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 SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 We’ve stayed away from the war, but we are not neutral, we are for peace. I told Putin on his face that this isn’t the era of war Today, history was made with PM visit. India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty, territorial integrity PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY India lends Ukraine a shoulder Milestone for 3 new journeys: India in Europe, diplomatic space, Kyiv ties Sit with Putin to find way out of crisis, India ready to help: Modi to Zelenskyy NEW DELHI, AUGUST 23 MARKING A historic milestone in India’s diplomacy in Europe which has been roiled by the Russia-Ukraine war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Friday and asked him to sit with Russian PresidentVladimirPutinto“find a way out of the crisis”. Modi, who reached the wartornUkrainiancapitalontheRail Force One train from Poland after talks in Warsaw, said he told Putin last month that “solutions can’tbefoundonthebattlefield”. He told Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace that “the road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy” and “we should move in that direction without wasting any time”. “Both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis,” Modi said, assuring the President that India, and he personally, are willing to contribute in all possible ways to facilitate early return of peace. “We have stayed away from the war, but we are not neutral, we are in favour of peace. We come from the land of Buddha and (Mahatma) Gandhi with a MODI’S 7 HOURS IN KYIV ■ Reaches Kyiv on Rail Force One from Poland after a 10-hour journey ■ Meets members of the Indian community at the Hyatt Hotel ■ With Zelenskyy, visits a memorial for children killed in the war with Russia ■ Pays tribute at the Mahatma Gandhi statue located in the ‘Oasis of Peace’ park ■ Holds delegation-level and one-on-one talks with Zelenskyy C. RAJA MOHAN NEW DELHI, AUGUST 23 E BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IT TOOK the tragic and a globally disruptive war to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyiv, the first such visit since Ukraine re-established itself as an independent nation amid the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. But by showing up in Ukraine and lending a shoulder to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is leading a badly battered nation to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty, ● Modi has initiated three important processes: insert India intoEurope’squestforpeace;expand Delhi’s room for manoeuvre in the global geopolitical churn triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and reclaim Delhi’s lost bonds with Kyiv in the post-Soviet era. First, on the question of endingthewarinUkraine,Modi had no spectacular peace plan to unveil. That Modi took a long train EXPLAINED SHUBHAJIT ROY MOREREPORTS,PAGE8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday. PTI CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BADLAPUR SCHOOL SEXUAL ABUSE HC restrains political parties from going ahead with Maharashtra bandh 24/08/2024 92 OMKAR GOKHALE 120 MUMBAI, AUGUST 23 148 THE BOMBAY High Court on Friday restrained any political party or individuals from going ahead with the Maharashtra bandh on August 24 or any subsequentdateuntilfurtherorders to protest against the alleged sexual assault of two schoolgirls in Thane district’s Badlapur. It said if the bandh is permitted on Saturday, it may “lead to crippling the life of entire 64 SEBI imposes `25 cr penalty on Anil Ambani, bans him from market for 5 yrs Rescuers at the site of the bus accident in Tanahun district of Nepal on Friday. Reuters CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 4 YUBARAJ GHIMIRE & VALLABH OZARKAR KATHMANDU, MUMBAI, AUGUST 23 AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 23 ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU MUMBAI, AUGUST 23 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Atthisjuncture,wemayalsonotice that the division bench of this court in the case of B G DeshmukhdecidedinJuly2004, has issued various directions in view of challenges caused by calls given for bandh. The bench had declared that enforcement of bandh would amount to an unconstitutional act,” a division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Bus falls into river in RELATED REPORTS Nepal, 27 pilgrims India, US sign key defence supply from Maharashtra die pact as Rajnath begins 4-day visit Anil Ambani named by SEBI for diversion of funds THE SECURITIES and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred industrialist Anil Ambani and 24 other entities, including former key officials of Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), from the securities market for five years for diversion of funds from the company. Further, the regulator has Maharashtra”and“theentirelife of Mumbai may come to a halt”. TheHCissuednoticesreturnable on October 9 to respondents, including the state government, state Home department and political parties belonging to the MVA, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, in the pleas challenging the bandh. “Until further orders all concerned are restrained from proceeding on call for bandh in the state of Maharashtra on August 24orany othersubsequentdate. ‘NEW WAY FORWARD’ Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris during her acceptance speech on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. AP P16 AS DEFENCE Minister Rajnath SinghreachedWashingtonDCon a four-day official visit, India and US on Thursday signed two key pacts—anon-bindingSecurityof SupplyArrangement(SOSA)and a Memorandum of Agreement regarding Assignment of Liaison Officers. The SOSA will mandate the US and India to provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that promote national defence. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AT LEAST 27 pilgrims from Maharashtra were killed and morethanadozeninjuredwhen the bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell 250 metres into the swollen Marsyangdi River in Tanahun district of Nepal, around 115 km from Kathmandu, on Friday. The bus, which had an Uttar Pradeshregistrationnumber,was heading towards Kathmandu from the resort town of Pokhara, carrying43people,includingthe driver. Confirmingthe27deaths,the IndianembassyinKathmanduin CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK R G KAR HOSPITAL RAPE-MURDER CASE ACCUSED TO FACE POLYGRAPH TEST Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington on Friday. PTI PAGE 9 Name change, marriage to Pak man turns Mumbai woman’s life upside down PAGE 1 ANCHOR MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, AUGUST 23 WHAT’S IN a name? Legal trouble in the case of ‘Sanam Khan’. A clandestine decision taken bythen18-year-oldNagmaNoor Maqsoodali, who “disliked” her birth name, while getting an Aadhaar card in the name of “SanamKhan”withalocalshopkeeper’s help nearly a decade ago has landed her in a soup at present. Her recent marriage to a Pakistan resident and subsequent travels between the two nations led to the scrutiny of her official documents, which resulted in the discovery of her name change without completing all the legal requirements, and was followed by her arrest. The 27-year-old Thane resident had in 2015 illegally changed her birth name to Sanam Khan, a name she had “heard several times, even in movies, and really liked”. After her online nikaah (wedding) with a Pakistani man in 2022, she and her two daughters from her first marriage moved to Abbottabad earlier this year. On July17,NagmareturnedtoThane to look after her ill mother. A police official says, “Since she travelledto Pakistan, herdocuments werescrutinised and thatis how the illegality was discovered.” Instead of hospitals, Nagma says she spent three days making the rounds of Vartak Nagar police station after receiving summons on July 22. For three days, the police asked her how she had obtained her official documents, including passport and PAN card, in the name of Sanam Khan though her official name was still Nagma. The local media caught wind of her case. Nagma with her husband Babar Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Pakistan. Special Arrangement This was followed by news reports accusing Nagma of being a “Pakistani spy”, while others compared her to Seema Haider, a Pakistan resident who entered India illegally with her children after falling in love with an Indian man. The Vartak Nagar police station registered a case against Nagma for procuring the Aadhaar card using “forged” documentsandshewasarrested on July 25. She was released on bail in the first week of August. Theshopkeepertoowascharged and arrested in connection with the same case. The police said that she told them the shopkeeper had charged her Rs 20,000 for a birth certificate, PAN card and Aadhaar card in her preferred name,besideschangingheryear of birthfrom1997to2001.Anofficer told The Indian Express, “When we asked the shopkeeper how he managed to get an Aadhaar card in her (Nagma’s) new name when she didnothaveanysupportingdocuments, including her original birth certificate, he said he simply got a signed letter from the local corporator as a supporting document.” The officer added, “The correct procedure to change name is to give a gazette notification and a notice in newspapers. But Nagma started using her documents (made in 2015) without doing that, including applying forapassport.Sinceshetravelled toPakistan,herdocumentswere scrutinised and that is how the illegality was discovered.” Talking about her first marriage, Nagma says, “My mother and I went to our village near Moradabad (in Uttar Pradesh) during my summer vacation in June 2012. I was in Class 8 then. What I thought was a summer vacation was, in fact, my wedding. My mother returned to Thane after my wedding, while I stayed with my in-laws in a small room. My husband, who was mostly unemployed, would beat me up. Though I wanted to return to Thane,I decided to stay back after I got pregnant. I was 16 when I gave birth to my first daughter in December 2013.” By 2015, Nagma says she convinced her mother to help her family start a new life in Thane. “My husband, two daughters and I went to Thane. My mother gave my husband some money to start a shop, but he refused to work. Eventually, weseparated andhe returned to Moradabad.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2