DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BY UNNY 6-month amnesty stretched to 6 years, more than 100 projects with ‘violations’ cleared JAY MAZOOMDAAR NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 Sandeshkhali: NCW chief says she got 2 rape complaints; TV journalist held SANTANU CHOWDHURY & SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 19 THE NATIONAL Commission for Women chairperson Monday said she had received 18 complaints from the women of West Bengal’sSandeshkhali,including two of rape, during a visit to the area. The chairperson, Rekha Sharma, also demanded President's Rule in the area and resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “failing to stop atrocities on women”. The statepolice,meanwhile,arrested a TV journalist who was reporting from the area, prompting a sharp reaction from the BJP. The area has been at the centre of a political firestorm between the TMC and BJP ever since protests broke out in the area earlier this month, led by women who claim they were sexually harassed over the years by aides of Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Shahjahan. Since the allegations, TMC’s Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar have been suspended fromthe party andplaced under arrest. Shajahan has been abscondingsinceJanuary5afteran Enforcement Directorate team was attacked by a mob while on its way to search his residence in connection with a ration scam. “Women in Sandeshkhali have been harassed and deprived of their rights. A large number of them have been CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD U.S. PROPOSES U.N. RESOLUTION FOR TRUCE IN GAZA INDEPENDENTS WILL JOIN SUNNI ALLIANCE: IMRAN’S PARTY PAGE 12 GOVT & POLITICS MAYORAL POLL IN CHANDIGARH: SC ORDERS FRESH COUNTING PAGE 7 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 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 projectisconsideredfitfor appraisal, 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 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 Conceived as a one-time opportunity, it became a routine process when the Union Environment Ministry construction sites — these are the projects cleared by the Union Environment Ministry under the “violation category” since March 2017. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D cbc 22201/13/0280/2324 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 Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat BUSINESS AS USUAL PAGE 1 ANCHOR Prosperous dairy sector tor Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Government of India Scan for more information `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ● 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. UTTAR PRADESH INVESTMENT EVENT In last 7 years, red carpet replaced red tape for investors in UP, says PM Praises Adityanath govt for striving to make Uttar Pradesh a $1-tn economy MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, FEBRUARY 19 ATTHElaunchof 14,000projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, Prime MinisterNarendraModisaidthe “red tape culture” has been replaced with “red carpet culture” for investors in the seven years of the double-engine government in the state. PraisingtheYogi Adityanathled BJP government in the state for aspiring to become a 1-trillion USD economy, Modi said other states should take a lesson from UP for ensuring progress of thecountry.“UPmeindouble-engine ki sarkar bane saat saal ho rahe hain. Beete saat varshon mein red tape ka jo culture tha, us red tape ke culture ko khatam karke,redcarpetculturebangaya. Beete saat varshon mein, UP mein crimekamtohua,businessculture ka vistar hua (For the past seven years, there has been a doubleengine government in UP. The red tape culture, which was prevalent, has been replaced by red carpet. In the past seven FULL COVERAGE U.P. EMERGING AS GROWTHENGINE OFCOUNTRY:YOGI PAGE 3 years,crimehasdecreasedinthe state and business has expanded),” Modi said after laying the foundation of the projects that the UP government signed during the last year’s Global Investors Summit in Lucknow. “The exports from UP have doubledinthepastyears.UPhas done commendable work in electricity production andtransmission. UP is the state with the most number of expressways in the country... MSMEs are the strength behind Viksit Uttar Pradesh and they benefitted from schemes such as One District, One Product and Vishwakarma Scheme,” he said, adding “an environment of trade, development and trust has developed in UP in the last seven years”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Punjab farmers reject Govt offer, to resume Delhi march tomorrow 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 PM Narendra Modi with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Monday. PTI Akhilesh skips Rahul Sants are building new temples, yatra in Amethi as SP I am rebuilding nation: PM Modi raises seat-sharing heat ‘If today Sudama gave rice to Krishna, PIL in SC, graft verdict’ ing the “rashtra-roopi mandir (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 we are not emulating (others) but setting examples,” he said, laying the foundation stone of VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi on Monday said that like sants and acharyas are building new temples, God has entrusted him with the responsibility of build- Indian hockey team’s Jyoti dazzles crowd, hopes her home next door isn’t demolished 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 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 way for widening of the road. Farm leaders Sarvan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal address reporters in Patiala. PTI CENTRE’SMSPOFFER,PAGE9 Jyoti Chhetri (left) during a match. Her parentsBhimand Seema at ahousetheybuilt20yearsagoonGovtlandopposite thePanposhSportsHostelwhereBhim onceworked Kalki Dham in Sambhal in western Uttar Pradesh. “Wearebeingseenasaninnovationhub.Wearethefifthlargest economy for the first time and have become the first country to reach the Moon’s south pole. For the first time, we have Vande CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LALMANI VERMA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 IN ANOTHER setback to the Opposition INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav gave a miss to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in AmethiMonday,evenasheisset to stay away from the Yatra in Raebareli too. AkhileshannouncedMonday morningthathewilljoinRahul’s Yatraonlyafterthefinalisationof seat-sharingbetweentheSPand the Congress for the UP seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Hours later, the SP unilaterally announced its candidates for 11 more seats, taking the totalnumberof itsnomineesthatit hasdeclaredsofarto27outofthe state’s 80 seats. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chauhary also told The Indian Expressthatthepartyhasoffered 17 seats to the Congress. Akhilesh’s announcement cameafortnightafterhewroteto Congress president Mallikarjun INSIDE OUR RELATIONSHIP IS LONG-STANDING, ONE OF LOVE: RAHUL IN AMETHI PAGE 5 Kharge to assure him about his joiningtheYatraeitherinAmethi or Rae Bareli, while wishing success for the UP leg of the Yatra. The Amethi and Raebareli parliamentary constituencies areamongtheCongress’sfewremaining strongholds in UP. On February 6, Akhilesh had received the Congress leadership’s invitation to join Rahul’s cross-country Yatra thatentered UPonFebruary16.Whileasserting that he will join it in Amethi CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The AI in AIIMS: Helping identify therapies for cancer patients 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 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 cross-reference data related to therapy that has worked for patients of the similar genetic makeup,thushelpingthedoctor make informed, faster and precise therapy choices. iOncology AI aims to sequence the genomes of 3,000 cancer patients who are currently seeking treatment at AIIMS, aiming to address a fundamental question: Does a patient’s genetic makeup correlate with the efficacy of diverse cancer therapies? So far, the AI model has been tested on 1,500 breast and ovarian cancer patients from AIIMS and was found to be over 75 per centaccuratewhencomparedto 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 thediagnosisprovidedbytheclinicians. Genomic data is a powerful tool for medical researchers and doctors. It helps them understand how variations in DNA affect our health. Through genomic sequencing, they decipher our genetic makeup andspotalterationsinourgenes. These changes are key to understanding how diseases such as cancer develop. “This is an evolving platform, the more data it gets, the more accurate it will become,” said Dr Ashok Sharma, the principal investigator of the project and additional professor specialising in epigeneticsinthedepartmentof biochemistry at AIIMS. The system is now being validated in five district-level hospitals in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. How does the AI tool work? Theplatform,developedwith Pune’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, allows CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow