DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SILENT ON ARTICLE 370 IN FIRST J&K POLL RALLY We will restore statehood... I am giving this guarantee: Rahul promise in J&K Describes L-G as 21st century raja, says outsiders getting benefits THE WORLD Ram Madhav: Former militants campaigning openly for NC, PDP NAVEED IQBAL & ARUN SHARMA BASHAARAT MASOOD ADDRESSING his first rally in Kashmir for the upcoming Assembly polls, DECISION Congress leader 2024 Rahul Gandhi J&K Wednesday promised return of statehood to Jammu and PREDICTING THAT a new leadership will emerge in the Valley in the upcoming Jammu and KashmirAssemblyelections,the BJP’s J&K poll in-charge Ram Madhav Wednesday accused the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of allegedly taking the support of former militants in their poll campaigning. SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 4 DOORU (ANANTNAG), JAMMU, SEPTEMBER 4 ZELENSKYY ORDERS WAR’S BIGGEST GOVT RESHUFFLE UN WELCOMES PROGRESS IN GAZA POLIO CAMPAIGN PAGE 12 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with NC leader Farooq Abdullah and others at a poll rally in J&K’s Dooru. Shuaib Masoodi Kashmir, stating that ensuring this was “the responsibility of every citizen” of the country. Accusing the BJP of “taking away the rights and dignity” of the people of J&K, Gandhi said that the next government in the Union territory will be of the INDIA bloc and called their fight CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AFTER BRUNEI, PRIME MINISTER BEGINS TWO-DAY VISIT TO SINGAPORE Eye on China, Modi in Brunei: India backs policy of development, not expansionism NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 PrimeMinisterNarendra ModiwithhiscounterpartLawrence WonginSingaporeWednesday.“Hadanexcellentdiscussion onawiderangeof issues.Indiacherishesthefriendshipwith Singapore,”ModipostedonX. PTI REPORT, PAGE8 AMIDCHINA’Saggressiveposture intheIndo-Pacific,PrimeMinister Narendra Modi underlined in Brunei that India supports a “policy of development, not expansionism”, and emphasised the need to respect “freedom of navigation and overflight”. Modi made the remarks at a banquet hosted by Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in BandarSeriBegawanonTuesday. The two leaders met in the backdropof tensionsintheSouth China Sea, where Chinese and Philippines Coast Guard vessels jousted over an island, located 138 km from the Philippines’ west coast and 1,200 km from LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 4 A VERBAL duel between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over “bulldozer politics” in Uttar Pradesh took a serious turn on Wednesday, when Adityanath said that one needs courage to use bulldozer and that “Tipu” (Yadav's nickname) was dreaming of becoming “Sultan”. Yadav, inturn,urgedAdityanathtofloat his ownpartywith'bulldozer' as its symbol, adding that if not now, he would have to do so in the future as he is “nothing” within BJP in the “current situation”. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath; Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav “If youandyourbulldozerare so successful, form a separate party and contest elections on “bulldozer” election symbol. Your illusions and pride will be shattered. Anyway, in your current situation, even if you are in the BJP, you are “nothing”, you will have to form a separate ● Troubled waters UNLIKE SOME of the other countries with claims in the South China Sea, Brunei has kept silent on its claim to a relatively small area off northern Borneo, choosing to focus on growing trade ties with China as it diversifies its economy. New Delhi is looking at capitalising on the potential to tap into Brunei’s China+1 strategy, officials said. India also has vital stakes in the South China Sea, as almost 55% of its trade passes through the disputed waters. “We will remind the people of Jammu and Kashmir that NC, PDPandothershavebroughtout manifestos to take Kashmir back... I see the ex-militants openly campaigning for NC and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UK daily FT: Russia sourcing sensitive goods from India for its Ukraine war effort EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 CITING LEAKED Russian state correspondence and unnamed Western officials, the UK-based daily Financial Times reported WednesdaythatRussiahasbeen secretlyacquiringsensitivegoods inIndiaandexploredbuildingfacilities in the country to secure components for its war effort. According to the FT report, Russia’s industry and trade min- istry,whichoverseesdefenceproductiontosupportitsinvasionof Ukraine, drew up confidential plans in October 2022 to spend about Rs 82 billion ($1bn at the time) on securing critical electronicsthroughchannelshidden from Western governments. According to the report, the plan was to use “significant reserves” of rupees amassed by Russian banks from booming oil sales to India. It saw India as an alternative market to source CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘NO ERROR IN REPORTING’ SC pulls up Dhami over posting official to Rajaji: We are not in feudal era ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 A WEEK after The Indian Express reported that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, ignoring a request from the state Forest Minister and Chief Secretary to reconsider the appointment, had handed charge of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve to an officerremovedtwoyearsagoas head of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, the Supreme Court Wednesday took strong exception to the Chief Minister’s decision andreminded himthat “we are not in the feudal era ki raja jaise bole vaisa chale (when the king’s word was final)”. Justice B R Gavai, presiding over a bench that also comprised Justices P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan, told Senior AdvocateANSNadkarni,whoappeared for the State of Uttarakhand, that newspaper reportingonthematterwascorrect. “There is no error in the newspaperreporting.Thereport said Chief Secretary and Forest Minister objected and in spite of thatobjection,theCMoverruled. Nothingwronginthosereports,” Justice Gavai said. On August 29, The Indian Express reported about Dhami’s decision to appoint Chief CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Yogi says courage key to use bulldozer; Akhilesh: ‘Fight polls on bulldozer symbol’ MAULSHREE SETH E E X P L A I NE D SHUBHAJIT ROY Ram Madhav is the BJP’s J&K poll in-charge party... if not today, then tomorrow,” Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X later in the day in reply to Adityanath's remark earlier. The war of words between Yadav and Adityanath started with the former's remark on Tuesday, when Yadav, while addressing party workers in Lucknow, warned to “divert all the bulldozers to Gorakhpur” once the SP is voted to power. Claiming that the BJP would be wiped out in the state in the 2027 Assembly elections and that every section of the society is troubled today, Akhilesh said, “As soon as the Samajwadi Party government is formed in 2027, the bulldozers across the state will head towards Gorakhpur.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE HIRING PROCESS TRANSPARENT NOW, EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL: CM U.P. WOMAN ‘MOLESTED IN AMBULANCE BY DRIVER, AIDE’ PAGES3,6 Day after IC814 hijacked, a call from Pak and a Mumbai manhunt PAGE 1 ANCHOR SPECIAL TO THE D SIVANANDHAN is what happened: OnDecember24,1999,Indian Airlinesflight,IC814enroutefrom KathmandutoNewDelhiwashijacked30minutesafterittookoff from the Kathmandu Airport in Nepal.Theentirecountrywasput on highest alert immediately after the authorities came to know of the hijacking. During that time, I was posted as Joint Commissioner of PoliceinMumbaiPoliceandwas head of the elite Mumbai Crime Branch and was informed by my THE NEW web series on the IC 814 hijackinghasnotonlybroughtback into news a horrific terror incident that rattled the world but also got embroiledinacontroversyoverthe names of the hijackers, forcing the Governmenttostepin.Now,forthe firsttimeever,thetruthabouthow the case was cracked by the Mumbai Police and the Crime Branch is being presented to the world.Itwasoneofthefinestworks of investigation done by any police department across the world. This EXPRESS The Kathmandu-Delhi flight was hijacked on Dec 24, 1999. File CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Lucknow