DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES Modi Sarkar ki Government of India 22201/13/0314/2324 Guarantee High speed internet connectivity ty in every corner of the country y 5G network expansion in India is fastest in the world Scan for more information Hamara sankalp Viksit Bharat WITH TODAY’S ISSUE IE 100 2024 THE LIST OF MOST POWERFUL INDIANS BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY DAY AFTER RS POLLS: BJP MLAs SUSPENDED, BUDGET PASSED Congress firefights in Himachal, rebellion against CM out in open Vikramaditya quits as minister, talks to observers; Sukhu says govt will last full term MANOJ C G & NAVJEEVAN GOPAL NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 28 Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu with AICC observers Bhupesh Baghel, D K Shivakumar, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rajeev Shukla in Shimla on Wednesday. PTI (Left) Vikramaditya Singh after quitting as minister. ANI Vikramaditya Singh announced his resignation from the Cabinet in the morning, the central leadershipmanagedtopacifyhimby the end of the day. After a meet- ing with AICC observers D K Shivakumar, Bhupesh Baghel andBhupinder SinghHooda late in the evening, Vikramaditya CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor, The Indian Express, at the Express Adda in Bengaluru on Wednesday. MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, FEBRUARY 28 PAGE 1 ANCHOR FROM MAKING express provisionsforsimultaneouspolls,prescribing a common electoral roll to formation of a unity government in case a government falls before the end of its five-year tenure, the Law Commission of Indiahasworkedoutthreemajor Constitutionalamendmentstoset theballrollingforthe‘OneNation, OneElection’projectin2029,The Indian Express has learnt. The 22nd Law Commission, headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, is set to recommend the addition of a new chapter on simultaneous polls in the Constitution, sources said. Currently, Part XV of the Constitutiondealswithelections. It prescribes the role of the Election Commission and for electionstobebasedonadultsuf- IN CONVERSATION WITH THE FM Sankhadeep Banerjee INSIDE In Kamal Nath bastion of Chhindwara, BJP on prowl, Congress tries to herd its leaders ANAND MOHAN J CHHINDWARA, FEBRUARY 28 YOGI: PREVIOUS GOVTS WERE SYMPATHISERS OF RIOTERS 3,300 KG NARCOTICS SEIZED OFF GUJARAT COAST PAGES 3, 8 A BJP promise NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 Dalit teenager killed during Rampur clash, 4 cops among 23 booked CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Interim unity govt, common voter list: Law panel readies report on simultaneous polls APURVA VISHWANATH A DAY after its official candidate suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress central leadership on Wednesday scrambled to avert acrisisandsavethestategovernmentevenassixpartyMLAsand three Independents, who crossvoted for the BJP nominee, remained out of the party's reach. While young minister A 17-YEAR-OLD Dalit youth was killed and two persons were injured in a clash over the installation of a board with B R Ambedkar's photo on a plot of government land here, the Rampur police said on Wednesday. An FIR was registeredagainst 23 persons,including four police personnel and a home guard, on murder charges but no arrest has been made yet, police said. Police identified the deceased as Somesh, a class X student. While his family claimed that Somesh, who was standing at the spot, died from a bullet injury amid police firing, the police denied the allegation. Rampur District Magistrate (DM)JogindraSinghhasordered a magisterial inquiry. The condition of two injured persons, identified as Raheespal and Raman, both Dalits, is stable, officers said. The incident occurred when ateamof thedistrictadministration and the police reached Silai Badha village on Tuesday to remove the board, which declared the plot as 'Ambedkar Park'. The board, which also carried an image of Ambedkar, was set up around two months ago after levelling of the plot. A section of villagers,belongingtotheKurmi community (OBC), raised `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 A TEAM of senior Congress leaders, including former general secretaries,youthpresidentsand councillors, have taken a break from politics and are enjoying a game of cricket at the Indira Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district, where posters of Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath dominate the landscape. AshishTripathi,akeyelection strategist for the Congress and a The Congress office in Chhindwara. Over 1,500 party workers here switched to the BJP this month. Anand Mohan J Kamal Nath loyalist, is watching the game from the stands but, he admits,hismindisonthecoming Lok Sabha elections. “Everyone asksmewhenKamalNathisjoining the BJP. I repeat what Kamal Nathsayswhenaskedthis–‘Aapki kya raye hai (What is your opinion)?’,” says Tripathi. Adding that it is wrong to proclaim the Congress's demise, he says: “The BJP has its eyes set on Chhindwara... They can try to break us, but the Chhindwara Congress shines when our backs are against the wall.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Law Commission has made a presentation to the Kovind committee. File frage among other aspects. The Commission is likely to recommendinsertionof anewchapter, Part XVA, that would make provisions for simultaneous polls. While the law panel has not submitted its report to the government, it has made detailed presentationsof itslikelyrecommendationsbeforethehigh-level committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to THE IDEA of simultaneous polls, for long a BJP promise, has been amplified in recent years by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In its 2019 poll manifesto, the BJP said simultaneous polls were needed to reduce expenditure, ensure efficient utilisation of government resources and security forces and for effective policy planning. It said a common voter list will ensure every citizen gets the right to exercise his/her franchise for all public bodies. “examineandmakerecommendationsforholdingsimultaneous CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2019 illegal mining case: CBI summons Akhilesh for questioning today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 THE CBI has summoned Samajwadi Party president and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for questioning as a witness in connection with a case of illegal sand mining in thestate’sHamirpurdistrict.The agencyhasaskedAkhileshtoappear before it on Thursday (February 29). The development is significant coming over a month before the Lok Sabha elections, which the SP is contesting in alliance with the Congress. Based on the CBI FIR, the Enforcement Directorate too is probing alleged money laundering in the case. The CBI is examining the roles of Akhilesh and former minister in his cabinet, Gayatri Prajapati, in the case of issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of e-tendering process. In its FIR filed on January 2, 2019, on the orders of the Allahabad High Court, the CBI had stated, “The role of then mining ministers concerned during the relevant period may be looked into during the course of investigation of the case.” Both Akhilesh and Prajapati had the charge of the mining ministrybetween2012and2016 when the alleged irregularities in mining of minor minerals took place. Reacting to the CBI notice to Akhilesh, Congress's UP unit president Ajay Rai said the BJP is “frustrated due to the seat-shar- Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Wednesday. Vishal Srivastav ing of INDIA bloc” that has taken place in a cordial atmosphere. He said wherever elections are being held in the country, “somewhere ED, somewhere CBI, somewhere Income-Tax Department are being used to break people”. The CBI had on January 5, 2019 searched 14 locations across Delhi and UP in connection with the case dealing with illegal mining in Hamirpur between 2012 and 2016. The locations searched included residences of SP MLC Ramesh Kumar Mishra and BSP leader Sanjay Dixit apart from then Hamirpur District Magistrate, B Chandrakala, among others. The premises searched were spread across Delhi, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Noida,KanpurandLucknowand were associated with the 11 accused mentioned in the CBI FIR. The raids were conducted on the day the SP and the BSP finalised seat-sharing for 2019 elections and formally announced their alliance with the RLD. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NSG’s Labradors set to make way for the more versatile Belgian Malinois DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 WITH THE Belgian Malinois becoming the preferred canine companionofspecialforcesinthe United States, Europe and Israel, India’s elite counter-terrorism unit,theNationalSecurityGuard (NSG), hopes to soon deploy the ferocious four-legged fighting force in its future operations in place of the adorable Labrador. During the ongoing IsraelPalestine conflict, the Belgian Malinois — a canine breed especially trained by the Israeli forces to not just sniff out Hamas mili- tants in their underground tunnelsinGaza,butalsotrackandattack them — was among Israel’s most valued fighting units. The NSG’s Labrador squad will gradually make way for the highly intelligent Belgian Malinois. While earlier, Labradors were used for sniffing and tracking, and German Shepherdsforattacking,theNSG is now training its Malinois dogs to carry out all three tasks. Sources said the Malinois squad will help NSG’s Black Cat commandos with their anti-terror operations. “The operational squads will become leaner. Else, wewouldhavetotaketwosetsof dogsalongwiththeirtrainersand otherlogistics.Itimpactsmobility and stealth,” NSG Director General M A Ganapathy said. Lieutenant Colonel R B Sharma, in charge of NSG’s K9 canine unit, said training for the new inductees started in August 2023. “At present, the squad has Labradors, cocker spaniels and Belgian Malinois. We have 20 Labradors and are not acquiring more Labradors since we plan to retirethemgradually.Astheirreplacement, we have acquired 14 Belgian Malinois and they are now our lead dog squad. Belgian Malinois is the preferred breed of the best forces in the world. A Belgian Malinois with the NSG’s K9 unit during an anti-terror drill. Gajendra Yadav The US forces that hunted down (al-Qaeda chief) Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan had Malinois dogs in tow,” Lt Col Sharma said. In 2019, a Belgian Malinois playedanimportantroleinamilitarystrike bytheUSthatresulted inthedeathofIslamicStateleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Lt Col Sharma said unlike Labradors, who have great olfactory senses but are docile, the Malinois’ssniffingcapabilitiesare onlyslightlylower.However,they are more alert, besides possessingtheabilitytoattackandparalyse terrorists, giving security forces “golden moments” before their intervention. “Labradors get tired easily and can get playful during operations. These are not issues we facewiththeMalinois.Labradors are constantly looking for affection and are eager to please their masters. They also want treats constantly. Malinois are more professional that way,” he adds. NSG second-in-command MajorRishi,themaindogtrainer, said, “The Malinois can also be trained to follow laser beams. So a bag can be pointed out with a laser beam at a distance, and the dog can reach it without the involvementof itshandler,thusreducing the risk to the soldier.” TheNSGhasalsoacquiredthe CanineRewardDeliverySystems (CRDS),designed for dog squads, for remote operations and realtime feedback. CRDS allows a dogtowearacamera-fittedvisor and a radio set is attached to its collar. The trainer can stay far from the operation site and send in the dog alone, passing on instructions through the radio set. Thecamera-fittedvisorrelayslive visuals to the handler. Major Rishi said, “CRDS has a range of 1 km and is one-of-akind in India.Thesedogshavealreadybeentrainedtosniffoutexplosives and attack terrorists based on directions given remotely via CRDS.” Lucknow