DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2024, KOLKATA LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 3-PHASE POLLS IN J&K START NEXT MONTH, COUNTING ON OCTOBER 4 After 10 yrs, J&K to elect an Assembly, CEC says ballot is best answer to bullet SSLV-D3 lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Friday. PTI After launch success, ISRO says SSLV development is complete ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, AUGUST 16 THE SMALLEST launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) — SSLV (SmallSatelliteLaunchVehicle)— initsthirdandfinaldevelopmental flight Friday placed the EOS08 and SR-0 satellites into a precise 475-km circular orbit. With this, the SSLV will be inducted intothespaceagency’sfleetofoperational launch vehicles. Thetechnologyof thevehicle, however, will be transferred to theprivateindustryforcommercial flights in bigger numbers. Congratulating those involved in the successful launch, PrimeMinisterNarendraModiin a post on X said: “A remarkable milestone! Congratulations to our scientists and industry for thisfeat.Itisamatterof immense joy that India now has a new launchvehicle.Thecost-effective SSLV will play an important role in space missions and will also encourage private industry.” ISRO Chairperson S Somanath said: “With this third flightof SSLV,wecandeclarethat the development process is completed.Weareintheprocess of transfer of technology to industries for serial production and launches of SSLV on a commercial basis. So, it is a great beginning for SSLV.” “Further, we are also looking for certain activities in the VTM stage and all that will be completed in due course of time,” he said. The VTM or Velocity Trimming Module is the last liquid-propellentbasedstageof the Haryana will also vote for new House on October 1, says EC, no other poll until J&K gets over SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, AUGUST 16 DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 16 TEN YEARS since the last Assembly elections and the first for the Union Territory that was created in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir is headed for a threephased election in September and October, with the Election Commission announcing the schedule on Friday. Polling will be held in J&K on September 18, September 25 and October 1, and votes will be counted on October 4. The EC also announced the schedule for the Haryana Assembly elections — polling on October 1 and counting on October 4. On Friday, The Indian Express reported that J&K and Haryana would go to polls together. After announcing the poll schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told TheIndianExpress:“Thiselection schedule is the shortest for Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in a few decades. We would assure all the required securitytocandidatesandfacilities to electors. The best answer to the bullet is through the ballot, as was shown in the Lok Sabha elections.Weareexpectingelectors and parties to participate with even greater enthusiasm.” Both Houses have 90 seats each, with 87.09 lakh electors in J&K and 2.01 crore in Haryana as per the draft electoral rolls. The first phase in J&K will cover 24 Assembly constituencies of the Anantnag, Kishtwar, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CEC Rajiv Kumar (centre) announces the schedule for Assembly polls in J&K and Haryana in New Delhi, Friday. Praveen Khanna BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Seats Reshuffle in J&K before poll dates; DGP Swain loses charge of CID RELATED REPORTS PAGE 9 Nomination period Polling 24 Aug 20 - Aug 27 Sep 18 J&K (Phase 2) 26 Aug 29 -Sep 5 Sep 25 J&K (Phase 3) 40 Sep 5 - Sep 12 Oct 1 Haryana 90 Sep 5 - Sep 12 Oct 1 RESULTS: OCTOBER 4 HOURS BEFORE the Election Commission announced the dates for Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Territory ordered a major reshuffle in police and civil administration. The move was heavily criticisedbytheNationalConference, which alleged that it was “intended to undermine the integrity of the electoral process”. The J&K administration said in an order Friday that DGP R R Swain was removed as J&K’s intelligencechief —theheadof the CID — and replaced by ADGP Nitish Kumar. This comes a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday announced that 1992-batch IPS officer Nalin West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee takes part in a protest rally against the rape-murder in Kolkata, Friday. Express Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Friday evening. Shuaib Masoodi PrabhatwouldsucceedSwainas J&K DGP on October 1. ADGP Kumar, a 1999-batch IPS officer, was originally from the J&K cadre — now part of the AGMUT cadre. He has served in the Valley for several years as SP andSSPatHandwara,andasDIG of south and north Kashmir. Duringadeputationwiththe NIA, Kumar worked as IG (Investigations) in the central agency. On his return, he was postedasIGCIDandlaterasADG CID.Kumaralsoholdsthecharge CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, AUGUST 16 THE ONLY power plant in India contracted to export its entire output to Bangladesh, but now allowed to sell in India, accounts for a bulk of $ 1 billion of power exports in 2023-24. Withelectricityexportssurging, power accounted for 9.3 per cent or over $1 billion of India’s total exports ($11 billion) to Bangladesh in 2023-24, up from a little over 3 per cent two years PAGE 1 ANCHOR ago ($498 million). Following uncertainty in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Dhaka to India,anewinterimgovernment is in place. But New Delhi recently amended its power export rules to derisk the only plant, belonging to the Adani Group, in India that is currently contracted to export its entire outputfromits1,600MW(mega watt) plant in Jharkhand to Bangladesh. As per records available with CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED FIRST HIGH-LEVEL CONTACT In $1-billion exports to Bangladesh, Adani power Yunus dials Modi, assures security, safety of Hindus, other minorities unit contributed most HARIKISHAN SHARMA CONTINUEDONPAGE2 SRINAGAR, AUGUST 16 J&K (Phase 1) Govt now amends rules to allow the Adani Group plant to also sell in India SANDEEP GHOSH, the former principal of R G Kar medical college and hospital, where a junior doctor was raped and murdered onAugust9, wasonFridayquestioned by the CBI for over one and a half hours. The CBI had taken over the investigation after questions were raised over the Kolkata police’shandlingof thecase.Ghosh appeared for questioning at the CBI office at Kolkata’s CGO complex in the afternoon. According to sources, Ghosh had expressed concerns about his safety, because of which CBI officials took him to their office in an agency vehicle. The agency had earlier questioned two members of the Kolkata Police SIT that initially probed the case, as well as four doctors from the hospital. A special12-membersteamof theCBI is investigating the case. Ghosh had on Monday resigned from the post of principal “on moral grounds”. Hours later, theWestBengalgovernmentap- pointed him the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH), triggeringprotestsfromstudents who did not allow him to enter the campus. An orthopaedic professor, Ghosh was appointed the principal of R G Kar in mid-2021, afterbeingpromotedfromhisprevious position at CNMCH. His questioning came on a day the Calcutta High Court slammed the police and hospital authorities over miscreants vandalising parts of the hospital during a midnight protest by doctors there. A division bench presided by Chief JusticeTSSivagnanamsaid it was hard to believe that the police intelligence did not have information about thegathering of 7,000 people. TheChief Justicealsowarned that the court can order the closing down of the medical establishment. TheBenchdirectedthepolice andtheadministratorof thehospital to file separate affidavits on the “true state of affairs” at the hospital on August 21, when the BASHAARAT MASOOD & NAVEED IQBAL SCHEDULE FOR ASSEMBLY POLLS State Kolkata doctor’s rape & murder case: Hospital ex-principal questioned by CBI EXPRESS INDHAKA SHUBHAJIT ROY DHAKA, AUGUST 16 IN THE first high-level contact betweenthetwocountriessince the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and concerns in India over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim government in Dhaka, called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday. He assured him that the PM Narendra Modi; (right) Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor to interim govt interim government would “prioritise protection, safety and security of Hindus and all minority groups in Bangladesh”. This is significant given that eversinceAugust5whenHasina CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E ● The road ahead THISFIRSTconversation sincetheousterof Sheikh Hasina,whohasbeenin IndiaeversinceAugust5,reflectsthepragmatisminthe twocapitalstopaperover thedifferencesoverIndian supportforHasina’slong rule,andmoveaheadonthe bilateralfront.Theinviteto YunusforthevirtualVoice of GlobalSouthSummitisa stepinthatdirection. Phogat returns home from Paris Saturday ‘Wanted podium in Paris to showcase our Flag, our protests’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 16 TWO DAYS after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) verdict ended Vinesh Phogat’s hopes of getting a silver medal at the Paris Games, the wrestler, in an emotional social media post Friday, spokeaboutherattachmenttothe national flag and her regret of CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Mamata leads protest rally: ‘Want truth to come out... some are spreading lies to mislead’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, AUGUST 16 CHIEF MINISTER Mamata Banerjee on Friday hit out at the opposition parties - the BJP and the CPI(M) - for “politicising” the rape and murder case of a woman trainee doctor at the state-runRGKarMedicalCollege andHospitalinKolkata.Banerjee reiteratedthatsheandherparty, the ruling Trinamool Congress, want “exemplary punishment” for the culprits and set a deadline for the CBI to complete the probe within next Sunday. She was addressing a protest rally that she led from Moulali to Dorina Crossing in Kolkata on Friday. TMC supporters, including students and members of its women's chanted slogans such as “Doshider fansi chai (we want capital punishment for the guilty).” The chief minister also alleged that attempts are being made to “cover up the truth” about the crime that happened in Kolkata last week. Some people are “spreading misinformation to mislead the public,” Banerjee claimed. She also alleged that the CPI (M) and the BJP were behind the attack on the emergency building (of RG Kar hospital) on the night of August 14. “I know that the CPI (M) and the BJP vandalised the hospital. They went there around 12 or 1 am. The video shows that CPI(M) supporterstooktheDYFIflagandBJP supporterstookthenationalflag. They went to get rid of evidence at night. Broke machines, CCTV. A hospital is not a place for vandalism... It is a place to treat sick patients. The loss amounts to severalcrores.WilltheLeftFront or the BJP give this money? We want the truth to come out, but some are spreading lies to mislead people. Attempts are being made to hide the truth by circulatingfakenewsonsocialmedia. We condemn such activities,” Banerjee told the gathering. Questioning the BJP and the CPI(M), Mamata Banerjee asked how many teams these had sent to investigate alleged rape cases in Manipur, Hathras or Unnao CONTINUEDONPAGE2 RELATED REPORTS PAGES 3, 4 Painters, masons by day, how theatre actors came up with a winner ALAKA SAHANI & ANANDU SURESH MUMBAI, KOCHI, AUGUST 16 THE IDEA of a feature film that gives 11 theatre actors “equal” space struck Anand Ekarshi in the shower. Immediately, the writer-director says, he sent a voice message to actor Vinay Fortt explaining the concept. Thus began the journey of Aattam (The Play) — a movie which unfolds within a closeknitKeralatheatregroupandexposes sexism, hypocrisy and opportunistic behaviour among the characters. The Malayalamlanguage movie — designed as a chamber drama — is a scathing taleof howmembersof atheatre group react when the only woman in the group makes a sexual harassment allegation against a popular movie star who is new to the team. On Friday, the National Awards jury announced Aattam asthewinnerinthreemajorcategories — Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Best Editing. While Ekarshi has directed and written the screenplay, Mahesh Bhuvanend is the film’s editor. Both Fortt and Ekarshi have been associated with KochibasedtheatregroupLokadharmi Nadakaveedu for several years. “It was Vinay who suggested that we do something that all these wonderful theatre actors can be part of. He kept nudging me to write a script. The basic ideabehindthefilmisthis:‘Isjusticeapursuitof anindividualora group’. I also wanted to explore how justice works when personalstakescomein.Afterthat,I thought of the setting and characters,” Ekarshi told The Indian Express in an earlier interview. Eleven of the 13 key actors in Aattam — excluding Kalabhavan Anand Ekarshi (above), the director of Aattam, which won national awards in 3 categories Shajohn and Zarin Shihab — have been associated with Lokadharmi. Fortt, who has studied acting at Film and TelevisionInstituteof India(FTII), Pune, too plays a major character in the film. Shihab, who did workshops with the actors for 35-40 days before the shoot, plays the role of Anjali. In the movie, Anjali faces harassment at a hotel where the theatre group is partying and when she talks about that, the group, instead of confrontingtheaccused,trytoreach aconsensus,thuslayingbarethe underlyingsuspicions,greedand pettiness among themselves. “Alotof peopleareaskingme if we expected this,” Shihab told The Indian Express. “We’ve learnedtokeepourexpectations low—youneverknow,right?But seeing all the recognition we received at film festivals, including the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) and the InternationalFilmFestivalofIndia (IFFI), did give us a little hope.” Most of these actors — who have been part of Lokdharmi’s productions,especiallyitslongestrunningplay,Karnabharam—are fromhumblebackgroundswitha passion for acting. Jolly Antony is a tile layer; Aji Thiruvamkulam is a painter; Selvaraj Raghavan VR used to be a headload worker; SudheerBabuisatheatreteacher; Santhosh Piravom owns a vegetable shop and drives an autorickshaw; Sijin Sijeesh runs a motor-winding workshop; SanoshMuraliworksasapercussionist; Prasanth Madhavan is a tour operator; and Madhan Babu K is a senior government employee at Agriculture University. The film’s idea was first floated during the second round of the Covid-induced lockdown. As Ekarshi developed the idea, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata