DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ‘SAFE HOUSES, URBAN DENS’ PM MEETING WITH ECONOMISTS Citing ‘Naxalism in urban areas’, Maharashtra Govt tables Bill PM Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a meeting with economists in Delhi. ANI Budget focus likely on jobs, rural economy VIZHINJAM WELCOMES FIRST MOTHERSHIP and manufacturing AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, JULY 11 A RENEWED THRUST on jobs, alongside a concerted push to manufacturing and rural businesses, were the key issues flagged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting with economists on Thursday. With less than a fortnight for the presentation of the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, the Prime Minister is learnt to have also touched upon the complexities of Centre-state relations, particularly with the Centre funding many programmes or schemes, and states not assuming full accountability over implementingtheseontheground. The meeting was held in the NITI Aayog office with Finance MinisterNirmalaSitharamanand PrincipalSecretaryPKMishraalso present.About20economistsand expertsincludingArvindVirmani, Surjit Bhalla, Amita Batra, Prachi Mishra, S Mahendra Dev and Ashok Gulati spoke for five min- In midnight visit, J&K cops detain HC Bar Association’s chairman Nazir Ahmad Ronga booked under PSA, says family BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, JULY 11 THE JAMMU and Kashmir police havedetainedthechairmanofthe J&K High Court Bar Association Nazir Ahmad Ronga following a midnight visit to his home in Srinagar,hissonsaidonThursday. The family claims they were informed in the morning that advocate Ronga has been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA). Ronga’s son Umair Ronga, also an advocate at the Srinagar High Court, first posted online, “My father, advocate N A Ronga, hasjustbeenarrestedinadeeply disturbing turn of events. At 1.10 am,acontingentof J&KPolicearrived at our home without any arrest warrant, merely stating, ‘It’s an order from above (uper se order hai)’. We are left in a state of shock and profound distress. We can only hope this is not another instance of the PSA being CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 utes each. NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery and NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam also participated. “Thekeyagendawasthegoal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, along with the need to step up job creation. Deliberations mostly focused on the measures that can be taken in the manufacturing, agricultureandruralsectorstomovetowards that goal,” a person in the know said. The rural economy, which is already being closely watched for stagnant wage trends and tepid consumption demand, was discussed in detail, with economists flagging concerns about agricultural growth, highlighting lack of employment in rural areas and sluggish credit growth despite small-ticket loans extended under Mudra scheme to boost output. Later in the evening, Prime Minister Modi posted on X: “Earlier today, interacted with eminent economists and heard CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) in Thiruvananthapuram, India’s first deepwater trans-shipment port, received its first mothership, MV San Fernando, on Thursday. The 300-metre-long Marshall Islands-flagged ship berthed at VISL after arriving from Xiamen in China. PTI REPORT,PAGE8 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY VIDEOS OF TORTURE, FLOGGING Mamata says BJP, media fuelling controversies, warns legal action EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, JULY 11 EXPRESS NETWORK NEET-UG PAPER LEAK ‘MASTERMIND’ ARRESTED BY CBI PAGE 8 AMID THE arrest of one more aide of TMC strongman in Kamarhati in North 24 Parganas district following the surfacing of another video of torture, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hit out at BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya and a “section of media”, accusing them of creating controversies over “old videos” to “electorally damage TMC” in the just concluded Assembly bypolls. She also threatened to take legal action. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Mumbai, Thursday. PTI Speaking to mediapersons before leaving for Mumbai, the TMC chief said: “There is one Malviya who is known for creating controversies that go against the culture of Bengal. An old video of an incident that took place in 2021 was circulated recently to damage the electoral prospects of my party. This was doneforthelast72hoursandthe issue was shown non-stop by sometelevisionnewschannels.” “Whenever there is something against the TMC, these channels get excited. If someone CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 3 Jail term even if not a member of ‘unlawful organisation’ but ‘aids’ it ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, JULY 11 STATING THAT the “menace of Naxalism”is“increasinginurban areas... through Naxal frontal organisations”, the Maharashtra government on Thursday tabled the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, which proposesjailtermevenif apersonis “not... a member of an unlawful organisation”, but “contributes/ receives/solicitsanycontribution oraid”or“harbours”itsmember, as well as for those who “promote or assist in promoting a meeting” of such groups. The Bill grants the state the authoritytodeclareanorganisation as “unlawful” — a decision whichcanbereviewedbyanadvisory board set up by the state government. Citing “safe houses and urban dens of the Maoist network” in Maharashtra, it says such groups seek to “propagatetheirideologyof armedrebellionagainsttheconstitutional mandate”. The Bill defines an “unlawful activity”asonewhichconstitutes a danger or menace to public order, peace and tranquility; interferes with maintenance of public order, “administration of law oritsestablishedinstitutionsand The key provisions 3-YEAR JAIL TERM, Rs 3 lakh fine for member of an ‘unlawful organisation’. 2-YEAR JAIL TERM, Rs 2 lakh fine even if not a member, but “contributes/ receives/ solicits any contribution or aid” or “harbours” a member. 3-YEAR JAIL TERM, Rs 3 lakh fine if a person “manages/ assists in management” such an organisation or “promotes/ assists in promoting” its meeting or any member. 7-YEAR JAIL TERM, Rs 5 lakh fine if a person commits/ abets/ attempts/ plans to commit “any unlawful activity” of such an organisation. personnel”; designed to show criminal force to any public servant;indulginginorpropagating acts of violence, vandalism, use of firearms,explosivesordisruptingcommunicationsbyrail,road, air or water; “encouraging or preaching disobedience to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3 acres ‘gifted’ to Karnataka CM wife under scanner, his poll affidavits show mismatch JOHNSON T A LAND IN FOCUS ASSET AFFIDAVITS filed by Karnataka Chief Minister M Siddaramaiah across the past threeassemblypollscontainseveral inconsistencies in submissionsregardingtheownershipof a3.16-acreparcelof “agricultural land”inMysorethatwas“gifted” to his wife 14 years ago, according to an analysis of official documents by The Indian Express. This land parcel, which was giftedtotheChief Minister’swife B M Parvati Siddaramaiah in 2010byherbrother,isalsoatthe centre of a political storm in the 2010: Siddaramaiah’s wife gets 3.16 acres in village on Mysore outskirts as gift from brother BENGALURU, JULY 11 2013: No mention of this land in Siddaramaiah’s poll affidavit 2024: Opp says land exchange illegal; Siddaramaiah says ready to return plots, ‘give Rs 62 crore compensation’ state with the BJP calling for protestsinMysore,thehomedistrict of Siddaramaiah, on July 12. The BJP and JD(S) have ques- 2018: Ownership listed in poll affidavit, land valued at Rs 25 lakh 2023: Poll affidavit shows plots allotted by govt inside Mysore in exchange for the village land now valued at Rs 8.33 crore tioned the land’s subsequent transferin2021tothestateunder a controversial “50:50” alternate CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After three shocks, 16.45 lakh jobs lost in informal sector over 7 yrs AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, JULY 11 THE NUMBER OF workers employed in the informal sector in 2022-23 has dropped by 16.45 lakh or about 1.5 per cent to 10.96 crore compared to 11.13 crore in 2015-16, according to the latest Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises (ASUSE) for 2021-22 and 202223 released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Thedataavailableforthefirst time since 2015-16, provides an understanding of the impact of the three major exogenous shocks viz., demonetisation in November 2016, roll out of the Goods and Service Tax in July 2017, and the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, on the growthof unincorporatedenterprises and the employment in these enterprises. The ASUSE for 2021-22 and 2022-23 also showed that the number of unincorporated enterprisesincreasedby16.56lakh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After elopement and boycott, an uneasy truce prevails in two Haryana villages PAGE 1 ANCHOR AISWARYA RAJ NARNAUL, JULY 11 FOR NEARLY a month, all eyes were on the road connecting Dholera and Bighopur, two villages that are 2 km apart in Haryana’s Narnaul. Since June 12, all Bighopur residents spotted on the way to the bank, the post office or the bus stand — Residents of Bighopur village in Haryana were not allowed to enter Dholera village for nearly a month. Praveen Khanna common for both villages — were turned away “for the sake of maintaining peace”. For nearly a month after a woman from Dholera village fell in love and eloped with a man from Bighopur, her village instituted a boycott of their neighbours, upset over their “unacceptable” marriage. In several parts of Haryana, marriages betweenresidentsof neighbouring villages are “banned” by diktat. The boycott was finally lifted on July 9 after the newlyweds CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata