DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat In last 10 years, National Highway network expanded from 91 thousand kms to 1 lakh 46 thousand kms Scan for more information REPLY TO RS DEBATE ON PRESIDENT ADDRESS PM sharpens attack: Cong dividing country on north-south lines BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY If state takes one step, Centre will take two; need competitive and cooperative federalism: Modi EXPRESS NETWORK PAGE 12 THE WORLD TWIN BLASTS ROCK PAK, POLLS TODAY VIKAS PATHAK An injured person being brought to a hospital after two explosions near poll candidates’ offices killed 30 and wounded dozens in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Wednesday, a day ahead of voting in the general elections. AP PAGE19 ON THE day Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleagues protested in NewDelhiagainsttheallegedinjustice in devolution of taxes to the southern states, Prime MinisterNarendraModiaccused the Congress of trying to divide thecountryonnorth-southlines. Replying to the debate in Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Modi said, “The Congress that in its greed for power throttled (democracy), the Congress that dismissed elected governments,theCongressthatimprisoned democracy, which tried to shut down newspapers, and which tried to break the country with various narratives, is trying to divide the north and south.” “The nation is not just land for us but an inspirational unit. When the foot is pricked by a thorn, the hand reaches out to extract it. It does not say it does not care about the foot… If one Yogi raises Kashi, Mathura: After Ayodhya, Nandi, Krishna can’t wait MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, FEBRUARY 7 HAMAS PROPOSES 135-DAY GAZA TRUCE WITH COMPLETE ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL NIKKI HALEY LOSES TO 'NONE OF THESE’ OPTION IN NEVADA GOP PRIMARY PAGE 19 IN HIS first remarks on the start of puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque complex within hours of it being allowed by the Varanasi district court on January 31, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Wednesday that after watching the (January 22) celebrations in Ayodhya, “Nandi Baba did not wait” and “got the barricading removed at night”. We asked for only three places: CM in the House on Wednesday. PTI He said now even Lord Krishna is not ready to wait – alluding to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque dispute in Mathura – and referred to the claims at Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura when he said “we asked for only three places”. Speaking during the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the UP Assembly, the Chief Minister said that such has been the impact of “vote bank politics” that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION IN COLLABORATION WITH FORBIDDEN STORIES Accused in murder of Maharashtra journalist linked to 34 land deals at contested project site Shashikant Warishe, 48, was writing against RRPCL, a Central refinery project in Ratnagiri; accused was paid by project company for ‘transport services’ VALLABH OZARKAR Warishe flagged concerns related to environment RATNAGIRI, MUMBAI, FEB 7 TODAY MARKS one full year since journalist Shashikant Warishe,48,waskilled,allegedly for opposing a Central refinery project in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district and flagging environmental conc erns. The prime accused, Pandharinath Amberkar,isinjailfacingcharges includingthatof murderanddestroying evidence. He is alleged to have rammed Warishe’s scooter with his SUV and run him over. Not only did Amberkar threaten Warishe with death, as the chargesheet filed by the RatnagiriPolicestates,heandhis network of family members were involved in a slew of land PAGE 1 ANCHOR Shashikant Warishe’s mother Shevanti and son Yash in Ratnagiri. Vallabh Ozarkar transactions in and around villages where the project is proposed, an investigation by The Indian Express in collaboration with Paris-based consortium Forbidden Stories, has revealed. Theprojectisbeingexecuted by Ratnagiri Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), a company set up in 2017, and jointly owned by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL Ltd and HPCL Ltd. Initially, the projectwasproposedinNanarvillage in Ratnagiri district, but followingoppositionbylocalsandenvironment activists, the Maharashtragovernmentwrote totheCentreonJanuary12,2022, that it would identify 13,000 acres for acquisition in Barsu village in Rajapur city, for the project. But work stalled after large CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 Resolution passed in Assembly to teach Bhagavad Gita in Gujarat govt schools Minister of State for Education Praful Pansheriya EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 7 THE GUJARAT Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution seeking effective implementation of the state education department's decision to teach Bhagavad Gita to students from classes VI to XII in government schools from June. While Opposition AAP welcomed the resolution, Congress MLAs claimed that the BJP government brought it to gain publicity. The party, however, later supported the resolution during voting. In March 2022, then education minister Jitu Vaghani had announcedin the Assemblythat school students should have an understanding of Gita and its shlokas. On March 17, 2022, a government resolution was issued stating that students of classes VI to XII will be introducedtovaluesandprinciplesof BhagavadGitafromthe2022-23 academic session. While Bhagavad Gita will be taught in classes VI to VII in the form of story and recitation, from classes IX to XII, it will be introduced as part of the first language textbook. Introducing the resolution, Minister of State for Education, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. PTI Cong counters: Heap of lies, Govt betrayed people EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7 HOURS AFTER Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Parliamentgrandstagetolaunch another scathing criticism of the Congress, the main Opposition party hit back, accusing him of spreading lies and resorting to “cursing” it to hide his governance failures. In his speeches in Lok Sabha Monday and Rajya Sabha Wednesday, Modi singled out the Congress, dipping into history and framing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a battle between the BJP and the Congress, their governance E E X P L A I NE D UTTARAKHAND ASSEMBLY PASSES UNIFORM CIVIL CODE BILL BY VOICE VOTE HOW PUJA WAS DONE AT GYANVAPI MOSQUE CELLAR Government of India cbc 22201/13/0255/2324 Construction of National Highways at an unprecedented pace Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee G `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Promise of ● Modi 3.0 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi’s speech was made with the coming elections in mind. Weaving a confident narrative of hope for “Modi 3.0” — a third term in power — he focussed his attack on the Congress. models and records. Hittingback,seniorCongress leader Rahul Gandhi said the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Narmada water destroying salt pans in Little Rann of Kutch, say agariyas GOPAL KATESHIYA RAJKOT, FEBRUARY 7 AGARIYAS (SALT pan workers) cultivating salt in the Little Rann of Kutch bordering Halvad in Morbi district have alleged that Narmada water flowing from canalsofSardarSarovarNarmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) is floodingtheirsaltpans,threateningto destroy salt that will soon be ready for harvest. On the floor of the Assembly, the state government conceded on Tuesday that some Narmada water does make its way to the Little Rann of Kutch and that it will take appropriate action. In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Dinesh Thakor, Minister of State for Salt Industries, Jagdish Panchal, said: "Water is not directly flowed to from Narmada Agariyas try to contain flow of Narmada water in Little Rann of Kutch near Tikar in Halvad. Express canal to Little Rann of Kutch. But in emergency, escapes of canal are operated and water is discharged in streams, rivulets and rivers. Some of these streams, rivulets and rivers tail into the Little Rann of Kutch hence, wa- ter some time does end up in Little Rann of Kutch.” Volume of such water is low as compared to those of other rivers, he added. Thakor went on to ask if it CONTINUEDONPAGE2 4 years into Soviet-style chess academy, Anand’s students shine bright AMIT KAMATH MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 7 BACK IN December 2020, when India’s first Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand started his chess academy, he had a modest dream: someone had "to carry the torch forward". Three years later, the torch is shining bright, with a queue of contenders ready to take on the mantle. Three students from the online WestBridge Anand Chess Academy's (WACA) first batch — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and his sister R Vaishali — have qualified for the upcoming Candidates tournament, a prestigious event to figure out the challenger to the reigning world champion. Other promising prodigies at Anand's academy are Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi, Raunak Sadhwani and Leon Luke Mendonca. While Arjun is no longer categorised as a junior player, Nihal, Raunak and Leon are — along with Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh — amongtheTop10rankedjuniors in the world. “The idea for the chess academy was to have a programme by which Indian youngsters carry the torch forward. I am very happy that the first group we picked are all doing so well now. It’s pretty much what I expected, but I will admit to being slightlysurprisedbyhowquickly theyhavedoneit.Ithinkwehave done extremely well there,” Anand tells The Indian Express. Anandisnottheonlymentor at hand: he has assembled a quartet of Grandmasters to help out with the online classes. Poland's Grzegorz Gajewski helps the youngsters with opening theories, GM Sandipan Chandasharpensmid-gameprep, Russian GM Artur Yusupov polishesendgamesandBorisGelfand hosts mentoring sessions. While Anand with Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa. File Yusupov holds four classes a month, the others usually have about two classes each month. At times, Anand requests Gelfand to hold an extra class — maybe even a dedicated session — right before players go in for an important tournament. In chess, getting a training session with top Grandmasters can be prohibitively expensive, which is where WACA fills the gap. Gelfand,whileexplaininghis role at WACA with the prodigies, had told The Indian Express last year: "I show them some games and try to explain how I would take a decision in that situation. I explain my thinking process and analyse games of some of theplayerstoseewhatwasgood and what went wrong at recent tournaments. This helps them understand how they can adjust their game." The genesis of WACA lay in a questionAnandwasaskedbyhis good friend Sandeep Singhal in 2019: what he would do for Indian chess whenever he gave up playing himself. Anand didn’t have an answer then. Butafewmonthslater,hereturnedtoSinghalwithaconcrete plan:achessacademymodelled on the lines of the legendary Botvinnik School of Chess and the Samford Fellowship. Thus, WACA came into being in December 2020 with Anand looking at the chess mentoring aspect and WestBridge Capital, of which Singhal is the cofounder, coming on board as the financial partner. It was at the Botvinnik Chess School in the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1960s — spearheaded by world champion Mikhail Botvinnik — that Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik learnttheintricaciesof thesport. Anand has influenced many a prodigy’s decisions with what he calls ‘tailormade solutions’: from Gukesh hiring Polish GM CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad