eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT Portrait of an Artist with a Filter NEWDELHI,LATECITY NOVEMBER17,2024 20+4PAGES,`7.00 Young artists continue to be cautious about sharing work that could see backlash (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR,` 12SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM WANTED BY FBI IN ALLEGED PLOT TO KILL PANNUN BIDEN AND XI SET FOR TENSE FINAL MEETING IN PERU AS TRUMP ERA LOOMS ISRAELI TROOPS REACH DEEPEST POINT IN LEBANON SINCE INVASION P 14 IndictedinUS,VikashYadavtoDelhicourt: Threattolife,(my)detailsout,can’tappear Court grants exemption until Feb 3 after Yadav says video conferencing could also give away his location MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 16 ALMOST A month after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged him with “murder-forhire” and money laundering in connection with the alleged plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist figure Gurpatwant Singh GOVT & POLITICS 1,400 ANTIQUITIES VALUED AT $10 MN RETURNEDTOINDIA BY U.S. PAGE 8 Pannun, Vikash Yadav has moved an application before a Delhi court requesting to grant him exemption from attending his case hearing saying there’s a security threat to his life. The court Saturday granted him exemption and asked him to appear on February 3. On December 18, 2023, less than three weeks after he was mentionedbyUSDepartmentof Justice (DoJ) documents as “CC-1” (co-conspirator) last November,Yadavwasarrestedin a kidnapping and extortion case by the Delhi Police Special Cell. After four months in Tihar jail, as The Indian Express reported first, he was released on bail in April this year, records show. On October 18, the FBI's New York office put him on its wanted list. The indictment had alleged that Yadav was employed by the “government of India's Cabinet Secretariat, which is a part of the Indian Prime Minister's Office.” Askedaboutthis,aspokesper- son of the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the person (Yadav)is“nolongeranemployee of the government of India”. In his two-page application, filed by his advocate R K Handoo on his behalf, Yadav has claimed thatthere’safalsecaseregistered against him by the Delhi Police. Hefurtherclaimedthatthere isasecuritythreattohislifesince his photographs, house address along with pictures, and details of his whereabouts are in the public domain. To support his claim, he attachednewsreportsthatshowed CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D THE WORLD Legal process in ● abeyance THE COURT granting Yadav exemption until Feb ensures legal proceedings in his case are held in abeyance. Saturday’s order also gives him some reprieve given that his alleged coconspirator, Nikhil Gupta, was previously charged and extradited to the US. Jhansi: NICU where 10 newborns died was operating beyond capacity Amit Chakravarty Sheetal Parab and Bhagyashree Raut, both beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme, at a cashew factory in Sindhudurg. Maharashtra poll campaign enters final leg: Will Ladki Bahin hold the key? know… Eknath Shinde, the one with the beard and red tika.” NANDURBAR, SINDHUDURG, As Maharashtra heads into a NOVEMBER 16 close election, with a jumble of parties and alliances in the fray, AT NAWAPADA, a tribal settle- both the ruling and Opposition ment in Navapur taluka alliances have been agof Maharashtra’s Nandgressively trying to urbar district, a group of outdo each other with a women gather to talk stringof schemestargetabout the state governing women. While the ment’s flagship Ladki Mahayuti (BJP, Shinde Bahin scheme. But ask DECISION Sena and NCP) has themwhofacilitatedthe promisedtoincreasethe 2024 money, and they look monthly assistance to MAHARASHTRA around confused. Just womenundertheLadki then, a woman pipes up from a Bahin Yojana from Rs 1,500 to house in one of the alleys — “I CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PALLAVI SMART DECISION 2024 ● Women have to bear a lot of pain, but I am still standing: Kalpana Soren ● Who, where, how and when: A 2019 meeting that won’t end PAGE 6 New 51-bed ward built, were planning to shift to it within a month: Principal MANISH SAHU JHANSI, NOVEMBER 16 CATERING TO families from Bundelkhand and even Madhya Pradesh, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the state-run Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi was used to operating beyond capacity. While it can accommodate only 18 babies, at the time of the Friday night fire that claimed the livesof 10newborns,ithad49inside.DrNSSengar,principalofthe medical college, explained that due to the high cost of treatment elsewhere, people from various areas come here. “We manage to provide treatment to all children who come to us,” he said. In a cruel twist of fate, a new 51-bedNICUwardhadbeencon- DUMRI (GIRIDIH), NOV 16 ONA weekday evening,theroad to the Dumri market in Giridih district, off Grand Trunk Road, is seeing a crowd slowly build up. The people are here for Jairam Mahatoa.k.a Tiger,a 29-year-old rising OBC Kudmi leader andthe founding chief of the Jharkhand Curfew imposed, internet snapped as bodies of woman, 2 children found During a protest in Imphal on Saturday. PTI JIMMY LEIVON & SUKRITA BARUAH IMPHAL, SILCHAR, NOV 16 THESITUATIONinManipurtook a turn for the worse on Saturday as the ripples of violence in Jiribam district reached the state capital Imphal. A day after the bodies of a woman and two children — believedtobeamongthesixMeitei people missing from Jiribam since Monday — were found floating on the Jiri river, indefinite curfew was imposed in ImphalWestasmassiveprotests broke out and homes of political leaders were targeted. Duringtheday,mobsattacked and set fire to vehicles and property, including the residences of several BJP leaders — CM Biren Singh’sson-in-lawRajkumarImo Singh;KhuraiMLALSusidro,who isalsoaministerintheBirenSingh government; Uripok MLA Kh Raghumani Singh; Patsoi MLA Sapam Kunjakeswor; and Thangmeiband MLA Kh Joykisan Singh — as well as Independent MLA from Keishamthong Sapam Nishikanta,whoisclosetotheBJP. Late Saturday night, a mob CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Freeze in finance deal, COP29 looks to G20 in Brazil for help A newborn rescued in the fire at the NICU of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, on Saturday. Vishal Srivastav structed, and authorities were planning to shift to it within a month, the principal said. “The new ward was built to accommodate more capacity,” he said. The building with the new NICU is located next to the one where the fire broke out. Chief Medical Superintendent of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Jharkhand ka ladka’ as rising ‘Tiger’: How far will it take Jairam Mahato? ABHISHEK ANGAD Jiribam fire singes Imphal: Homes of CM Biren, MLAs targeted by mob Jairam Mahato, 29, is an OBC Kudmi leader Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JKLM). At 5 pm, Jairam’s road show starts, with him standing atop a black SUV, his legs held steady by two persons on either side. A young boy flashes a torchlight at the leader, dressed in black track pants,whiteT-shirtandslippers,a towelacrosshishead.Behindhim, thecrowdofroughly5,000,comprising men and women, boys and girls, dances to local songs blaring out of loudspeakers. Jairam is a Kudmi Mahato, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE ‘EVERYONE WAS RUSHING KIDS OUT’ FRANTIC PARENTS WAIT FOR NEWS P 9 EXPRESSATCOP29 AMITABH SINHA GOVT & POLITICS 2 MONTHS AFTER ‘TANKHAIYA’ TAG, SUKHBIR QUITS AS PARTY PRESIDENT PAGE 7 BAKU, NOVEMBER 16 A WEEK of negotiations in Baku so far has done little to move the needletowardsastrongandambitious finance agreement, the main expected outcome from COP29. With countries sticking to their widely-differing positions on climate finance, all eyes are now on the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil for some political signalling that could help in ending the impasse. The G20 Summit in Rio De Janeiro will begin Monday and concludeonNovember19,three days before COP29 is scheduled PM Modi leaves on a 5-day trip to Nigeria, Brazil and Guyana on Saturday. ANI RELATEDREPORTS,PAGE8 to end. Though G20 Summits do not take decisions on climate change, it does figure in the topmostagendaandtheexpectation is that leaders will demonstrate acommitmenttoraisinggreater financial resources, which will push to break the COP29 stalemate. “I thinkasignalshouldcome CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 From Baltimore collapse to home in India: Crew recall tragedy, closure PAGE 1 ANCHOR SUNANDA MEHTA PUNE, NOVEMBER 16 D ANCILA returned home with her children from her regular church visit on March 26, 2024 to find a crowd of about 15-20 people at the doorstep of her home 40 km from Thoothukudi. It took her a few minutes to absorbthenewstheyhadgathered there to give her: that the mer- chantshipMVDali,onwhichher seafarer husband Dominic Dobus Peeris worked as a Motorman, had collided with the Baltimore bridge in the United States. Thousands of miles away, Peeris was trying to make sense of what had happened as he scurried about the engine room, following orders. “I was extremely busy onboard, and the thoughtof callingmyfamilydidn’t even occur to me. But thankfully before I could call her, the company officials did and assured her that I was safe.” “Ifinallymanagedtospeakto her after about 12 hours,” says theseafarerwhoisamongthe11 crew members allowed to come back home to India after MV Dali collided with the Baltimore bridgefollowinga power failure. Six people, who were on the bridge had died, while the ship was extensively damaged. “It occurred after midnight when most of the crew were resting. I was asleep at the time and woke up to an announcement on the vessel’s PA system. Along with the Chief Cook, General Steward, and an AB Emergency Response team members speak to the crew of MV Dali after the collision on March 26. Synergy Marine (Able Seaman) I rushed out, trying to comprehend what had happened. The entire crew was shocked and apprehensive. This vessel had always been wellmaintained, so the incident was deeply unsettling for all of us. The feeling of uncertainty was palpable,”recallsPeeris,fromhis home to which he returned in Junethisyear,threemonthsafter the accident that made headlines the world over. MV Dali, a container ship, named after the Spanish painter Salvador Dali, owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Ltd and managed by Synergy Marine, left Baltimore port with a crew of 22 Indians and two Maryland pilots on March 26. It was bound for Colombo in Sri Lanka and carried a cargo of around4,700containers.Shortly after it sailed out, the ship lost power and propulsion and struck a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading to the bridge’s collapse. Even though traffic had been stopped on the bridge after a Maydaycallfromtheship,averting what could have been a much bigger disaster, six con- struction workers on the bridge were killed. None aboard the Daliwereinjured,exceptforone. Forty-six year old Selva Kumar, a Seaman from Chennai, was going to the ship’s forward through the underdeck passage when he suddenly felt a jolt and dashed against the ship’s steel structure and got hurt. “I needed a few stitches, which were promptly arranged for by the company and the Indian embassy in the US,” says Kumar for whom the injury was minor compared to the difficult days CONTINUED ON PAGE 2