DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES Farm,servicesslowdownpushGDP growthratetofive-quarterlowof6.7% PAGES 13 & 14 8.2 8.1 8.6 7.8 6.7 FY24-Q3 FY24-Q4 FY25-Q1 4.3 FY24-Q2 INDIA’S REAL Gross Domestic Product(GDP)growthslippedto a five-quarter low of 6.7 per cent in April-June 2024-25 due to slower growth in agriculture, government spending and services, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday showed. 5.5 FY24-Q1 JAISHANKAR: ERA OF UNINTERRUPTED DIALOGUE WITH PAKISTAN IS OVER BENGAL GOVERNOR MEETS SHAH AS BJP CALLS FOR ACTION NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 12.8 6.2 FY23-Q4 GOVT & POLITICS AANCHAL MAGAZINE The quarterly GDP growth rate for Q1, which fell below the 7-per-centmarkforthefirsttime in a year, came in much lower than the projection of 7.1 per centbytheReserveBankof India (RBI).Itwasmuchlowerthan8.2 per cent in the year-ago quarter, and sequentially too, it was lower than 7.8 per cent growth seen in the previous quarter (January-March 2024). Manufacturing and con- REAL GDP GROWTH RATES (%) FY23-Q3 Elections brought down govt capital spending and investment, says CEA FY23-Q2 BY UNNY APRIL-JUNE RATE BELOW RBI’S ESTIMATE OF 7.1% FY23-Q1 BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Source: NSO, MoSPI struction sectors, however, firmed up with growth rates of 7 per cent and 10.5 per cent, re- spectively, in April-June as against 5 per cent and 8.6 per cent in the year-ago period. Public spending powered down, especially during the election phase, with government final consumption expenditure contracting by 0.2 per cent in AprilJune. There was positive sign on the consumption front with Private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) -- theproxyfor consumptiondemand--picking up pace to record a seven-quarter high growth of 7.4 per cent in Q1 as against 5.5 per cent in the year-ago period. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said the A SHIV SENA Minister in Eknath Shinde’sCabinetinMaharashtra got the state government in November 2023 to allot a parcel of land in Navi Mumbai to his own trust by the city planning agency Cidco for a community centre for the banjara people, who are included in the Other Backward Class list. Whilethedemandforacommunity centre was first made in November 2022 by the All India Banjara Seva Sangh (AIBSS), an organisation representing the banjara community, the state government allotted 5,600 sq m land a year later to Shri Sant Dr Ramrao Maharaj Charitable Trust,atrustheadedbyFoodand Drug Administration Minister Sanjay Rathod. Documents reviewed by The Indian Express reveal that after Cidco identified three land par- NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 NEARLY40yearsafterthreemen were killed by a mob which torched the Pul Bangash Gurdwara in Delhi during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, now 80, is set to face trial for charges includinghatespeechandmurder. On Friday, Judge Rakesh Syal of the Rouse Avenue court orderedframingof chargesagainst Tytler under Indian Penal Code sections murder (302); abetment (109); rioting (147); promoting enmity between groups (153A) and being a part of unlawful assembly (143). After initially filing a closure report, giving a clean chit to Maharashtra FDA Minister Sanjay Rathod cel options, Minister Rathod, a Sena MLA from Yavatmal, who belongs to the banjara community, took the lead in reviewing these, and shortlisted one land parcel for AIBSS. Cidco was entrusted with the responsibility to identify land for the centre. Whencontacted,Rathodsaid he was ready to return the land and any other interested organisationcancomeforwardtobuild the community centre. “There was no conflict of interest in getting the land since it was meant for a social cause and not for profit-making. Our’s was one of the many organisations keen to buildthecommunitycentre,”he told The Indian Express. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT & POLITICS PM FLAGS OFF PORT PROJECT, SAYS SORRY FOR SHIVAJI STATUE COLLAPSE PAGE 13 HISTORIC DOUBLE India’s Avani Lekhara during the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) final at Paris Paralympics on Friday. She became the first Indian to claim gold medals in successive Paralympic Games. India’s Mona Agarwal won the bronze in the event. ANI PAGE20 Why should those who convert from ST get benefit of reservation, asks Minister DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 ECHOING THE sentiment of the SanghParivarontheissue,Union Ministerof StateforHousingand Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu has questioned why members of Scheduled Tribes (ST) who convert to another religion should continue to get the benefit of reservation. In an interview to The Indian Express,Sahu,afirst-timeBJPMP from Bilaspur, said only those who belong to a particular community should enjoy the benefitsmeantforthatcommunityas envisaged in the Constitution. An RSS-associated tribals’ group, the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM), has been campaigning for de-listing of converted tribals for years, and the activities picked up pace in Chhattisgarh ahead of the Assembly elections last year. While the JSM has actively campaignedforde-listingandan P 14 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW TOKHAN SAHU UNION MINISTER OF STATE, HOUSING & URBAN AFFAIRS RSS affiliate, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, has been working among tribal groups, opposing missionaries,fordecades,theBJP is yet to make its stand clear on the issue. Asked whether he agreed with the campaigns for de-listingconvertedtribalsinhishome stateandif theyshouldgetreservation or not, Sahu said: “The Hindu religion never talks of anyone’s religious conversion. We are believers of Sanatan CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Last Vistara flight November 11 as India says its development projects merger with AI clears final hurdle in Bangladesh have been impacted NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 VISTARA WILL operationally mergewiththeTatagroup’sflagship airline Air India on November 12, drawing curtains on the decade-old airline brand that made a mark for its product and service quality as India’s foremostfull-servicecarrier.The wheels for the merger were set in motion in 2022 after the Tata group acquired Air India from PAGE 1 ANCHOR Airline: Bookings will stop progressively from Sept 3 the government. “Starting03September2024, customerswill,progressively,no longer be able to make bookings with Vistara for travel on or after 12 November 2024. All Vistara aircraft thereafter will be operated by Air India and bookings for the routes operated by these aircraft will be redirected to Air India’s website. Vistara will continue to take bookings and operate flights as usual till 11 November 2024,” Vistara said in a statement Friday. “As the merger process moves ahead, regular updates CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Flagging ‘political changes’ in Dhaka, Jaishankar cautions: ‘Can be disruptive’ SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 FOR THE first time since the ouster of Bangladesh Prime MinisterSheikhHasinaonAugust 5, India said Friday that the “development projects” there have beenimpactedduetothelawand order situation in the country. Also Friday, External Affairs MinisterSJaishankar,inremarks on the Bangladesh developments,underlined“wealsohave to recognise that there are political changes, and they can be disruptive”. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said “bilateral projects CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D SUKALP SHARMA Charges being pressed in mob attack on Delhi gurdwara that killed 3 men Amit Mehra Ready to return land to any entity that can build centre for banjaras: Rathod MUMBAI, AUGUST 30 Cong’s Tytler to face murder trial, 40 years after anti-Sikh riots CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Minister gets govt to allot Navi Mumbai land meant for OBCs to trust that he heads ALOK DESHPANDE FRAMING OF CHARGES ORDERED Security concerns ● Dhaka SINCE SHEIKH Hasina’s ouster, Indian diplomatic staff have been dealing with security concerns — the Indian cultural centre there was vandalised and non-essential staff and families flown home. Delhi’s Pul Bangash Gurdwara on Friday; (left) Jagdish Tytler Tytler,theCBIwasdirectedtoreopen the investigation against him in 2007. On two other occasions, in 2009 and 2014, the CBI closedthecaseagainstTytlerbut the court refused to accept the report. In April 2023, the agency saidithadfreshevidenceagainst Tytler — a corroboration of his voice sample with a particular speech he made 39 years ago. SeniorAdvocateH SPhoolka, appearing for complainant Lakhwinder Kaur, wife of Badal CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Certification for my film Emergency has been stopped, censors got threats: Kangana EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, CHANDIGARH, AUGUST 30 ACTOR AND Mandi Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut Friday said that the clearance for her film, Emergency, has been “stopped” becauseof “threats”tomembers of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Until late Friday, there was no response from the CBFC to the claim. Thefilmwasslatedforrelease in theatres on September 6. Posting a video on her X handle, Kangana said, “There are rumoursdoingtheroundsthatour film, Emergency, has been granted Censor certificate. This is not true. In fact, our film had been cleared but certification has been stopped because many threats were coming in. Death threats. The Censor Board members are getting threats. We are under pressure not to show the assassination of Indira Gandhi, not to show Bhindranwale, not to show the Punjab riots. I don’t know what will be left to show then… This is unbelievable for me and I am very sorry for the state of things in this country.” This comes a day after Kangana,facingheatfromwithin theBJPoverhercommentsabout the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, Kangana as Indira Gandhi In the film Emergency met party president and Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his residenceinDelhi.Sourcesinthe party said the meeting lasted nearing30minutes,andshewas toldtobecarefulaboutwhatshe says in public while promoting her upcoming film. The film’s trailer, released a few weeks ago, showed Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, leader of the separatist Khalistan movement, promising to bring votes for Indira’s political party in lieu of aseparateSikhstate.TheDelhi unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal had sent a legal notice to the CBFC,askingittostoptherelease of the film, citing concerns over CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Name change, DPR & 14 years later, Vishwamitri revamp still on paper ADITI RAJA VADODARA, AUGUST 30 A NUMBER of name changes over a decade and even after the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to execute the plans, the Vishwamitri river rejuvenation project, which was first proposed in 2010, is yet to see the light of the day. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel'slatestannouncementofRs 1,200 crore for the "historic project" to mitigate Vadodara's flood problem is yet another in the series of assurances given by the civicbodyaswellasthestategov- ernment to the city's residents. A day after the announcement was made late on Thursday after the Chief Minister's visit to the flood-hit city, Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials said only a "primary discussion" of the project was held in the presence of Patel. While VMC Commissioner Dilip Rana said that the project discussed in presence of Chief Minister Patel wasonly "aprimarydiscussion", Chief Whip of the state government and Raopura BJP MLA Balkrishna Shukla told this newspaper that the state government has handed out "strict instructions" for a coordinated effort of the departments concerned to ensure that Vadodara city does not witness floods of the same magnitude again. Thepreviousannouncement —a"megaproject"torejuvenate the Vishwamitri — was made by theVijayRupani-ledgovernment inDecember2019.Thiswasfour monthsafterVadodaracitywent under water on two occasions — in July and August that year. However, despite being called a "holistic development project" that would work on the river from its origin at Pavagadh in Panchmahaltoitsamalgamation with the Gulf of Khambhat, the Vadodara city witnessed a flood-like situation due to the swelling of Vishwamitri river following heavy rain. Express project did not take off even after the National Green Tribunal approved a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by the VMC, officials said. Although conceptualised by VMCin2008,aFeasibilityReport Master Plan of the Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project (VRDP) was prepared only in December 2014 by an Ahmedabad-based consulting firm, HCP Design, Planning & Management Private Limited. TheapplicationforEnvironment Clearance (EC) for the project was submitted to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Gujarat State (SEIAA) on November 26, 2015.Thesameyear,VMCresubmitted the proposal after SEIAA flagged some shortcomings in the project. Ayearlater,RohitPrajapati of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, a not-for-profit environment protection organisation, were among activists who moved the Western Bench of the National Green Tribunal questioning the activities planned by the civic body as part of the project. They contended that the activities, including demolition, dredging, digging, filling, levelling, construction, announcement of projects, etc, are illegal in nature as these are undertaken before the completion of due processes for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and EC as per EIA Notification, 2006. Prajapati says, "Understanding the ecology of the Vishwamitri is especially critical since it is a unique habitat for ‘Schedule I Species’ as listed by the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Vishwamitri project should be intended to increase thefloodcarryingcapacity,clean the river to make it pollutionfree,retainandreplenishthewater, create a safe habitat for CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Ahmedabad