DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 MAHARASHTRA: SANGLI GOES TO SENA (UBT), BHIWANDI TO NCP (SP) 10/04/2024 142 170 213 60 Deadlockends,MVAsealsseat-sharing: It’s Sena UBT 21, Cong 17, NCP-SP 10 ALOK DESHPANDE & MANOJ MORE MUMBAI, PUNE, APRIL 9 EXPLAINED ECONOMICS TWOREASONSWHY FOOD INFLATION MAY SOFTEN PAGE 9 AFTER DAYS of wrangling and several rounds of talks to break the deadlock among the alliance partners over several Lok Sabha seats, including Sangli and Bhiwandi, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha elections — the Shiv Sena (UBT) willcontest21outof the48seats inthestate,Congress17andNCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 10. At a joint press conference in Mumbaiwheretheyannounced the seat-sharing arrangement, the MVA leaders insisted there were no disagreements. “There is no difference on any seat… be it Sangli or any other. All decisions have been taken unanimously,” NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said. In the seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress gave up two seats — it was eyeing — to the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). The Sangli seat, which had created a rift between the CongressandSena (UBT), will be contested by the latter. ChandraharPatil,awrestlerwho belongs to the Sena (UBT), will contestfromtheseatastheMVA candidate, taking on BJP’s siting MP Sanjaykaka Patil. The Congress has also given uptheBhiwandiseat,whichwill be contested by NCP (SP) candidate Suresh Mhatre. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Nana Patole, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. Sankhadeep Banerjee Strategic military infra upgrade in the works for Andaman & Nicobar Islands RELATED REPORT PAGE 6 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Longer runways, jetty, road expansion amid China bid to expand influence NEW DELHI, APRIL 9 WITH REVAMPED airfields and jetties to additional logistics and storage facilities, habitat for troops to a robust surveillance infrastructure, the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands are in the middle of a major military infrastructure upgrade, senior officials familiar with the developments have told The Indian Express. The enhanced infrastructure isaimedtofacilitatedeployment of additional military forces, facilities for larger and more warships, aircraft, missile batteries and troops. The ongoing large-scale construction activities come amid growingChineseattemptstoexpand its influence in the region, which includes construction of a military facility at Myanmar’s Coco Islands lying 55 km north of A&N Islands. E E X P L A I NE D AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL Importance ofthechain ● ofislands THE ANDAMAN and Nicobar Islands are of great strategic importance since they straddle one of the busiest sea lanes in the world and give India the reach to monitor the flow of traffic from the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean) to the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) via the Strait of Malacca that’s key to trade and oil shipments in the Indo-Pacific. Thereare836IslandsinA&N, of which only 38 are inhabited. The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the first andonlytri-servicecommandin the islands and was established in 2001. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 9 A YEAR after its release, The Kerala Story is roilingthestate’s heated political DECISION battlefield, with 2024 other Catholic dioceses announcing plans to follow in the footsteps of the Idukki diocese andscreenthecontroversialfilm, as part of efforts to “enlighten teenagers against love jihad”. The decision of the dioceses follows vehement criticism by the ruling CPI(M) and Was released in May last year Opposition Congress of Staterun Doordarshan for its screening of the film, days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. They had also approached the Election Commission seeking a directive to ban its telecast. NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, APRIL 9 AS PER the 2011 Census, migrants constitute nearly 43 per cent of the population of the urban agglomeration of Mumbai which includes the districts of MumbaiCity,MumbaiSuburban and Thane. With many migrants expected to go on their annual home visits during summer and a substantial number of Mumbaikars planning their summer vacations during the peak of elections, political partiesfromacrossthespectrumare working overtime to create awareness among voters to ensure that they are present in Mumbai when the city heads to polls on May 20. Political parties have now rolled out a slew of measures — EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, APRIL 9 THE DELHI High Court Tuesday dismissed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case, noting there was “sufficient material”with the agencyfor his arrest and remand. The single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, rulingonthematterafterreserving the verdict on April 3, said, “To summarise, the material… reveals that Arvind Kejriwal had allegedly conspired with other persons and was involved in the formulation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, in the process of demanding kickbacks from the South Group, as well as in generation, use and concealment of proceeds of crime.” “He is allegedly involved in theoffenceof moneylaundering in two capacities. Firstly, in his personal capacity as he was involved in formulation of the Excise Policy and in demanding kickbacks.Secondly,inhiscapacity as the National Convenor of Was arrested on March 21 Aam Aadmi Party as per Section 70 (1) of PMLA, for use of proceeds of crime of Rs 45 crores in the election campaign of Aam Aadmi Party in Goa Elections 2022, which are prima facie apparent from the material relied upon by the respondent (ED) as wellasthestatementrecordedon 08.03.2024 of one of the candidatesof AamAadmiPartyinGoa Elections 2022,” the bench said. ItclarifiedthatKejriwal’splea challenged his arrest as “illegal” andwasnotanapplicationseeking grant of bail. It said the “cumulative effect of material collected by the ED so far” on Kejriwal’s alleged role reflected ED’s “reasons to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lalit Kala Akademi: Fallout with ministry before the curb order CHENNAI ROADSHOW Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a roadshow in Chennai in support of BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday. PTI NIA calls its officer to Delhi as TMC and BJP trade charges over ‘meeting’ SWEETY KUMARI & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL KOLKATA, NEW DELHI, APRIL 9 DAYS AFTER the TMC alleged that a BJP leader carrying cash in an envelope visited a Superintendent of Police with the National Investigation Agency at the latter’s home near Kolkata, the NIA has asked the officertoreporttoitsDelhihead- quarters, it is learnt. ADIG-rankofficerhasmeanwhile been sent by the NIA from Patna to West Bengal to supervise cases. On Monday, in a memorandum to the EC, the TMC alleged thattheBJPwasmisusingtheNIA to target its political opponents. ThepartyallegedthataBJPmember, Jitendra Tiwari, met NIA SP Dhan Ram Singh at his residence on March 26. Along with its memorandum,theTMCsubmit- ted a copy of the visitor’s register at Singh’s residence with an entry allegedly showing Tiwari’s visit.TheTMCclaimedthatTiwari was seen entering with a packet in his hand and when he left an hourlater,hewasempty-handed. A source said Singh came to NIA from the BSF on deputation in2014.“Additionalchargeof the West Bengal branch has been given to DIG Rakesh Roshan,” a source said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The movie depicts the story of four women from Kerala converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State (IS), with the filmmakers claiming that thousands of women from the state had fallen to this. The film had faced several court cases ahead of its release in May 2023. On Tuesday, as the dioceses’ move became known, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammedthefilmas“againstthe cultural ethos of the state”. WithoutmentioningtheChurch, he said: “The film is being screened with a particular agenda. Canards are being spread to insult the state. No one should fall in the trap of the RSS, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, APRIL 9 INDIA HAS the world’s second highest prevalence of viral hepatitis cases, accounting for over 11 per cent of the global burden in 2022, according to the Global Hepatitis Report 2024 released by the World Health Organisation(WHO)onTuesday. Accordingtothereport,there were 254 million people living with Hepatitis B and 50 million withHepatitisCacrosstheworld in2022.Ofthese,Indiaaccounted for 29 million Hepatitis B cases, second only to China at 79 million; and 5.5 million Hepatitis C CONTINUEDONPAGE2 INDIA NUMBERS Hepatitis B (Total) 2.97 cr Infection load* 11.7% Incidence 50,083 Deaths 98,305 Diagnosis 2.4% Hepatitis C (Total) 0.55 cr Infection load Incidence Deaths 11.2% 1,44,187 26,206 Diagnosis 28% Treatment** 21% Source: Global Hepatitis Report 2024 (figures pertain to 2022); *Proportion of global infections; **Hep B treatment coverage: 0% Polls in the time of summer holidays: Parties work overtime to keep voters in Mumbai PAGE 1 ANCHOR AAP says it will move SC immediately, BJP pushes for his resignation as CM AKADEMI CHAIRMAN’S POWERS CURTAILED The Kerala Story in state poll theatre: India has 2nd highest Dioceses back screening, BJP cheers hepatitis cases, 11% of Being screened with agenda, don’t fall into RSS trap: CM global burden: WHO SHAJU PHILIP HC rejects Kejriwal petition: ED material shows he ‘conspired’, sought ‘kickbacks’ A rally in Navi Mumbai. Express file fromdoor-to-doorcampaignsto appealing to mosques and madrasas to educate people — and are urging residents to stay back in the city and cast their votes on election day. As per travel agencies and tour operators across the city, May is among the peak travel months for the city, with most residents planning their vacations as early as January. For these early planners, cancelling their tickets at the last minute CONTINUEDONPAGE2 DIVYA A NEW DELHI, APRIL 9 THE CENTRE’S unprecedented order of January 8 curtailing the powersof theLalitKalaAkademi (LKA) Chairman, V Nagdas, within just 10 months of his appointment,wasprecededbyaseries of disagreements between himandtheCultureMinistryover the administration and finances ofthepremierartsinstitution,The Indian Express has learnt. Lalit Kala Akademi Chairman V Nagdas As reported by The Indian ExpressonMarch28,Nagdaswas barred from taking “any administrative actions including appointment, recruitment, transfer, disciplinary actions and financialdecisions”withoutcon- sulting the ministry. In its order, the ministry had cited Nagdas’s failure to respond to an earlier “complaint” and also alleged non-compliance with its “administrative directions”. The Indian Express has now learnt that the order came amid differencesbetweenNagdasand theministry overadministrative issues, including the appointment of consultants, transfer of officialswithintheAkademi,and selection of invitees for the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2