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 TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ADDRESS TO NATION ● `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 3 Opp-ruled states say no to PM-SHRI, Centre stops school programme funds Delhi, Punjab cite similar scheme in their states, Bengal objects to name NEW DELHI, LUDHIANA, KOLKATA, JULY 15 Donald Trump arrives in Milwaukee for the Republican convention on Sunday. Reuters MOREREPORTS,PAGE14 DayafterTrump shooting,Biden says‘lowerthe temperature’ THE EDUCATION Ministry has stopped funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the flagship school education programme, to Delhi, Punjab andWestBengalbecauseof their reluctance to participate in the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme, The Indian Express has learnt. Thescheme,withabudgetof over Rs 27,000 crore for the next five years — the Centre is supposed to shoulder 60% of the financial burden and the states 40% — aims to upgrade at least 14,500 government schools into “exemplar”institutionstoshowcase the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. States have to confirm their participation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Education Ministry. Five states — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal—areyettosigntheMoU. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala have indicated their willingness, Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal haverefused,ostensiblyprompt- ing the Centre to stop their SSA funds, it is learnt. The three states have not received the third and fourth installments of SSA funds for the last financial year's OctoberDecember and January-March quarters,northefirstinstallment for the current financial year's April-June quarter. This has prompted them to send several letters and reminders to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Khedkar has 7% physical disability, 40% needed to avail benefits: YCM hospital dean No place for this kind of violence, any violence... no exceptions: US President MICHAEL D SHEAR Puja Khedkar’sdisabilitycard USPRESIDENTJoeBidensaidina prime-time Oval Office address onSundaythatthenationneeded to “lower the temperature in our politics”, saying that he deplored the attempted assassination of formerPresidentDonaldJTrump andfearedforthedirectionofthe country’s politics. “We cannot, we must not, go down this road in America,” he said,usingthebackdropoftheoffice for only the third time in his presidency. “There is no place in Americaforthiskindof violence, for any violence, ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalised.” “The power to change America,” he said, “should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.” The President’s six-minute speech — delivered from behind the Resolute Desk, which has been used by almost every President since Rutherford B Hayes in 1880 — came just a day ANURADHA MASCARENHAS WASHINGTON, JULY 15 OLI TAKES OATH AS NEPAL PM US President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office. NYT before Trump was set to attend his party’s nominating convention in Milwaukee. Republicanssaidtheconvention would proceed as planned, andTrumpflewtoMilwaukeeon Sunday afternoon, vowing to remain “defiant in the face of wickedness”. Inhisshortspeech,Bidensaid he would continue making his case for another four-year term, ignoringthecallsfromsomeinhis ownpartytostepaside.Hesaidhe expected Trump and his allies to attack his record during the convention, but he urged Americans CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY 16/07/2024 New Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli (right) with outgoing Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal after taking oath of office at the Presidential residence in Kathmandu, Monday. AP P14 Viswanathan Anand, wife Aruna, Arjun Erigaisi at Adda today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JULY 15 WITH INDIA’S D Gukesh preparingtotakeonreigningchampion Ding Liren of China in the World Chess Championship title clash in Singapore in NovemberDecember, there's no one better than a five-time world champion to decode what that moment means for India. Over four decades, as CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE ARCHEOLOGICAL Survey of India (ASI) on Monday submitted its survey report on the disputed Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar district to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, stating that a scien- 153 78 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Structure made from parts of temples: ASI to HC BHOPAL, JULY 15 124 THE MEDICAL board at Pimpri's Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital certified that Puja Khedkar, the controversial trainee IAS officer, has seven per cent locomotor disability. “In effect, this does not mean any major physical disability. The benchmark to avail of benefits is 40 per cent disability,” Dr Rajendra Wabale, Dean, YCM hospital told The Indian Express. Khedkar has been in the eye of a storm for allegedly submitting fake disability certificates. Whencontacted,DrWabalesaid that on August 24, 2022, Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar was a case of locomotor disability. “The diagnosis in her case is an old ACL tear with left knee instability. She has 7 per cent permanent disability in relation to her left lower limb as per the BHOJSHALA TEMPLE-KAMAL MAULA MOSQUE COMPLEX ANAND MOHAN J 96 Clockwise from top left: Viswanathan Anand, wife Aruna, Arjun Erigaisi PUNE, JULY 15 tificinvestigationrevealsthe“existing structure was made from the parts of earlier temples”. The court had in March last year ordered the ASI to conduct thesurvey,observingthatthenature and character of the structure needs to be “demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion”. On Monday, the Supreme Court said it will con- siderlistingforhearingapetition challengingtheMadhyaPradesh HCorderdirectingtheASItoconductthe“scientificinvestigation”. Hindus regard the ASI-protected complex as a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while Muslims consider it the site of the Kamal Maula mosque. Under an arrangement made in 2003, HindusperformpujaatthecomplexonTuesdayswhileMuslims offer namaz on Fridays. Onthestructure'snatureand age,theASIreportstatesthatthe "retrievedarchitecturalremains, sculptural fragments, large slabs of inscriptionswithliterarytexts, Nagakarnika inscriptions on pillars, etc suggest that a large CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Post-poll EVM check: EC looks at mock poll with up to 1,400 votes RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, JULY 15 THE ELECTION Commission’s protocol for the Supreme Courtmandated verification of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls is likely to include a mock poll, permitting candidates to cast up to 1,400 votes on the machines selected for the process, The Indian Express has learnt. The election watchdog has received eight applications for verification of EVMs used in the 18th Lok Sabha elections and three for the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, whichwereheldsimultaneously. These applications were re- E E X P L A I NE D ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND, DIVYA GOYAL GOPAL & ATRI MITRA ● What the SC said THE SUPREME Court, in April, allowed candidates who were placed second and third to seek verification of the “burnt memory/ microcontroller in 5% of EVMs... per assembly constituency/ assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency”. ceived pursuant to the Supreme Court order in April, when, for thefirsttime,theCourtgavecandidates who stood second and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 OUT ON BAIL IN ELGAAR CASE Activist Navlakha and partner struggle to rent home in Mumbai SADAF MODAK MUMBAI, JULY 15 EVER SINCE he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Elgaar Parishad case in May, Delhi-based journalist-activist Gautam Navlakha and his author-partner Sahba Husain have been struggling to rent a home in Mumbai. Although the couple have a home in Delhi, 72-year-old Navlakha’s bail conditions prevent him from leaving Mumbai. As a result, the couple have been house hunting in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai without any luck, forcing them to live in a libraryturned-makeshift home where Navlakha had been under house arrest from November 2022 until May this year. “Once Gautam was out on bail, we felt that the four years of Gautam Navlakha and his partner Sahba Husain have been living in a library. Express struggle would ease. Our celebrationwasshort-lived,”Husain, also 72, told The Indian Express. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 With Yamal, Williams and Euro win, Spain crosses a race barrier PAGE 1 ANCHOR SANDIP G NEW DELHI, JULY 15 AN ICONIC football photograph was born on Sunday, after Nico Williams opened scoring for Spain, from a low Lamine Yamal cross, in the European Championship final against EnglandinBerlin.Williamsisbeside the corner flag, flashing a broad grin. Yamal is clinging to his shoulder, his joyous face obscured by the spiked Rasta locks of Williams.Itwasadeeplysymbolic moment in Spanish football history, that the two brightest stars of their fourth Euro triumph, beating England 2-1, were immigrants of African descent, that the national team has started to reflect all of its nation. In the past, Spain had the occasional black player, such as midfielders Donato, Marcos Senna and striker Catanha, but theywereBraziliansgrantedcitizenshipaftermovingtoSpainto play professionally. Racism, though, was rampant in Spanish football. Last year, Williams was subjected to monkey chants in a game against Atletico Madrid. A furiousWilliamsretorted:“There are fools in all places. So it’s not a big deal, we have to keep workingsothatthischangesbitbybit, asintheendwearehavinganinternal and external fight against this. It is what it is.” The bitter reality is that Spain had not integrated immigrants into the game, unlike England, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Yamal’sfatherMounirYamalwas fined€600forthrowingeggsata Vox campaign tent in May 2023. In this light, the rise and fanfare of Yamal and Williams is more relevant, a symbol of Spanish cutting its racist under- Spain’s Nico Williams celebrates with Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo after scoring the first goal. Reuters tones. Theirs is a staple but poignant tale of immigration, oneof physicaltortureandmentalanguish, of humantrafficking and hope. To escape the abject poverty in Ghana, Williams’s parents fled the country. But they fell into the trap of human traffickerswhopromisedtoferry them to the UK and left them stranded in the middle of the Sahara, without food, water and shelter, robbing their valuables. Shattered, they kept walking aimlessly through the burning sands, even as his mother Maria was pregnant with their eldest son, Inaki, also a footballer who turns up for Ghana. After days, theyranintopoliceintheSpanish enclave of Melilla, in the north of Africa. A kind police officer told them about the formalities to seek political asylum with the help of a lawyer. “He advised us toburnourpassportsandtellthe courtthatwewerefromLiberia,” his mother once told Spanish news outlet, AS. She narrated the storytotheirchildrenlater,when they pestered her about blister scars on their father’s feet. The lawyer introduced them to a Catholic priest Inaki Mardones. The priest found themstatehousinginBilbaoand took Sarah to a hospital. In gratitude, Felix and Maria named their first son after him. But raising the children was not easy. FelixmovedtoChelseaintheUK, where he worked as a dishwasher in a hotel and as a security guard on match days at Chelsea FC. Maria juggled up to three jobs a day. Football was a distraction for theWilliams brothersfromtheir gruelling livelihood realities. They just happened to be exceptional at that. Nico would dedicate everything to his parents. “They risked their lives so that we, my brother and I, have a better future. I will forever appreciate what my father and my CONTINUED ON PAGE 2