DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SIGNED BY ICELAND, LIECHTENSTEIN, NORWAY, SWITZERLAND UNION FINANCE MINISTER PAGES 12, 13 Ex-minister to Pilot’s former aide: Cong hit by exodus in Rajasthan HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, MARCH 10 ON SUNDAY, over two dozen leadersinRajasthan,chieflyfrom the Congress, joined the BJP, giving a jolt to the grand old party aheadof theLokSabhaelections. The new members were inducted into the BJP in Jaipur in the presence of Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and state BJP chief C P Joshi, among others. Amongthosejoiningareseveral former ministers and MLAs. SincetheCongress’sdefeatinthe Assembly polls last year, several high-profile leaders have migrated over to the ruling BJP. Already, the BJP’s first list of 15 candidates for Rajasthan includes two former Congress leaders who joined the BJP recently—triballeaderandformer state Cabinet minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya and former Lok Sabha MP Jyoti Mirdha. It remains to be seen if any of the new members will be accommodated in the BJP candi CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why agreement marks a shift, could be a template for bigger deals in future India will ease tariffs on products and services, says Union Minister RAVI DUTTA MISHRA RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 INDIA AND the four-nation EuropeanFreeTradeAssociation (EFTA), an intergovernmental grouping of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, signed a trade pact Sunday that will see the EFTA countries committing to invest $100 billion in India and aiming to generate 10 lakh jobs over a 15-year period in exchange for NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 Union Minister Piyush Goyal at the signing of the India-EFTA Trade & Economic Partnership Agreement in Delhi. PTI tariff concessions for their pharma, chemical products and minerals, among other items. TheIndia-EFTAdealhasgone through a decade after negotia- tions were abandoned in 2013 due to differences between the two partners after as many as 13 rounds of talks. However, major CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 involvedagreaterdegreeof complementaritiesbetweenthetwo sides, and a lower level of complexity when compared to the otherdealsundernegotiations— the one with the UK and anotherwiththebroader 27-nation European Union. ● With the EFTA being the first set of European countriestosignadealwiththeinvestment commitment, the pact E THEPROGRESSof theIndia-EFTA trade deal, which has been inked just in time beforetheelectionsdates are set to be announced, largely hinged on the $100 billion investment commitment over a 15-year periodpledgedbythefourwestern European nations. This deal also EXPLAINED There can’t be a temptation now to experiment with a coalition govt. It’s a critical time for India NIRMALA SITHARAMAN India seals pact with Europe trade group: $100 bn and 10 lakh jobs in 15-year deal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Azamgarh vikas has Opp sleepless, Modi doosri mitti ka insaan hai: PM EXPRESS NETWORK BJP ASKS MP HEGDE KUNO CHEETAH TO EXPLAIN REMARKS GIVES BIRTH TO FIVE ON CONSTITUTION P4 CUBS P3 MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, MARCH 10 STEPPING UP his attack on the Opposition INDIA bloc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Azamgarh Sunday to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of as many as 782 projects worth Rs 34,700 crore in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country, said his campaign on “thisunending journey of development” is giving “sleepless nights” to those who practised the“thepoliticsof caste,dynasty and vote bank” all these years, especially in Purvanchal. PM Narendra Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath and UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary in Azamgarh on Sunday. PTI “Aaj desh dekh raha hai. Modi doosri mitti ka insaan hai (The country is watching, Modi is a man of mettle). No one should look at the foundation stones CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 will he contest elections? EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 the world order — from the Covid-19 pandemic to an assertive China, Russia-Ukraine war to Israel-Hamas conflict. As one of the most articulate CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A DAY after Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned from hispost,justdaysaheadoftheannouncement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition Sunday targeted the government, asking whether his surprise stepping down was because of “differences” with it or with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. West Bengal Chief MinisterandTMCleaderMamata Banerjee thanked Goel for “not succumbing to pressure from Delhi leaders” regarding deploy- BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY mentofsecurityforcesinthestate. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Summer still away, north Karnataka parched: Water once in 15-20 days PAGE 1 ANCHOR AKRAM M BENGALURU, MARCH 10 WAITING SEVEN to eight days forwatersupplyduringsummer months is not unusual for Siddesh Angadi, 52, a shopkeeper. This year however, the resident of Karnataka’s Gadag seems worried. “Water supply is generally bad during the summer, but we always get water every seven to eight days. The situation seems grimthisyearduetothedrought. While many houses have some ATRI MITRA & RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, MARCH 10 ENDING SPECULATION about a possible tie-up with Congress as partof thelargerOppositionbloc INDIA to take on the BJP, Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee Sunday fielded party candidates in all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Announcing the list of TMC candidates at a mega rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “Our CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A queue at Gangimadi Nagar in Karnataka’s Gadag, where residents say water is supplied only once a month. Akram M form of storage, it is a major headache in areas where people are not well off,” says Angadi. Karnataka is facing one of its worst droughts in recent years, and while the water shortage in Bengaluruhasattractednational attention, the situation in other parts of the state, especially north Karnataka, is particularly acute. A failed monsoon, dotted by sporadic spells of heavy rain last year, has resulted in a major crisis, especially in the arid regions of north Karnataka. In cities like Haveri and Gadag, where water sources begin to dry up from March onwards, residents say they arebeing forced to wait for 15 days — 30insomecases—forlocalbodies to supply water. Gadag Deputy Commissioner M L Vyshali told The Indian Express that it was very difficult to manage water supply for the city and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at a party rally in Kolkata on Sunday. Partha Paul RELATED REPORT PAGE 4 Adhir: She can’t be trusted, fielded Yusuf to help BJP MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 External Affairs Minister Day after, Opp asks: Did EC Jaishankar at Adda today Goel quit over differences, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S Jaishankar has been the face of India’s diplomacy in a fastchanging world in the last five years. The first Foreign Secretary to become the country’s Foreign Minister, he played a crucial role in shaping the foreign policy amid challenges that upended Mamata goes solo, sinks INDIA hopes of pact, sharpens attack on BJP THE INDIA bloc in West Bengal formally collapsed Sunday with the Trinamool Congress announcingitscandidatesforall42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, and the Congress hit out at TMC leader and Chief Minister MamataBanerjeesayingshehas Cong leader in LS, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury proved that she is a politician who cannot be relied upon. The Congress said the TMC CONTINUED ON PAGE 2