DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee e Government of India cbc 22201/13/0252/2324 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Ensuring bright future of our daughters 3 crore 20 lakh accounts of girl children opened under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scan for more information Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION The big all India exam leak 5-year fallout: Distress and despair hit 1.4 crore candidates; some wait 2 years plus; little action 15 states, leaks in 41 job-recruitment exams ■ Exams ■ Posts ■ Candidates ARUNACHALPRADESH UTTARAKHAND J&K ■3 ■ 2,330 ■ 2,49,000 HARYANA ■1 ■ 30 ■ 4,000 ■4 ■ 1,800 ■ 2,37,000 UTTARPRADESH ■2 ■ 6,980 ■ 8,41,000 ■1 ■ 3,300 ■ 19,00,000 HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 THE GOVERNMENT on Monday introduced a Bill in Lok Sabha to penalise “malpractices in public examinations” with jail term of 3 to 10 years and fine which can extend to over Rs 1 crore. The Public Examinations (Preventionof UnfairMeans)Bill, ASSAM ■1 ■ 590 ■ 66,000 RAJASTHAN ■7 ■ 40,590 ■ 38,41,000 GUJARAT ■3 ■ 5,260 ■ 16,41,000 MAHARASHTRA ■2 ■ 6,560 ■ 11,25,000 KARNATAKA ■2 ■ 1,660 ■ 3,34,000 JHARKHAND BIHAR MADHYA PRADESH ■1 ■ 2,010 ■ 6,50,000 ■5 ■ 3,690 ODISHA ■ 1,64,000 ■1 TELANGANA ■ 1,000 ■5 ■ 5,000 ■ 3,770 ■ 6,74,000 10 years jail, Rs 1 cr fine: Bill in for Central exams... ■3 ■ 24,380 ■ 22,87,000 Figures are estimates based on data collected from states in the last five years 2024, is applicable to central recruitment and entrance exams conducted by the Union Public ServiceCommission(UPSC),Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED PAGE 10 ...but it’s in states where the rot is wide and deep SUKRITA BARUAH, ANAND MOHAN J, HAMZA KHAN & SREENIVAS JANYALA NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, BHOPAL, JAIPUR, HYDERABAD, FEBRUARY 5 THE BILL introduced Monday says it will serve as a “model draft for States to adopt at their discretion.” This couldn’t be more timely. For, it is in states thattheproblemof examleaksis most acute — and widespread. The Indian Express investigated 41 documented instances of leaks over the last five years in recruitment exams across 15 states — their governments cutting across party lines. What CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘CONG FAILED AS OPP, DIDN’T LET OTHERS BE ONE’ PM slams Congress ‘cancel’ culture, predicts BJP sweep ‘Can gauge nation’s mood, NDA will get over 400 seats, BJP 370’ LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 IN A blistering attack on the Congress, the primacy of its Gandhi family and what he called the party’s “cancel culture,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in arguably his last speech in the 17th Lok Sabha, said that he,andthenation,areconvinced that the Opposition has resolved to remain in the opposition for BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on Monday. PTI decadeswhiletheBJPwillreturn for a third term with 370 seats and cross the 400-mark for the NDA. “Ekhiproductbaarbaarlaunch karnekechakkarmein,Congresski dukaantalalagnekinaubataagayi hai.(Congressshopisontheverge ofclosureinitsattemptstolaunch the same product again and again),” Modi said in his more than 90-minute reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Woman tourist ‘sexually assaulted’ in Digha; 2 held SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 5 A WOMAN tourist was allegedly sexually assaulted as her male friend was tied to a tree and beatenupinDighatownofPurba Medinipur district on Saturday night,policesaid.Hourslater,the police arrested two persons in connection with the incident. According to police, the woman and her friend reached Digha on Saturday night and were trying to find a hotel when they met the two accused. “The woman and her friend were on a motorcycle and were looking for a hotel to stay. They were asking about nearby hotels when they met the accused. The accused took them to a secluded CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata