DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 IMMIGRATION BUREAU DATA RUSSIA INTERESTED TO COLLABORATE About 30,000 yet to return from S-E Asia, Punjab tops list Small reactors get traction: Pvt players offer captive sites for power projects Small Modular Reactors seen as key for countries to achieve energy transition ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 29 INDIA’S PLANS TO get into the manufacturing value chain of Small Modular Reactors is yielding some positives with a handful of private players learnt to haveshowninterestindeploying these at their captive site. Since the talks are sensitive, sources saiddisclosingnamesmaynotbe appropriate at this stage. SMRs — with a capacity of 30MWe to 300 MWe per unit — are increasingly seen as importantfornuclearenergytoremain a commercially competitive option in the future. India is pushing for a leadership slot in this small reactor space, both as a way of fulfilling its commitment to clean energy transition, and bundling SMRs as a technologyled foreign policy pitch. The government’s push comesatatimewhentwocountries that have already taken a SMRS ARE small reactors offering 30-300 MWe power output per unit, and are seen as effective in not just producing base load power (where thermal is seen as important), but also amongst renewables as a more carbon-neutral source. lead in SMRs — Russia and China —arefindingitdifficulttodobusiness outside of their respective geographies. With SMRs seen as playing a key role in countries achievingtheirenergytransition goals, Russia is also learnt to be keen to expand its nuclear cooperation with India to include a partnershipinSMRs,sourcessaid. According to government officials, detailed technical CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ARICEVARIETYTO CURBFARMFIRES PAGE 11 3,667 Haryana 1,928 Rajasthan 1,041 FLOODS, LANDSLIDES IN NEPAL: TOLL RISES TO 170 A flooded area after heavy rainfall in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on Sunday. Officials said 170 people have been killed in the rain-triggered floods and landslides across the country, with 42 people still missing. PTI REPORT,PAGE10 HOCKEY VICE CAPTAIN PAGE 12 Delhi Gujarat Maharashtra 2,140 2,068 5 kills and counting, leopards terrorise villages in Udaipur WHEN THEIR cows returned home alone at 7 pm on September 18, Keshav Bhil (21) knewsomethingwaswrong.His 16-year-old sister, Kamala, who had gone out to graze them in the forest that morning, was meant to return home by 4 pm. When she wasn’t seen even by nightfall, village residents set out with torches to look for her. “Early morning, around 80 men from the village searched for her in the forest and finally 3,233 Telangana 1,169 1,200 BUSINESS AS USUAL CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kerala Tamil Nadu 2,659 3,124 BY UNNY MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 29 Forest officials at the Gogunda forest range. Parul Kulshrestha Uttar Pradesh 2,946 Karnataka UDAIPUR, SEPTEMBER 29 ‘‘We cover each other’s mistakes, don’t point fingers... that’s the new Indian style’’ HARDIK SINGH STATES WITH HIGHEST NO. OF VISITORS WHO DIDN’T RETURN FROM S-E ASIA Punjab PARUL KULSHRESTHA EXPLAINED ECONOMICS Amid reports of ‘cyber slavery’, panel tells states, UTs to verify data on ground What sets SMRs apart RISE IN FDI SHOWS SUCCESS OF ‘MAKE IN INDIA’: PM PAGE 4 WHILE 29,466 of the 73,138 Indians who travelled to Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam on visitor visas from January 2022 to May 2024 are yet to return, more than half (17,115) of these are in the 20-39 years age group; 21,182 are males; over one-third are from three states — Punjab (3,667), Maharashtra (3,233) and Tamil Nadu (3,124); and Thailand accountsforover69percentof the total at 20,450. Source: Bureau of Immigration These new details have emergedindatacompiledbythe Bureau of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), amid reports of some Indians being trapped in “cyber slavery”insomeSoutheastAsian countries. The Centre’shigh-levelinterministerial panel has now directed all States and Union Territories (UTs) to conduct ground-levelverificationandget details of these people, said sources.Thepanel,setupinMay to look into the issue, had directed the immigration department to compile the data. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kanpur Test, Day 3: No rain, but Vardhaman Group CMD FIR filed against Ketan Parekh, poor drainage ensures no play Oswal duped of `7 crore, woman in `2-cr cheating case two arrested, say police PRATYUSH RAJ KANPUR, SEPTEMBER 29 THERE WAS no rain at Green Park stadium here throughout Sunday, but not a ball was bowled for the second successive day of the India-Bangladesh Test. The reason: an obsolete drainage system. With only 35 overs possible over three days, a draw is on the cards,aresultthatwouldimpact India's chances of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Leading 1-0 in the series,RohitSharmaandhismen are scheduled to play New Zealand at home, followed by a DIVYA GOYAL GOPAL LUDHIANA, SEPTEMBER 29 Groundsmen remove the outfield covers at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Sunday. PTI five-Test tour of Australia. Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) treasurer Prem Manohar Gupta did concede that Green Park wasn’t as CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 POSING AS CBI officers, a gang of cyber fraudsters executed an elaborate plan — that included enacting a fake online Supreme Court hearing, fake arrest warrants and a two-day “digital surveillance” — to dupe Padma Bhushanawardeeandtextileindustrialist S P Oswal (82), the chairmanandmanagingdirector of Vardhman Group, of `7 crore, Ludhiana Police said Sunday. After an FIR was lodged, the police identified an inter-state VIJAY KUMAR YADAV MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 29 Vardhman Group chairman SP Oswal, 82 gang and arrested two persons from Guwahati. A search is on to nab seven others, they said, adding that the gang was spread across Assam, West Bengal and Delhi. According to police, the fraudsters threatened Oswal withfakearrest warrants, which CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THEMUMBAIPoliceonSaturday booked Ketan Parekh, former stockbroker who was convicted in the 2001 securities scam, and a 37-year-old woman for allegedly duping an Andheribased share market investor of `2.17 crore. WhileanFIRhasbeenfiledat the Versova police station under IPC Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) against the duo, no arrests have been made yet. According to the FIR, the Parekh was convicted in 2001 securities scam complainant,a47-year-oldshare marketinvestorlivinginAndheri (West), first met the woman in 2015. In December 2020, she reportedly introduced him to Parekh at a five-star hotel in Bandra.ShetoldhimParekhwas the stock operator for ‘Seacoast’, ‘Pessalo Digital’ and ‘Spacenet’ companies, says the FIR. In June 2021, the woman allegedlyaskedthecomplainantto invest in the stock market in her name, through Parekh, and assured him of a “good profit”. The complainantgave`55lakhtoher on June 20, 2021, for investing in 'Seacoast'company,accordingto theFIR.Thesameday,shereportedly told him that she had given the money to Parekh. According to the FIR, the complainant rented a flat in Versova that month, and he and the woman began living there. He claimed to have deposited `71.85 lakh in her bank account in 2021, for which he reportedly sold his family's jewellery. Later, the complainant allegedly found that the woman CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A girl called Anna: ‘She gave her all to this career, even her life’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR NARAYANAN S KOCHI, SEPTEMBER 29 ACROSS THE St George Jacobite Church in Kangarappady, a quiet suburb in Kochi, stands a twostorey house. A beautiful lawn leads to the porch, where the main entrance is flanked by a swingontheleftandakennelfor Scotch,thelabrador,ontheright. Of late, the house has been teeming with visitors — among others, a team from EY India — seeking to offer their condolencestoSibiJosephandhiswife Anita Augustine, both 60. Nearly two months ago, late on July 20, their daughter, Anna SebastianPerayil,26,achartered accountant (CA) at S R Batliboi, a member firm under EY Global Ltd,passedawayduetoacardiac arrest in Pune. A letter dated September 8 by Anna’s mother to EY India chairperson Rajiv Memani went viral on social media on September 17, triggering discussions on “toxic” workplaces that “glorify overwork”. Besides stating that no one from EY had turned up for her daughter’s fu- neral in Kochi on July 23, Anita’s letterallegedthatAnnahaddied to “backbreaking workload”. Back at the house, on a table in the drawing room is a portrait of Anna — wearing a radiant smile — surrounded by candles, flowers and a painting of hers by a friend. In her room, accountancy books stacked on a bookshelf are a daily reminder of her death.“Shegaveheralltothiscareer,even her life,” says Sibi, a retired additional director in the stateagriculturedepartment,his voice trembling. Though Anita, a retired State Bank of India manager, says she wrote to Memani “just to bring Anna Sebastian Perayil with father Sibi Joseph Perayil and mother Anita Augustine after her CA convocation in July. out the truth regarding the work culture (at companies)”, Sibi reiterated that they have no plans to take “legal action” against EY. SibisaysAnnawasa“topper” both at school (Rajagiri Public School) and college (Sacred Heart College). “She passed her CA exam in November 2023 and joined EY in March. She wanted to work at a Big 4 company (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers). She got an offer from Deloitte in IT audit but wanted to do statutory audit — something that EY offered,” says the father. Pune was Anna’s first stint away from home. Before Anna, Jaipur Sibi’s son went to study in Thiruvananthapuram, around 200 km away. Anna’s “relentless” work schedule forced her to choose Pune as the venue for her July 7 CA convocation, he says, adding that Anita and he travelled to Pune for the ceremony. During their visit, Anna told them about her “chest feeling constricted” and was promptly taken to a hospital. Sibisays,“Thecardiologist said it was acid reflux due to improper diet and sleep.” Sibi says Anna collapsed on the stairs while walking up her second-floorroomwithhertakeawayfoodaround10pm.Shewas takentoahospitalwhenhercondition worsened, but she died of a cardiac arrest en route, he says. The 30 hours that followed were“painful”,saysAnna’sPunebasedcousinMithunJames,who took her body to Kochi. It was Mithun who helped Anna find a PGaccommodationatWadgaon Sheri after she moved to the city. In a LinkedIn post after Anna's death, Mithun says he had told hiscousinto“learntosayno”,but she was afraid that a short work stint would be considered a “black mark on her career”. Talking about Anna’s “large heart”, her cousin Ritu Maria CONTINUED ON PAGE 2