DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 IN THE WAKE OF HINDENBURG RESEARCH’S ALLEGATIONS 06/09/2024 84 112 137 68 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY MAHARASHTRA CABINET DECISION Land allocation for communities: New state policy bypasses fair competition ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 5 THE MAHARASHTRA cabinet, in March 2024, took a decision to bypass the existing policy of distributionof vacantplotsforcommunity organisations in Navi Mumbai under CIDCO and allowed the distribution of land basedondirectapplicationsfrom organisationsrepresentingdifferent communities. While CIDCO had a policy of issuing advertisements and inviting applications thatensuredfaircompetitionand no revenue loss to the state duringallocationoflandforsuchpurposes, the new policy did away with any such requirement. Asperthecabinetnote,acopy of which is with The Indian Express,theUrbanDevelopment Department (UDD) proposed a policy for distribution of plots under CIDCO for organisations CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HousecommitteeincludesSEBIreview initsagenda,likelytosummonBuch Public Accounts Committee notifies agenda amid Opp calls for probe LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 5 THE PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC), the parliamentary watchdog for government spending, has decided to include in its agenda for the year a review of the performance of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) whose chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch is at the centre of a political firestorm following allegations levelled against her by US-based Hindenburg Research. Sources said the parliamentary panel, which has notified its agenda, is likely to summon the current SEBI chief during the review process. ThePAC,headed by Congress senior leader K C Venugopal, took the unusual step to include a suo motu subject – performance review of regulatory bodies established by Act of Parliament – at its last meeting onAugust 29.Theagendaforthe year was notified earlier this week. Thiscomesamidthegrowing Opposition chorus for a parliamentary probeintoHindenburg Research’s allegation that Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had “stake in obscure offshore entities used in Adani money siphoning scandal”. Inresponsetotheallegations made by Hindenburg, a joint statement by Buch and her husband said that “the investment in the fund referred to in the Hindenburg report was made in 2015 when they were both CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Employees protest at the SEBI premises in Mumbai on Thursday. Express Day after SEBI denies ‘toxic’ work culture, its officers protest again ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 5 A DAY after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a clarification denying allegations of “toxic” work culture alleged by a section of its employees, the regulator’s officers staged yet another protest outside its headquarters Thursday. A day earlier, the SEBI, in a press release, had said that “external elements” were misguiding its junior officers “on House Rent Allowances (HRA)” related issues and that these officers were the ones protesting. It also saidthatclaimsofunprofessional work culture were misplaced. This clarification followed a report in The Economic Times CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN A major decision ahead of the state elections, Maharashtra cabinetsub-committeeonindustries, chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday approved fourmajorprojectstotallinganinvestmentofRs1.17lakhcrorethat includesasemiconductormanufacturing project to be jointly set up by Israel’s Tower Semicondu- ctor and the Adani Group. The project to be set up in Panvel of Raigad district will entailatotalinvestmentofRs84,947 crore in two phases and is expected to create 15,000 jobs. The sub-committee also approved twoelectricvehicle(EV)manufacturingprojectsandatextileplant. The four projects spread acrossPanvel,Pune,Marathwada and Vidarbha are expected to generate29,000jobs,saidtherelease issued by the government. ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 5 AFTER UPROAR over re-introductionof regressivelanguagein the forensic medicine module for undergraduate medical students, the apex medical education regulator has withdrawn its new curriculum in its entirety. “Theaboveguidelineswillbe PAGE 1 ANCHOR CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 5 THE FATHER of the 31-year-old junior doctor, who was raped andmurderedatRGKarMedical College and Hospital last month, claimed on Wednesday night that he and his family were coercedintocrematingherbodyin a hurry against their wishes. He said they wanted to keep herbodyforfurtherrites,butfelt compelled to “succumb to immensepressure”.Heallegedthat their house was surrounded by approximately 300-400 police personnel after they returned from Tala police station. “We couldn’t say anything then,”hesaid,duringWednesday night’s protest at R G Kar. The father also accused the deputy commissioner (north) of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 5 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: PM Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Singapore counterparts Lawrence Wong and Vivian Balakrishnan Thursday. India and Singapore signed MoUs on semiconductors and digital technology. Reuters PAGES9, 11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 of hymen, definition of virginity anddefloration,anditslegitimacy and medico-legal importance. All these were done away with in 2022 by the National Medical Commission to make thecurriculumLGBTQI+friendly based on the recommendation of an expert committee constituted under the directions of the Madras High Court. SWEETY KUMARI SHUBHAJIT ROY Ajit: We wish to contest on 60 seats, NMC withdraws curriculum that no compromise on secular ideology called lesbianism a sexual offence P4 revised and uploaded in due course,” an official notification states. This is significant considering the new MBBS session is likely to begin in October. The Indian Express had reported that the revised forensic medicine curriculum brought back “sodomy and lesbianism” under the category of unnatural sexual offences. It also re-introduced topics such as importance At the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest in Kolkata on Wednesday night. Partha Paul India, China, Brazil in Putin list of potential mediators on Ukraine State govt approves $10-bn semiconductor project by Israel firm and Adani Group EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Family coerced into hurried cremation, cops offered money, says victim’s father SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch AHEAD OF MAHARASHTRA ELECTIONS MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 5 R G KAR JUNIOR DOCTOR’S RAPE-MURDER VALLABH OZARKAR PHALTAN (SATARA), SEPTEMBER 5 ON A Jan Samman Yatra across Maharashtra,NCPchiefAjitPawar says he expects at least 60 seats and will push for more as the Mahayuti alliance holds negotiations for the Assembly elections scheduled for end of the year. In an interview to The Indian Express, Ajit also brushes aside THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW AJIT PAWAR MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY CM the Lok Sabha poll performance of hisparty,whenitwonjustone seat, and questions those raising doubts about his commitment to secularism due to his alliance with the BJP and Shiv Sena. “We have joined the (Mahayuti) government with the agenda of development, with a clear stand that we will not compromise on our secular ideology,” he says. Recently, the NCP chief skipped a visit to a memorial DAYS AFTER Prime Minister NarendraModispoketohimand “exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraineconflict”and“insights from the visit to Ukraine”, RussianPresidentVladimirPutin said Thursday that China, India andBrazilcouldactasmediators in potential peace talks. Russian state-owned TASS news agency quoted Putin saying, “We respect our friends and partnerswho,Ibelieve,sincerely seek to resolve all issues surrounding this conflict, primarily China, Brazil and India. I constantly keep in touch with our colleagues on this issue.” Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum Thehuddle nextmonth RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin’s remark on potential mediators comes ahead of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, next month where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping are expected to be among the leaders present. THE WORLD HASINA MUST STAY SILENT IN INDIA TILL DHAKA SEEKS HER EXTRADITION: YUNUS U.S. RACES TO PRESENT NEW GAZA TRUCE DEAL PAGE 14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Swachh Bharat helped avert 60,000 infant deaths annually: Study DAMINI NATH & ANJALI MARAR NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, SEPTEMBER 5 ACCESS TO toilets and better sanitation services under the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission may have averted around 60,000 to 70,000 infant deaths annually between 2014 and 2020, a study published in the journal Nature has found. LaunchedonOctober2,2014, over 11 crore household toilets were built under Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen as of 2020, and over six lakh villages were declared Open Defecation Free, according to government data. Under Swachh Bharat MissionUrban, over 63 lakh individual household toilets and 6.36 lakh community public toilets have been built. The report, ‘Toilet construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission and infant mortality in India’, by Suman Chakrabarti, Soyra Gune, Tim A. Bruckner, Julie Strominger and Parvati Singh, published on September 2, took into account the infant mortality rate (IMR, or the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births) and the under-five mor- tality rate (U5MR) in 35 states and 640 districts between 2011 and 2020. While the study noted an overall decline in infant mortality during 2003-2020, it said the fall was particularly noteworthy from2015onwards.Forinstance, the study said, in 2003, the average toilet coverage in a district was below 40 per cent and by 2020,thiswentuptoover60per cent. Establishing an inverse relation between access to toilets and infant mortality, the study statedthatevendistrictswith30 per cent toilet coverage had managed to reduce the infant mortality rate by a substantial DECREASE IN INFANT MORTALITY RATE Kerala 50% Telangana 38.23% Bihar 35.71% Andhra Pradesh 35.13% J&K 34.61% Delhi 33.33% Karnataka 32.14% Tamil Nadu 31.57% * Between 2015 and 2020; Children under one year of age; Source: Sample Registration System Bulletins, Office of RGI Report in Nature says access to toilets, better sanitation correspond to reduced infant mortality. File number. In absolute numbers, it amounted to averting 60,00070,000 deaths annually across the country. “Toilet access and child mortality have a historically robust inverse association in India. Toilets constructed increased dramaticallyacrossIndiafollowing the implementation of SBM (Swachh Bharat Mission) in 2014… Based on our regression estimates, the provision of toilets at-scale may have contributed to averting approximately 60,000–70,000 infant deathsannually,”thereportsaid. Sharing the findings of the study on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Happy to seeresearchhighlightingtheimpact of efforts like the Swachh Bharat Mission.Accessto proper toilets plays a crucial role in reducing infant and child mortality. Clean, safe sanitation has become a game-changer for public health. And, I am glad India has taken the lead in this.” One of the the authors of the study, Suman Chakrabarti, an Associate Research Fellow for Nutrition, Diets and Health Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute, told The IndianExpress,“Deathsfrompreventable infectious diseases CONTINUED ON PAGE 2