DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2025, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NATO CHIEF THREATENED SANCTIONS OVER RUSSIA TRADE Securing our energy needs overriding priority for us: Govt on NATO warning E BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SHUBHAJIT ROY & SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, JULY 17 IN A sharply-worded response to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’swarningthatcountrieslike India,ChinaandBrazilcouldbehit veryhardbysecondarysanctionsif theycontinuedtodobusinesswith Russia, the Ministry of External AffairsThursdaycautionedagainst “doublestandards”andunderlined that“securingtheenergyneedsof our people is understandably an overridingpriorityforus”. Also Thursday, a day after Rutte’s remark, Petroleum MinisterHardeepSinghPurisaid he didn’t “feel any pressure”, making clear that India does not see any oil supply disruption if itsRussiancrudeimportsgetimpacted because the country has diverse sources of oil and there is enough supply available in the market. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “We have seen reports on the subject and are closely following the developments. Let me reiterate that se- EXPLAINED Guard against double standards, says MEA; feel no pressure: Minister Puri Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI Amid effortsto ● sealdeal THE NATO chief’s warning comes at a time when Delhi and Washington are working to seal an interim trade deal before the pause on reciprocal tariff ends on August 1. Geopolitical shifts, freight economics and refinery economics will shape India’s crude sourcing decisions and diversification strategy. curing the energy needs of our people is understandably an overriding priority for us. In this endeavour, we are guided by what is on offer in the markets, and by the prevailing global circumstances. We would particularly caution against any double standards on the matter.” He was responding to Rutte who,whilespeakingtoreporters after meeting US senators Wednesday, said, “If you are the President of China, the Prime Minister of India, or the President of Brazil, and you continue to trade with Russia and buy their oil and gas, then you know: if the man in Moscow doesn’t take the (Ukraine war) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PRATIBHA SETU SCHEME UPSC opens window for those not in final civil services list, posts details for pvt jobs ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, JULY 17 FOR 32-YEAR-OLD Arun K, coming really close to qualifying in the Civil Services Examination, the most rigorous professional test in the country, was of little consolation. Having exhausted all his chances and a better part of his youth in trying to qualify, he was left with the same predicament faced by a majority of those who appear for this exam: belatedly starting professional life from scratch.Despitebeingoverqualified, he took up the only job that he managed to land after a desperate search – as an entry-level administrativeassistantinapublicschoolontheoutskirtsofDelhi. Untilhegotaphonecallfrom a Delhi-based corporate, which was fully updated about how he had fared in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinationandevaluatedhimfor hisveryprettysolidrecordinthe penultimatestagesof thatexam, while taking into consideration hisMastersdegree,toeventually employ him at a mid-seniority grade and a salary that was multiples of what he was getting at the localschool. Thejobposition at the new employer was more in sync with his academic qualifications, and duly acknowledged his performance in what is regarded as the toughest qualifying examination in India. And for this, he has to thank an initiative of the UPSC called the Public Disclosure Scheme (PDS), through which the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Tablighi Jamaat ‘Covid’ case: Delhi HC quashes charges against 70 SOHINI GHOSH NEW DELHI, JULY 17 MORE THAN five years after the Tablighi Jamaat was accused of spreading Covid by organising an international congregation in Delhi, the Delhi High Court Thursday quashed charges in 16 FIRsandchargesheetsfiledinrelated cases involving 70 Indian citizens. Justice Neena BansalKrishna told the open court that proceedings stand quashed. The 70 named as accused across 16 FIRs were charged primarily under sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, for allegedly accommodating foreign nationals in mosques and their homesduringthe pandemic from March 24-30, 2020. The FIRs had also listed 195 foreign nationals but they were not named as accused in most chargesheets — the magistrate court did not take cognizance of the remaining chargesheets on theprincipleof doublejeopardy. The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch initially registered an FIR under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, and IPC sections 188, 269, 270, 120-B and 271, along with provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005, against seven Indians. The Crime Branch then filed 48 chargesheets and 11 supplementarychargesheets,including under Section 14(b) of the ForeignersAct,1946,against955 foreign nationals, of whom 908 entered plea bargains before the magistrate court. Eight of them weredischargedinAugust2020, and 36 others acquitted in December 2020. No action was taken against three others who CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GURGAON LAND DEAL ED names Vadra in chargesheet, attaches 43 properties linked to him and others Extension of political witch hunt: Vadra MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, JULY 17 THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate, probing an alleged money laundering case linked to a land deal in Gurgaon’s Shikohpur, filed a chargesheet Thursday naming Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as an accused. The chargesheet was filed a day after the probe agency attached43immovableproperties linked to Robert Vadra and his entities including M/s Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and others. In a statement Thursday, Vadra’s office maintained that the present proceedings were “nothing more than an extension of the political witch hunt by the present government” against Vadra. “Vadra is aware of reports suggesting that the Directorate of Enforcement has filed a Prosecution Complaint naming him as an accused before the Rouse Avenue Courts, Delhi. As the Court is yet to even take cognizance of the matter, he has not had the opportunity to examine the Prosecution Complaint. As a law-abiding Indian citizen, he has always and will continue to extend his fullest cooperation to the authorities and he is confident that at the end of it all, the truth will prevail and he will be clearedof anywrongdoing.Heis ED probe based on FIR registered on Sept 1, 2018 looking forward to the opportunity to defend himself and clear his name in Court,” it stated. The ED, an official said, after completing its investigation, filed a prosecution complaint in theRouseAvenueCourtsagainst 11 individuals/entities. Vadra, his entities including M/s Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and others, Satyanand Yajee and Kewal Singh Virk includingtheir entity M/s Onkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd, have been arrayedasaccused,theofficialsaid. Cognizance of the prosecution complaint – the equivalent of a chargesheet filed by police – is yet to be taken by the court. The ED investigation was based on an FIR, registered on September 1, 2018 by Gurgaon police, alleging fraudulent purchase of 3.53 acres of land situated in village Shikohpur, Sector 83, Gurgaon by Vadra through his entity M/s Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd from M/s Onkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd on February 12, 2008. “The probe revealed that a commercial licence was alsoobtained by Vadra on the land through his personal influence. A provisional attachment order CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AKASH PRIME(D) IN LADAKH ‘Surge in demand for domicile certificates Five gunmen walk into Patna suggests presence of hospital, shoot murder convict many immigrants’ India on Wednesday successfully test fired indigenously developed Akash Prime missile in Ladakh, customised to operate at an altitude above 4,500 metres, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. PTI Online curation systems unlike newspapers: Govt on safe Attackers flee on motorcycles; police say may be rival gang harbour call SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, JULY 17 Solicitor General Tushar Mehta WITH the publication of the first draft of the electoral rolls after the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive just a week away, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and seniorBJPleaderSamratChoudhary addresses the concerns over it, particularly regarding Bihar residentsworkingoutsidethestate, andsaysspecialattentionshould be paid to Kishanganj district. Excerpts from an interview: APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, JULY 17 DEFENDING ITS decision to lower the “safe harbour” protections for Internet intermediaries and social media platforms, and remove content through the SahyogPortal,theCentretoldthe Karnataka High Court Thursday that algorithmic curation systems fundamentally differ from editorial processes in traditional media. “Unlike a newspaper editor’s consciousjudgmentoraTVproducer’s schedule, these automated decisions occur at massive scale and at lightning speed, often without transparent standards,” the government said in its submissions. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘BJP iscomfortable,wehave52,000booth levelagentsinBihar,willadd10,000more’ A CCTV grab of the gunmen inside Patna’s Paras Hospital on Thursday morning HIMANSHU HARSH PATNA, JULY 17 A MAN from Buxar, who faced several murder cases and was out on parole, was shot dead inside Patna’s Paras Hospital on Thursday morning, police said. The incident has triggered a renewed political storm about law and order in the election-bound state. Police sources said five men, all carrying guns, shot 36-yearold Chandan Mishra in his hospitalroomat7.15ambeforefleeing on motorcycles. “Buxar district’s notorious criminal, Chandan Mishra, who was out on parole for treatment, was attacked inside the hospital premises. The attackers are suspected to be members of a rival gang, or possibly Mishra’s own associates involved in a gang-relateddispute,”InspectorGeneral of Police Jitendra Rana said, adding that investigations are underway. Rana also said that security protocols at the hospital, including frisking of visitors, are being scrutinised.“Anyoneenteringthe hospital is subjected to frisking CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Questions have been raised about the timing of the SIR, just months to go for the polls, with the Block Development Officers (BDOs) deployed for theexercisestrugglingtocover everyone. The EC is doing the SIR with the 2003 voters’ list as the starting point. It is going well across the state minus the Purnia division, especially Kishanganj district. While records show that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW SAMRAT CHOUDHARY BIHAR DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER WHAT WILL NOT COUNTINBIHAR AN EXPRESS SERIES PART 12 When Harry met 7: She promised marriage, life in Canada, duped many PAGE 1 ANCHOR DIVYA GOYAL GOPAL KHANNA/DORAHA (LUDHIANA), JULY 17 TILL JULY 10, Jasdeep Singh, 27, of Faizgarh village in Punjab’s Khanna city, was within touching distance of his Canada dream, all thanks to his scheduled ‘engagement’ to a framed photograph of Canada resident HarpreetKaur,24,akaHarry,ata hotel in Doraha, around 20 km from Khanna. Before the mangna (engagement) could take place, Khanna Police raided the hotel following a tip-off by Bathinda resident Rajwinder Singh, 28, Harpreet’s ‘fiancé’ since July 2024. Rajwinder, a resident of Dullewala village in Bathinda, says an accidental WhatApp voice note helped him blow the lid off the alleged racket. “Harpreet’s mother sent me a voice note meant for her. In the voice note, she discussed Harpreet’s July 10 engagementandthemoneytheyhadto take from the Faizgarh family. She also tells Harpreet to reassuremeregardingourwedding,” says Rajwinder,who has studied till Class 10. While the July 10 raid came as a shock for Jasdeep and his family, it was an eye-opener for Khanna Police too: Seven men from across Punjab — all of whom allegedly got engaged to her over the past two years by proxy, either over video calls “from Canada” or to her framed photograph — have accused the mother-daughterof takinglakhs of rupees from them under various pretexts in lieu of taking them to Canada after their marriage to Harpreet. WhileKhannaPolicehavearrested Harpreet’s mother The investigating officer, Assistant Sub-Inspector Harjeet Singh (right), shows a photo of Harpreet Kaur. Gurmeet Singh Sukhdarshan Kaur, her brother ManpreetSinghandtheiraccomplice Ashok Kumar for allegedly duping men from Bathinda, Moga, Shahkot, Raikot, Barnala and Dharamkot seeking brides settled in Canada, a Look-Out Circular is expected to be issued soonagainstHarpreet,whowent toCanadaonastudentvisaandis currentlythereonaworkpermit. Thepolicesaidtheaccusedwould target their victims either via matrimonial ads in newspapers or vicholas (local matchmakers). Explaining the modus operandi, Inspector Akash Dutt, Station House Officer (SHO), Doraha Police Station, says, Jaipur “Sukhdarshan,themother,would fix Harpreet’s marriage to men who wanted to settle in Canada but could not due to various limitations.Claimingtobeverypoor and having incurred huge debts to send Harpreet abroad, Sukhdarshan would soon start askingthesefamiliestocompensate her for helping settle their sons in Canada. Since she readily agreedtobanktransfers,thefamilies didn’t suspect much.” In the case of at least one family, police said, Sukhdarshan allegedly gave them a written agreement as guarantee of marriage. Police say the duped familiesneverapproachedthepolice sinceSukhdarshanandHarpreet kept promising to return the money. AssistantSub-Inspector(ASI) Harjeet Singh, the investigating officerinthecase,says,“Harpreet wouldinitiallytakecallsfromher fiancés.Insomecases,shewould demandmoneyformedicines,to pay her rent, college fee, etc. Her mothertoowouldaskthesefamilies for money to pay for Harpreet’s return ticket to India. Soon, Harpreet would start ignoring their calls.” Sukhdarshan, ASI Singh says, would promise a wedding within 2-3 months of the proxy CONTINUED ON PAGE 2