DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 28 PAGES SINCE 1932 Modi Sarkar ki cbc 22201/13/0273/2324 Government of India Scan for more information Hamara sankalp Viksit Bharat Guarantee PM Fasal Bima Yojana s becomes safety net for farmers Claims worth ₹1 lakh 54 thousand crore paid to 16.65 crore farmers TAX DEMAND Rs 210 CRORE Main Putin critic Navalny, who survived poisoning bid in 2020, dies Citingtaxdues, I-TfreezesCong accounts,party callsitvendetta Was serving a 19-year jail sentence in Arctic prison AGENCIES MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 16 ALEXEI NAVALNY, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable opponent, died on Friday after a walk at the Arctic penalcolonywherehewasserving a 19-year jail term, Russian authorities said. He was 47. Navalny was jailed in 2021 whenhereturnedtoMoscowafter recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Western leaders paid tribute to Navalny. Some, without citing evidence, accused the Kremlin of murder. “Russia is responsible for this,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. RELATED REPORTS PAGES 12, 23 Security personnel fire teargas shells at protesting farmers at Shambhu, Punjab-Haryana border Friday, a day after farm leaders announced ‘ceasefire’ following talks with the Centre. Talks will resume Sunday. Harmeet Sodhi PAGES7,23 Govt unlikely to contest SC verdict on poll bonds, door open for PIL Releasing names breach of Govt promise, bank laws: official LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 RELEASING THE names of those who purchased electoral bonds would be a “breach of promise” made by the government and in violation of bank confidentiality norms but the Centre is unlikely to contest Thursday’s landmark SupremeCourtverdictthatstruck down the scheme as “unconstitutional,” government sources have told The Indian Express. The view in the establish- THE DEFENCE Acquisition Council (DAC) Friday cleared a series of big-ticket procurements worth Rs 84,560 crore for the armed forces including 15 maritime reconnaissance and multi-mission maritime aircraft fortheNavyandtheCoastGuard as well as six flight refueller aircraft for the IAF and new generation anti-tank mines for the Army. The DAC, headed by Defence MinisterRajnathSingh,isamong the top bodies for clearing major capital acquisitions for defence. E E X P L A I NE D NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 ● Boosting home tech THE DAC, while clearing proposals to boost the capabilities of the armed forces and Coast Guard, laid special emphasis on procurement of equipment from Indian vendors. Amendments to the DAP 2020 were also cleared to promote procurement of advanced technologies from startups and MSMEs. The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) is the first step in the long Defence procurement process. The grant of AoN does not always lead to a final order. Sources said these 15 maritimereconnaissanceaircraftwill be the marine versions of the C295 medium lift tactical aircraft inducted by the IAF last year. Of the 15, nine will be for the Navy and six for the Coast Guard. Aseniorofficialsaidthatonce inducted, the aircraft will be a major addition to the existing P8I maritime surveillance aircraft used by the forces for surveillance patrols and interdiction, and will significantly augment CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Student visas processed by Canada dipped 42% amid diplomatic row R RADHIKA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 THE EXPULSION of 41 Canadian diplomatsfromIndiaatthepeak of the diplomatic row between thetwonationslast yearhashad an unexpected fallout. According to latest data sourced from the Immigration, Refugees,andCitizenshipCanada CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HOW OTTAWA PROCESSED STUDENT VISAS QUARTER 2020 2021 2022 2023 Q1 (Jan-Mar) 40,826 63,335 72,403 85,444 Q2 (Apr-Jun) 1,034 52,583 67,466 89,265 Q3 (Jul-Sep) 12,194 57,755 1,03,692 63,691 Q4 (Oct-Dec) 21,908 62,403 69,203 TOTAL 75,962 1,19,923 2,36,076 3,63,484 3,07,603 Source: IRCC ment is that the fraught issue of poll funding in the wake of the apex court’s order should be left to the next government which may “consider”alternative ways to “better the election funding system”, sources said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Served notice, French reporter exits India: ‘In tears, forced to leave by Govt’ Dougnac got FRRO notice, was accused of ‘malicious’ reporting DIVYA A & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 VANESSA DOUGNAC, a DelhibasedFrenchjournalistwhowas issued anoticelastmonth bythe Foreigners Regional Registration Office(FRRO)whichaccusedher of “malicious” reporting and sought an explanation on why her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status should not be cancelled for alleged violation of rules,leftthecountryFriday,saying she was “being forced to leave by the Government of India”. A former South Asia Correspondent for La Croix, Le Point, Le Temps, Le Soir, Dougnac is married to an Indian national and, in 23yearsasajournalist,haswrittenonarangeof subjectsincluding the Maoist insurgency. InastatementFridayevening, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘He used to wheeze... His mother’s idea that he switch to spin was turning point’ squad, effective immediately due to a family emergency”. Earlier in the day, Ashwin’s father RAVICHANDRAN recalled his son’s journey from tennis ball cricket on the streets of West Mambalam in Chennai: Ravichandran Hours after his 500th Test wicket, R Ashwin said Friday, at the end of the second day’s play against England in the third Test at Rajkot, “It’s been quite a long journey. Firstly I’d like to dedicate this feat to my father.” Late at night, the BCCI in a statement said Ashwin had “withdrawn from the Test Ashwin celebrates after claiming England’s Zak Crawley, his 500th Test wicket. Later, the BCCI said Ashwin had pulled out of the Test squad due to a family emergency. PTI PM Narendra Modi being presented a memento at an event in Rewari Friday. PTI Assault on democracy, say Kharge, Rahul; partial relief from I-T tribunal THE MORNING AFTER TALKS Recce aircraft to anti-tank mines: Green light to big-ticket purchases AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE 500-WICKET milestone is an unforgettable moment for me. I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time and this wicket willkeepplayinginmyminduntil my last breath. My memory jogsbacktothedayswhenItook him on my scooter to school and for coaching. For a father to have CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Everyone is leaving Cong, P10 only one family at top, says PM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 A POLITICAL row erupted Friday with the Congress announcing that its bank accounts had been frozenbytheIncomeTaxdepartment in connection with a disputeoverataxdemandof Rs210 crore, and that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) later allowedittopartlyoperateitsaccounts until next Wednesday when it would hear the matter. Targeting the Modi government,theCongress,itspresident Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi expressed outrage, and called the I-T action a “vendetta” and “a deep assault on India’s democracy” in the THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ‘I-T Dept imposed disproportionate penalty of Rs 135 cr on Cong… What have we done?’ VIVEK TANKHA CONGRESS MP, RAJYA SABHA countdown to the Lok Sabha elections. While there was no official CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VIKAS PATHAK REWARI, NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 DESCRIBING THE “blessings of people” as “my biggest capital”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress, saying it has “only one agenda: antiModi, strong anti-Modi” and “everyone is abandoning the Congress, leaving only one family at its helm”. Unveiling a string of projects dedicated to Rajasthan and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2