eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE The Flop Thickens JAIPUR,LATECITY APRIL20,2025 Response to Sikandar and latest industry figures show Bollywood’s slide continues 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA PUTIN DECLARES EASTER CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE ISRAELI STRIKES KILL MORE THAN 90 PEOPLE IN GAZA VANCE AND VATICAN HOLD KEY TALKS AFTER CRITICISM P 10 EXPRESS NETWORK INDIAN STUDENT SHOT DEAD AT BUS STOP IN ONTARIO PAGE 4 NEGOTIATORS TO DRAW UP ‘REALISTIC’ ROADMAP FOR INTERIM DEAL WITH U.S. In tariff shadow, trade talks gather pace, team visits US April 23, Goyal in UK in May From tariffs to rules of origin, 19 chapters being negotiated with US Team to US will be led by Rajesh Agrawal, Addl Secy, Commerce RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 TRADE TALKS with Western countries, particularly, the United States and the United Kingdom, have gathered pace with a negotiating team headed to Washington DC next week to push through an interim deal, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal set to visit the UK to iron out the remaining differences. Indian negotiators preparing for a three-day visit beginning April 23 to the US to draw up a “realistic 90-day roadmap” to clinch an interim agreement CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED THE WORLD WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Trump tariffs & ● trade deals THE TRUMP tariffs, and the radical changes in US trade policy, have prompted India to push through trade agreements with not just the US, but also with the UK and the European Union. The 90-day tariff pause is being used to at least conclude an interim deal with the US. Talks with UK in final stages, no new round RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 WITHIN A month of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visiting the UK, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to meet his counterpart in London next month, as trade talks are progressing “well”, a senior government official said on Saturday. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal “Thenegotiationsfortheproposed free trade agreement between India and the UK are progressingtowardsthefinalstages. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MP INVOKES ‘SAVARNA’ BENCH, NJAC NEED After BJP’s Dubey says CJI behind ‘civil wars’, Nadda: Told him not to make such remarks BJP respects judiciary, integral part of democracy, strong pillar, says Nadda VIKAS PATHAK & LIZ MATHEW 58-YEAR-OLD ABDUCTED, KILLED After latest murder, Delhi slams Dhaka: ‘Persecution of Hindu minorities’ Victim taken from home, sent back assaulted, unconscious: Daily Star SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 DAYS AFTER a Hindu community leader in Bangladesh was killed, the Ministry of External Affairs Saturday strongly condemned his alleged abduction and murder and said it follows a “pattern of systematic persecution” of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal urged the interim government in Dhaka to “live up to its responsibility” of protecting minorities without “inventing excuses.” AccordingtoBangladeshmedia reports, the man has been identified as Bhabesh Chandra Roy, 58, and he was the vicepresident of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishadandaprominentleader of the Hindu community in the area. The Parishad mobilises members of the community across Bangladesh for religious festivals. Theincidenthappenedinthe Dinajpur area near the border between northern Bangladesh andnorthBengal,morethan300 km away from Dhaka. Dhaka-basednewspaperThe Daily Star reported that Roy was allegedly abducted from his home and beaten to death Thursday afternoon, according to police and family members. “Police recovered Bhabesh's body around 10 pm…His wife, Shantana Roy, told The Daily Star thatBhabesh was at homeinthe afternoon when he received a phone call around 4.30 pm. She claimedthecallwasmadebythe perpetratorstoconfirmhispresence at home. Approximately 30 minutes later, four men arrived on two motorcycles and allegedly abducted Bhabesh from the premises. Witnesses reported seeing thementakehimtoNarabarivillage, where he was brutally assaulted,” the report said. Laterthatevening,thereport said,theattackerssentanunconscious Roy back to his home in a van. Family members, with the help of locals, rushed him to the local health centre from where he was transferred to Dinajpur CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DELHI POLICE COMMISSIONER, DCP TESTIFY NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 HOURS AFTER BJP MP Nishikant Dubey launched a strong attack on the Supreme Court, saying Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna was responsible for “all civil wars in the country”, party president J P Nadda on Saturday said the BJP “completely rejected” these remarks and warnedagainstsuchstatements. Earlier in the day, Dubey posted his ANI video clip on X in which, while responding to a question on the Waqf law and the recent violence in West Bengal, he says: “Is desh mein jitne grih yuddha ho rahe hain unke zimmedar kewal yahaan ke Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna Sahab hain (CJI Sanjiv Khannaisresponsibleforallcivil wars in this country).” He also criticised the SupremeCourt'srecentdecisions — on red-flagging aspects of the FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT BJP MP Nishikant Dubey; party chief J P Nadda Waqf lawandsuggestingitcould staythem,andsettingatimeline for the President to clear Bills. Underlining that it is the Parliamentwhichmakeslaws,he said in a post on X: “Kanoon yadi Supreme Court hi banayega to Sansad Bhavan bandh kar dena chahiye (If the Supreme Court makes the law, then Parliament House should be closed).” Hours later, in a post on X at night, Nadda distanced the BJP from Dubey's remarks. “The BJP has nothing to do with the statements made by BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 11 KILLED IN DELHI BUILDING COLLAPSE Eleven people, including eight members of the family of a 2020 Delhi riots victim, were killed when a four-storey residential building collapsed in Dayalpur, in Mustafabad area of Northeast Delhi, on Saturday. Praveen Khanna REPORT,PAGE5 Dalit youth in Sikar accuses two of ‘unnatural sex, urinating on him’; police say probe on HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, APRIL 19 A 19-YEAR-OLD Dalit youth in Sikar has accused two men of committing“unnaturalsex”,urinating on him, assaulting him and using casteist slurs. According to the FIR, the alleged incident took place on April 8, but an FIR was lodged on April 16, with the complainant saying it took him this long because he was “scared” and the duo had allegedly recorded videos of their acts. Thepolice,however,claimed anindependentwitnesslaterdeniedknowledgeof theboybeing urinated on or of a video being recorded. “He also said that the boydidnottellhimaboutunnatural sex, but only of assault,” DeputySuperintendentof Police Arvind Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said. AccordingtotheFIR,theDalit man's family was attending a wedding at the time of the incident. “When the DJ came near the wedding home, I too left my house to watch it. On my way, I was stopped by (the accused), who asked me to accompany CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Dargah razing: Nashik civic body had Loudspeaker in hand, Bose tours said part of area ‘earmarked for Pir’ Bengal areas hit by Waqf violence ZEESHAN SHAIKH MUMBAI, APRIL 19 RAVIK BHATTACHARYA THE DEMOLITION of a dargah in Nashik, which spiralled into violence this week, came despite a strong pushback from the Maharashtra Waqf Tribunal and thecivicbodyitself acknowledging that the dargah has existed for decades. LocatedinNashik’sKatheGalli and nestled among several residentialbuildings,thedecades-old Hazrat Saatpeer Sayed Baba Dargah stood on a large tract of land with seven graves believed to be of Sufi saints. ARMED WITH a handheld loudspeaker, Bengal Governor C V AnandaBosetouredthecommunal violence-hit Dhulian and Samsergunj areas of MurshidabaddistrictonSaturdaywitha message: “Ab se karwahi hogi ( action will be taken).” “I have seen what has happened here. I have heard your demandsandfeltthesenseof insecurity in your minds. Will do whatever is possible,” said the SAMSHERGUNJ, APRIL 19 The dargah was demolished on April 16. File On April 16, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), which had earlier declared the dargah illegal, began a demolition drive there, triggering CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Justice Varma case: Officials confirm cash, panel asked why not seized, why clip erased Officials said ‘due process’ was alerting seniors; video was erased so that it ‘does not fall into wrong hands’ MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, APRIL 19 DURING THEIR appearance beforethethree-judgeinquirypanel to explain the March 14 fire at Delhi High Court judge Justice YashwantVarma’sresidence,two key questions, were asked of Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora; DCP (New Delhi district) Devesh Mahala; and the first responders: why no action was taken to seize the cash; and whyavideoclipwasdeletedfrom the first responders’ phones. In their response, The Sunday Express has learned, the inquiry committee was told that no FIR was lodged in the matter and, A video released by the SC in March shows burnt cash at Justice Varma’s house hence, the cash wasn’t seized, but “due process” was followed by the police personnel who CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT & POLITICS WAQF LAW: MUSLIM PERSONAL BOARD, AIMIM RALLY PARTIES IN HYDERABAD West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose addresses people in Dhulian, Murshidabad district, on Saturday. Partha Paul PAGE 7 Before Europe gold, ‘Georgi Georgian’ won bull, tractor in India dangals PAGE 1 ANCHOR MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, APRIL 19 TO THE rest of the world, he is a heavyweight superstar from Azerbaijan. Across India’s fabled mud pits, though, he’s simply “GeorgiGeorgian”.NotthatGiorgi Meshvildishvili,whochangedhis nationality, would mind. Earlier this month, Giorgi was crowned European champion in the 125-kg freestyle cat- egory.Thecontinentalgoldcame months after he won a bronze at the Paris Olympics. And while he is still basking in the afterglow of the two medals, the 32-year-old can’t stop gushing about the other prizes he’s won in India -- a tractor, a bull and a Bullet motorcycle. “Very, very special,” he says. Beforehefoundhiswaytointernational podiums, Giorgi cut his teeth on mud pits in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. “I came to India three times and my experience was very, very nice,” Giorgi tells The Indian Express. “The dangals were extraordinary. I played against Jassa Patti, Sikandar (Sheikh) and Pritpal (Phagwara)… all of them very, very strong.” Jaskanwar Singh Gill, known as Jassa Patti in the wrestling fraternity,has,overtheyears,earned sobriquets like “modern-day Dara Singh” and “Virat Kohli of mudwrestling”.SikandarSheikh and Pritpal are also two of the strongest grapplers on the mud. Less than a fortnight ago, the wrestling fraternity watched in awe as Giorgi lifted Georgia’s SolomonManashvili—weighing 125 kg — from the waist, lifted UWW Giorgi Meshvildishvili after winning the European wrestling champion in Slovakia earlier this month; with Jaskanwar Singh Gill, aka Jassa Patti, before a dangal in Punjab. Jaipur himoverhishead,andslammed him on the mat. The move, executed in desperation with just seven seconds left in the final, helped Giorgi win the European Championshipgoldmedalinthe most dramatic manner. The world may only have been acquainted with Giorgi’s brute power in the last few months. But around the rustic world of dangals across India, ‘GiorgiGeorgian’s’strengthisthe stuff of legendsandhasbeencelebrated for years. His first visit to India was in 2016 when he competed in Dilawarpur, a village in Punjab. Sincethen,he’scompetedatvarious dangals across Punjab, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. Golu Pehelwan, who runs an academyinMullanpur,brokered Giorgi'sfirstappearanceinIndia. “Wrestlingisaclosecommunity. One of my coaches had taken some of our junior wrestlers to Georgia for an exposure camp. There, he met Giorgi and told him about the dangal culture back home. He got interested and we extended an invitation to him,” Golu recalls. Back then, Giorgi was an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2