DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 M Sarkar ki Guarantee Modi Prosperous Farmers, Prosperous Nation Scan for more information Recce aircraft, anti-tank mines: Green light to big-ticket purchases AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 THE DEFENCE Acquisition Council(DAC)Fridayclearedaseries of big-ticket procurements worth Rs 84,560 crore for the armed forces including 15 maritimereconnaissanceandmultimissionmaritimeaircraftforthe NavyandtheCoastGuardaswell as six flight refueller aircraft for theIAFandnewgenerationantitank mines for the Army. TAX DEMAND RS 210 CRORE The DAC, headed by Defence MinisterRajnathSingh,isamong the top bodies for clearing major capital acquisitions for defence. The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) is the first step in the long Defence procurement process. The grant of AoN does not always lead to a final order. Sources said these 15 maritimereconnaissanceaircraftwill be the marine versions of the C295 medium lift tactical aircraft inducted by the IAF last year. Of MORNING AFTER TALKS Security personnel fire teargas shells at protesting farmers at Shambhu border Friday, a day after farm leaders announced “ceasefire” following talks with the Centre. Harmeet Sodhi P4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘He used to wheeze... His Govt unlikely to contest SC verdict on mother’s idea he switch electoral bonds, door open for PIL Releasing names breach of Govt promise U to spin was turning point’ and violation of bank laws, says official B USINESS AS Ravichandran Hours after his 500th Test wicket, R Ashwin said Friday, at the end of the second day’s play against 2 RANK PRIYA BAJAJ England in the third Test at Rajkot, “It’s been quite a long journey. Firstly I’d like to dedicate this feat to my father.” Late at night, the BCCI in a statement said Ashwin had “withdrawn from the Test squad, effective immediately due to a family emergency”. Earlier in the day, Ashwin’s father RAVICHANDRAN recalled his son’s journey from tennis ball RANK VISHWAJEET LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 RELEASING THE names of those who purchased electoral bonds would be a “breach of promise” made by the government and in violation of bank confidentiality norms but the Centre is unlikely to contest Thursday’s landmark SupremeCourtverdictthatstruck CONTINUEDONPAGE2 4 5 RANK BHARTI GUPTA 6 RANK AKANKSHA DUBEY Viksit Bharat 7 RANK CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BY UNNY Assault on democracy, say Kharge, Rahul; partial relief from IT tribunal SHUBHAM SHARMA NIDHI UDSARIA A POLITICAL row erupted Friday with the Congress announcing that its bank accounts had been frozenbytheIncomeTaxdepartment in connection with a disputeoverataxdemandof Rs210 crore, and that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) later allowedittopartlyoperateitsaccounts until next Wednesday when it would hear the matter. Targeting the Modi government,theCongress,itspresident Mallikarjun Kharge and leader RahulGandhiexpressedoutrage, and called the I-T action a “vendetta”and“adeepassaulton India’sdemocracy”inthecount- RANK SATYA NARAYAN For RAS | IAS | IAS & RAS INTEGRATED S 17 FEBRUARY परीक्षा परी की ितिथ 18 FEBRUARY परीक्षा का समय 10 TO 11:30 AM OFFER PRICE BATCH START FROM 22 FEBRUARY P3 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 8 9 10 RANK RANK KANCHAN CHOUDHARY down the scheme as “unconstitutional,” government sources have told The Indian Express. The view in the establishment is that the fraught issue of poll funding in the wake of the apex court’s order should be left to the next government which may “consider”alternative ways to “better the election funding system”, sources said. SUAL Citingtaxdues, I-TfreezesCong accounts,party callsitvendetta SCHOLARSHIP CUM ADMISSION TEST रिजस्ट्रेशन अंितम ितिथ cbc 22201/13/0274/2324 • 1,389 mandis and 1.8 crore farmers connected with e-NAM • Farmers getting better prices for agricultural products through 'Beej se Bazar tak' initiative Government of India Hamara Sankalp BUY NOW Jaipur THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ‘I-T Dept imposed disproportionate penalty of Rs 135 cr on Cong… What have we done?’ VIVEK TANKHA CONGRESS MP, RAJYA SABHA downtotheLokSabhaelections. While there was no official statement from the I-T CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi being presented a memento at an event in Rewari Friday. PTI Everyone is leaving Cong, only one family at top, says PM VIKAS PATHAK REWARI, NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 DESCRIBING THE “blessings of people” as “my biggest capital”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress, saying it has “only one agenda: antiModi, strong anti-Modi” and “everyone is abandoning the Congress, leaving only one family at its helm”. Unveiling a string of projects dedicated to Rajasthan and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2