DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 28 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NAME SPELLS COURAGE: JANTAR MANTAR TO PARIS PODIUM Vinesh Phogat Defeats unbeaten Yui Susaki of Japan on way to historic final today EXPRESSAT OLYMPICS MIHIR VASAVDA PARIS, AUGUST 6 VINESHPHOGATstartedtheday byslayingagiantandendeditby breaking a barrier. By making it to Wednesday's final in the 50kg category, assured of at least a silver,sherosetoaheightthatno Indian woman wrestler has ever reached. Afterovercomingthedefendingchampion,theso-farunbeatableJapan’sYuiSusaki,inthefirst round,Phogat outclassed Cuba’s Vinesh Phogat after defeating Japan’s Yui Susaki at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris on Tuesday. PTI Rollback after criticism: Indexation benefit on sale of property before Budget brought back New 12.5 per cent tax on LTCG will apply to all property sales after July 23 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 FOLLOWINGOUTRAGEandconcerns from certain quarters over the Budget proposal to remove indexation benefits on longterm capital gains (LTCG), the government Tuesday decided to offertaxpayersachoicetopay20 per cent LTCG tax with indexation benefit on sale of property acquired before July 23, 2024. The other option introduced in the Budget to pay the tax on LTCGatareducedrateof 12.5per centwithoutindexationwillalso be available to taxpayers, as per the list of amendments moved bythegovernmentintheFinance Bill. Taxpayers can pay the lower tax amount of the two options. These amendments are being seen as a major rollback of the LTCG-related announcements pertaining to the real estate sector in the Budget. While the government had defended the new LTCG tax regime saying CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Sweeping terms in draft broadcast Bill raise red flags on free speech APURVA VISHWANATH & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 EXPANDING ITS remit from OTT content and digital news to include social media accounts and online video creators; defining a “digital news broadcaster” in sweeping terms; requiring prior registration with government to prescribing standards for content evaluation, the latest draft of the Broadcasting Services CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Widening the ambit THE LATEST draft seeks to include individual creators of content on social media including those outside India, covering all kinds of speech. It also seeks to validate the Code of Ethics prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, which has been stayed by two High Courts. Vinesh Phogat being dragged away by Delhi Police which detained her at Jantar Mantar on May 28, 2023. She became the face of the protests by wrestlers against the then WFI chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they accused of sexual harassment. ANI file UNDER UK RULE, SHE CAN’T SEEK ASYLUM FROM OVERSEAS QuestionmarkoverherLondon plans,DelhireadytohostHasina Dhaka dissolves House, frees Khaleda, Yunus appointed head of interim govt Ousted Bangla PM wants refuge because she fears persecution if sent back home SHUBHAJIT ROY ANISUR RAHMAN NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 OUSTED BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who landed in India Monday evening after fleeing Dhaka, is expected to remain here for “a while” because her plans to travel to the UK face a “technical roadblock,” The Indian Express has learnt. NewDelhiisdrawingupplans to host her in the country for “as long as it takes”, sources said. Hasinawasplanningtotravel to London as her sister Sheikh Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a member of the British Parliament. Tulip is economic secretary to the Treasury and Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate. The “technical” challenge emanates from the UK’s Immigration rules which have CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 THE EDITORIAL PAGE AFIGHTINGCHANCE BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA PAGE 16 DHAKA, AUGUST 6 Official vehicles seen entering the Hindon air base near Delhi where ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina landed on Monday after fleeing her country. PTI REPORTS,P9,22 India advised restraint, dialogue: Jaishankar on Bangladesh protests LIZ MATHEW & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 SAYING THAT there was growing tension and polarisation in Bangladesh politics since the January elections, External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar told ParliamentonTuesdaythatIndia “repeatedly counselled restraint” and dialogue, but “various decisions and actions taken thereafter only exacerbated the situation”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY BANGLADESH PRESIDENT Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for fresh elections, and an interim government was taking shape, a day after Sheikh Hasina abruptly resigned as Prime Minister and fledthecountryfollowingweeks of violent anti-government protests. As the Army took charge on Mondayand the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, the President appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, 84, as the head of the interim government. The decision was taken at a meeting of Shahabuddin with chiefs of the three services and a 13-member delegation of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Bangabhaban, President's Press Secretary Md. Joynal Abedin said. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief and ex-premierKhaledaZiawasfreed from house arrest, according to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semifinal to be a win away from an Olympic gold. From the middle of the first round, when she got a point due to her opponent's passivity, Phogat was the more dominant wrestler in the bout,andsettledthematterwith two separate takedowns in the second period. Itwas,however,Phogat'swin over Susaki, one of the biggest upsets of these Games, that made the entire Olympic universestandupandacknowledge her.Anoutcomethathasshaken the wrestling world. There isn't a direct parallel that captures Susaki’s perceived invincibility on the wrestling mat.Theclosest,perhaps,would CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 EC TEAM ARRIVES TOMORROW On J&K street: Talk of elections with some fingers crossed BASHAARAT MASOOD, NAVEED IQBAL & ARUN SHARMA SRINAGAR, JAMMU, AUGUST 6 THE SUPREME Court has directed the government to conduct Assembly elections in Jammu&KashmirbySeptember and expedite the process of restoring statehood. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinhahassaidthereshouldbeno doubtelectionswillbeheld.And indeed,theElectionCommission ofIndiacommencesitsthree-day visit to the Union Territory on August 8 to review the preparations for elections. But amid talks about imminent polls and an elected government, there are some fingers CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 TOMORROW Laying down hard line 5 YEARS SINCE AUG 5 AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-3 POLITICS P15 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW OMAR ABDULLAH VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONFERENCE THE WORLD AFTER DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION, HARRIS PICKS TIM WALZ AS RUNNING MATE HEZBOLLAH SENDS ATTACK DRONES, ISRAEL WARJETS FLY OVER BEIRUT PAGE 22