DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NAME SPELLS COURAGE: JANTAR MANTAR TO PARIS PODIUM Vinesh Phogat Defeats unbeaten Yui Susaki of Japan on way to historic final today EXPRESSAT OLYMPICS MIHIR VASAVDA PARIS, AUGUST 6 VINESHPHOGATstartedtheday byslayingagiantandendeditby breaking a barrier. By making it to Wednesday's final in the 50kg category, assured of at least a silver,sherosetoaheightthatno Indian woman wrestler has ever reached. Afterovercomingthedefendingchampion,theso-farunbeatableJapan’sYuiSusaki,inthefirst round,Phogat outclassed Cuba’s Vinesh Phogat after defeating Japan’s Yui Susaki at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris on Tuesday. PTI Rollback after criticism: Indexation benefit on sale of property before Budget brought back New 12.5 per cent tax on LTCG will apply to all property sales after July 23 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 FOLLOWINGOUTRAGEandconcerns from certain quarters over the Budget proposal to remove indexation benefits on longterm capital gains (LTCG), the government Tuesday decided to offertaxpayersachoicetopay20 per cent LTCG tax with indexation benefit on sale of property acquired before July 23, 2024. The other option introduced in the Budget to pay the tax on LTCGatareducedrateof 12.5per centwithoutindexationwillalso be available to taxpayers, as per the list of amendments moved bythegovernmentintheFinance Bill. Taxpayers can pay the lower tax amount of the two options. These amendments are being seen as a major rollback of the LTCG-related announcements pertaining to the real estate sector in the Budget. While the government had defended the new LTCG tax regime saying that the removal of indexation was more than made up for by thelowertaxrateof 12.5percent inavastmajorityof transactions, the proposals had led to a backlash with calls for relief coming from various sections, including real estate investors and property owners. The amendment, however, makes it clear that for purchases of property after the cut-off date CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sweeping terms in draft broadcast Bill raise red flags on free speech APURVA VISHWANATH & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 EXPANDING ITS remit from OTT content and digital news to include social media accounts and online video creators; defining a “digital news broadcaster” in sweeping terms; requiring prior registration with government to prescribing standards for content evaluation, the latest draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, raises several questions on the freedom of speech and expression and the government’s powers to regulate it. The Bill, which seeks to replace the 1995 Cable Television Networks(Regulation)Act,deals with television broadcasting. In November last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had invited comments on a new draftBillthatconsolidatesthelegalframeworkforthebroadcasting sector and extends it to OTT contentanddigitalnewsandcur- Widening the ambit THE LATEST draft seeks to include individual creators of content on social media including those outside India, covering all kinds of speech. It also seeks to validate the Code of Ethics prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, which has been stayed by two High Courts. rent affairs as well. However, it is learnt that the Ministry has revised the draft Bill, significantly altering its focus. The latest draft seeks to define “digital news broadcasters” to include “publisher of news and current affairs content” means any person who broadcasts news and current affairs programmes through an online paper, news portal, website, socialmediaintermediary,orother CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Vinesh Phogat being dragged away by Delhi Police which detained her at Jantar Mantar on May 28, 2023. She became the face of the protests by wrestlers against the then WFI chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they accused of sexual harassment. ANI file UNDER UK RULE, SHE CAN’T SEEK ASYLUM FROM OVERSEAS QuestionmarkoverherLondon plans,DelhireadytohostHasina SHUBHAJIT ROY THE EDITORIAL PAGE AFIGHTINGCHANCE BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA PAGE 12 LUCKNOW, AUGUST 6 AS THE stakes are high for the rulingBJPintheforthcomingbypolls on 10 Assembly seats in UttarPradesh, the party has apparently made yet another attempt to resolve alleged “internal issues” and showcase the “coordination” between the state government and organisation. On J&K street: Talk of elections with some fingers crossed DHAKA, AUGUST 6 Official vehicles seen entering the Hindon air base near Delhi where ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina landed on Monday after fleeing her country. PTI REPORTS,P9,14 India advised restraint, dialogue: Jaishankar on Bangladesh protests LIZ MATHEW & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SAYING THAT there was growing tension and polarisation in Bangladesh politics since the January elections, External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar told ParliamentonTuesdaythatIndia “repeatedly counselled restraint” and dialogue, but “various decisions and actions taken thereafter only exacerbated the situation”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BANGLADESH PRESIDENT Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for fresh elections, and an interim government was taking shape, a day after Sheikh Hasina abruptly resigned as Prime Minister and fledthecountryfollowingweeks of violent anti-government protests. As the Army took charge on Mondayand the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, the President appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, 84, as the head of the interim government. The decision was taken at a meeting of Shahabuddin with chiefs of the three services and a 13-member delegation of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Bangabhaban, President's Press Secretary Md. Joynal Abedin said. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief and ex-premierKhaledaZiawasfreed from house arrest, according to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bypolls nearing, UP BJP tries to set house in order: Dy CMs, state chief brainstorm strategy with CM MAULSHREE SETH EC TEAM ARRIVES TOMORROW ANISUR RAHMAN NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Dhaka dissolves L-G says action against Jamaat to continue despite feelers from Delhi House, frees Khaleda, Yunus appointed head of interim govt Ousted Bangla PM wants refuge because she fears persecution if sent back home OUSTED BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who landed in India Monday evening after fleeing Dhaka, is expected to remain here for “a while” because her plans to travel to the UK face a “technical roadblock,” The Indian Express has learnt. NewDelhiisdrawingupplans to host her in the country for “as long as it takes”, sources said. Hasinawasplanningtotravel to London as her sister Sheikh Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a member of the British Parliament. Tulip is economic secretary to the Treasury and Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate. The “technical” challenge emanates from the UK’s Immigration rules which have Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semifinal to be a win away from an Olympic gold. From the middle of the first round, when she got a point due to her opponent's passivity, Phogat was the more dominant wrestler in the bout,andsettledthematterwith two separate takedowns in the second period. Itwas,however,Phogat'swin over Susaki, one of the biggest upsets of these Games, that made the entire Olympic universestandupandacknowledge her.Anoutcomethathasshaken the wrestling world. There isn't a direct parallel that captures Susaki’s perceived invincibility on the wrestling mat.Theclosest,perhaps,would Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who held a meeting with ministers around a fortnightagotodiscusspreparations for the polls during which seniororganisationalleadersaswell as the two deputy Chief Ministerswere not present, convened another meeting on Monday. This time, both Deputy CMs — Keshav Prasad Maurya and BrajeshPathak — werein attendance, as well as the BJP's state president Bhupendra Chaudhary. The meeting comes days after the party and state government sought to clear the air over the Nazul Properties Bill, which was passed by the Legislative Assembly but put on hold in the Legislative Council and then sent to a select panel for recommendations. The government claimed that the decision was “unanimously” taken after the CM spoke to the two Deputy CMs At Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the fifth anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 on Monday. PTI BASHAARAT MASOOD, NAVEED IQBAL & ARUN SHARMA SRINAGAR, JAMMU, AUGUST 6 THE SUPREME Court has directed the government to conduct Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir by September and expedite the process of restoring statehood. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said there should be no doubt elections will be held. And indeed, the Election Commission of India commences its three-day visit to the Union TerritoryonAugust 8 to review the preparations for elections. But amid talks about imminent polls and an elected government, there are some fingers CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TOMORROW Laying down hard line andBhupendraChaudhary,who is a member of the Legislative Council, too. After the Bill was cleared by the Assembly, where CM Adityanath is the leader of the house, it was put on hold by the Legislative Council, where too the BJP has majority and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is the leader of the house. This move had again led to talks of “differences” within the party and 5 YEARS SINCE AUG 5 AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-3 POLITICS P9 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW OMAR ABDULLAH VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONFERENCE THE WORLD AFTER DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION, HARRIS PICKS TIM WALZ AS RUNNING MATE HEZBOLLAH SENDS ATTACK DRONES, ISRAEL WARJETS FLY OVER BEIRUT PAGE 14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 Forefathers made Wayanad their home, now dreams lie buried here PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP CHOORALMALA, AUGUST 6 ASHRAFHASN’Tknownalifebeyond the hills of Wayanad. He first came to Mundakkai village as a four-year-old, accompanying his parents who had moved from Nilambur in Malappuram district to work on the tea plantations. Like his parents before him,hefoundajobontheteaestateswhenheturned22.Butunlike them, he allowed himself to dream of a better life for himself and his four children. “I have always lived in the estatequarters—firstwithmyparents and later, my wife and children. But I always dreamt of owningapieceof land.I recently bought 10 cents (around 4,355 sq ft), hoping I will some day build my own house,” he says. But the landslide of July 30, which tore through the hills of Wayanad, has washed away his dreams,ravagingMundakkaiand Chooralmala, two of the worstaffectedvillages.“Nowit’sallover. The landslide has rendered my land useless. That plot will have to be abandoned. Nobody will buy it either,” he says. Ashraf hadbeenstayingwith a relative in Kalpetta town for a week since the landslides. On Tuesday, he returned to Mundakkai and saw the quarters he used to live in reduced to rubble. Almost everyone in Mundakkai, Chooralmala and other parts of the landslide-hit At Chooralmala, one of the villages in Wayanad district worst hit by the July 30 landslides. Shaju Philip Wayanad hills trace their ancestry to people who were brought by the British from various parts of South India to work on the plantations. They talk proudly of how their fathers or grandfathers toiled on the land, turning the hills into verdant tea and coffee plantations. Though they stayed instuffyquarters,theydreamtof a better future for their children. The second and third generations from among these plantation workers went on to own houses and vehicles and sent theirchildren toschoolsandcolleges in Kerala and beyond. Many of them also went abroad to work, especially to the Gulf, andtheirremittancesbroughtin a new affluence to the region. In the lower belts of the hillocks, they built new, fancier homes with courtyards and porches for their new cars. It’s this — the newer structuresbuiltthroughsheergritand toil — that the gushing waters washed away, while most of the dilapidatedworker quartersand the old-fashioned estate bunga- lows on the upper areas of the hillocks, where their forefathers lived, remained untouched by the landslide. As the water receded, it left behindmangledremainsof cars, jeeps, two-wheelers and house appliances. At the relief camp, K Annayyan and his wife Shakunthala are unsure of what lies ahead.Annayyansayshisparents cametoChooralmalafromUdupi inKarnatakaasplantationworkers. “I don’t remember the year CONTINUED ON PAGE 11