-km highspeed Mumbai Coastal Road Project(MCRP)beingbuiltbythe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC)atacostof Rs 12,721-crore.TheIndianExpress drove through the tunnel on Priyadarshini Park MUMBAI under sea tunnel 2.07 km total tunnel length 900 m under hill tunnel 1 km Arabian Sea January 13. The MCRP, which will connectMarineDrivetotheBandraWorli SeaLink, aims to cut down overall travel time from nearly Hindu and Islam Gymkhanas one hour during peak hours to little less than 10 minutes. The larger MCRP project envisages linking Marine Drive with suburbanDahisarviaatoll-freefree- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ● FREE Movement Regime allows tribes living along the India-Myanmar border on either side to travel up to 16 km inside the other country without a visa and stay up to two weeks. It was implemented in 2018 as part of the Modi government’s Act East policy. Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, a porous border of which only 10 km is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE: 2024 NOMINATION INVITED Nominations are invited for the 25th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence : 2024 which honours each year a distinguished Indian, residing either in India or abroad, for his/her sustained individual contributions and outstanding achievements of high professional order and excellence in the field of management, public administration, public affairs, education, institution building, art & culture and sports. The Awardee will be selected by a jury comprising of eminent persons. The award is given every year on October 1, the eve of the birth anniversary of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. The honour carries an award of Rs. Five Lakh plus a citation and a plaque and the awardee is designated as Lal Bahadur Shastri fellow. EARLIER RECIPIENTS OF THE AWRD CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 way, bringing seamless connectivity to the Maximum City’s western coast. On January 8, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said the ongoingconstructionfor the MCRP will be completed by January 31. He had said the entire corridor will be completely operational from May. Though the project is nearly 84 per cent complete at present, some bit of work on the tunnel catering to Marine Drive till Breach Candy is still left to be done.This includes just ancillary works like painting, setting up traffic lights and signages. Civic officials have said the E What is FMR? LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI Under the sea and a hill: It’s now Marine Drive to ‘Breeze’ Candy in just under four minutes PAGE 1 ANCHOR Amit Shah in Tezpur, Assam, on Saturday. PTI EXPLAINED CBC 22201/13/0187/2324 Government of India ADAYaftertheDecember21terror attack in Poonch on an Army convoy in which four soldiers were killed, eight civilians were picked up and allegedly tortured bysecurityforces—threeofthem died,fivewereadmittedfortreatment at Government Medical Hospital,Rajouri.Therewerefive more civilians who have alleged tortureanddetention,TheIndian Express has confirmed. All are residents of Topa Pir village in Poonch and were admittedtoanotherhospitalonthe night of December 22 and discharged on January 13. They slipped under the official radar amid high-profile visits by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Manoj Pande,bothof whomflaggedthe excesses and assured the families of justice. The Jammu and Kashmir police are learnt to have asked the Armytoprovidemedicalrecords of these five men, identified as: Riaz (25) and his brother Farooq (19), Israel (20), Jameel (18), and Irfan (18). Said a senior police officer: “Their records are needed as the injured have to be produced before a judicial magistrate to record their statements as part of the enquiry into the death of three civilians… These five are Sriram Raghavan on his two-decade journey as director FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA BHARAT RATNA SHRI LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (1904 1966) Prof. (Dr.) Shiv Kumar Sarin Dr. Bakul Dholakia Dr. Randeep Guleria Smt. Sudha Murty Dr. (Mrs.) Manju Sharma Sh. Fali S Nariman Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi Dr. Prannoy Roy Dr. Apathukatha S. Pillai Dr. Rajendra Achyut Badwe Smt. Tessy Thomas Prof. Yash Pal Smt. Aruna Roy Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal Dr. E. Sreedharan Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Dr. Naresh Trehan Dr. C. P. Srivastava Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt Dr. R. A. Mashelkar Shri N. R. Narayana Murthy Shri Sam Pitroda Dr. C. K. Prahalad 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 NOMINATIONS MAY BE SENT IN CONFIDENCE LATEST BY MARCH 31, 2024 Nomination form may be obtained from the Director, LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI Plot No. 11/7, Sector 11, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075 Tel. 011 25307700, Email director@Lbsim.ac.in Chairman LBSIM, Delhi Lucknow