DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES Poll bond details delay: SC to consider contempt petition against SBI chief ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MARCH 7 THE SUPREME Court said Thursday it will look into a requesttolistforhearingapetition by the NGO Association for DemocraticReforms(ADR)seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) for not furnishingthedetailsof purchase of electoralbondstotheElection Commissionof India(ECI)within the March 6 deadline set by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Now, not after LS elections’ AT THE heart of the petition seeking action against SBI is the demand for disclosure of donor names before the Lok Sabha polls. The ADR maintains that the SBI has the systems in place to comply with the SC order within the timeframe set by the court when it struck down the poll bond scheme. ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MARCH 7 UNDERLINING THAT it is time to sensitiseand“educateourpolice” onfreedomofspeechandexpressionand“theextentofreasonable restraint”, the Supreme Court Thursday set aside a Bombay HighCourtorderandquashedan UNVEILS MULTIPLE PROJECTS FOR UT J&K breathes free... from shackles of Article 370, dynastic politics: Modi In first trip to the Valley after end of J&K special status, PM flags development FIRagainstaMaharashtracollege professor booked for his WhatsApp status critical of the abrogation of Article 370 and for wishingPakistanonitsindependence day. The bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said, “Every citizen of India has a right to be critical of the action of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SRINAGAR, MARCH 7 DESCRIBING THE abrogation of Article 370 as “bandishon se azadi” (freedom from impediments) while highlighting the Centre’s development and welfare measures for the Union Territory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that “Jammu & Kashmir is breathing freely today” and “attaining new heights”. On his first visit to the Valley sincetheendof thespecialstatus of J&K in August 2019, Modi told a public rally at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar that this “naya (new) Jammu and PM lectures us, but silent when women are tortured in BJP-run states: Mamata EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, MARCH 7 A DAY after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the rulingTMCof “unleashingareignof terror” on women and said that whathappenedinSandeshkhali would be felt across the state, West Bengal Chief Minister hit backfor“lecturing”thepeopleof thestateontheissueof women's security and asked why does he not speak when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NAVEED IQBAL Educate cops on free speech: SC quashes FIR on Art 370 protest, greeting Pakistan `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PrimeMinisterNarendraModiatBakshiStadiuminSrinagar whereheaddressedapublicrallyonThursday. PTI GOVT & POLITICS FRIEND NAZIM BROUGHT SWEET REVOLUTION IN BEEKEEPING: PM P5 Kashmir is the one that we had been waiting for… for decades” and with the “shackles re- moved” there are now “equal opportunities and rights for everyone” in the UT. TargetingtheCongressandits allies, he said they “misled the peopleof JammuandKashmirin the name of (Article) 370” and “onlyafewpoliticalfamiliesbenefited”fromitwhich“thepeople of J&K have now realised”. DescribingJ&Kasthe“mastak” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee during the TMC padyatra in Kolkata on Thursday. Partha Paul RELATEDREPORTS,PAGE3 Congress focus on youth as Rahul promises govt jobs and startup funds BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, MARCH 7 SHARPENING HIS pitch for the youth ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday announced theparty’sfivepromises,includingfillinggovernmentjobvacancies and bringing in a right to apprenticeship, if voted to power. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge with Rahul Gandhi in Banswara, Thursday. PTI CENTRE’S BIG AI PUSH PAGE 6 Kolkata