DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DONALD J TRUMP BACK AS 47th U.S. PRESIDENT RG KAR RAPE-MURDER ‘Golden Age of America begins’ Sanjoy Roy gets life term, Trade to immigration, energy to gender, court says not Trump 2.0 ushers in major policy shifts ‘rarest of rare’ DAVID MORGAN, GABRIELLA BORTER, JEFF MASON & JOSEPH AX BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY WASHINGTON, JANUARY 20 J&K statehood awaited, Omar govt not keen on local body polls before it DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 WITHTHECentregivingnoindication of early movement on restoring statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, sources in the Omar Abdullah government have indicated they are not keen on holding the pending local bodyelectionswithoutthesame. Sources said the National Conference (NC) government believes holding elections to panchayats or the District Development Councils (DDCs) would have no import if J&K remains a Union Territory. Panchayat elections in J&K have been due since January 2024, while the five-year term of the DDCs ends in a year. “The reins of power are in Delhi.Thereisamulti-levelcommandstructureintheUT…Until statehood is restored, we are not in favour of holding elections to panchayats and DDCs,” a J&K government source said, also pointingoutthattheDDCssetup by Delhi have not been able to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Donald J Trump speaks after being sworn as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, Monday. Reuters THE WORLD TECH BOSSES TO CELEBRITIES: THOSE WHO ATTENDED BIDEN ISSUES PARDONS FOR FAMILY PAGE12 office to “preserve, protect and defend” the US Constitution insidetheUSCapitol,administered byChief JusticeJohnRoberts.His Vice President, J D Vance, was sworn in just before him. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Look forward to shape a New Delhi’s challenge: Trump will play hardball, better future together: PM change rules of the game SHUBHAJIT ROY C RAJA MOHAN NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 HERALDING A “thrilling new era of success”, President Donald Trump declared Monday that a “revolution of common sense” will guide his bold new efforttoredirectAmerica away from the “liberal extremism” at home and “declinist pessimism” abroad. Trump’sinauguralspeech,deliveredimmediatelyafterhewas sworn in as President, set the stage for what could be a hugely controversial and potentially transformationalsecondtermas American president. AttackingAmerica’s“corrupt establishment” that has failed to address multiple crises at home and triggered what hecalledseveral“catastrophes” abroad, Trump ● promised radical departuresfromAmerica’slongstandingpoliciesonimmigration and trade and more recent ones limiting free speech, promoting raceandgenderidentities,mandating green choices on consumers. E EXPLAINED DONALDTRUMPvowedtousher in a new era of American greatness,minutesafterhewassworn inastheUSPresidentforthesecondtimetocompleteanextraordinary political comeback following two two impeachment trials,afelonyconviction,twoassassination attempts and an indictmentforattemptingtooverturn his 2020 election loss. In his inaugural address, TrumppledgedtorescueAmerica from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritising a crackdown on illegal immigrationandportrayinghimselfas a national savior chosen by God. “ThegoldenageofAmericabegins right now,” he said. “First,Iwilldeclareanational emergency at our southern border,”hesaid.“Allillegalentrywill be immediately halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminalaliensbacktotheplaces from which they came.” The speech echoed many of the themes he sounded at his first inauguration in 2017 when he spoke darkly of the “American carnage” of crime and job loss that he said had ravaged the country. Trump, 78, took the oath of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi Monday congratulated Donald J Trump on his “historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States” and wished him a successful term ahead. No sooner did Trump take oath as the US President at the CapitolHill’srotundathanPrime Minister Modi tweeted: “I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape abetterfuturefortheworld.Best wishes for a successful term ahead!” While India-US relations are on a strong footing, Delhi is concerned about two specific issues – tariffs and illegal immigration – that Trump flagged in his 29-minute inaugural speech. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was seated in the audience at Capitol Hill as the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister. This is his second visit to the US within the last 30 days; he had visited the US in the last week of December, and met the incoming Trump administration officials as part of an outreach from Delhi to Washington DC. “Privileged to represent as CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Convict Sanjoy Roy at Sealdah court, Monday. Partha Paul Victim’s father says want justice, demands harsher punishment TANUSREE BOSE FULL COVERAGE KOLKATA, JANUARY 20 A SEALDAH court on Monday sentenced Sanjoy Roy to life imprisonment “until his last breath” for the rape and murder of ajuniordoctoratthestate-run RG Kar College and Hospital on August 9 last year, which sparked outrage and triggered massive protests by doctors across West Bengal. While reading out its ruling, the court of additional sessions judgeAnirbanDassaiditwasnot the “rarest of rare case”. Roy, a 35-year-old civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, was convicted on Saturday under Sections 64 (punishment for rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or a persistent vegetative state to a woman) and 101 (1) (murder). Reading out the ruling on Monday, Judge Das said, “…so, for the rape (Section 64) you (Roy) are given life imprisonment with Rs 50,000 fine. If the fine isn’t paid, an extra five months have to be served. For Section 103(1) (murder) and for Section 66 (punishment for causing death or a persistent AT RG KAR, A SEALED DOOR, A SYMBOLIC BUST — AND SIGNS OF DISAPPOINTMENT DUTY IS TO ENSURE JUSTICE BASED ON EVIDENCE, NOT PUBLIC SENTIMENT: COURT IN ITS ORDER PAGE 3 vegetative state to a woman), you are given a whole life (left term). Till your last breath, you will remain in jail.” The judge also orderedg the state government to give Rs 17 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family. The sentence came after 66 days of in-camera trial and examination of 120 witnesses. No ‘mystery’ disease behind Rajouri Uttarakhand Govt clears UCC rules, set deaths, experts point to pesticide to be rolled out after local body elections Not satisfied... will go MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL & ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20 AISWARYA RAJ DEHRADUN, JANUARY 20 TATKAL REGISTRATION, doorto-doorservicesinremoteareas, and a state-wide mock drill on January 21 — these are some of the key provisions in Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code manual of rules, which the Pushkar Singh Dhami Cabinet approved Monday. The move drew criticism from the Opposition Congress, which called it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct in place ahead of local body polls. According to sources, the rules manual, which was approved at the Cabinet meeting convened for the purpose Monday, is expected to be announced after the election Thursday. The training of the officials is also in the final stages. Once these are rolled out, Uttarakhand will become the first state to implement the UCC. Leaving the State Secretariat after the Cabinet meeting, Chief CM Dhami: Will soon announce date of its enforcement Minister Dhami said: “We had announced in 2022 that our first work will be UCC after the governmentisformed.Thecommittee framed the draft and it was passed with the President's assent. The training is in the final stages and we will soon announce the dates for the implementation… We have discussed the rules today”. On January 13, Uttarakhand government began training its officials to help familiarise them with the UCC portal. Officials said online portals havebeendevelopedforcitizens and officials, featuring Aadhaarbased verification, AI-based translation services in 22 Indian languages, and data integration across more than 13 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DAYS AFTER 17 members of three families died under mysteriouscircumstancesinavillage in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, an initial investigation hasrevealedthepresenceof pesticideresiduesinanearby“baoli” (water reservoir). It is suspected that the victims consumed water from this reservoir, sources told The Indian Express. However, local authorities, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 to High Court, ask for death penalty: Mamata A grave being dug for Yasmeen Kousar, the 17th victim, in Baddal village of Rajouri district, Monday. PTI PAGE6 Police probe: Saif attack accused used Bengal resident’s Aadhaar to get SIM VIJAY KUMAR YADAV MUMBAI, JANUARY 20 FROMCROSSINGtheDawkiriver to enter India about seven monthsago,totravellingtoWest Bengalwherehestayedforafew weeksandusedanAadhaarcard of a resident there to get a SIM card, and finally moving to Mumbaiinsearchof ajob.Based CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mohammed Shariful Islam on his questioning, the Mumbai Policehavetracedthemovement of Mohammed Shariful Islam alias Vijay Das (30), the Bangla- deshinationalarrestedfortheattack on actor Saif Ali Khan. A preliminary probe has found that the SIM card being used by the accused was registered in the name of ‘KhukumoniJahangirSekh’from West Bengal, whose Aadhaar cardheissuspectedtohaveused to procure it, police sources said. Shariful Islam is suspected to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, JANUARY 20 “I’M NOT satisfied,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Monday after a Sealdah court sentenced Sanjoy Roy — convicted in the rape and murder of ajuniordoctorinKolkata’sstaterun RG Kar Medical College and Hospital — to life imprisonment. The sentencing comes two daysafterAdditionalDistrictand Sessions judge Anirban Das foundRoy,a35-year-oldcivilvolunteer attached to the Kolkata Police,guiltyof theAugust9rape and murder, which triggered massive protests by junior doctors in West Bengal. “From the first day, we’ve beendemandingcapitalpunishment. The case was taken away from us (Kolkata Police), and the CMMamataBanerjeein Murshidabad,Monday. Express Central Bureau of Investigation did the investigation. There should have been ultimate punishment for a person who committed such a crime,” Banerjee said while speaking with the media in Murshidabad. Later, the CM said her government would appeal the ruling in court and seek the death CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In Hyderabad, an exclusive police station for lakes, land, lung spaces PAGE 1 ANCHOR NIKHILA HENRY HYDERABAD, JANUARY 20 SITTING ON a plush black sofa, T Ramanaiah, 67, narrated how fouracresof governmentlandallotted two decades ago to 20 Dalit families in Hyderabad’s Kukatpally area had allegedly been usurped by land grabbers in a span of 10 years. As he handed over a petition, handwritten on a letterhead that sported a portrait of Dr B R Ambedkar,apoliceinspectorsitting beside him patiently noted down his complaint and said, “We will send a team to the area within two days.” The scene was set in Hyderabad’s Buddha Bhavan, a government complex where a new, one-of-its-kind police station is coming up. The station, which will start its official functioning by the second week of February, will deal only with cases of government asset protection and disaster management. Meaning, a police station exclusivelymeantfortheprotection of lakes, parks, open lung spaces, government land and other assets in Hyderabad. TheIndianExpresstookapeek intothefunctioningofthisunique police station, which will come under direct supervision of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Hyderabad Disaster Response andAssetProtectionAgency(HYDRAA) Commissioner A V Ranganath,evenbeforeitisallotted office space. Ramanaiah told The Indian Express, “We had petitioned the revenue officials several times before turning up here. We are hopeful that the police here will give us our land back.” Shortly after Ramanaiah’s case was heard, came another T Ramanaiah, a petitioner, narrates his grievance to an inspector who notes down his complaint. Nikhila Henry petitioner — K S N Reddy. A resident of the posh Saroornagar area in Hyderabad, Reddy said that about 30 acres of the Saroornagar lake had been encroached upon. “Thelakehasshrunkfrom90 acres to 60 acres due to illegal constructions,” Reddy, who has been living in the area for 26 years, told The Indian Express. “Either the buildings have to be regularised under the law or demolished for violating environmental laws.” He carried with him a map of the shrunken lake. Reddy’s grievance, too, was noted down by a police officer of the rank of inspector. Back inside his office, HYDRAACommissionerRanganath, anIPSofficer,wassurroundedby a crowd of petitioners, who had come in to raise their grievances regarding similar cases of lake andlandencroachments—while some wanted a quick inspection of thesites,otherswantedaclear assurance of demolitions. “Now all the cases, hundreds of them, that HYDRAA had lodged in different police stations will be transferred to this police station,” Ranganath said. According to an order issued by the state government on January 7, the police station will be headed by an officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. “This will be a team of police officers who are committed to environmental protection because we are doing this for posterity — for our children,” Ranganath said. Adjacent to Ranganath’s office,inB-BlockofBuddhaBhavan, some security officers were giving last-minute instructions to carpenters who were setting up cubicles for the police station. Another petitioner, N Venkatesh,said,“Hyderabadhas dozensof lakesandnaalaswhich make the city unique. It is the duty of every citizen to protect CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata