DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA 132 163 62 Centre asks Punjab how Moosewala’s mother used IVF at age 58 KANCHAN VASDEV & ANONNA DUTT CHANDIGARH, NEW DELHI, MARCH 20 DAYSBEFORElatePunjabisinger Sidhu Moosewala’s parents had a child, the Centre wrote to the Punjab government asking how his mother, Charan Kaur, underwent IVF treatment at 58 when the age limit for assisted reproductive technology (ART) CHENNAI, NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, MARCH 20 LAST MONTH, the BCCI finally addressed a problem that was looming on the horizon as far back as in 2008 when the cashrich IPL came into being. It warned players against picking “IPL over domestic cricket” and, to set an example, excluded two young stars, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, from its list of central contracts for missing Ranji Trophy matches this season. There’s a reason why the BCCI is now scrambling to cap this trend. Team lists analysed by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GAVASKAR MOOTS CONTRACT SYSTEM, SCHEDULING TWEAKS RANJI: 0 IPL: `1,00,00,000 0RANJIMATCH ISHANKISHAN MumbaiIndians `15.25crore DEEPAKCHAHAR ChennaiSuperKings `14crore KRUNALPANDYA LucknowSuperGiants `8.25crore RAJVARDHAN HANGARGEKAR ChennaiSuperKings `1.05crore HOPE INDIA JOINS PEACE SUMMIT: UKRAINE PMcallsPutin,Zelenskyy amidSwisspeacemoves Modi greets Russia President on his re-election, tells Ukraine leader aid supply to continue SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MARCH 20 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday, conveying India’s consistentpositioninfavourofdialogueanddiplomacyastheway forward and that it would continue to do everything within its SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, MARCH 20 A CONFERENCE organised in January by a wing of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu had a surprising guest appearance by Dravidian icon M Karunanidhi, who appeared on a big screen in his trademark black sunglasses, white shirt and a yellow shawl. PAGE 15 Karunanidhi praised the current leadership in the state under his son M K Stalin. Except, Karunanidhi died in 2018. As the battleground for the Lok Sabha polls heats up, political parties find a new weapon in their arsenal:sharingcontenton social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X that are generated through artificial intelligence (AI) to either promote their own candidatesorridiculeopponents and send targeted personalised messages to voters. Experts believe AI will be used on an unprecedented scale thiselection—andpotentiallybe a deciding factor like social media was in the 2014 polls — thoughtheimpactof thedisruptive technology in moulding India’s policy consistent THE CONVERSATIONS come at a time when Delhi gets ready to receive Kyiv’s Foreign Minister. The phone calls underline India’s consistent position of resolving the Ukraine conflict via talks and diplomacy. CLASH BETWEEN TWO COMMUNITIES CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, MARCH 20 SIXDAYSafterascufflebrokeout between members of two communities over parking space in Mumbai’s Saki Naka, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday demolished portions of a five-storey residential house of one Iqbal Khan allegedly following instructions SC will hear today challenge to HC interim order declining stay on unit NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, MAR 20 Dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward, Modi tells Putin and Zelenskyy meanstosupportapeacefulsolutiontotheRussia-Ukraineconflict. Moves are afoot to schedule avisittoNewDelhinextweekby UkraineForeignMinisterDmitry Kuleba at a time when Kyiv is keen on India’s presence at the peace summit in Switzerland. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `18lakh Season earning of Ranji Trophy winner Bhupen Lalwani, who got 10 games. Lowest paid IPL player gets `20 lakh. Centre notifies its fact check unit to red-flag news it considers false SOUMYARENDRA BARIK & OMKAR GOKHALE BMC razes house of accused; Lodha’s office AI spin to Lok Sabha campaign: new says he gave instruction videos and audio of icons long gone PRATIPRAJPUT & ACHARYA SAGAR CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Indian cricket’s new challenge: Half in IPL 2024 played one or no Ranji game this season VENKATA KRISHNA B, PRATYUSH RAJ & DEVENDRA PANDEY REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES 104 ● from Mumbai (suburban) Guardian Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Lodha’s instruction to the BMC followed the scuffle that broke out between Iqbal Khan (50) and Siddesh Prakhash Godpade (23), Rajesh Chettiyar (28), Tangaraj Chettiyar (58) and Laxmi Chettiyar (52), during which he allegedly stabbed the three from the Chettiyar family andtheirneighbourGodpadeafter a heated argument over CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY A DAY BEFORE the Supreme Courtisscheduledtohearachallenge to the Bombay High Court’s interim order refusing to stay the setting up of a Fact Checking Unit (FCU), the Union Electronics and IT Ministry WednesdaynotifiedtheFCUunderthePressInformationBureau as a statutory body with powers to flag what it believes is false information related to the Central government and its agencies on social media sites. With this notification, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X are now legally obligated to take down content flagged as misinformationbythisfactcheck unit, or risk facing litigation. The amended IT rules were challenged in the Bombay High CourtlastyearbycomedianKunal Kamra,Editors’GuildofIndia,and somemediaorganisations.Justice Gautam Patel and Justice Neela K Gokhalehaddeliveredasplitverdict with one ordering a stay and the other upholding it. In his verdictorderingthestay,JusticePatel said it would have a “chilling effect” on the right to free speech and freedom of press. Justice A S Chandurkar, the third judge assigned to give an opiniononthesplitverdict,isyet to give his final decision. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bhushan Gagrani replaces Chahal as BMC commissioner PRATIP ACHARYA & ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, MARCH 20 ‘DUPEDINVESTORS OFCRORES’:MUMBAI POLICEISSUE LOCAGAINSTCA AMBERDALAL PAGE 3 TWO DAYS after shunting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday approved the name of1990-batchIASofficerBhushan Gagrani as his replacement. Gagrani, who was attached to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and is known to have a Bhushan Gagrani rapport with CMs across party lines, is seen as someone “who gets things done”. His name was announced a day after the Maharashtra government sent three names to the EC as a possible replacement for Chahal. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2