DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BY UNNY Under fire, IAS probationer recalled, her training on hold EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, JULY 16 INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE Service (IAS) probationer Puja Khedkar, who faces allegations of misusing the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons With Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quotas,hasbeen“recalled”tothe Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) and her “district training programme” has been put “on hold”. In a letter to Khedkar on Tuesday,MaharashtraAdditional Chief SecretaryNitinGadresaid: “It is informed that Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, has decided to keep your district trainingprogrammeonholdand immediately recall you for ENCOUNTER IN FOREST AREA OF JAMMU’S DODA DISTRICT Captain among four Army personnel killed in J&K gunfight, search ops on Second attack in a week; ground forces assisted by helicopter, drone surveillance ARUN SHARMA JAMMU, JULY 16 FOUR ARMY personnel, including a Captain, were killed in an encounter with a group of militants late Monday night inside Koti forests in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Army identified the four as Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh,SepoyBijendraandSepoy Ajay Kumar Singh — all from Rashtriya Rifles — and said they had “laid down their lives in the line of duty, while undertaking a counter terrorist operation in Doda in order to ensure peace in the region”. This comes a week after five soldiers were killed when militants ambushed a convoy of two Army trucks in Kathua district on July 8. In fact, since the June 9 terror attackonabuscarryingpilgrims inReasi,Jammuhasseenasurge in militant activity, with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Clockwise from top left: Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Ajay Kumar Singh and Sepoy Bijendra J&K L-G Manoj Sinha pays tribute to the Army personnel in Jammu, Tuesday. PTI He always wanted to join Behind surge: Reduced Army: Captain’s family troops, intel networks RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, JULY 16 THE GRIEVING family of Captain Brijesh Thapa (27), the Army officerkilledintheencounterwith militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda, expressed their pride in him, with his father saying that he was “intelligent and disciplined”, and his mother recalling that he had wanted to join the Army since childhood. Captain Thapa’s father, Colonel Buwanesh Thapa (retd), said he too served in Kashmir during his time in the Armed Forces,andcalledonthegovernment to “identify and curtail the supportbaseof militants”inJ&K. Brijesh Thapa was among four soldiers killed on Monday in an encounter that broke out aftermilitantshidingintheDesa CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & NAVEED IQBAL NEW DELHI, SRINAGAR, JULY 16 Pir Panjal range, including Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu, have seen a surge in high-intensity terror targeting security forces and civilians. In January, former Army Chief General Manoj Pande acknowl● edged that terrorism in that area had been brought under control by 2003, and the region saw peace till E THE LATEST encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district has once again laid bare the gaps in thesecurityinfrastructure of a belt that saw long stretches of peace until recent years. Since2021,areassouthof the EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RSS-LINKED WEEKLY: BJP POOR SHOW IN MAHARASHTRA DUE TO AJIT PAWAR TIE-UP IN CONVERSATION Chess legendViswanathan Anand, wifeAruna andtop playerArjunErigaisiwith AnantGoenka,Executive Director,The Indian Express Group,andAmitKamath, AssistantEditor,The Indian Express, attheExpressAddain ChennaionTuesday. Abhinav Saha Centre reconstitutes HC restrains Mamata: NITI Aayog, brings in No defamatory remarks allies as special invitees against Governor Bose AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, JULY 16 THE GOVERNMENT on Tuesday reconstituted the NITIAayog,increasing the number of special invitees from five to 11, including five ministers from the BJP’s allies — H D Kumaraswamy (JDS), Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM), Rajiv Ranjan Singh (JD-U), K R Naidu (TDP) and Chirag Paswan (LJP-Ram Vilas). Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the Chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to the notification. Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also continue to be full-time members of the government think-tank. BVR Subrahmanyamwillalsoremain the CEO. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has replacedhispredecessorNarendra Singh Tomar as an ex-officio member. The other ex-officio members include Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Among the other special CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAVIK BHATTACHARYA & ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, JULY 16 THE CALCUTTA High Court on Tuesday restrained West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and three Trinamool Congress leadersfrommakingany“defamatory or incorrect statement” against Governor C V Ananda Bose until August 14 when the matter will be heard next. The court said the right to freedom of speech and expression“isnotanunfetteredrightin the garb of which defamatory statements can be made to tarnish the reputation of a person”. Governor C V Ananda Bose; CM Mamata Banerjee A single judge bench of Justice Krishna Rao passed the interim order while hearing a defamation suit filed by Governor Bose against the Chief Minister,twonewlyelectedTMC MLAs — Sayantika Banerjee and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why convicts don’t want to appeal: No hope, fear of tougher sentence, poverty PAGE 1 ANCHOR APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, JULY 16 IN APRIL, while appearing for a convict from Chhattisgarh who had filed an appeal through legal aid, senior advocate Vijay Hansaria told the Supreme Court, “The petition filed on behalf of the accused is delayed by 2,461 days.” Hansaria was referring to how his client, Kariman, who had spent 17 years in jail when the maximum sentence for his crimewassevenyears,hadbeen deniedsomethingasfundamental asaccess to appeal against his conviction. “Hespentanextra10yearsin jailbecausehedidnotknowthat an appeal could have been filed. That’s when I realised that there is a larger issue here,” Hansaria told The Indian Express. WhiledirectingKariman’srelease, a Supreme Court bench of LEGAL AID FOR CONVICTS 1,33,415 convicts in jails 75,629 serving life sentences 544 serving death sentences 870 convicts in 18 states ready to file appeals with free legal aid Source: NCRB 2022 Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta appointed Hansaria as an amicuscuriae(friendofthecourt) toevaluateifover1.5lakhconvicts lodgedinprisonsacrossthecountry have legal representation. SinceMay,armedwithaproforma drafted by Hansaria, legal aid lawyers under the supervision of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), the premier legal aid body, have met over 15,000 convicts across 18 states, all of them punished with sentences ranging from 7-10-year CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UP MINISTER HINTS AT BULLDOZER ‘MISUSE’ BEHIND POLL REVERSALS PAGE 6 PLAN TO HOLD BOARD EXAMS TWICE A YEAR On Govt table: CBSE’s second board exam for Class 12 in June ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, JULY 16 IN KEEPING with the plan to conduct board exams twice a year, as recommended by the NationalCurriculumFramework for School Education (NCFSE), the Government is considering scheduling a second Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam for Class 12 students in June from 2026, The Indian Express has learnt. Currently, a Class 12 student appearsfortheCBSEboardexam in February-March. After the resultsaredeclaredinMay,shehas the option to improve her performanceinonesubjectthrough “supplementary exams” held in July. Students who have not cleared their papers and whose results have been declared as “compartment” can also sit for the “supplementary exams”. This year, for instance, “supplementary exams” for Class 12 were held on July 15. However, the new National EducationPolicy,2020,envisages moving away from high-stakes exams and proposes biannual boardexamstoprovidestudents with more opportunities. In line withthis,theEducationMinistry has asked the CBSE to prepare a proposal for holding two board exams per year, to be implemented from 2026. Although the government is yet to decide the final shape and formof thetwo-boardexamsystem, one option on the table is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2