eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE AWorld Within Words AHMEDABAD, LATECITY Gulzar, one of India’s finest poets and lyricists, talks about his journey and how he keeps up with the times March30,2025 16+4(EYE)PAGES,`6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of The Indian Express. The magazine is an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contains content paid for by advertisers. The magazine should be read as an advertisement 60TH CONVOCATION ‘IIMA will launch its first international campus in Dubai in Sept’ IIMA director Professor Bharat Bhasker EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, MARCH 29 THE INDIAN Institute of Management Ahmedabad is all set to launch its first international campus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September this year, said IIMA director, Professor Bharat Bhasker on Saturday. He made these remarks during the 60th convocation ceremony of the institute, held at LouisKahnPlazainAhmedabad. Thechief guestfortheeventwas formerchairmanof IndianSpace Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr S Somanath. Notably, IIM Ahmedabad will be the first institute of the IIMs to establish a presence outside India. While stating that the placements this year were better compared to all previous years, the IIMA Director announced that six students decided to become entrepreneurs and had been enrolled in the Mavericks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AUTHORISATION Keynucleardealbreakthrough:USclears firmtobuildanddesignn-reactorsinIndia Subject to IAEA safeguards, Holtec can transfer tech to L&T, Tata, subsidiary ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, MARCH 29 TWO DECADES after it was inked, decks have been cleared to tap the commercial potential of the India-US civil nuclear deal with an unprecedented regulatory clearance from the US Department of Energy (DoE) that will allow a US company to build and design nuclear reactors in India. The March 26 approval from DoEclearedHoltecInternational’s applicationforspecificauthorisationwithrespecttotherestrictive regulation that is referred to as PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Feb. File “10CFR810”. (Part 810 of Title 10, CodeofFederalRegulationsofthe US Atomic Energy Act of 1954). This authorisation permits CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED Avenues What next after ● the OK HOLTEC COULD explore a collaboration with TCE, one of India’s largest consulting engineering firms in power sector, and partner with L&T to make some of the components for the upcoming nuclear plants here. In due course, Holtec said it hopes to work with the two state-owned entities authorised to operate nuclear power plants in India, NPCIL and NTPC, as potential customers and operators of the SMR-160 reactors. Trade deal: First tranche by Fall, but no relief yet on reciprocal tariffs Terms of Reference still being discussed RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, MARCH 29 THE FOUR-DAY India-US trade talks concluded Saturday with substantial convergence on the contours of a trade deal but without finalising the Terms of Reference (ToR), a document that kickstarts negotiations by defining the scope and objectives of a bilateral trade agree- ment (BTA), a government official told The Indian Express. In a statement after the talks, India’s Commerce and Industry Ministry said the talks ended with a “broad understanding” of thenextstepstowardsabilateral trade agreement both countries aimtosignbyFall.It,however,did notindicatewhethertherewould be any relaxation on President Donald Trump’s decision to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MARCH 29 WITH THE death toll in Myanmar rising to 1,644 a day after a 7.7-magnitude earthquakehitthecountryandneighbouring Thailand, India on Saturday launched Operation Brahma to aid rescue and relief work, pitching in with tonnes of ration, tents, medicines, sleeping bags, rescue teams and equipment, canine squad and a fully functional field hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Senior General MinAungHlaing,whoheadsthe military-led government in Myanmar, on Saturday morning — his first call with the military leader since the February 2021 coup there. “Spoke with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar. Conveyedourdeepcondolences at the loss of lives in the devastating earthquake. As a close friend and neighbour, India standsinsolidaritywiththepeople of Myanmar in this difficult hour,” Modi posted on X. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is expected to join the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok next week, which Modi is attending.Under Operation Brahma, which officials said is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JUSTICE VARMA INCIDENT NEW DELHI, MARCH 29 RAJYA SABHA MP and Supreme Court Bar Association president KapilSibalhassaidthetopcourt’s decisiontomakepublicaninternal inquiry report in the Justice Yashwant Varma episodesetsa“dangerous precedent”. Justice Varma has beenatthecentreof a storm ever since If you put out things in public domain, the institution has already lost: Sibal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAOISTS KILLED IN BASTAR 937 killedin more than11years 134 A specialised medical task force of the Indian Army prepares to depart for Myanmar to assist in rescue operations. PTI JAGPREETSINGHSANDHU CHANDIGARH, MARCH 29 A SPECIAL CBI court here on Saturday acquitted former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nirmal Yadav, who has since retired, and three others in the ‘cash-at-judge’s door’ case dating back to 2008. While five persons were accused in the case, one has since died. The Court of Special CBI Judge Alka Malik pronounced Justice Nirmal Yadav retired in March 2011 the verdict on Saturday. A detailed order is yet to be released by the court. Speaking to reporters after theverdict,JusticeYadavsaidshe had finally been vindicated. “Judiciary is really fair, of course it has taken a long time, maybe due to many reasons... but now it is done,” she said. ThecasedatesbacktoAugust 13,2008,whenRs15lakhincash was allegedly delivered at the residenceof anotherthenPunjab and Haryana HC judge, Justice NirmaljitKaur,whoisalsoretired now. It was alleged that the cash was meant for Justice Yadav, but was wrongly delivered at the other judge’s residence due to their similar-sounding names. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CHHATTISGARH 217 112 Raipur Kanker 117 69 65 51 47 40 30 35 20 Narayanpur Bijapur Dantewada Sukma ASENIORMaoistleaderinvolved in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack, in which several Congress leaders were killed, was among 18 Maoists gunned down in two encounters in Sukma and Bijapur districts of south Chhattisgarh on Saturday, officials said. Kudhami Jagdish alias Badhura, a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, the highest statelevel committee in Chhattisgarh of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), was also in SC releasing internal probe report ‘Cash-at-Judge’s door’: Former HC sets dangerous precedent: Sibal Judge acquitted, says judiciary fair EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE 134 Maoists killed in state since start of year, including 117 in Bastar region BASTAR, MARCH 29 SPECIAL CBI COURT DECISION IN 2008 CASE cash was allegedly found at his New Delhi home during a fire on March 14 and has been transferred from the Delhi High Court to his parent High Court in Allahabad. The Supreme Court on March 22 announced a threemember Committee comprising Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia, and Karnataka High Court Top Maoist leader among 18 killed in two encounters in Chhattisgarh JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU Myanmar quake toll over 1,600, India sends relief, rescue teams DIVYA A FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025* DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA *Till March 29; Source:Chhattisgarh Police chargeoftheDarbhadivisionand carried a bounty of Rs 25 lakh. The Jhiram Ghati attack had left 32 people, including state Congress leaders Mahendra Karma, Nand Kumar Patel, Uday Mudliyar and Vidya Charan Shukla, dead. “He was also the mastermind of the 2023 Aranpur IED blast in which 10 DRG jawans and a civilian driver were killed,” said an official. Jagdish, aged around 40, has a lengthy criminal record, with a senior official claiming his involvement in over 100 killings of security personnel, civilians and politicians. He hailed from Dantewada and was a key CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Gujarat HC quotes Pink Floyd verse, quashes unadjudicated show-cause notices of Customs Dept The special application sought quashing of the notices issued almost 15 years ago ADITI RAJA VADODARA, MARCH 29 QUOTING A verse from the 1973 Pink Floyd number ‘Time’, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court, recently, set aside two “unadjudicated”showcausenotices issued in 2010 and 2011 by the Customs Department to a company engaged in manufacture and export of dyes and chemicals. The order of the HC division bench comprising Justice Bhargav Karia and Justice D N Ray, delivered on March 7 and uploadedonMarch25,beginsby quoting the Roger Waters- penned verse of the British rock band, “And then one day you find ten years have got behind you... No one told you when to run, You missed the starting gun...” as it goes into the merits of the special civil application filed by Rohan Dyes and Intermediates Limited seeking quashing of the two show-cause notices issued by the Customs Department close to 15 years ago. Accordingtothecase,thepetitioning company had undertaken the export of “Synthetic organicdyesAcidBlack-210”under two shipping bills dated September 14, 2009, from the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Covid is past but it future-proofs this Jharkhand control room for migrants PAGE 1 ANCHOR HIMANSHU HARSH PATNA, MARCH 29 IN DECEMBER, a video of Jharkhand migrants narrating their plight in Cameroon went viral. In it, 47 migrants recruited by a Mumbai-based construction engineering company to install power lines in the central African country highlighted the months of exploitation and mistreatment they suffered — right from unpaid wages and inade- quate food and water to threats from their employer. The SOS video caused outrage, leading the State Migrant Control Room (SMCR) of Jharkhand to launch a rescue missionincoordinationwiththe Indian and Cameroon governments to repatriate the workers in three phases until the first week of January. Launched by the Jharkhand government on March 27, 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemicasacrisishelpline,the SMCR of today is more than a control room: it is a single point access for everything pertaining to Jharkhand migrants, both do- mestic and international. From conducting rescue missions to providing legal aid, skill training and supporting migrants’ families, the SMCR does it all. “It began as a 24x7 helpline for lockdown-hit workers but has since become a one-stop solution to address the concerns of migrant workers and their families. In the last five years, we have handled over 11 lakh calls and resolved 66,831 cases,” says Shikha Lakra, head of Jharkhand’s State Migrant Control Room — a body under the state’s Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development. Eleven workers rescued from Cameroon were brought back to Jharkhand on December 29. X/ @migrantcell_JH In 2023-24, for instance, the SMCR not only brought back 74 Jharkhand workers from Cameroon but also helped them recover Rs 69.77 lakh in unpaid dues. “They were further enrolled in state welfare schemes tosecuretheirfuturelivelihood,” Lakra says. With 11 helplines — six landlines and five WhatsApp numbers — SMCR provides migrant workers and their families around-the-clock counselling, legal guidance, and help with labour law violations. “The lines are multilingual, offering help in Hindi as well as localdialectssuchasSanthaliand Angika. In addition, one can also register their grievances with us via email or Twitter,” she says. Apart from spearheading rescueoperations,theSMCRalso deals with trafficking, child labour and bonded labour cases and helps migrants tackle wage disputes. “It’s also a hub for information on labour laws and government schemes for migrants and unorganised workers,” Lakra says, adding that its skill training programmes are tailored to suit market demands. The Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative (SRMI), launched under the SMCR in December 2021, is aimed at increasing social security and welfare coverage for migrant workers. “It systematically registers migrant workers, monitors their data, and conducts awareness campaigns about safe migration practices,” Lakra says. So far, the SMCR helpline has some 13 lakh registrations — 10.47 lakh people logged during COVID and more than 2 lakh since then. Typically, after a migrant worker registers his grievance through the helpline numbers, employees at the SMCR contact CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad