DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee JAY MAZOOMDAAR 138 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 171 78 MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 19 THEARRESTofformerICICIBank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar by the CBI in a loan fraud case was done “without application of mind” andamountsto“abuseofpower”, the Bombay High Court has said. The court made the observations in its order confirming the interim bail granted to the couple. The Kochhars were arrested on December 23, 2022 in connection with alleged irregularities in loans provided by the bank to the Venugopal Dhootled Videocon Group. They had challenged the arrest,claimingthatitwasinviolationof thelaw,andweregranted interimbailbytheHighCourton January 9, 2023. The interim bail was confirmed by the court on February 6 this year. In the detailed order, which was made available on Monday, the High Court has said that the arrest was made not on the basisof any additionalmaterialdetected during the course of investigation, but the same material within the knowledge of the investigating officer when CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Farm leaders Sarvan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal address reporters in Patiala. PTI CENTRE’SMSPOFFER,PAGE11 DAY AFTER MEETING Punjabfarmers rejectGovtoffer, toresumeDelhi marchtomorrow Farmerleaderssaywillsticktodemand forMSPlegalguaranteeforallcrops KANCHAN VASDEV CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 19 A DAY after the Centre proposed minimum support price (MSP) on three pulses, maize and cottonthroughcooperatives,agitating Punjab farmer leaders Mondayeveningrejectedtheoffer and said they would resume their‘DilliChalo’protestat11am Wednesday to demand legal guarantee of MSP on all crops. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said they discussed at length the Centre’s proposal, whichwasofferedduringameeting between the protesting farmer leaders and three Union ministers Sunday night, and reachedtheconclusionthatitwas “not in favour” of the farmers. “We stand by our demand of legal guarantee for MSP on all 23 crops,” he told reporters. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarvan Singh Pandher said the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest would resume at 11 am Wednesday. “We will start marching towards Delhi. We should be allowed to protest. We have every right to launch an agitation. There is no need for any meeting. The government should take decisions now. There have been enough discussions,”hesaid,addingthat the Haryana-Punjab borders should be opened for them. “We appeal to the government to either accept our demands or let us go to Delhi,” he CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN AMNESTY window opened for just six months in March 2017 to clear projects in a novel “violation category” became routine through a Union Environment Ministry notification in July 2021, and provided ex-post facto approval to over 100 projects till the Supreme Court stayed the notification in January this year. Projects that started work without obtaining a mandatory prior environmental clearance or exceeded the limits set as Chandigarh mayor polls: SC says bring ballot papers to court, count afresh ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 EXPRESSING CONCERN about horse trading in Chandigarh mayoral polls, Supreme Court Monday decided to examine the ballot papers of the January 30 elections to see if the results can be deduced by disregarding the “defacement” allegedly made on some of them by the Returning Officer. Athree-judgebenchpresided by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, also directed that the ballot papers be produced before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and a fresh Returning Officer — an officer of the state whoisnotalignedtoanypolitical party — be appointed. “What we propose to do is to directtheDeputyCommissioner, who is the prescribed authority, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Indian hockey team’s Jyoti dazzles crowd, hopes her home isn’t razed MIHIR VASAVDA ROURKELA, FEBRUARY 19 AS 20-YEAR-OLD local girl Jyoti Chhetri, playing against the USA in the FIH Pro League, dazzled the home crowd on February 18, her parents watched at the stadium, less than 2 km from their home in Rourkela's Panposh neighbourhood. For the rising forward in the national women’s hockey team, last week was straight out of a fairytale.Butforonetwist–soon, she might not have a home. On the field, Jyoti has been playing hard and moving up. Off it, she has been fighting to avert Thehouse builtbyJyoti Chhetri(left) onGovtland 20yearsago demolition of her house where she has lived all her life. Jyoti’s father Bhim Chhetri, a mason, said the family has been serveda“notice”bylocalauthorities to vacate the house to make CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The AI in AIIMS: Helping identify therapies for cancer patients PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 CANARTIFICIALintelligence(AI) help doctors identify the best cancer therapy for their patients? A supercomputer and AI, developed by researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS)Delhi,promises to do just that. Oncologists usually toggle India largest producer of milk in the world, record increase of 58% in milk production in last 10 years; Welfare of 8 crore cattle-rearing families ensured 6-month amnesty stretched to 6 years, more than 100 projects with ‘violations’ cleared 110 SADAF MODAK Prosperous dairy sector ctor WHAT IS iONCOLOGY AI ■ Developed using CDACPune’s supercomputer and patient data saved in Charak I server at NCI Jhajjar, it’s an electronic health record and treatment guidance system with patient records such as pathology, radiology details and clinical history ■ Additionally, genomic data of cancer patients from AIIMS will be uploaded to the system to understand its relation with various treatments ■ AI then studies the data and tries to co-relate which treatment works best for patients with what history and test results with ideas as they decide the best therapy for their patients. But with iOncology AI, which employs a supercomputer in Pune and a high-capacity server called Charak I at the National Cancer Institute campus in Jhajjar, doctors can determine the most common type of genetic mutation in their patients, helping them narrow in on the best treatment option. For instance, a doctor treating someone with breast cancer of a particularsubtypesuchasHER2can CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 clearance conditions fall under the “violation category”. Besides clearing over 100 projects,theministryalsoissued terms of reference (ToR) for impact assessment to at least another 150 (see chart) under the violation category. Once a projectisconsideredfitforappraisal, ToR is issued for assessing its environmental impact and a final decision on the clearance depends on that assessment. Coal, iron and bauxite mines, a greenfield airport, multiple distilleries, steel and iron factories, industrial estates, cement plants and limestone quarries, chemical units and building THE WORLD PROJECTS* CLEARED UNDER VIOLATION CATEGORY Jun 2017-21 EACs Jul 2021-Dec 2023 Violation Industry Coal Non- Infra Power Total Mining Coal TOR 57 68 7 10 10 2 154 EC 55 27 9 5 2 3 101 *Minimum numbers from available records; EACs: Ministry’s sectoral Expert Appraisal Committees. Since July 2021, all EACs cleared projects under Violation category; TOR: Terms of Reference issued for impact assessment to projects considered fit for appraisal; EC: Environmental clearance issued; Source: MoEFCC construction sites — these are the projects cleared by the Union Environment Ministry under the “violation category” since March 2017. Conceived as a one-time opportunity, it became a routine process when the Union Environment Ministry CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D cbc 22201/13/0280/2324 Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat Chanda Kochhar, husband Deepak Kochhar. PTI file `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Government of India Kochhars’ arrest by CBI was abuse of power, says Bombay HC REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES Scan for more information ● ● Waiting for SC BY TURNING a six-month window for clearing projects which violated clearance conditions into a routine process, the Environment Ministry allowed for at least 100 projects to sail through. These include power projects, an airport. Now the Supreme Court will take a call. Sants are building new temples, I am rebuilding nation: PM Modi ‘If today Sudama gave rice to Krishna, PIL in SC, graft verdict’ U.S. PROPOSES U.N. RESOLUTION FOR TRUCE IN GAZA INDEPENDENTS WILL JOIN SUNNI ALLIANCE: IMRAN’S PARTY P12 VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi on Monday said that like sants and acharyas are building new temples, God has entrusted him withtheresponsibilityofrebuilding the “rashtra-roopi mandir PM Modi, UP CM Adityanath in Lucknow on Monday. PTI (the temple that is the nation)”. “I am working day and night to rebuild the temple that is the nation and make it grand. Today, India has reached a place where wearenotemulating(others)but setting examples,” he said, laying the foundation stone of Kalki Dham in Sambhal in western CONTINUED ON PAGE 2