eye MCS/204/2020-22RNINO.MAHENG2002/21899 THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE There’s a story for everybody MUMBAI,LATECITY AUGUST18,2024 Anime, manga in India are here to stay, maybe forever. What’s behind their popularity? 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT LAND ALLOTTED TO CM’S WIFE From ‘no’ to ‘discussing it’: Omar rethinks stand against fighting polls Karnataka Gov sanctions CM prosecution Decision not backed by law: Cabinet; will challenge it, says Siddaramaiah BENGALURU, AUGUST 17 Wrestler Vinesh Phogat is greeted by supporters at New Delhi’s IGI Airport after she returned from Paris on Saturday. Gajendra Yadav Vinesh returns: Love A village stays up to I got worth more than bestow their honours: 1,000 Olympic Golds Cash, turbans, swords NAMIT KUMAR NEW DELHI, AUGUST 17 NEVER HAS an athlete without a medal around her neck got the kind of grand homecoming that awaited Vinesh Phogat on Saturday. It took even the wrestler by surprise. Phogat’s return to India was delayed as she stayed back in Paristoawaittheoutcomeof her appealintheCourtof Arbitration for Sport (CAS), challenging her disqualification from the 50-kg gold-medalboutattheOlympics for being 100g overweight. Her appeal was dismissed on Wednesday. On Saturday, as she exited fromGateNo.18ofDelhiAirport’s Terminal 3 at around 10.30 am, Phogat seemed to be in a state of daze — the Paris trauma of the missed medal writ large on her face. Eyes puffed due to lack of sleep,cheeksshrunk,andamessy haircutgivenbyhertraineracruel reminder of the night before the finalweigh-in,shelookedaround expressionless. Then she broke into a smile. She had spotted her mother, brother, other family members and her two fellow protesters, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGES 13, 14 NITIN SHARMA BALALI, AUGUST 17 IT’S BEEN a long day for 10-yearold Anshaj Kumar, a resident of Balali, aka Vinesh Phogat’s village in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district which is a three-and-ahalf hour drive away from Delhi on most days. At about 10 am, around the time Phogat’s flight from Paris landed in the Capital, hewas tasked withguardingthe templepremisesthathad750kg of desi ghee laddoos. The wait for Phogat gets over past midnight, when she finally reachesthevillage,over12hours Among the gifts: Vikrant Fauji’s `21,000; Sanjay Chowkidar’s `100. Jasbir Malhi after she walked out of the Delhi airport. With every Haryana CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VANDALISM AT RG KAR MEDICAL COLLEGE TMC men, students, gym trainer, delivery staff among accused 18/08/2024 81 109 133 64 TRAGEDY AVERTED AT MUMBAI AIRPORT: BAG WITH CHEMICAL ABOUT TO BE LOADED ON PLANE CATCHES FIRE PAGE 3 The vandalism took place when doctors were holding a midnight protest against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital. Facing criticism over the violence, the police have released 76 photos of people allegedly involved in the RAVIK BHATTACHARYA & ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, AUGUST 17 TWO TRINAMOOL Congress workers, several men in their teens or 20s, and a couple of women — these are among people identified or arrested in connection with the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the night of August 14, The Indian Express has found. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Inside RG Kar’s emergency building after it was ransacked Wednesday. File CENTRE TO FORM PANEL FOR SAFETY MEASURES PAGE 8 IMD rain forecasts for Mumbai wrong by 42% in July. What explains these misses? PAGE 1 ANCHOR SOME FORECASTS THAT WERE WAY OFF Day NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, AUGUST 17 WHEN MUMBAI woke up on July 8, it was taken by surprise – large parts of the city were inundated in the 200 mm overnight rains. But nothing about the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) prediction, issuedthepreviousday,hadprepared the city for the downpour. The agency had issued a yellow alert, which meant the city was expected to receive up to 115 mm of rainfall in 24 hours. But the metropolis ended up getting 267 mm rain in the period. Thiswasn’t a rare missby the IMD. Data reviewed by The Indian Express shows that the agency, despite being equipped Warning issued Santacruz observatory* July9 Yellowalertat1pm 4mm July14 Yellowalertat1pm 5mm July16 Orangealertat1pm 1mm July26 Yellowalertat1pm 0mm July28 Yellowalertat1pm 1mm In24-hourperiodendingat8.30amnextday* Colaba observatory** 3mm 7mm 10mm 5mm 9mm WHAT EXPLAINS IMD’S EXTREME MISSES ■ IMD models often fail to capture extremely localised weather systems, making them difficult to forecast ■ Mumbai’s proximity to both the sea and ghats makes its weather prone to rapid changes, making forecasts challenging ■ Due to climate change, extreme events have become more erratic, frequent and intense ■ Weather science is inherently unpredictable, especially when the forecast is more specific — over a small area or during a small time-frame SPORT RAJ KUMAR PAL, INDIAN HOCKEY’S LATEST STAR NEERAJ BACK TO BUSINESS IN SWISS TOWN AFTER SILVER withsomeof themostadvanced instruments, issued inaccurate district forecasts for Mumbai on at least 13 days in the month of July, of which, on eight days, the forecast warnings were off by more than 25 per cent. On July 24-25, the rains caught Mumbai, and the IMD, unawares once again. This time, on July 24, the IMD had issued a yellowalert(heavyrainfall,64.5115.5 mm) for the following day. Butthatday,July25,goingbythe heavy rainfall in some parts, the IMD upgraded the alert for the day from yellow to red (extremely heavy, above 200 mm). But by then, the rains had receded and people were already in their schools and offices. The IMD issues its daily forecastat1pm,fora24-hourperiod starting 8.30 am that day to 8.30 am the following day. There are CONTINUED ON PAGE4 KARNATAKAGOVERNORThawarchand Gehlot on Saturday accorded sanction for prosecution against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and allowed three private complainants to file cases in courtseekingaprobeagainsthim overallotmentof14housingsites in Mysuru to his wife in 2021 (when the BJP was in power) in exchangefor3.16acresoflandacquired from her by Mysuru authorities. “I hereby accord sanction against Chief Minister Sri SiddaramaiahunderSection17A of the Prevention of Corruption CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D JOHNSON TA & AKRAM M What the land deal ● is about THE LAND was allotted under a special 50:50 scheme to the CM’s wife in a prime Vijaynagar area in Mysuru in 2021 in exchange for her land in Kesare village. The Kesare land, allegedly of Dalit families, was acquired by her brother and gifted to her. The scheme, introduced when BJP was in power, was discontinued in Oct 2023 after the urban development dept flagged it as contrary to compensation rules. NC leader and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, AUGUST 17 SINCE JAMMU and Kashmir’s special status was abolished in 2019 and it was made a Union Territory, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah has consistently stated that he will never contest Assemblyelections.However,he is having a rethink in the aftermath of his party’s subpar performance in the Lok Sabha polls and amid pressure from his father and party colleagues. Inhisfirstinterviewsincethe abrogation of Article 370, Omar, in July 2020, told The Indian Express that he would never be a member of the Assembly of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2