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 THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 COMMISSION OF INQUIRY FORMED; PM AND CM CONDOLE DEATHS OnMahaKumbh’sbigday,atleast 30killed,60injuredinstampede Officials blame incident on huge rush for dip at Sangam, breaking of barricades 16-page form to priest certificate: Uttarakhand UCC rules for live-in PRAYAGRAJ, JANUARY 29 AT LEAST 30 people died and 60 were injured in a pre-dawn stampede Wednesday at the MahaKumbhinPrayagrajwhere hundredsof thousandsgathered to take a dip at the Sangam. The incident took place shortly after 1.30 am as people headed towards the Sangam Nose—it’sthestripof landatthe confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — for a ritual bath on the day of Mauni Amavasya which is considered auspicious. The dead and injured were taken to medical facilities on the Maha Kumbh grounds and to hospitals in the city. Following the incident, the snans (ritual bath) were halted — these resumedintheafternoon.Officials estimated that 10 crore people had taken a dip in the waters by evening. Officials blamed the incident on the heavy rush towards the Sangam Nose and the breaking CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AISWARYA RAJ & APURVA VISHWANATH DEHRADUN, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 A 16-PAGE form that needs to be filled,Aadhaar-linkedOTP,registrationfee,acertificatefromareligious leader that the couple is eligible to marry if they so wish, and details of previous relationships–theseareamongtherules prescribed by the Uttarakhand government for registration of live-in relationships under its Uniform Civil Code. The UCC Act, which was passed by the state Assembly in February 2024, makes it mandatory for couples to register with thegovernment,bothwhileinitiatingandterminatingalive-inrelationship. Failure to register carries a jail term up to six months. This applies to residents of Uttarakhand as well as state resi- Jagwanti lost her mother and sister-in-law in the stampede in Prayagraj on Wednesday. Chitral Khambhati E EXPLAINED MANISH SAHU & MAULSHREE SETH Setting stage for ● others WHILE UTTARAKHAND became the first state to bring in a UCC, it is likely to be a template for others. Home Minister Amit Shah had told Parliament that every BJP-ruled state would implement a UCC. Regulation of live-in relationships raises questions of privacy and liberty. dents living elsewhere in India. The Rules, which came into effect January 2, outline the documentationrequiredfortheregistration process – it can be done both offline and online. Rule 15 (3) in Chapter 5 outlines the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Opp targets Centre, UP: It’s been Cong, ‘AAPda’ Mismanagement, VVIP Eyewitnesses recall horrror: We screamed, culture led to tragedy nobody listened… people walked over others for 25 years, give BJP a CHITRAL KHAMBHATI, chance to serve: PM LALMANI VERMA & MAULSHREE SETH & DAY OF GRIEF AND PANIC — AND OFFICIAL SILENCE SHYAMLAL YADAV NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 WITHINHOURSof thestampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, leadersof Oppositionpartiestargeted the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that “mismanagement” and “VIP culture” led to the mishap and deaths. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhiblamedthe“VIPculture” for the incident and said it should be curbed and the government “should make better arrangementstomeettheneeds of common devotees”. “Mismanagement and the administration’sspecialfocuson VIP movement, instead of common devotees, are responsible for this tragic incident,” he said. SP chief and former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav suggested that the management and administration of the Kumbh should be handed over to the Army to restore trust CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 out the day of uncertainty and despair as scores made frenetic roundsof cityhospitals–including this one. Roads were blocked, key routestothecitywerebarricaded, mostrequestsforinformationran into walls of official silence. Indeed,formuchoftheday,there was no word on the number of dead, just official calls to keep calm, not pay heed to rumours. ANAND MOHAN J PRAYAGRAJ, BHOPAL, JANUARY 29 IT’S AFTER 9 pm — a day of chaos sincedaybreak,markedbypanic and grief, is winding down. Outside the morgue of the MotilalNehruMedicalCollegein Prayagraj, there are relatives still looking for their loved ones who have gone missing but this is now a thinning crowd. Compared to the rush through- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Outside the SRN Hospital mortuary in Prayagraj. Vishal Srivastav FULL COVERAGE PAGE 8 Finding ‘D K Boss’: In Jamtara, how Non-bailable warrants police cracked cyber crime network issued against Anmol Bishnoi, two others BABA SIDDIQUE MURDER CASE 30/01/2025 86 114 140 72 THE WORLD DONALD TRUMP INVITES NETANYAHU TO WHITE HOUSE PAGE 14 HIMANSHU HARSH NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, JANUARY 29 A SPECIAL court in Mumbai issued non-bailable warrants (NBW) against Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and two other wanted accused Shubham Lonkar and Yasin Akhtar in connection with the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique. Anmol was arrested in the UnitedStatesinNovember2024, aftertheimmigrationauthorities found him travelling with fake documents. He has been in a US prison ever since. Earlier this month, the Mumbai Crime Branchfiledachargesheetagainst 26personsandnamedthetrioas absconding accused in the case. The Mumbai Crime Branch approached the special court seekingissuanceof NBWagainst CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHILEINVESTIGATINGacaseof cyber fraud in mid-December 2024, IPS officer Raghvendra Sharma, the ASP of Jamtara district in Jharkhand, stumbled upon a name that piqued his interest – “DK Boss”. “I remember noticing the same name on another case,” he recalled. Justaweekearlier,inanother seemingly unconnected case of cybercrime, police had detained a suspect whose questioning re- Police with some of those arrested in the case. Express vealed that his modus operandi was distributing malicious Androidpackagekits(APKs)that are used to install apps designed to steal data. When ASP Sharma examined the suspect’s phone and scrutinised his WhatsApp chats, he found that these APKs were sold to the man by someone who went by the alias DK Boss. “The seller’s WhatsApp display picture was just the words ‘DK Boss’ written out, and the account description said ‘contact for any APK or panel’,” Sharma recalled. Police said that when they ran the WhatsApp number through telecom operators, they GAYATHRI MANI NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 WITH JUST days to go for the Delhi Assembly elections on February DECISION 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi 2025 on Wednesday DELHI asked for an “opportunity to serve” the Capital's residents, assuring that the BJP would fulfill all its promises in a time-bound manner. Addressing a rally in Ghonda constituency of Northeast Delhi, Modi also targeted AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for alleging that Haryanawas“poisoning”Delhi's water supply. One of the eight Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in New Delhi on Wednesday. Amit Mehra seats won by the BJP in the 2020 polls, Ghonda has a mixed population of Haryanvis, Jats, PurvanchalisandUttarakhandis. “Afraid of losing the elections, the AAPda people are so flustered that they are levelling serious allegations against the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ISRO TON: 100 LAUNCHES AND COUNTING PAGE 9 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DeepSeek Effect: We can do a Mangalyaan in AI, say India’s top AI experts ‘ISRO’s cost-effective methods, innovation that encouraged self-reliance can be applied to AI’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR ALIND CHAUHAN & VIDHATRI RAO NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 CHINESEARTIFICIALIntelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s R1 model, which has disrupted the tech sector, holds lessons for Indiatodevelopthecriticaltech- nology in cost-effective ways and without massive computational resources, the nation's top researchers told The Indian Express. “With the launch of the R1 model, India could do a Mangalyaan in AI,” said Gautam Shroff,ProfessoratIIIT-Delhiand former senior vice-president of TataConsultancyServicesandits head of research. Researchers are of the view that although the US and China lead the AI race, India can certainly catch up. “With the right focus, India can position itself as a strong contender in the global AI ecosystem. The open-sourcing of DeepSeek models is creating a ripple effect, triggering global competition and collaboration.Indiashouldembracethis momentum,” said Mayank Vatsa, professor of Computer Science at IIT-Jodhpur. LikeShroff of IIIT-Delhi,Vatsa, who works on biometrics and ion at a fract ach Mars aged to re veloped nations. n “We ma de o” st of the n in AI to of the co n happe This ca , IIIT D SHROFF GAUTAM odels is epSeek m ing of De ect” n-sourc eff “The ope a ripple UR creating IIT JODHP K VATSA, MAYAN computervision,saidIndianeeds to follow the template set by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to usher in major AI advancements. “In the early days of India’s space pro- gram, we were considered outsiders—somuchsothatcartoons ridiculedourperceiveddeficiencies in space technology. Yet ISRO’sjourneyhasprovenotherwise, transforming India into a global leader in this domain through cost-effective, innovative methods that encouraged self-relianceanddeliveredwideranging social impact,” he said. These same principles, Vatsa felt,couldbeappliedtoAIamidst the race to develop the technology.“WemanagedtoreachMars at a fraction of the cost of the developed nations. This is what is needed in AI as well, and with thelatestdevelopmentswehave a demonstration and even a starting point,” Shroff said. The R1 model released last week has sent shock waves across the world — the global tech market has seen a shift, DeepSeek's model overtook rival ChatGPT to become the toprated free application on Apple's App Store, and Silicon Valley giants are spooked. The littleknown company based in Hangzhou has built an AI model which can match the performance of its cutting-edge American rivals at a much lower cost and with limited resources. “DeepSeek’s models show thatnecessitybreedsinnovation. Whenyouaredeniedsometechnology, you figure out a way around it and do something smarter.Someoftheengineering is quite ingenious,” Shroff said. The R1 model is said to have been built with only around $6 million — OpenAI spent more than $100 million to train its GPT-4. DeepSeek’s model uses a “mixture of experts” approach, where multiple specialised submodelsworktogethertoanswer a question, instead of a single big model managing everything. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2