DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES GOTOPPORTUNITYTOSERVETHIRDTIME... will work three times harder, says Modi SPORTS `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 OPPOSITIONWILLCONTINUEITS PRESSURE, raise the voice of the people: Rahul Gandhi 18th Lok Sabha begins NEET QUESTION PAPER ‘LEAK’ At school under probe, digital lock on box with question papers didn’t open, cutter was used ABHISHEK ANGAD RANCHI, JUNE 24 T20 WORLD CUP INDIADEFEAT AUSTRALIA,ENTER SEMI-FINALS PAGE 15 EXPRESS NETWORK Anil Sharma PM Modi with MinistersLMurugan,JitendraSingh, KirenRijiju, ArjunRamMeghwal;Opp leadersMallikarjunKharge,SoniaGandhi,AkhileshYadavon Monday SIT REGISTERS FOURTH CASE AGAINST PRAJWAL REVANNA Consensus crucial to govern, aim to take everyone along: PM THE WORLD HARIKISHAN SHARMA & MANOJ C G PAGE 11 NEW DELHI, JUNE 24 GUNMEN ATTACK SOUTH RUSSIA CITIES, KILL 20 INCLUDING COPS NETANYAHU SAYS WON’T END WAR IN GAZA, CONTRASTS US PROPOSAL PAGE 13 PTI ASTHEfirstsessionof thenewlyconstituted 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined that a “majority” may be needed to run the government but “consensus” is crucial to govern the country, while asserting that his governmentwouldstrivetoseek “everyone’s consent” and “take everyonealong”inhisthirdterm. His remarks are significant as theBJP,whosetallyinthe18thLok Sabhaisbelowthemajoritymark, is dependent on its allies in the NDA for support. This is the first timethatModiisheadingacoalitiongovernmentinwhichtheBJP doesnothavemajorityonitsown. In his customary pre-session address, Modi also took a swipe at the Opposition, particularly the Congress, by recalling the “dark chapter” of Emergency. Saying that “people don't expect tantrums, drama and disturbance” but seek “substance and not slogans”, he added: “The country needs a good and responsible Opposition, and I am confident that the MPs elected to the 18th Lok Sabha will strive tomeettheseexpectationsof the common man.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Opp: BJP’s undeclared Emergency over, will protect Constitution MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, JUNE 24 PAGE 10 ARESURGENTandunitedOpposition, upbeat since it has managed to shrink the BJP’s tally in Lok Sabha, forcing it to depend on allies to run the government, sought to make a political point both inside and outside the House on Monday. A combative Congress also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Emergency jibe at it, saying he had resorted to diversion as usual, forgetting that people had endedthelast10 yearsof “undeclared Emergency”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D MUMBAI PWD ‘DIVERTED’ `26 CR TO PAY CONTRACTORS AT MINISTERS’ BUNGALOWS Stormy days ● ahead IF THE Opposition mood is any indication, it will likely corner the Government in the coming days. The row over the exams mess will dominate proceedings when the House meets for the Union Budget next month. State elections are also due in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand in October-November. THE PRINCIPAL of the Hazaribaghschool,whereinvestigators suspect the NEET-UG leakoriginatedfrom,hastoldThe Indian Express that a digital lock on two boxes containing question papers did not open at 1.15 pm on May 5 as it was supposed to, because of which they had to use a cutter. According to officials, the boxes come with two locks — oneismanual,andtheotherdigital. While there is a key and cutter to open the former, the latter is supposed to unlock automatically 45 minutes before the examination. At Oasis School in Hazaribagh, this didnot happen. When Ehsanul Haque, the school principal and the Hazaribagh district coordinator designatedbytheNationalTesting Agency, called the NTA about whattodo,hewastold,“Cutterse digitallockkokaatdo(cutthedigital lock with the cutter).” Haque told The Indian Express that he conveyedthisto thesuperintendents and observers at five examination centres, including Oasis School,wherethedigitallockhad not opened. Imtiyaz Alam, the centre superintendent at Oasis School, and NTA’s observer Vishwa Ranjan corroborated this. “Digital locks were also used in the previous NEET-UG exams, and there was a beep that indicated they were open. This year we were surprised when they didn’t unlock. We alerted our city coordinator Ehsanul Haque, he contacted the NTA, and we were told that we should cut it using a cutter,” said Ranjan. According to NTA officials, if thedigital lock doesn’tautomatically unlock at the desired time, then the protocol is to break the lock open with a cutter. “These are digital devices that can malfunction. It doesn’t necessarily mean these were tampered with,” said an NTA official. Explaining the process, Haque told The Indian Express: “I received an email at 1 am on May 5 informing me about nine boxes with question papers kept in two designated banks. At 7.30 am, five centre superintendents and five observers were handed over nine cardboard boxes, inside which were the aluminium boxes with question papers.” Haquesaidthatafterreceiving the cardboard boxes, the officials CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After decade, Opposition in House in numbers — and a voice LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, JUNE 24 “THE WINNER comes second.” This was Lal Krishna Advani after the 1989 Lok Sabha elections when the BJP, under his watch, jumped from 2 to 85 seats in the House — the start of its rise to power. And on Monday, the first day of the18thLokSabha,Opposition MPsappearedtohaveborrowed Advani’s line to their advantage –jubilantandvibrantoutsidethe House, more confident and emboldened inside. After a decade, from just two rows of seats, they were now occupying more than Opposition MPs show copies of the Constitution at the Parliament House complex on Monday. PTI a third of the House benches. The BJP, which left the new Parliament building in February in an upbeat mood chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Ab ki baar 400 paar’, was somewhat subdued barring one round of ‘Modi Modi’ when Narendra Modi, electedPrimeMinisterforathird successive term, rose to take oath as MP. On the other side of the Well, Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the SP whose tally climbed from five to 37, made Awadhesh Prasad, the 79-year-old who won the Faizabad seat (Ayodhya), sit in the first row with himself and Rahul Gandhi. WiththeBJPnolongerinma- jority in the House, the Lower House reverbated to the sounds of a confident Opposition. The Congress, DMK and TMC MPs held a protest outside the House, holding red-cover copies of the Constitution and standing at the spot where the statue of Mahatma Gandhi used to be. They then marched to the House to take oath. A few minutes later, AkhileshYadavledhispartymen, all wearing red stoles and holding copies of the Constitution, to the floor of the House. The mood inside was probably an indication of what could beexpectedintheHouse,atleast for a few sessions. Members of the Opposition waved copies of theConstitutionwhenModiand Home Minister Amit Shah were called to take oath. They were heard shouting slogans such as ‘Long live the Constitution’, ‘We will save the Constitution’ while Modiwasatthepodium.Afterall, one of the Opposition lines during the election campaign was that the BJP would change the Constitution if it were to return to power with 400-plus seats. The Opposition also united to protest the alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including the NEET-UG and UGC-NET, and shouted “NEET, NEET” and “Shame,Shame”whenEducation Minister Dharmendra Pradhan CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HC reserving bail order unusual, will 2 months after marriage, couple killed wait for its ruling: SC to CM Kejriwal in Haryana; woman’s family booked ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, JUNE 24 DESCRIBING AS “a bit unusual” the Delhi High Court’s decision to reserve its verdict on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea for a stay on grant of bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court said Monday it will wait for the High Court verdict and hear his plea against the HC move on June 26. PAGE 1 ANCHOR Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal On June 21, Justice Sudhir KumarJainof theHighCourthad put on hold for “two-three days” theorderof thetrialcourt granting bail to Kejriwal. Arrested by the ED on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy case being probed separately by the CBI, Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court against the High Court decision. Thevacationbenchof Justices Manoj Misra and S V N Bhatti notedthattheHighCourtwasyet topronouncethefinaljudgment in the matter. Justice Misra said,“Normally, inastayorder,judgmentsarenot CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, JUNE 24 TWO MONTHS after they got married,acouplefromHisardistrictof Haryana—Tejbir(24)and his wife Meena (22) — was gunned down by two unidentified men in a suspected case of “honour killing” on Monday morning, police said. According to police sources, Tejbir and his wife Meena were distant relatives. Basedonacomplaintfiledby Tejbir'sfather,MehtabSingh,policehavelodgedanFIRagainst11 people—allfromMeena'sfamily — under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 120-B (conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly) and Section 25 of the Arms Act. Speaking to The Indian Express, Additional Director General of Police (Hisar Range) Matta Ravi Kiran said the couple had initially approached the court to seek police protection, but later withdrew their plea. AccordingtotheFIR,thecouple got married at an Arya Samaj MandirinGhaziabadonApril22. Meena's family is reported to have opposed the marriage. While Meena was from Sultanpur village in Hisar, Tejbir was a resident of Badala village in the same district. In his complaint, Mehtab Singh, a farmer, told the police CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Members of Congress students’ wing, NSUI, protest over paper leak near Parliament in Delhi, Monday. Praveen Khanna Abolish NEET, restore state entrance exams, Mamata writes to PM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, JUNE 24 AMID THE allegations of paper leakandirregularitiesintheNEETUG--theNationalEligibility-cumEntrance Test Undergraduate – conductedbytheNationalTesting Agency (NTA), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged Prime Minister Narendra ModitoabolishtheNEETanddemanded the restoration of previoussystemwhereinthestatesand medical institutions used to conductownentrancetestforadmission to medical colleges. In a letter to PM Modi, Banerjee wrote, “...before 2017, the States were allowed to conduct their own entrance examinations and the Central governmentalsousedtoconductitsown examinations for admission into themedicalcourses.Thissystem was functioning smoothly and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee during a review meeting on Monday. Express without much problems... This wasbetterattunedtotheregional curricula and educational standards.TheStategovernmentusually spends more than Rs 50 lakh per doctor on education and internship. Therefore, the State CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CBI TAKES OVER GODHRA NEET PROBE PAGE 3 Lapses and omissions revealed, 15 arrested: A month after Rajkot fire Gujarat Congress calls for half-day strike in the city to mark one month of the tragedy GOPALKATESHIYA RAJKOT,JUNE24 A MONTH on, after a massive fire claimed 27 lives at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot, over a hundred people have been questioned as the investigation intensifies, and 15 have been arrested amid calls by the Opposition for “justice for victims”.TheGujaratCongresshas given a call for a half-day shutdown in Rajkot on Tuesday to mark one month of the tragedy. Investigators are still looking for at least one more accused, according to people in the know. Among the 100 people whose statementshavebeenrecordedby the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Rajkot City Police are government and municipal officials. The investigation has pointed at alleged omissions on thepartofofficialsinallowingthe game zone to continue without thenecessarysafetyclearances.In itsinterimreportsubmittedtothe government on Saturday, a highlevel SIT -- another probe team formed by the state government --flaggedlapsesonthepartofthe police, Rajkot Municipal At the TRP Game Zone blaze site in Rajkot; (right) GPCC president Shaktisinh Gohil and Gujarat Congress working president Jignesh Mevani at a press conference in Rajkot on Monday. Express Corporation(RMC)andRoadsand Buildings (R&B) Department. Eight officials of the RMC are among those who have been arrested for alleged acts of omis- sions and forgery in the case. OnMonday,ShaktisinhGohil, president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), addressed a press conference in Rajkot,appealingtotheresidents of the city to keep their business and offices closed till Tuesday noon and join the party in the strikeithascalledfor“toseekjus- tice” for the fire incident victims. “Twenty-fifthJunewillmarkone month since that incident which happened on May 25 and we request,notaspartyof anypolitical stunt or battle but in the name of humanity, Rajkot remain shut completelyforhalf-a-daytomorrow,” Gohil said, adding, “We are callingforahalf-daystrikeasthere arepeoplewhoneedtoworkdaily fortheirdailybreadandwedon’t want to inconvenience them.” Meanwhile, the SIT of Rajkot city police has found that Nitin Ramani,acorporatoroftheruling BJPintheRMC,hadbeenintouch with one of the owners of the game zone Prakash Hiran alias Prakash Jain whose uncle approachedhimseekinghelpinregularisation of the game zone undertheImpactFeeAct.Hiranwas amongthosekilledintheblazeon May 25. Bharat Basiya, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Rajkot Crime Branch, who is heading the SIT, told The Indian Express, “Those whose statements we haverecordedincludearound25 officers and employees of RMC, a couple of officers of the Roads andBuildingsDepartmentof the state government and around sevenstaff memberof theRajkot city police.” Ramani’s statement was recordedafteritemergedthathe was in contact with Prakash HiranaliasPrakashJain,oneofthe sixownersoftheTRPGameZone, police say. Ramani had told reportersthatHiran’sunclehadapproached him with a request to help Hiran get the TRP Game Zone’s tin shed housing indoor games facilities regularised and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad