eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Different Strokes AHMEDABAD,LATECITY JANUARY28,2024 With 108 exhibitors, India Art Fair opens in Delhi on February 1 12+4PAGES,`6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA THE WORLD HEAVY TANK FIRE IN KHAN YOUNIS AS DOWNPOUR HITS DISPLACED GAZANS ROVER DATA CONFIRMS LAKE SEDIMENTS ON MARS AMENDMENT TO CASTE CERTIFICATION RULES SOON Shinde govt relents on Maratha quota, decides to expand Kunbi OBC status BJP-Sena hopes to placate Maratha community in election year OBCs fear shrinking of quota pie, ready to take battle to street, court INSIDE ALOK DESHPANDE 55 SCULPTURES FOUND INSIDE GYANVAPI MOSQUE COMPLEX: ASI KHARGE WRITES TO MAMATA OVER YATRA SAFETY IN WHAT has defused the tensionfor now over reservationfor the Maratha community in Maharashtra, the state government late Friday night decided to issue a gazette notification with a draft of rules that aims to ALOK DESHPANDE, SHUBHANGI KHAPRE & OMKAR GOKHALE PAGE 10 PAGE 5 MUMBAI, JANUARY 27 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, JANUARY 27 EVEN AS the Maratha community awaits finalisationof rulesonMaratha reservation, the communities under Other Backward Class (OBC) fear a shrinking of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde offers juice to activist Manoj Jarange Patil to break his fast in Navi Mumbai. Narendra Vaskar their 27 per cent reservation pie, and are ready to take the battle to the street and the courts. While the proposed formulation does not tinker with the 50 per cent limit setbytheSupremeCourt, it allows Marathas to claim reservation under the 27 per cent set aside for OBCs. So there will be more CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 India working with us closely to resolve this: Outgoing Canada NSA on Nijjar killing SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JANUARY 27 FOUR MONTHS after a diplomatic firestorm erupted over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation of a potential Indian link to the killing of Canada-based Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a top Canadian official has, for the first time,saidthatIndiais“cooperating” with Canada and Delhi is working closely with Ottawa to resolve the issue. Canada’s National Security Advisor Jody Thomas, who retired Friday after more than 35 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 All eyes on Patna today with Nitish set to break up, stake claim with BJP RJDkeepsarm’slength,Congsends Chhattisgarhex-CMBaghelasobserver PATNA, JANUARY 27 IN what will be his second volte faceinlessthan18months,Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar is set to snap ties with ally RJD amid indications he will quit Sunday and stake claim to form a government with the BJP. According to PTI, a source close to Nitish was quoted as saying that the Chief Minister is likely to address a meeting of his party MLAs “around 10 am Sunday before going to Raj Bhavan to submit his resigna- Discussions with India counterpart fruitful: Jody Thomas years in public service, told Canadian news channel CTV: “I wouldn’t describe them (the Indians) as not cooperating. I think we’ve made advancements in that relationship.” “My discussions with my counterpart in India have been fruitful, and I think they’ve movedthingsforward,”shesaid. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with BJP leader and Union MoS Ashwini Kumar Choubey at a temple in Buxar, Saturday. PTI SANTOSH SINGH GRAND SLAM AT 43 Rohan Bopanna, 43, became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era after he and Matthew Ebden clinched the Australian Open men’s doubles title, Saturday. He is also set to be doubles world No. 1 when rankings are out. Reuters PAGE12 SHAJU PHILIP THE STANDOFF between Raj Bhavan and the CPI(M) government in Kerala escalated on Saturday after Governor Arif Mohammed Khan held a sit-in in front of a roadside shop in Kollam district after Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists allegedly tried to hit his vehicle. Following the faceoff, the Union HomeMinistryinformedtheRaj Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court had directed that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe ordered into the alleged irregularities will continue, despite an order of a division bench to the contrary. In the written order, he had also levelled accusations against a fellow judge, Justice Soumen Sen. OnSaturday,issuingnoticeto the CBI, the petitioner on whose plea Justice Gangopadhyay directed the CBI probe, and the stateof WestBengal,afive-judge Supreme Court bench, in a spe- ANANTHAKRISHNAN G THE SUPREME Court Saturday stayed all further proceedings before the Calcutta High Court in connection with a matter related to a probe into alleged irregularities in MBBS admissions in West Bengal, and two sets of orders that led to a judge accusing a fellow judge of “acting clearly for some political party in this State”. On Thursday, a single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JANUARY 27 NEW DELHI, JANUARY 27 Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in Kollam, Saturday. PTI tion.” And the new government, with the BJP's support, was expected by the evening. “Offices, including the Governor's secretariat, have been ordered to remain open Sunday,” said the source. A rattled RJD had a meeting of its MLAs Sunday and leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, sources said, urged them to “go to people with their achievements,” and delink the party from CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LAND-FOR-JOBS: RABRI, DAUGHTERS SUMMONED PAGE 5 Akhilesh pulls a surprise, announces 11 seats for Cong which wanted more Kerala Governor holds sit-in over Judge vs judge: Top court stays all SFI ‘bid to hit car’, gets CRPF cover proceedings before Calcutta HC CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT cialsitting,stayedallfurtherproceedings before the single judge bench and the division bench, and directed an interim stay of the single-judge order. “Issue notice to the original petitioner before the High Court in repetition and the state of West Bengal… Pending further orders there shall be a stay of all proceedings before the High Court of Calcutta in writ petitions… The implementation of the direction issued by the single judge on January 24 and 25 shall in consequence remain LALMANI VERMA & MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, JANUARY 27 AS NITISH Kumar’s JD(U) preparestoleavetheINDIAblocand re-join the BJP-led NDA and the Congress tries to placate Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Saturday sprang a surprise unilaterally announcing 11 seats for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. Caught off guard, the Congress said seat-sharing talks with the SP are still on. The Congress, sources said, was hoping to get 15-16 seats in UP and Yadav’s announcement is seen as a bid to force the Congress’shandandmakeitgive one seat to the SP in Madhya Pradesh. A senior SP functionary told The Indian Express: “If the Congress presents the names of winnable candidates on some more seats, we will certainly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INDIA BLOC NOT IMPLODING: CONG PAGE 5 EXPRESS NETWORK OIL TANKER WITH 22 INDIANS ONBOARD HIT BY MISSILE, NAVY SENDS HELP PAGE 5 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For India’s dream to host 2036 Olympics, Ahmedabad’s Rs 6,000-cr plan PAGE 1 ANCHOR RITU SHARMA AHMEDABAD JANUARY 27 ■ A sports enclave with an aquatics centre, basketball and tennis courts, and a football arena. ■ A “vibrant”publicspacealong the Sabarmati for hosting cultural events and temporary stalls, and an amphitheatre. ■ Aproposedmasterplanmade by the international consultant that led the consortium to build venues for the 2012 Olympics in London. GUJARAT IS leaving no stone unturned before India throws its hat into the ring in the hopes of winning the bid tohost the 2036 Olympics. The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV),setupinJuly2023tooversee the planning and execution of Olympic-standard infrastructure in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, has readied a Rs 6,000-crore master plan proposal to build a 300-acre Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel SportsEnclave in Ahmedabad’s Motera locality. The proposal has been prepared by Populous, an Australian designandarchitectureconsultant. Besides six new stadiums with a total capacity of over 1 lakh, the sports enclave will includetheexisting1.10lakh-seater Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. According to a Gujarat Olympic Planning and Infrastructure CorporationLimited(GOLYMPIC) official, the “Olympic-standard” infrastructure is expected to come up along the 2-km phaseII stretch of the Sabarmati riverfront, which is currently under construction. 7 STADIUMS IN PROPOSED SPORTS ENCLAVE 5 6 1.10lakh* 2 Aquatics centre 3 Football stadium 4 Tennis centre 1 7 1 Narendra Modi stadium 5 Ring of Unity 12,000 2 4 3 15,000 6 53,000 5,000 Arenas 1 18,000 7 Arenas 2 and 3 *seating capacity Source: Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority 6,000+10,000 M Thennarasan, the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner and CEO and MD of GOLYMPICS, said, “The master plan is more or less ready. Further inputs from various stakeholders will be taken.” D P Desai, the CEO of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), which is one of the executing bodies, said the design and implementation of the sports enclave is currentlyunderway.“Thetender for the sports enclave, including sixstadiums,isout.Nationaland international consultants have already expressed interest. While sports infrastructure will be developed immediately, the planfortheOlympicsVillage(for residential and other facilities) will be finalised only after clarity on the bid,” Desai told The Indian Express. While there is no fixed deadline, the decision on whowillhostthe2036Olympics is expected to be taken before 2026-27. AshwaniKumar,thePrincipal Secretary in Gujarat’s Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, and the GOLYMPIC Chair, told The Indian Express, “Bids for design and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad