DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WEST BENGAL DARJEELING TRAIN COLLISION: REPORT POINTS TO FAILURE OF AUTOMATIC SIGNAL PAGE 3 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 Attack surge in Jammu lays bare chinks in security ARUN SHARMA JAMMU, JULY 16 AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & NAVEED IQBAL 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, Sepoy Bijendra and Sepoy Ajay — 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 ArmytrucksinKathuadistricton July 8. In fact, since the June 9 terror attackonabuscarryingpilgrims inReasi,Jammuhasseenasurge in militant activity, with the security establishment often the target. At least 10 security personnel have been killed and severalothersinjuredinencounters inJammudivision’sReasi,Kathua and Doda districts since then. The militants who killed the four Army personnel in Monday night’s encounter are suspected tobethesamegroupthatfledafter attacking security forces in the district’s Sezan forests on THE LATEST encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district has once again laid bare the gaps in the security infrastructure of a belt that had seen long stretches of peace until recent years. Since 2021, areas south of the Pir Panjal range, including Poonch, ● Rajouri and Jammu, have seen a surge in high-intensity terror targeting security forces and civilians. InJanuary,formerArmyChief General Manoj Pande acknowledged that terrorism in that area had been brought under control by 2003, and the region saw peace till 2017-18. However, he admitted that India’sadversarieshavebeenactively abettingterrorismandencouraging “proxy tanzeems (groups with a common objective)” in this area, even as the situationintheKashmirValleywas getting back to normal. While there were three attacks each in the Jammu region against security forces in 2022 and 2023, six attacks have been recorded so far this year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Centre reconstitutes NITI Aayog, brings in allies as special invitees AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, JULY 16 THE GOVERNMENT on Tuesday reconstituted the NITI Aayog, increasingthenumberofspecialinvitees from five to 11, including fiveministersfromtheBJP’sallies —HDKumaraswamy(JD-S),Jitan RamManjhi(HAM),RajivRanjan Singh(JD-U),KRNaidu(TDP)and Chirag Paswan (LJP-Ram Vilas). Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the Chairperson andeconomistSumanKBerywill continue to be the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, ac- cording to the notification. Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatricianVKPaulandmacroeconomist Arvind Virmani will also continue to be full-time members of the government think-tank. BVR Subrahmanyam will also remain 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SRINAGAR, JULY 16 E EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Mother of Captain Brijesh Thapa at her Siliguri home on Tuesday. PTI DARJEELING MOURNS He always wanted to join Army: Captain’s family RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, JULY 16 Clockwise from top left: Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Ajay Kumar Singh and Sepoy Bijendra RELATED REPORTS PAGE 6 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 forests of Doda district opened fireatsecurityforcesconducting search operations. Colonel Thapa said while the family was grieving the loss of their son, they were proud of him.Healsohadsomeadvicefor other young men in the Army. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN CONVERSATION High Court restrains Mamata: Can’t make defamatory remarks against Governor Bose 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”. 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 Reyat Hossain Sarkar — and party leader Kunal Ghosh. The Governor approached the court after the Chief Minister’s remarks at a meeting CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TRUMP AT PARTY CONVENTION AFTER ASSASSINATION BID VANCE, ONCE A TRUMP CRITIC, NOW HIS RUNNING MATE PLAN TO HOLD BOARD EXAMS TWICE A YEAR On Govt table: CBSE’s second board exam for Class 12 in June NEW DELHI, JULY 16 Abhinav Saha atNabanna,thestatesecretariat, in connection with the recent tension between the Raj Bhavan and the Assembly over refusal of the two newly elected TMC MLAs to take oath in Raj Bhavan. This came close to two months after Kolkata Police launched an enquiry on May 2 into sexual harassment allegations made by a female staff of Raj Bhavan against Governor Bose.TheGovernorhadhitback, saying he would not be “cowed downbyengineerednarratives”. The High Court, which first heard Bose's plea on July 3, said in its order on Tuesday, “In the present case, admittedly the THE WORLD, P10 ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND ChesslegendViswanathan Anand,wifeArunaandtop playerArjunErigaisiwith AnantGoenka,Executive Director,TheIndianExpress Group,andAmitKamath, AssistantEditor,TheIndian Express, attheExpressAdda inChennaionTuesday. Governor C V Ananda Bose; CM Mamata Banerjee 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 for students to take a second set of exams in June, a source said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata