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 WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 The North Star in Tweak in Jal Jeevan tender rule removed cap Indian astrophysics, on expense, led to Rs 16,000-crore extra cost he was ahead of his Bulk of escalation in projects of Rs 100 cr time — and space and above; cost rise across states, UTs; COST AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION 21/05/2025 108 136 168 78 SCHEMES MP, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh top three HARIKISHAN SHARMA BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NEW DELHI, MAY 20 ON MONDAY, the Government issued an order for 100 inspection teams to fan out across 135 districts in 29 states and Union Territories to review the work being carried out under its flagship Jal Jeevan Mission for supplying drinking water through individualtapconnectionstoru- ral households — amid concerns within the administration over cost overruns and alleged lapses in award of tenders. An investigation by The Indian Express of the data uploaded by states and UTs in the JalJeevanMissiondashboardhas revealed that a crucial change in thetenderguidelinesthreeyears ago lifted the check on expenditure, and led to cost escalations. This resulted in additional OVERRUNS `1,000 cr & above `500 cr-`999 cr `100 cr-`499 cr `50 cr-`99 cr `25 cr- `50 cr Below `25 cr 24 33 133 92 165 14,139 ESTIMATED COST (` CR)* 34,421 18,362 27,784 6,028 5,254 23,620 DISCOVERED COST (` CR)** 40,312 22,212 31,274 6,590 5,683 26,235 COST HIKE 17% 21% 13% 9% 8% 11% Working with legendary Fred Hoyle to setting up IUCAA, Jayant Narlikar nurtured, inspired next generation *Estimated cost is arrived at by govt before project is bid out; **Discovered cost is final cost approved by govt coststotallingRs16,839crorefor 14,586 schemes — an increase of 14.58 per cent from their estimated cost. Before a tender is issued for a scheme, the govern- ment arrives at the estimated cost by adding various project costs including material and labour. Over the past month, The IndianExpressscrutiniseddetails of over1lakhschemesforwhich work orders were issued on or after June 21, 2022, when the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ALL-PARTY TEAMS BRIEFED BY MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Ashoka prof sent to judicial custody until May 27; SC to hear plea today AliKhan Mahmudabad SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, MAY 20 A COURT in Sonipat on Tuesday sent Ali Khan Mahmudabad, associateprofessorandheadof the Department of Political Science at Ashoka University, to judicial custodyuntilthenexthearingon May 27. Mahmudabad was arrested onSundayforremarksheposted on social media that, an FIR alleged, “disparaged women officers in the Indian Armed Forces and promoted communal disharmony”. The Supreme Court is set to hear his plea challenging the arrest on Wednesday. The top court'scauselistshowedabench comprising Justices Surya Kant andNKSinghwillbehearingthe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 STATEMENT AGAINST PROF: JNU, GUJARAT UNIV V-CS AMONG SIGNATORIES PAGE 9 Countering Pak, exposing its terror, India’s Indus stand: Teams fan out Govt reaches out to Mamata and Uddhav; TMC to send Abhishek Delegations head abroad to meet govts, think tanks, academics, civil society, media DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & ASAD REHMAN NEW DELHI, MAY 20 MANOJ C G MOVING TO rally global support forIndia’swaragainstterroremanatingfromPakistan,members of the all-party delegations — three teams start their foreign visits Wednesday — will seek to dispel Pakistani misinformation on Operation Sindoor, expose Islamabad’s duplicity on countering terror, explain India’s standontheIndusWatersTreaty andunderlinethecountry’s‘new normal’inresponsetocross-border terrorism. Threedelegations,headedby JDU’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde and DMK’s Kanimozhi, were briefed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Tuesday. They were told that they will have back-to-back meetings with people from the government(Ministers,MPsand other lawmakers), think tanks, academics, journalists, civil society and others. A DAY after the Trinamool Congress(TMC)saiditwouldnot sendLokSabhaMPYusuf Pathan, pickedbytheCentreasoneof the members for the all-party delegations visiting foreign capitals, sayingithadnotbeenconsulted, Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s Diamond Harbour MP and de facto second-in-command, was added to a delegation. Abhishek replaces Pathan in the group headed by the JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha. The delegation will travel to Indonesia, Malaysia,SouthKorea,Japanand Singapore. CPI(M) MP John Brittas,BJPMPAparajitaSarangi, and Congress leader Salman Khurshid are among the other members of the group. Theparty’schangeofheartreportedlycameafterUnionParliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju spoke to TMC chairperson CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MAY 20 Army personnel along the Line of Control near Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. PTI Delegations good move… members to convey govt stand: Chidambaram NEETA SHARMA NEW DELHI, MAY 20 REFLECTING THE friction within the Congress over the stand to take on different aspects of Operation Sindoor, senior party leader and former Union home minister P Chidambaram has said he welcomes the govern- THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW FULLINTERVIEWON WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ment decision to send all-party delegations to foreign capitals to explain India’s position. While the Congress has objected to the government picking the delegates on its own, Chidambaram underlined that the teams were therenottorepresentanyparty’s stand but the government’s. In an interview with CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SG: Waqf secular concept… property Maharashtra govt accords dedication common across religions permanent guest status to CJI; circular lists protocol SC flags need for ‘glaring case’ to stay law What is APURVA VISHWANATH SIXPEOPLE,includingaone-anda-half-year-oldgirlwerekilledand atleastsixotherswereinjuredafter a concrete slab came crashing down from the top floor of a ground-plus-four-storeyresidential building in Kalyan East on Tuesday. The structure was evacuatedandfamilieswereshiftedto ashelterinanearbyschool. According to officials, the incidentwasreportedaround2pm IN A note Tuesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court, which began hearingthechallengeagainstthe amendments to the Waqf Act, that “waqf, by its very nature, is a secularconcept”andthatthelaw does not touch upon any essentialreligiouspracticesofMuslims. “Itmaybenotedthatwaqf,by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED NEW DELHI, MAY 20 before the ● top court THE SC is hearing pleas seeking an interim stay of the Waqf law till the court can decide on its constitutional validity. While the SC has been cautious of staying a law, it stayed the three farm laws in 2021. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, MAY 20 TWO DAYS after Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai expressed his disappointment at the absence of senior state officials at a felicitation event held in his honour during his first visit to the state after taking office, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday accorded “permanent guest” status to the CJI. In a circular issued by the state government, it chalked out the protocol to be followed by the state administration and officers during CJI’s visit to Maharashtra.Thecircularissued by the General Administration Department headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BAR PASSES RESOLUTION PAGE 7 1938-2025 AMITABH SINHA NEW DELHI, MAY 20 BIG BANG is an exploding myth, read the sign outside his room. It was also a sort of theme song for the person inside. ForJayantNarlikar,theestablishedtheoryabouthowtheuniverse came into being, through a Big Bang about 13.8 billion years ago, was never really a settled issue. Narlikar,whohadcontributed immensely to the development ofanalternativemodeloftheuniversealongwithhismentorFred Hoyle, passed away Tuesday morning in Pune. He was 87. Ailing for some time, he had had afalltwoweeksagoandhadtobe operated upon last week. One of the most celebrated Indian scientists, Narlikar, then a young researcher at Cambridge University in the UK, had attracted global recognition for his work on what is known as the steady-state theory of the universe, developed by Hoyle, in collaboration with Hermann Bondi and Thomas Gold. TheBigBangtheorysuggests that the universe has a definite beginning,andapossibleend.In contrast, the steady state theory, INSIDE M R SRINIVASAN, VETERAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST, DIES AT 95 PAGE 8 which was the mainstream theory in the 1950s and 1960s, maintains that the universe has always been the way it is, withoutanybeginningoranend.The idea has become less popular over time, with mounting evidencethatsupportstheBigBang theory. But Narlikar remained unconvinced. Acknowledging that he was in a small minority, he argued in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGES 8, 11 Ahead of local body polls, Bhujbal returns to Maharashtra cabinet EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Toddler among 6 killed as slab crashes in Thane its very nature, is a secular concept.Thisissosincewaqf merely means dedication of property,” Mehta stated in a 145-page note submitted to the Court. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice Augustine G Masih that began hearing the batch of petitions seeking an interim stay on the amendments observed that “a very strong and glaring case” is needed to pause the operation JAYANT NARLIKAR NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, MAY 20 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, MAY 20 MARKING THE return of an experienced politician, who has carved an identify as OBC leader of Maharashtra and India, NationalistCongressParty(NCP) senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal, 77,wassworn-inasstatecabinet minister on Tuesday. Governor CPRadhakrishnanadministered the oath of office to Bhujbal at the Raj Bhavan, even as the Opposition criticised the Mahayuti for inducting him after calling him “corrupt”. TheinductionofBhujbalinthe three-partycoalitiongovernment comes ahead of the crucial local body elections in the state this year. The Supreme Court has directed the State Election Commissiontocompletetheelec- NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal comes out of Raj Bhavan after taking oath as minister on Tuesday. Ganesh Shirsekar tion process within four months. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “We welcome Bhujbaltothecabinet.Bhujbalis a senior and experienced leader whohasalwayschampionedthe OBC cause. His presence in the cabinet will be beneficial.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 At new National Museum, plans for glass dome inspired by the Louvre PAGE 1 ANCHOR DIVYA A NEW DELHI, MAY 20 THE UPCOMING Yuge Yugeen National Museum will have a massive glass dome as its central feature. On the lines of the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the dome, the first point of entry to the National Museum, will function as a holding area for visitors, with ticketing counters, souvenir shops, photo booths and cafes, The Indian Express has learnt. While the iconic Louvre Pyramid is a landmark in Paris, the Louvre in Abu Dhabi has a glass dome. Sources said the Indian government, which has tied up with French Museums Development (FMD) for the project, is keen on a similar glass structure for the new National Museum. The museum, expected to overtake the Louvre in Paris as the “largest museum in the world” once it's ready, is a key part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. The glass dome is set to come up at a suitable point in the vicinity of the North and South Blocks, which currently house several key government offices, includ- ing the Prime Minister's Office, and the Home, Defence and Finance Ministries. “With a planned surface area of 155,000 sqm, the museum is among the largest ongoing museum projects globally. France was invited to share its expertise as exemplified in several outstanding projects such as the Grand Louvre, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and the Grand Palais,” an official from the French Embassy in New Delhi told The Indian Express. The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, alargeglass-and-metalentrance way that stands in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace, came up in 1989 as part of the Grand Louvre project. The dis- The glass dome is set to come up at a suitable point in the vicinity of the North and South Blocks. Tashi Tobgyal tinctive dome of the Louvre in AbuDhabi,designedbyarchitect Jean Nouvel and inaugurated in 2017, is known for its "rain of light" effect. Sources said the dome at the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum will blend with the theme of the museum: “5,000 years of Indian civilisation”. In December last year, India and France signed an agreement on the “adaptive reuse” of the North and South Blocks – that is, the buildings would be repurposed for the museum project without demolishing them. Sources said the Indian side wants to expedite the museum project. The project will be im- plemented in two phases — the first involves the retrofitting of North Block into a museum space, with an estimated deadline of June 2026. Sources said the mapping of North Block has already been done in consultation with FMD and the building is expected to be free for retrofitting activities in three months. The plan is to get South Block too vacated this year. Sources said the PMO will be the first department to move outof SouthBlockbeforetheend of this year. Officials said objects from the National Museum will be moved from their current location at Janpath only when the new building is ready to host them. “The focus is now on finalising the content and exhibition design for the new project. The museum will be built as a single, coherent narrative and not separate fragmented galleries,” a source said. Once North Block is vacated, the Central Public Works Department(CPWD)willrestore the structure to its original state by removing all the additional walls,partitionsandceilingsthat came up over the decades. Records show North Block had around 400 rooms when the BritishinauguratedNewDelhiin 1931, but over the years, partitions were added and the number of rooms doubled.