eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE The Other Shankar JAIPUR,LATECITY JUNE16,2024 Grammy-winning violinist L Shankar is back and has a story to tell 12+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA CLASS XII TEXT BOOKS HIT MARKET LAST WEEK In new NCERT textbook, rewrite of Ayodhya dispute — some deletions Babri‘3-domestructure’,’19SCverdictconsensus‘example’ RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, JUNE 15 Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) are critical for NDA Govt DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & NIKHILA HENRY NEW DELHI, JUNE 15 IN THE wake of the Opposition INDIA bloc's constituents, the Congress and the AAP, suggesting that the JD(U) and the TDP, key allies of the ruling BJP-led NDA, must push for their nominee as the new Lok Sabha Speaker, the JD(U) said Saturday itwillsupportanycandidatechosenbytheBJPforthiscrucialpost. “What Congress is doing is diversion. It is uncalled for. It is a conventionthatthelargestparty in the ruling coalitiontakes acall on the Speaker. Whatever CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE NEW NCERT Class 12 PoliticalSciencetextbook,which hit the market last week, does not mention the Babri Masjid by name calling it a “three-domed structure,” has pruned the Ayodhya section from four to twopagesanddeletedtellingdetails from the earlier version. These include: the BJP rath yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992; President’s rule in BJPruled states; and the BJP's expression of “regret over the happenings at Ayodhya”. As reported by The Indian ExpressonApril5,theNCERThad disclosedsomeofthechanges,in- 8 Maoists, one cop killed in Chhattisgarh gunfight JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU & DEEPTIMAN TIWARY RAIPUR, NEW DELHI, JUNE 15 EIGHTMAOISTSwerekilledduring an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Saturday – the latest in a series of anti-Naxal operations in the current calendar year. A security force personnel also died in Saturday’s encounter after sustaining a bullet injury. According to state governmentsources,theanti-Naxaloperations have picked pace since the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, with the alignment of the political objective at the Centre — of total area domination in core areas and a firm line against Naxals— with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 cluding the removal of at least three references to the demolitionandtheprimacygiventothe Ram Janmabhoomi movement. But the extent of the revisions was unknown until now. The key changes: ■ The old textbook introducesBabriMasjidasa16thcentury mosque built by Mughal emperor Babur's General Mir Baqi. Now, the chapter refers to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED Ally JDU backs BJP pick for Speaker post, TDP bats for ‘NDA face’ 4rounds, 2014to ● pandemic THIS IS the fourth round of revisions of NCERT textbooks since 2014. In the first round in 2017, NCERT cited nthe eed to reflect recent events. In 2018, it initiated revisions to reduce the “syllabus burden.” And less than three years later, a third round to reduce curriculum load and help students recover from learning disruptions caused by Covid. Nepal creates WC ripples, a father watches in Punjab PRATYUSH RAJ NEW DELHI, JUNE 15 RAMBAHADURThapa,apeonat the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd in Patiala, took the day off Saturday and woke up at 4 am to watch the men's T20 cricket World Cup Group D matchbetweenSouthAfricaand CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Nepal team at innings break of their match against South Africa. @CricketNep/X WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4-PAGE PULLOUT MEA SECY (WEST) AT MEET IN SWITZERLAND IndiajoinsmeetonUkraine, dayafterPMModicalls fordialogueanddiplomacy Whatever agreed upon will be part of peacemaking process, says Zelenskyy SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JUNE 15 A DAY after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that India continues to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, New Delhi sent a senior official to Switzerland for the two-day SummitonPeaceinUkrainethat began Saturday. Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West)intheMinistryofExternal Jaipur US Vice President Kamala Harris with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a bilateral meet in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on Saturday. Reuters Affairs,whoreachedBurgenstock in central Switzerland, will be participatingindiscussionsatthe conference being hosted by Switzerland President Viola Amherd. The summit began a day after G7 leaders agreed in Italy to engineer a $50-billion loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival. Interest earned on profits fromRussia’sfrozencentralbank assets would be used as collateral and the money could reach Kyiv before the end of the year. In her statement Saturday at the start of the summit, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2