DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 THREE-MEMBER COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INSTITUTED OnMahaKumbh’sbigday,atleast 30killed,60injuredinstampede Officials blame incident on huge rush for dip at Sangam, felling of barricades 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 on Wednesday. Chitral Khambhati EXPLAINED 16-page form to priest certificate: Uttarakhand UCC rules for live-in MANISH SAHU & MAULSHREE SETH E 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: Eyewitnesses recall horrror: We screamed, Mismanagement, VVIP nobody listened… people walked over others Rajasthan HC paves way for registration of culture led to tragedy CHITRAL KHAMBHATI, STAMPEDEATKUMBH MAULSHREE SETH & live-in relationships ANAND MOHAN J LALMANI VERMA & 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 It’s been Cong, ‘AAPda’ for 25 years, give BJP a chance to serve: PM KUMBH STAMPEDE 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. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in New Delhi on Wednesday. Amit Mehra Addressing a rally in Ghonda constituency of Northeast Delhi, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD TRUMP INVITES NETANYAHU TO WHITE HOUSE PAGE 12 As young and old wait for bodies, locals offer help EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, JANUARY 29 UTTAR PRADESH Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday evening ordered a judicial probe into the stampede at Maha Kumbh that left over 30 people dead during the amrit snan on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.Thechief ministersaidthataseparate inquiry will be conducted by the UP Police into the incident. The three-member judicial probe team is being headed by retired Justice of Allahabad High Court Harsh Kumar. The two other members of the team are former DGP VK Gupta and retired IAS officer DK Singh. In a notification issued later, the government stated that the probe would cover two points—a) finding out the reasons and circumstances causing the incident, and b) to givesuggestionsaboutpreven ting penings in future. The commissionsuchhaphas been given one month to submit the report but it could be extended. PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO FIND MISSING LOVED Outside the SRN Hospital mortuary in Prayagraj. Vishal Srivastav WHY THERE WAS A BIG CROWD ON WEDNESDAY —ENS,BENGALURU ONES At mortuary, wait and despair: MAULSHREE SETH PRAYAGRAJ, JANUARY 29 IT IS 7:41 pm and Naresh Kumar from Amritsarhasbeen searchingtheentireMaha Many are forced to continue their search. A number of ambulances begin to wind theirway out with the bodies of victims that have been identified. At 8:05 pm, two ambulances leave with the bodies of two Jaunpur residents — 60year-old Rampati Devi and her daughter-inlaw Reeta Devi. ‘Can’t go back without her — or her body’ At 9:23 pm, four more bodies are placed in two ambulances. They were group of nine from Karnataka. part of a Kanchan Koparde, part of this group, sits next to two bodies wrapped in white. One is that of FULL COVERAGE PAGE 8 Finding ‘D K Boss’: In Jamtara, how police cracked cyber crime network 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 JAIPUR, JANUARY 29 MANISH SAHU 50 LAKH DEVOTEES ARRIVE IN AYODHYA: STATE GOVT Kumbh area for his wife since 2 am, when the deadly stampede took place. finally arrived at the mortuary He has now in Prayagr j HAMZA KHAN LUCKNOW, JANUARY 29 SINCE THE early hours on Wednesday, a group of people has been assisting the families of those who died in the stampede, who were waiting in the biting cold outside the postmortem house to collect the their loved ones. The postmortembodies of house is located on the campus of Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj. The group,comprisingaround 10 people, has been providing snacks, tea and coffee to the elderly and arranging milk for children. Most of these volunteers are family bersof ClassIVemployeesatthecolle memgewho reside near the mortuary. “We saw a large number of people gathered atthemortuary gate.Itwasheartbreaking tosee elderlypersons and children,” said Omwati, who works at the gate of the hostelof thecollege.Shereachedoutto girls' some neighbours and they all decided to prepare some refreshments for those in “Initially, people were hesitant the crowd. to take anything, but as time passed, they accepted the tea and coffee,” she added. The mortuary premises saw a large crowd, as grieving families gathered to collectthebodies of theirloved ones after postmortem procedures. “After noticing some people sitting for a long time, them food... but they declined,” we offered said Meena Devi, whose husband, Panna Lal, works at the medical college. Sagar Kumar, whose father Prem Chand works at the medical college, said they had prepared hundreds of cups of tea and coffee for those waiting outside the postmortem housesinceearlymorning.“We arestillworking,” he said on Wednesday late evening. In a statement, the CM said: “These incidents give us lessons as well. We have decided to go into the roots of this incident. We willconductajudicialinquiryin toit.Because, (Top) Relatives after so many reviews of the stampede victims of the arrangements outside the mortuary (Above) People look for done and keeping vigilance of a hospital their belongings after at the local level the stampede at the Maha in Prayagraj on Wednesday. Chitral Khambhati such tragedy took place. & Vishal Srivastav Kumbh in Prayagraj on The inquiry is being Wednesday. Reuters done to find out the reasons.” ras. There has been immense “Besidesthis,monitoringwasd pressure at difonebythe ferent railway CMControlroom,DGPcontrolr stations in Prayagraj and oom,andChief waysoperatedover300trainst railSecretary control room; ocarrythepiland meetings were grims to their destinations,” conducted the whole the CM added. day. Prime Minister According to the CM, the (NarendraModi),HomeMiniste r(AmitShah), curredduetoahugecrowdbreincident “oc■ The stampede at the RailwayMinister(Ashwini Sangam took place akingthebarin the early hours of Wednesday Ayodhya: On the occasion Vaishnaw), BJP national ricades at Akhara Marg (January of 29), a day crowds bigger Mauni Amavasya, Ayodhya president (JP Nadda) and than usual were and crossing the barriflocking to the riverbank witnessed an overwhelming UP Governor (Anandiben for the cades by jumpingover it”. surge dip. This was because January ritual of devotees who took a Patel) have been coordi29 was holy dip in Announcing an exMauni Amavasya, one the Saryu River. Experts natingsincemorning,”the of the days gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the estimate considered very auspicious that over 50 lakh devotees CM said. for taking a kin of each of the dehave bath at the Kumbh Mela. arrived in Ayodhya in the “It is very natural that ceased, theCMsaid:“This past 72 hours and the influx is questionsarebeing raised isaverysadincident...Our expected to ■ Mauni Amavasya is the continue until Vasant 4 from Karnataka feared on these issues. This new heartfeltcondolenceisfor Panchami, dead night of the krishna paksha moon an official statement said. Mauni Amavasya snan (the waning the kin of these persons. At least four people from is moon fortnight) of the The temple town remained Karnataka's the main snan and all the Hindu month of We have been in regular Belagavi, including a mother-daughter during Kumbh Mela is, Magh. On this day, both packed with worshippers thus, of added roads were choked. The the Sun and duo, contact with the Mela adwerefeared tobeamongthecasualtiesof administration was spiritual significance,” Moon are in the same throughout the day, with ministration Dr Ramesh Kumar engagedtoclearthosechokedr raashi of Makar the long MahaKumbhstampedeonWe Upadhyay, president of oads.Afterthe arrangementsand the police. All required (Capricorn), which makes queues outside Ram Mandir dnesday. The the Bhartiya incident,theakharashadpostp it astrologically Jyotish were made following the and victims from Belagavi were onedtheam- lief work significant. Maun means reAadhyatm Parishad, said. Hanumangarhi temple identified as BJP rit snan scheduled at 4 am done by making a green silence, and on extending worker Jyoti Hattarwad, and this was done rushing corridor Mauni Amavasya, it is late into the night. A massive 50; her daughter later in the afternoon. There the injured to hospital.” believed that Megha Hattarwad, 16; ■ About why silence is has been a presobserving silence, at least Mahadevi Bhavanur, crowd stretched from observed on this The chief minister said sure of over 8 crore pilgrims till before one Shringar and Arun Koparde. The the DGP and the day, Upadhyay said, “The in Prayagraj and chief takes a bath, is beneficial. Belagavi district adHaat to the temple premises. new moon is a secretary will go to they had been stopped ministration has appointed Prayagraj on in adjoining districts day of big happenings Similar scenes were observed Thursday to look two nodal offiin the world of by setting up hoarding areas. cers—SpecialDeputy CommissionerHarsha at nature. The high tide and They have now arrangements into all the issues, and the ■ “According to Hindu the Ram Temple. low tide are been released after the religious beliefs, required for the upcoming Shetty and Additional amrit snan by akhamore pronounced... On taking a ritual bath in Superintendent of events at Maha Kumbh. such a a river on Mauni Police Shruti N S—to travel — PTI nature is so dynamic, Hindu day, when Amavasya washes away to Prayagraj and sages have one's sins. Taking make necessary arrangements advised stillness and silence a dip in the Triveni on to bring the for humans.” bodies a Mauni Amavasya of the — YASHEE to Karnataka. victims from the district back NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 NEW DELHI, JANUARY 29 me’ Scattered shoes, slippers and clothes tell the story of the chaos that unfolded Maha Kumbh. At least 30 at the Sangam area of the people were killed and 60 injured in the stampede HIMANSHU HARSH GAYATHRI MANI 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. ‘The crowd walked over UP CM orders judicial probe: ‘These give lessons as well’ 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE RAJASTHAN High Court on Wednesday directed the state to establish an authority or tribunal to register live-in relationships until a law is enacted for the same. Hearing a number of petitions, a Bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand said, “The live-in relationship agreement is liable to be registered by the competent authority/tribunal, which is requiredtobeestablishedbythe government. Till enactment of the appropriate legislation by the government, let competent ISRO’s GSLV-F15 lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. PTI authority be established in each district of the state to look into thematterof registrationof such live-in relationships.” The court said the authority would “address and redress the grievancesof suchpartners/couples who have entered in such relationships and the children being born out therefrom. Let a website or web portal be launched in this regard for redressal of the issue arising out of such relationships.” The court also said that until a law is enacted by the state as well as the Centre, “a scheme of statutorynatureisrequiredtobe formulated in legal format”, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ISRO TON: 100 LAUNCHES AND COUNTING PAGE 5 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 n a fractio Mars at to reach ons. anaged ped nati “We m develo st of the AI too” of the co ppen in is can ha Th OFF, IIIT D SHR is GAUTAM k models DeepSee rcing of n-sou effect” “The ope a ripple creating DHPUR TSA, IIT JO VA MAYANK 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 Kolkata