eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Inside a 150-kph Dream JAIPUR,LATECITY DECEMBER8,2024 Harshit Rana is being touted as the next big thing in India’s fast bowling stable FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM HEARING ON DECEMBER 12 Disappointing: US responds to BJP’s allegation of backing agenda to destabilise India Invokes press freedom to counter BJP charge that OCCRP, partly funded by US, targeted India through Adani reports SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 7 DAYS AFTER the BJP accused the USStateDepartmentof tryingto "destabilise India” through part funding a news portal that, it said, had “targeted” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the US Embassy in New Delhi said Saturday that it is “disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations”. “The US government works with independentorganisations Outside the US Embassy in New Delhi. File on programming that supports professional development and capacity building training for journalists,” a spokesperson of the US Embassy said, “This programming does not influence the editorial decisions or directionof theseorganisations…The United States has long been a champion of media freedom around the world. A free and independent press is an essential component of any democracy, enabling informed and constructive debate and holding those in power accountable.” This comes after BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, at a press conference, claimed that elements in the US “deep state” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MVA cracks widen as SP pulls out over Uddhav aide’s post on Babri SHUBHANGI KHAPRE & VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, DECEMBER 7 BARELY A fortnight after the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)alliance was routedinthe Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party (SP) announced Saturday that it is quitting the MVA, saying that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was “back to his old position justifying the Babri Masjid demolition” which, it P7 Maharashtra SP chief Abu Azmi in Mumbai, Saturday. Ganesh Shirsekar added, was “unacceptable”. “We have quit the MVA. What is the point of continuing 3 in the front where there is no uniformity on issues nor adequate consultation with allies?” state SP chief Abu Azmi said. The SP has been a part of the larger MVA alliance which essentially comprises the Congress,Sena(UBT)andSharad Pawar-led NCP(SP). The SP’s move came after Uddhav’s close aide and Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narwekar posted an image of the Babri Masjid demolition on X. The picture also showed Shiv Sena CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Syrian rebel fighters in Homs, 160 km north of Damascus, Saturday. Reuters Assad regime fights to hold on as rebels now hours from Damascus Area in govt control shrinking fast, Iran pares back support RAJA ABDULRAHIM DECEMBER 7 PRESIDENTBASHARAL-ASSAD’S political survival was under threat Saturday as the Syrian government battled opposition rebellions around the country and, amid protests near the capital Damascus, withdrew forces from several of its suburbs, according to war monitoring groups. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 1995 - 2024 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 7 AS A rebel coalition’s advance in Syria challenged the writ of President Bashar al-Assad and his army, New Delhi issued a traveladvisory,askingIndiansto avoid travelling to Syria and urged those staying there to exercise “utmost precaution” and restrict their movements. The Ministry of External Affairs also urged Indians CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AT THE FOREFRONT OF KERALA DIALYSIS CHALLENGE PAGE 6 NATIONAL BOARD OF ACCREDITATION INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT LBSIM.AC.IN India puts out advisory, days after Assad team held talks in Delhi to boost ties EXPRESS NETWORK LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI YEARS REPORTS,P10 (3 PGDM PROGRAMMES) (3 PGDM PROGRAMMES) DWARKA SEC-11, DELHI RANKING 2024 RANK BAND 101-125 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ‘Elon Musk, Silicon Valley leaders are not elected... they are making the most important decisions in our history’ DAYS REMAINING!!! YUVAL NOAH HARARI HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR Two weeks after four died in Sambhal, police say ‘fired warning shots’ NEETIKA JHA SAMBHAL (UP), DECEMBER 7 WEEKS AFTER the survey of a mosque led to violence in western UP’s Sambhal, leaving four mendeadwithbulletinjuriesand mystery around who shot them, the district’s Superintendent of Police has told The Indian Express that police personnel had “fired warning shots in the air” to disperse the crowd. On a video that purportedly shows a police personnel firing a weapon, SP Krishan Kumar Bishnoi said, “A police person can be seen firing in the air. We are investigating who fired two shots.” Thisisadeparturefromwhat the police and the district administration said on November 25, a day after the violence. At CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PGDM INDIA’S BEST B-SCHOOLS (AICTE Approved Private Institutes) 3 5 PROGRAMMES 2025-27 | 2 Years Full Time • General • Financial Management • E-Business • AI & Data Science • Research & Business Analytics PLACEMENTS PGDM 2022-24 3 INTERNATIONAL OFFERS APPLY : Forms.Lbsim.ac.in 13 Rank 14 FORTUNE INDIA OUTLOOK rd th Rank TIMES GROUP 15 18 th th Rank THE WEEK Rank Rank 19 th Rank BUSINESS TODAY BUSINESS WORLD 12.24 LPA AVERAGE th 16.67 LPA HIGHEST Last Date to Apply : 15 Dec 2024 (Sunday) Dwarka Sector-11, Delhi (Near Dwarka Sec-11 Metro) 9540310092, 8840190140, 9811320320 011-25307781 / 779 / 777 admission@Lbsim.ac.in www.Lbsim.ac.in Jaipur CJI-led bench to hear pleas against Places of Worship Act ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 7 AT A time when suits seeking surveys of mosques and dargahs have rekindled a debate across the country, the Supreme Court has constituted a special bench to hear on December 12 a clutch of pending petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The special bench comprises Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 mandates that the nature of all CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED DAYS AFTER U.S. INDICTMENT OF ADANI GROUP Inother courts, ● otherpleas THE 1991 Act, which left Ayodhya to the courts, froze the status of a place of worship as was on the day of India’s independence. While the Supreme Court is still to decide the challenge to the Act, suits are being filed in different courts for surveying mosques believed to have been built on sites where temples once existed.