DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FIRST PHASE OF VOTING NEXT WEEK Ahead of polls, EC to J&K: Don’t shift booths or cancel rallies, no preventive detentions Bid to increase participation of candidates, voters Turnout in LS polls showedway DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10 IN AN attempt to increase participation in the Jammu and Kashmir AssemblyelecDECISION tions, the 2024 Election J&K Commissionis learnt to have instructedtheadministrationand securityofficialsnottoundertake unnecessary preventive detentionofpoliticalleadersandworkers, not to merge or shift polling A PDP poll campaign underway at the Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Tuesday. PTI MOREREPORTS,PAGE5 booths citing security concerns, andnottocancelralliesatthelast minute — all of which were seen in past elections. According to EC sources, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election CommissionersGyaneshKumar THE CONDUCT of the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir is in line with the undertaking given to the Supreme Court. The high turnout during the Lok Sabha elections in the UT has raised expectations of participation in the electoral process by both candidates and the electorate. and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu told officials while visiting J&K last month that preventive action CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ED goes to court with fresh charges against Farooq in JKCA case HC quashed chargesheet against Abdullah, others last month DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10 WITH DAYS to go for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a petitioninaspecialcourtinSrinagar, urging it to take cognizance of fresh allegations against National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) case. A positive order from the court could open the doors for the central agency to register a fresh case against Abdullah and prosecute him, despite the recent relief he got from the J&K High Court. Last month, the J&K HC quashedthechargesheetfiledby the ED under the Prevention of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-2 Israel jobs scheme needs reboot, with inputs on skills, better monitoring Meanwhile, NSDC says Israel has again approached India to recruit another 10,000 construction workers Manipur on the boil again: Protests after fresh violence, Internet snapped in valley districts RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10 THEFIRSTdistresscallMritunjay Srivastava made was to the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv. The 39-year-old had been selected for a construction job in Israel underanewbilateralschemeafter passing a skill test. Lured by average salaries of Rs 1.5-2 lakh, and undeterred by the Gaza war, Srivastava soon flew to Israel in May. Within a month, however, he was back in his village in Bihar’s Siwan with the Embassy’s help. On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported how the jobs scheme — launched to plug the labour shortage in Israel’s construction sector following the ban on Palestinian workers — hasbeguntounravel,mainlydue toglaringgapsintheassessment and selection process that often led to skill mismatch: a case of over-promise and under-delivery at work sites. Srivastava is among the around 500 workers in the scheme who are said to have already returned home. Given how both sides have thrown their weight behind the programme, the task ahead is cut out, say Israeli construction executives and Indian manpower agencies who spoke to The Indian Express. Some of them point totheSri Lankan model of providing additional training in skills for a couple of weeks before departure. And there are suggestions from Indian agencies to send foremen and supervisors along withworkersforbettercommunication and efficiency. These suggestions assume significance given that Israel has approached India again to carry out another recruitment drive for10,000constructionworkers, according to a statement issued by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) on Tuesday. As The Indian Express reported yesterday, NSDC said the second round of recruitment for constructionworkersisslatedto take place in Maharashtra. A team of assessors from Israel's CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Buch got crores via Agora, claims Cong; 3 firms say husband hired for expertise In filings, M&M, Dr Reddy’s & Pidilite reject preferential treatment charge EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 10 STEPPING UP its attack on SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch, the Congress Tuesday alleged that she held 99 per cent shares in a company“activelyprovidingadvisory/consultancy services till date” and that her husband Dhaval Buch received Rs 4.78 crore as income from Mahindra & Mahindra while she “as a Whole Time Member of SEBI was adjudicating cases of the same group”. As the Congress levelled these new charges against Buch, three listed companies — Mahindra & Mahindra, Pidilite Industries, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories — disclosed that they had hired Dhaval Buch as consultant or leadership coach during various periods and paid remunerations. MarketregulatorSEBIdidnot respond to an email from The Indian Express for comments. Addressing a press conference at theAICC headquarters in New Delhi, Pawan Khera of the Congress said the Hindenburg Research report had alleged that Buch held 99 per cent shares in a SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch GOVT & POLITICS SEBI ON COMMITTEE AGENDA, BJP FLAGS POWER TOREVIEW ONLY IF FUNDS MISUSED PAGE 6 company called Agora Advisory Private Limited. He said Agora Advisory is a private entity incorporated on May 7, 2013 and it claims to provide various types of advisory or consultancy services. “Although, in her response, Madhabi Buch had claimed that the two consulting firms set up by her in Singapore and India — one of which is Agora Advisory Private Limited in India — became ‘immediately dormant on her appointment with SEBI’, the reality is that as of March 31, 2024, she still owns 99 per cent stake in the Indian entity which CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After defence dialogue, Muizzu of Maldives set to visit Delhi next week Police fire teargas shells to disperse students protesting after a fresh wave of violence in Imphal on Tuesday. AP Workers at a manpower agency in Delhi’s Dwarka, some ready to fly out. Ritu Sarin FRESH ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SEBI CHIEF JIMMY LEIVON & SUKRITA BARUAH IMPHAL, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 10 INTERNET SERVICES have been snapped for five days in the valley districts of Manipur and indefinitecurfewimposedinthree of these districts amidst protests following a renewed escalation of violence in the state since September 1. Through an order, the Manipur Home Department has snappednotjustmobileinternet services but also lease lines, VSATs, broadbands and VPN services for five days in the valley districts of Imphal West, ImphalEast,Thoubal,Bishnupur and Kakching. Significantly, the Home 2 dancers abducted at gunpoint, ‘gangraped’ in Kushinagar, 8 arrested EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 10 IN A swift action, Kushinagar policeinUttarPradesharrestedeight persons for allegedly kidnapping and raping two dancers of an orchestra party late Sunday night. Police said they rescued the women, both in their 20s, from a house, nearly 10 km from their rented residence, two hours after they were abducted by a group of men. “All the eight accused are be- low 30 years. They were presented before a court in Kushinagar, which sent them to judicial custody. The statements of the two women are currently being recorded before a magistrate," said Superintendent of Police (Kushinagar) Santosh KumarMishra,addingtheirmedical examination has been completed and its report is awaited. According to police, on Sundaynighttheyreceivedinformation that unidentified men travellingintwoSUVsarrivedata CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Department had initially issued anorder for suspendinginternet services in the entire state and then issued an amended order in the evening, restricting the move to these five districts. It states, “There is apprehension that some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the pas- BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY sions of the public, which might have serious repercussions for the law-and-order situation in the State of Manipur.” It goes on to cite an “imminent danger of loss of life and/or damage to public/private property, and widespread disturbances to public tranquillity and communal harmony, as a result of inflammatory material and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10 MALDIVIAN PRESIDENT Mohamed Muizzu is likely to travel to India on an official visit nextweek,TheIndianExpresshas learnt. He is expected to come to Delhi mid-week, sources said. This comes days after New Delhi and Male held a defence dialogue in New Delhi last week, where they discussed “ongoing defence cooperation projects” and “forthcoming bilateral military exercises”. “The President is scheduled tovisitIndiaverysoon.Asyouare aware, such trips are scheduled for a time of maximum conveniencetoleadersof thetwocoun- tries. Discussions regarding this are in progress,” Heena Waleed, chief spokesperson at the President’s Office, said in Male. This will be a standalone bilateral visit, three months after Muizzu travelled to India for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 9. The defence dialogue last week was the first since India withdrewitsuniformedmilitary CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 20 km daily free travel each way on NH for vehicles with satnav system DHEERAJ MISHRA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 10 RESEARCH PUSH: GOVT INVITES TOP INSTITUTES TO TIE UP WITH VARSITIES P7 Was in Delhi on June 9 for swearing-in of new govt THEMINISTRYof RoadTransport andHighways(MoRTH)Tuesday issuedanotificationthatwillenable free journey of up to 20 km a day in each direction on national highways and expressways for vehicles equipped with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Through the notification, the ministry amended the National HighwaysFee(Determinationof Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008 to include provisions re- Move aims to reduce congestion at toll plazas lated to GNSS-based electronic toll collection. The objective of themoveistoreducecongestion athighwaytollplazasandcharge the toll on the basis of actual distance travelled. “Adriver,ownerorpersonincharge of a mechanical vehicle other than National Permit Vehicle who makes use of the same section of national highway, permanent bridge, bypass of tunnel, as the case may be, shall be levied a zero-user fee up to 20 km of journey in each direction in a day under Global Navigation Satellite System based user fee collection system and if the distances travelled is more than 20 km, the fee will be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Month after rape and murder of doctor, Kolkata is a city at the barricades PAGE 1 ANCHOR PREMANKUR BISWAS KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 10 EVERYWHERE IN Kolkata, there are barricades — the mini barricades that can easily be jumped over in markets and street corners, the formidable 7-foot-tall barricadesinfrontofgovernment buildings,andthebamboobarricadesthatnoonetakesseriously. Butduringmajorrallies,even themostformidableof thesebarricadescomedown—ashashappenedseveraltimessinceAugust 9, when the city rose in protest against the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Hospital. The city has seen more than 300 major rallies over the last month, many of these midnight events organised by women, for whom the incident of August 9 hadrudelychallengedtheirfaith in their city. Kolkata now is a city that’s standing vigil, pushing against the barricades. On September 9, Chief MinisterMamataBanerjeechas- tised the protesters for not going home. “If you are out on the roads every night protesting, a lot of people get disturbed too…It has been more than a month, I would urge you to return to festive spirit,” she said at a meeting. The irony of the Chief Minister’sremarkswasn’tloston anyone,comingasthey didfrom someone whose road to power was paved with protests and demonstrations, from Singur to Nandigram and Lalgarh. Though Kolkata has reclaimed the protest tag it earned during the Left era of 1990s, this Doctors protest near Swasthya Bhawan in Kolkata Tuesday, declining to resume work. Partha Paul RELATEDREPORTS,P12 time the anger is more visceral, real. The leisurely ‘Cholche na, Cholbe na’ (We won’t let this happen) that rang through the city every time the trade unions struck work has given way to a more urgent “Bichar Chai!’ (We want justice). “It is the worst of times, it is the best of times for Kolkata,” says Prachetash Sammadar, 40, a financial consultant, of the spontaneous protests that have broken out across the city. On September 8, his mother Mousumi Sammadar, 73, a retired school teacher, walked from South Kolkata’s Kalighat to Rashbehari Avenue, despite her aching knees. “She was not sure if she would be able to make it, butshedid.Myheartswellswith pride and love when I see my mother and hundreds of other senior citizens of my city out there, walking mile after mile, raising their voices against the systemic wrong,” says Prachetash. He claims these protests are unlike anything the city has seen before.“Ihavealwaysknownmy mother to be a politically conscious woman. But for as long as Icanremember,Ihaveneverseen her go out and be part of michil (protest marches),” he adds. Abdul Razzaq, who owns a cosmetics stall in the bustling New Market area of Kolkata, one of the main shopping destinationsinthecity,ishopingthecity will move on but doesn’t want people to forget. “People are not in the mood toshopatall.Usually,duringthis festive season, I earn around Rs 10,000aday.Butthistime,Ihave barely earned half that amount. This weekend, sales picked up a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow