DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY MODI, XI LIKELY TO ATTEND BRICS SUMMIT IN RUSSIA IN OCTOBER LAC talks: India, China for ‘intensified contact’ to ‘narrow down differences’ Diplomatic delegations meet in Beijing, underline ‘respect for LAC’ SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 29 Compliance should be a low hum in background: SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch in Mumbai, Thursday. PTI SIGNALLING SOME progress in diplomatic negotiations to resolve the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops that began in May 2020 along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, India said Thursday that MUMBAI, AUGUST 29 SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Thursday said compliance should become a “low hum in thebackground”for everyentity it regulates. Addressing the Global Fintech Festival, she said: “This is our ultimate objective in SEBI, thatforeveryentitywe regulate, compliance should simply be a low hum which goes on in the background. It is like each one of us is just breathing, and we are not having to think about breathing.” Her statement comes amid concerns raised by many companies and market players over increasing compliance load in recent years, pointing to a rise in financial burden. This was Buch's first public appearance after the Hindenburg Research's recent allegations against her, raising CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the two sides had a “frank, constructive and forward-looking” exchange of views in Beijing on the situation along the LAC to “narrow down the differences” and “find early resolution of the outstanding issues”. The two sides, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, also agreed on “intensified contactthroughdiplomaticandmil- LIZ MATHEW WITH LEADER of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress pressing for a nationwide caste census, Opposition MPs who are members of a Parliamentary committee on OBC welfare are demandingthatthepaneldiscuss theissueattheearliest,andthata member of one of the parties of therulingNDAagreeswiththem. TheCommitteeonWelfareof Other Backward Classes held its first meeting Thursday. Later, its chairperson Ganesh Singh, BJP MP from Satna in Madhya Pradesh, told The Indian Express: “Today was just an introductory meeting.” Parliamentary committee proceedings are privileged and details of exchanges between members during meetings are not made public. Opposition MPs Manickam Tagore of the Congress, Kalyan Banerjee of TMC and TR Baalu of DMKwereamongthosewhoattended the first meeting. It is learnt that they want the committee to include caste census in theagenda for discussionsin the coming days. The Opposition MPs did not disclose who among the ruling NDA partners had backed their demand. But the JD (U) has been in favour of caste census. Bihar Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar had ordered a caste-based survey in the state and its findings were made public last year. At the meeting Thursday, the JD (U) was represented by Giridhari Yadav, its MP from Banka in Bihar. The Opposition MPs have flagged reports that the Census exercise is likely to kick off in SeptemberandwanttheMinistry ofHomeAffairstoconductacaste census as well. Due in 2021, the Census was delayed further due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In Lok Sabha last month, Rahul Gandhi, responding to remarksbyBJPMPAnuragThakur, said, “Anurag Thakurji insulted me but I don’t want any apology fromhim.Iamwagingabattle… Insult me as much as you wish but don’t forget we will ensure the passage of the caste census here (in this House).” CPI(M) MLA among more Malayalam actors booked, pressure grows on Left SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUGUST 29 MOREMALAYALAMactors,who were accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of the Justice Hema Committee report’s release, were booked by Kerala Police on Thursday, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh. A woman actor had on MondayaccusedactorsMukesh, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, and Maniyanpillai Raju, as well as PAGE 1 ANCHOR The Ladakh standoff began in May 2020. File itary channels”. The expression “narrow down the differences” has been usedforthefirsttimeinthebilateral talks on the border standoff and,indiplomaticparlance,indicatesprogressinthenegotiations. It assumes significance given that the Kremlin said two days agothatPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi has “confirmed his readiness” to take part in the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October.ItwillprovidethePrime Minister and Chinese President XiJinpinganopportunitytomeet on the summit sidelines. The MEA, in its statement, said, “The 31st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on 29th August 2024 in Beijing. Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAK INVITES MODI FOR SCO MEET PAGE 16 Caste census: Opp points to NDA ally support for House panel discussion NEW DELHI, AUGUST 29 HITESH VYAS `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Mukesh has denied charges: ‘Blackmail tactics’ filmproductioncontrollerNoble and Congress-affiliated lawyers association leader V S Chandrasekharan,of sexualmisconduct. They were all booked Thursday. Mukesh has denied the allegations as “blackmail tactics”. Director Ranjith, who was booked by police earlier this week after another woman actor accused him of sexual misconduct in 2009, faced yet another allegation Thursday by a man from Kozhikode. The man filed a police complaint against Ranjith in Kozhikode. Speaking to the media afterwards, he claimed that he had approached Ranjith for anactingopportunityandthedirector called him to a hotel in Bengaluru in 2012. The man, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 4 SEMICONDUCTOR PROPOSALS CLEARED In new chip push, Centre ready with $15-bn blueprint Capital support for raw materials, but lower subsidy for assembling plants SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 29 AFTER HAVING committed nearly all of the $10 billion in subsidies under its ambitious semiconductor manufacturing incentivepolicy,thegovernment has prepared a blueprint for the second phase of the scheme — it could increase the outlay of the programme to $15 billion, offer capital support for raw materials and gases used in chip manufacturing, and reduce subsidies for assembly and testing plants, The Indian Express has learnt. “In a short period of time, we managed to clear four chip proposals including a fabrication plant. The original incentive policy outlay of $10 billion will almost get over once subsidy pay- E E X P L A I NE D FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES Focus on chip ● fabrication THE NEW scheme could see an increased focus on fabrication plants, and more advanced display technologies as India looks to climb the complexity ladder in the chips ecosystem, going beyond packaging and assembly plants where countries such as Malaysia already have a stranglehold. ments are made to the entities setting up these facilities. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After 7 years, Ayodhya land circle rates set to rise — by 50% to 200% The Army rescue people, including children, from a flooded area in Jamnagar Thursday. Express CM announces Rs 1,200 crore for Vishwamitri revamp project Water recedes in Vadodara where 11 people died since Tuesday ADITI RAJA VADODARA, AUGUST 29 CHIEF MINISTER Bhupendra Patel Thursday announced a packageworthRs1,200crorefor the Vishwamitri River Revival and Redevelopment Project in GOVT & POLITICS Vadodara. He made the announcement as he visited floodhitpeoplewhowererelocatedto Pensionpura before holding a meeting with Vadodara MunicipalCorporation(VMC)officials, District Collector and electedrepresentativestodiscuss the issue of flooding in the city. The revamp project has been in the pipeline for over a decade to create a "complete water management project". The new project, said Minister of State for HomeHarshSanghavi,willcover the carrying capacity and man- FARRUKHABAD, AUGUST 29 PAGE 16 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 NEW DELHI, AUGUST 29 AFTER A gap of seven years, the circle rate of land in Ayodhya is set to increase. On Thursday, the District Magistrate put out a list of proposed circle rates and invited public feedback. The proposed rates are mostly 50 per cent to 200 per cent higher than the prevailing rate which has been in force since August 2017. The deadline for receiving suggestions is September 4 and the rates will then be finalised and notified. On July 10, The Indian Express reported that the circle rate in Ayodhyahadnotbeenrevisedfor sevenyearsdespiteasurgeinland transactionsandthesoaringmarket value of land ever since the 2019rulingoftheSupremeCourt The Indian Express report on Ayodhya land deals (July 10) which cleared the decks for the construction of the Ram temple. District Magistrate Chandravijay Singh did not respond to phone calls from The Indian Express for comment on the proposed rates. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mystery over deaths of two UP girls: Police say suicide, kin deny, 2 youths from village booked MAULSHREE SETH INDIA’S SECOND N-SUBMARINE COMMISSIONED agement of dam waters of the river. The government will also form teams to hand out cash doles to flood-hit people. The water level in the Vishwamitri river came down from 37 feet to 32 feet by Thursdaythough several low-lying areas are still inundated. The river had crossed the danger markof25feetonTuesdaymorningfollowingheavyrainsandthe release of water from Ajwa dam. Thecityanddistricthavegone without power and essential SHYAMLAL YADAV DAYS AFTER the bodies of two Dalit girls, aged 15 and 18, were recovered in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad, police have booked two youths from the village, even as the case remains mired in mystery. Though police maintain the two girls died by suicide, their families insist this is not possible.OnThursdayevening,thefather of one of the girls filed a complaint, and hours later, police booked two youths on charges of abetment to suicide. “We are sure that things will become clear by tomorrow,” Alok Priyadarshi, Superintendent of Police, Farrukhabad, told The Indian Express on Thursday evening. The two girls, their families say,were inseparable.In fact,the younger of the two would mostly stay at the older girl’s home, which is right next door. Both were out of the schooling system. The 15-year-old’s father cited her mother leaving as the reason, while the older girl’s familysaidshedroppedoutduringCovidandneverresumedher education. Onthe night of August26-27, they were found hanging from two ends of the same dupatta. “Yeh hatya hai (this was murder),” said the father of the younger girl. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘No warning... began in dead of night,’ Vadodara villages battle flood fury BRENDAN DABHI DENA VILLAGE (VADODARA), AUGUST 29 “THEREWASnowarning…Itbegan in the dead of night,” rued Bhavan Vasram Bharwad, a resident of Dena village in Vadodara which is among the worst floodhit districts in the state. Since Monday, parts of Vadodaracityalongwiththedistricthave been reelingunderthe impactof thedownpourevenafter the authorities stopped releasing excess water from Vishwamitri river. Battling the losses of their homesandlivelihoods,Denavillage with a considerable populationof cattleheaders,however, stands out as a story of grit and resilience with the residents refusing to let the floods wash away their ability to fight. Recounting the intervening night of Monday-Tuesday, 33year-old Bharwad said: “There was no warning… no information from the administration. It began in the dead of night while we were asleep. Around 3 am, we realised that water was filling up in our homes. By the time we could save our valuables, we were already in knee-deep water. We dumped everything, grabbed our children and ran out. But the water didn’t stop gushing.Wespenttwonightson the tops of our pickup trucks.” Once a lively village, Dena now paints a sorry picture with dead cattle, homes strewn with trash, ruined grains and rotting furniture — all revealing the aftermath of staying under 8-12 feet of water for three days. The recently-celebrated Janmashtami festival has now been reduced to the stark reminder of when it all started. “Aatham no upvaas kaale The residents have put together a raft with an aluminium sheet and wooden stakes to rescue many of their covillagers from far-flung areas. Bhupendra Rana todyo chhe,” (Yesterday only we broketheJanmashtamifast)said 27-year-old Rahul Bharwad, a resident of Kotali village about a km away from Dena. Since the festivalisreveredamongthecattle herding community, many had fasted on Monday to celebrate the occasion, only to wake up the next day to find their livestock and homes gone under water. Rahul lives in the Bharwadvaas settlement on the outskirts of Kotali village at the confluence of Surya and Vishwamitri river which passes through Vadodara city and swelledupduetoincessantrains causing the flood. A visibly distraught Rahul said, “We had to make a choice between our children and our cattle that we treat as our children. Nobody should have to make such a difficult choice.” With no food for two days, the village finally got some relief along with therationsfromlocal NGOs. Pointing to their house, which is still under water, brothers Yasinkhan Karimkhan Pathan and Furkankhan haven’t even been able to assess the magnitude of damage. With sadness gripping his face, Yasinkhan is still processing the loss of his home, his entire flock of 12 goats and a buffalocalf,amonth-oldtractorand car. These two villages, 11 km from Vadodara city, located in low lying areas, have been submerged since August 26. While floodwaters had begun to withdrawfrommostof Vadodaracity by Thursday due to the closure of thedamgatesandtherainsreducing to a drizzle, the rural farmlandsstillremaininundated ontheperipheryof ‘culturalcapital’ of Gujarat. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad