DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES HEMA COMMITTEE REPORT AFTERMATH Kerala police file first case, more senior actors accused of sexual misconduct `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PM: REITERATED SUPPORT FOR RETURN OF PEACE IN UKRAINE Filing of nominations for first phase of voting in 24 constituencies ends today SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUGUST 26 At Delhi govt shelter home, teen died of ‘assault’ in Jan, no FIR till date Case registered against Ranjith BANS TO THREATS: REPORT DETAILS HOW 10-15 MEN CONTROL INDUSTRY PAGE 6 conduct. Ranjith has said the allegation was an outcome of a “concerted move” against him after he became chairman of the Academy. In the wake of the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, which had exposed CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 26 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD OVER 70 KILLED AFTER ATTACKS IN PAK’S BALOCHISTAN PAGE 12 PAGE 1 ANCHOR SRINAGAR, AUGUST 26 EXPRESS NETWORK ANKITA UPADHYAY IN JANUARY this year, a 16-yearold living at Asha Kiran, a Delhi government-run shelter home for the mentally challenged, lost hislifebecauseof “bluntforceinjuries”. Till date, however, no FIR has been registered in connection with the teen’s death, The Indian Express has found. Theshelterhomehasbeenin the eye of a storm after it came to light that 14 deaths took place thereinlessthanamonthinJuly. Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court had sought a report on the matter. The Indian Express has learnt that on the morning of January 14, the 16-year-old complained that he was “unable to breathe”. He was taken to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. The teen, who suffered from intellectual disability, had moved into the home on December 16, 2023, sources said. Anautopsywasconductedat the hospital the next day. The post-mortem report states: “Death was due to hemorrhagic shockconsequenttointernal injuries to the abdomen. All injuries were ante-mortem, fresh before death, caused by blunt force and collectively were NAVEED IQBAL People take cover inside a metro station in Kyiv during a Russian missile and drone strike on Monday. Russia launched over 100 missiles and around 100 attack drones at Ukraine, killing at least five persons and striking energy facilities. Reuters PAGE12 Modi and Biden discuss Ukraine, safety of Hindus in Bangladesh India, US emphasised return of law & order in Dhaka: PMO SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 26 DAYSAFTERreturningfromKyiv, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President Joe Biden on Monday and briefed him on hisvisittoUkraine.InapostonX, Modi said they also discussed the Bangladesh situation and emphasised the need for early restoration of normalcy and ensuringthesafetyof Hindusthere. While Modi has flagged the JUNIOR DOCTOR’S RAPE-MURDER CASE This was Modi’s first talk with Biden after Kyiv visit. File safety of Hindus in Bangladesh at least thrice since August 8, when Muhammad Yunus took charge of the interim government in Dhaka, this was the first time that the issue was discussedbetweenIndiaandtheUS at the highest level. Modi first raised the issue soon after Yunus was sworn in, when he extended his best wishes and urged him to ensure the “safety and protection of Hindus” there. Subsequently, Modialsoflaggedtheissueinhis Independence Day speech from therampartsof theRedFort,and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D ALLEGATIONS OF sexual misconduct that have gripped the Malayalamfilmindustrycontinued to spiral on Monday, with more actors as well as senior members of the Association of Malayalam Movies Artistes (AMMA) being named as accused, and Kerala Police filing its first case in this connection. On Sunday, director and KeralaStateChalachitraAcademy chairman Ranjith and actors' association general secretary Siddiquehadsteppeddownfrom theirrespectivepositionsoverthe allegations. On Monday, the police registered a non-bailable case against Ranjith based on the complaint of a woman actor who accused him of sexual mis- ● BENGALURU, AUGUST 26 AFRESHrowhasbrokenoutover land allotment in Karnataka, with the BJP questioning the grant of a Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) site to a trust run by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s family and headed by his son Rahul, in March 2024. Karnataka Industries Minister M B Patil confirmed the allocation to the Siddhartha KOLKATA, AUGUST 26 UNDER A bamboo canopy, surrounded by posters, messages andanaltardedicatedtothejunior doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College & Hospital, a movement has been brewing since the discovery of her body on August 9. What started as a spontaneous protest by her colleagues on August 9, has turned into a 24/7 movement for justice — a largely apolitical one — opposite the Emergency building at R G Kar itself. The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, a general body of medicos from across the state, hasbeenspearheadingthefight, holdingdailymeetingstodiscuss strategy,raisingfundstokeepthe movementgoingandcoordinating with supporters from across theglobevia“official”WhatsApp groups. Through all this, they have been facing several challenges — from alleged attempts by a section of the hospital administration to stop the protest andvandalismoncampuslateon August 14 to requests from their families to come home. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CENTRE HITS BACK AT BENGAL PAGE 8 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AMID ITS balancing act on Ukraine, India has expressed willingness to play a role in restoring peace. Modi raising Bangladesh in his conversation with Biden signals the US’s influence in the new power structure in Dhaka. US diplomats with NC leader Omar Abdullah at his residence in Srinagar on Monday. ANI REPORT,PAGE5 BJP’s first list cancelled, pruned to 16 names as As Kharge family trust gets plot in old guard ‘protests’ AKRAM M No party flags, banners at protest, say doctors. Partha Paul BARRING ONE seat in Kashmir province and four in Jammu, where they will be in a friendly fight, the National Conference and Congress sealed their deal on Monday for the coming Assembly elections in the Union territory. AfternegotiationsatNCpresidentFarooqAbdullah’sresidence lastingthroughtheday,culminating on the eve before the nominationdeadlineforthefirstphase of voting ends, the parties announced that of the 90 seats in J&K, the NC will contest 51 and the Congress 32, putting aside one constituency each for the CPI(M) and J&K Panthers Party. Thefive seatswhereboththe NC and Congress will field candidates are Sopore, Banihal, Bhaderwah, Doda and Nagrota. Announcingtheseat-sharing formula with Farooq Abdullah beside him, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said: “The objective of our alliance is to save the soul of Kashmir. The BJP is trying to destroy it. That is why the Congress and National Conference have come together…to form a government Kyiv to Dhaka WhatsApp groups to aerospace park, BJP says new scam raising funds: Doctors lead fight for justice RAVIK BHATTACHARYA, SWEETY KUMARI & ATRI MITRA 51 seats for NC, 32 for Cong, friendly fight in 5: Allies seal deal for J&K polls Mallikarjun Kharge; trust is headed by his son Rahul Vihara Trust — almost a year after the Congress came to power in the state — adding that no rules were violated, with the site given “at prescribed price, with no discounts”. The 5-acre parcel was part of 45.94 acres set aside for setting up civic amenities at the aerospacepark,tobeallocatedunder the Scheduled Caste quota. In a post on X, Kharge’s other son and the Karnataka IT/BT and Rural Development and PanchayatRajMinister,PriyankKharge, deniedtheallegations.Thesiteallotted was not “an industrial plot meant for industrial or commercialpurposes”,hesaid.“Itisforeducationalpurposes.Theintention ofthetrustistosetupamultiskill development centre in the CA site. Is it wrong?” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, AUGUST 26 THE BJP’S election campaign for Jammu and Kashmir got off to a less than happy start Monday whenthepartyhadtowithdraw its first list of candidates within hours, reportedly after protests byold-timersoverbeingignored in favour of turncoats. The revised list that the BJP putouthadnamesof candidates for 16 of the 24 Assembly seats voting in the first phase on September 18. The eight constituencies missing from the list are all in South Kashmir, traditionally a militant hot bed. The filing of nominations for this phase ends Tuesday. The party’s previous list had 44 names, for constituencies across the three phasesin which voting is being held in J&K. The BJPthenannounceditwaswithdrawing the list, and deleted it from all its official channels. There was no word from the BJP on why the previous list was withdrawn. However, sources said anger among supporters of the old guard forced the party to go back to the drawing board. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Not authorised to speak Ruchir Sharma, global investor on policy issue: BJP raps and author, is guest at Adda today Kangana for farm remark ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU VIKAS PATHAK, ASAD REHMAN & RAAKHI JAGGA NEW DELHI, LUDHIANA, AUGUST 26 WITH THE Haryana Assembly electionsjustoveramonthaway, the BJP on Monday quickly dissociateditself fromitsLokSabha MPKanganaRanaut’sstatement that “dead bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” duringthe2020-’21farmers’agitation against three farm laws thatweresubsequentlyrepealed. Even as the party instructed Ranaut not to make unautho- MUMBAI, AUGUST 26 Opp says Mandi MP's comments ‘gross insult’ risedstatements,theOpposition labelled her comments a “gross insult to the farmers of the entire country” and a farmers’ outfitdemandedher“unconditional apology”. “What happened in Bangladesh would not have taken time to happen in India if our top CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GLOBAL INVESTOR, analyst, author and an expert, who reveals the big picture on socio-economic and political issues vividly, Ruchir Sharma wrote in hislatestbookthatgovernments have made capitalism less fair and less efficient and that is slowing economic growth and fuelling popular anger. Sharma, Chairman of Rockefeller International and Founder and Chief Investment Officerof BreakoutCapital,aninvestment firm focused on emerging markets, will be the Chairman of Rockefeller International & Founder, Breakout Capital guest at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Tuesday. He will share his views on capitalism and factors that are going to shape global as well as domestic economies in the near future. His perspectives are being followed by policy makers and investors across the globe. At the Express Adda, Sharma will be in conversation with CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 How India’s U-15 winner trained in China, won local tournament at 6 SHIVANI NAIK MUMBAI, AUGUST 26 RABINARAYAN PATRI knows a thing or two about China and badminton. He informs that there is no “trophy culture” on the junior circuit of the badmintoncapitalof theworld--the tournamentwinnersgetmedals and better quality racquets. He should know. His daughter, Tanvi, won a local tournament as a resident of China, at Kunshan, when she was just six years old. And on Sunday, Tanvi, now 13, won her first international title, the Asian Under-15, at China’s Chengdu. It was in China — a country known for its tough training and an assembly line of champion shuttlers — that Tanvi picked up thesportandtrainedinitsfundamentalsfortwo-and-a-halfyears. Patri, who was born in Odisha’s Balasore, is a software professional with Cognizant. In 2015, the company gave him a chance to work with Nike’s sports vertical. Patri had other options, he could have gone to the US, but, on a whim, he opted for China’s Jiangsu province. “I chose China; though Jiangsu is small, it is sports-orientedandknownastheirbiggest table-tennis and badminton hub,” he explains. “After office, I would play at a nearby court. I loved badminton in college, but therewerenofacilitiesbackthen. Tanvi followed me to the courts andalocalcentrecoachwasvery friendly and interested in training her,” he recalls. Tanvi’s fundamentals were honedatoneof thefinestshuttle hubs in China. “For footwork, they would actually teach her how to place the foot in striding — it was like the ABCD of badminton for the first six months. She had to practice the service, 200-300 a day, which I’ve never seen in India, because the game Tanvi after winning a local tournament as a 6-year-old; in action at the U-15 Asian Championship at Chengdu, China startsthere,”herecalls.“Children don’t usually smash when that young. But her coaches would smash at her body, so her defence improved quickly; and because children like to respond in kind, she started copying smashes,” he says. As was the system in China, the local coaches — Zhang Lei andWu—wouldurgePatritoremain by the courtside for three days a week. “Their coaches teach parents too, and tell them to practice at home before returning the next day. So I stood for four hours, picking up stuff. I also got a net installed at my apartment in China, so her net- game got sharp,” he says, adding that he always had 200-300 shuttles stocked at home. After the Patris returned to India in 2020, the videos of little Tanvi doing her drills were sent to the coaches at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru, and she was invited to train there. She is now under the wings of the PPBA and the NGO, Olympic Gold Quest. PPBA coach Sagar Chopda saysTanvi’sstrongtechnicalbase was evident from the outset. “She has trained in China, so she is technically very strong — everything, from her movement to court coverage to the sense of when to play a stroke. There are some shuttles which we, as coaches, think she won’t reach, but she gets under them. This is somethingveryrareina13-yearold,” says Chopda. Tanvi’s mother, Sailabala, works with Infosys in Bengaluru now. Her interest in badminton was limited, but she got Tanvi startedonafitnessroutinewhen in China. “We had a large Olympicstandardstadiumwithsynthetic trackandfootballfieldbehindour house in China. Everyone would trainthere,soifyoudidn’trunyou CONTINUED ON PAGE 2