eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Artist of a Brave New World KOLKATA,LATECITY In his centenary year, a look at the life and legacy of F N Souza, one of India’s most prominent modernists FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT APRIL21,2024 14+4PAGES,`7.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM LARGEST OF THE SEVEN PHASES IN THE 2024 ELECTIONS Face of protests against Brij Bhushan, wrestler Vinesh Phogat clinches spot in Paris Olympics MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, APRIL 20 WRESTLER VINESH Phogat, the face of the protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former Wrestling Federation of India president accused of sexual harassment, has won a spot in the Paris Olympics in the 50kg category. Inherfirstinternationalcompetition since September 2022, Phogat on Saturday defeated Kazakhstan’sLauraGanikyzy100 in the semifinal of the Asian Qualifying Tournament being held in Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. The 29-year-old didn’t concede a single point and needed a little more than six minutes to win the three bouts to clinch a quota place for India in the Paris games, scheduled to be held from 26 July to 11 August. “It has been very difficult. At one stage, it felt impossible. But this is a job half done,” she told The Indian Express from Bishkek, where the Asian Qualifying Tournament is being held. Indeed, this would have seemed improbable a year ago when, on April 21 last year, Phogat — along with six other women wrestlers — filed a police complaint against former WFI chief Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment. She and two othertopwrestlers,SakshiMalik and Bajrang Punia, also sat on months-long protests to demandtheBJPMP’sarrest.ADelhi court last week deferred until April 26 its order on framing charges against Brij Bhushan in the case. For Phogat, the Paris dream lookedfurtheroutof reachwhen another young, highly promising wrestler, Antim Panghal, won India an Olympic quota in the 53-kg category, which was Phogat’s pet weight class. In fact, not just the Olympics, Phogat’s wrestling future itself looked bleak when, attempting a comeback, she suffered a knee injury that required surgery. But one of India’s most resilientathletesof thisgeneration, Phogat, who weighed 59 kg when she began mat training in December, worked hard to drop to the lowest weight division of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT & POLITICS CJI HAILS THREE NEW CRIMINAL LAWS: WATERSHED MOMENT FOR INDIA Heatwave to wedding season to lack of enthusiasm among reasons being cited DAMINI NATH, RITIKA CHOPRA, ARUN JANARDHANAN & AVANEESH MISHRA VOTING FOR the 18th Lok Sabha commencedonarelativelytepid note with the first and largest phase of the seven-phase elections showing a decrease of about 4 percentage points in voter turnout, a development that has officials of the Election Commission of India concerned. On Friday, the 102 seats that were up for election, with a little over 16 crore voters eligible to cast their votes, saw a turnout of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Election officials keep EVMs and VVPATs in a strong room in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday, a day after the first phase of polling was held for the Lok Sabha elections. PTI PHASE-1 TURNOUT: 102 SEATS 2019:69.9% 2024:65.5% (INTHESE102SEATS) (AVGASOF11PM,APRIL20) 2019 65.12 2024 63.99 Change -1.13 82.11 78.14 53.36 66.26 70.15 85.21 75.07 64.07 82.69 71.43 63.14 83 81.25 64 81.41 72.44 81.93 66.6 61.88 84.8 72.74 76.09 49.26 68.29 68.27 84.16 67.76 63.7 72.17 74.5 56.9 56.91 78.9 57.65 80.24 69.46 81.48 61.37 56.72 81.91 -9.37 -2.05 -4.1 2.03 -1.88 -1.05 -7.31 -0.37 -10.52 3.07 -6.24 -26.09 -2.35 -6.35 -1.17 -2.98 -0.45 -5.23 -5.16 -2.89 Seats InPh-1 1 1 2 14 40 11 5 1 29 48 2 2 1 1 1 25 1 39 2 80 5 42 2 5 4 1 1 1 6 5 2 2 1 1 1 12 1 39 1 8 5 3 *(1 seat in two phases) Source: ECI’s voter turnout app PAGE 9 Vote for anyone, but do vote… it is important for country’s future, says PM ALOK DESHPANDE NANDED, APRIL 20 A DAY after the first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections ended with a voter turnout lower than that in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged peopletostepoutof theirhomes and “vote for anyone”. HeevenaskedtheOpposition parties to encourage their supporters to vote. This, he said, was importanttosecurethefutureof the country. Addressing a rally in Maharahtra’s Nanded which will vote in the second phase on April 26, Modi claimed that voters had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the ruling NDA in the first phase. Butheclearlyhadtheturnout PM Narendra Modi with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde in Nanded. PTI in mind. The vote, he said, is “the greateststrengthof ademocracy (loktantra ki sabse badi takat). Vote for anyone, but do vote... It istruethatitisveryhot,thereare problems, there are weddings. There are some areas where farmers are at work. But look at CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In Tharoor bastion, Rajeev mixes change pitch with Modi theme SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 20 HEARINGTHEdistantannouncement about the impending arrival of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a group of BJP workers at Kuravankonam junction in Thiruvananthapuramgetsready, holding saffron shawls. As his convoy halts, Chandrasekhar bends his head from the top of his vehicle. The BJP workers and several locals wrap shawls around the Union minister, one afteranother.Thereisalsoabrief jostle among them for selfies with him. Before his roadshow rolls to the next reception, Chandra- When big firms show interest in India, we make it attractive for them: Nirmala RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & SOHINI GHOSH Tesla Inc CEO was expected to meet PM Modi NEW DELHI, AHMEDABAD, APRIL 20 NEW DELHI, CHENNAI, DEHRADUN, APRIL 20 State/UT Andaman& NicobarIslands ArunachalPradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh J&K Lakshadweep MadhyaPradesh Maharashtra Manipur* Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Puducherry Rajasthan Sikkim TamilNadu Tripura UttarPradesh Uttarakhand WestBengal Musk defers India visit, says aim to visit ‘later this year’ Stage set for Modi govt 3.0, I will be minister: Union MoS sekhar, the BJP’s candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, addresses the gath- ering: “Our election will be held We must ensure that on April on April 26. In this poll, we want 26.” to make history, bring in change During his whistle-stop and move ahead. On June roadshow with nearly two 4, when our PM Modi ji dozen stopovers, becomes PM for the third Chandrasekhar keeps drivterm, Thiruvananthing home his message beapuram should be part of DECISION fore the crowds that the 2024 (Modi’s target of) 400stage was set for the Modi plus seats. I want you to government3.0andthathe make me an MP and minister. would be a minister in it. Kicking off the day's campaign at Kannammoola, senior BJP leader P K Krishnadas said, “If we ensure Chandrasekhar’s victory, Modi ji would certainly make him a member of his Cabinet. If (Congress candidate) Shashi Tharoor or (CPI candidate) Pannian Ravindran is elected, they would hold sit-ins CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TESLA INC. CEO Elon Musk announced a surprise change of plans Saturday postponing his much-anticipated India visit barely a day before he was expected to meet Prime Minister NarendraModiandinteractwith Indianspacetechnologystart-up founders. Musk was expected to announce his investment plans in India, a month after the Union Government released its new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy that opened the doors for the world's most valuable automaker to import cars into India at lower duties amid expectations that this could help foster an EV ecosystem in the country. “Unfortunately, very heavy Teslaobligationsrequirethatthe visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year,” Musk said in EXPLAINED Vinesh Phogat after beating Kyrgyzstan’s Laura Ganikyzy at the qualifiers in Bishkek. United World Wrestling/ Kadir Caliskan Turnout down by 4 pc points in Phase 1 over 2019, EC looks at ways to bring more voters out COMES AMID PUSH FOR EV SECTOR E Space to broadbase ● norms A DELAYED visit would give more time to policymakers to broadbase the guidelines for new EV norms to effectively ensure that the benefits from relaxed import duties can be leveraged by a greater number of players and help enrich the domestic EV ecosystem. a social media post. Earlier this month, Musk, in a post on X, wrote that he was looking CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘High growth not possible if we don’t do our own science, produce own tech’ Can’t miss bus on AI, quantum, energy and semiconductors: Sood P8 AMITABH SINHA NEW DELHI, APRIL 20 INDIA WILL not be able to achieve10-12percenteconomic growth, if “we don’t do our own science and produce our own technologies,” and to that effect, what is needed is a ramp-up on allkeyscienceindicators,notjust innumbersbutinqualityaswell, said the government’s Principal Scientific Advisor, Ajay Kumar Sood. In an interview with The Indian Express, Sood said India had missed the bus on certain critical technologies in the past and must not allow that situation to repeat in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, clean energy solutions, or semiconductors that are still under development. “Improving our science and technology output is linked to THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW AJAY KUMAR SOOD PRINCIPAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR our economic growth… essential for our goal to become a developednationby2047.Thekind of economic growth that is required to take us there — 8 or 10 per cent or more — would not be possible without deployment of breakthrough technologies. It is thesetechnologiesthatwilldrive CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Juggling motherhood, career dreams, Haryana woman clears civil services PAGE 1 ANCHOR SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, APRIL 20 IN 2021, Pragati Rani from Haryana’s Kurukshetra appeared for the Union Public ServiceCommission(UPSC)prelims. Falling a few marks short, she did notmake thecut.But the attempt ignited a spark. Last week — after a “tough phase” of juggling motherhood, hercareerandprofessionalaspirations — the 31-year-old mother to a three-year-old boy secured the 355th rank in the UPSC exam and hopes to become an IAS officer. Spurred by her husband Dr Atul Verma, Rani, a radiologist by profession, started preparing for the civil services when her son Rajvardhan was just six months old.AndwithAtulawaytopursue hisMD,thejourneywasnoteasy. “I used to prepare for the civil services from my home itself. I did not get too much time to study. I did not want to neglect mychild…sometimeshewould go to his grandmother’s. That time I used to solve some questions or cover some topics,” she told The Indian Express. “When he used to sleep around9.30pm,Iusedtoreadfor nearly three or four hours daily. That was my most effective time in terms of focused study. I used to plan chapters or topics to be covered every day,” Rani added. Between her first attempt and this year’s, Rani cleared the UPSC earlier in 2022-2023 as well, besides coming second in the Haryana civil services exam. In the 2022-23 UPSC exam, she got the 740th rank and could have secured the DANICS (Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli) cadre. Pragti Rani began preparing for the civil services when her son Rajvardhan was six months old. Express ShepreferredtojointheHaryana civil services and was posted as an Officer on Special Duty to the AmbalaDivisionalCommissioner in November 2023. Still, she never let go of the IAS dream and kept preparing for it. “This time, things were tougherasmysonwasolderand aware that his mother was studying in another room. He used to come to me to tell me, ‘Mumma, please play with me’,” she said. Having secured the 355th rank in the UPSC exam this year, Rani, who belongs to the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, said she is counting on getting into the IAS. Ranicreditsherfamilyforher success. She said her father, Naresh Verma, a school teacher, taught her to be humble in life while her mother Sushil Verma, a nurse in the state health department, stressed the importance of studies. “Mymotherwantedmetobecomeadoctorasshecouldnotbecome a medical practitioner. My motherhaddoneanursingcourse because my maternal grandparents used to think that women could only become nurses and onlymenwereentitledtobedoctors. My mother gave me the wings to think big,” she said. Atul, whom she married five years ago, told her to pursue her civil services studies “so that I wouldnotregretitlater”,shesaid. And mother-in-law Kamlesh Verma, who retired as a school principal just 10 days before the birthof Rani’sson,helped“when I was busy with my studies”. Rani’s father-in-law R C Verma, a former IAS officer, is a member of the Haryana State Police Complaint Authority. On what advice she has for UPSC aspirants, Rani said: “This exam requires consistent studies for two years... But don’t take this exam as life… instead give time to life too.” Kolkata