DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Unfinished business, Waqf committee set to get an extension to Budget session SHINDE SAYS HE TALKED TO MODI, SHAH CO2 EMISSION GOES BEYOND LIMIT Hyundai, M&M, 6 others may face emission penalties of Rs 7,300 crore Chairperson INSIDE Jagdambika Pal to move resolution today, says A Raja LALMANI VERMA NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 27 THE CONTENTIOUS Waqf (Amendment) Bill is unlikely to be taken for consideration and passage in the ongoing Winter sessionasthejointcommitteeof Parliament — formed to scrutinise it — is set to seek an extension to collect opinion from more stakeholders. Sources said the Bill is now likely to be passed by the House in the Budget session, in early February. Opposition member of the committeeARajasaidthatchairman Jagdambika Pal had agreed to move a motion Thursday to No criminal conspiracy: CBI in its clean chit to Prannoy Roy BOTH HOUSES ADJOURNED AMID OPP PROTEST OVER ADANI, SAMBHAL ISSUES PAGE 4 seek an extension. The panel’s tenure is until November 29. As per rules, the tenure of the committeewillbeextendedafterthe Lok Sabha approves the proposal. The panel’s tenure might be extended until the first week of the Budget Session. Earlier, after a meeting of the Parliament panel Wednesday, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 27 THERE WAS no collusion or criminal conspiracy, or abuse of official position by any public servant, the CBI has said in its closure report submitted in a Delhi court in the case against NDTV’s former directors and promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy registered in 2017 forallegedlycausingawilfulloss of over Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank. “Regarding loss of Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank and corresponding gain to promoters of NDTV, it is statedinthecancellationreportof theCBIthattherewasnocollusion orcriminalconspiracyorabuseof officialpositionbyanypublicservant or officers of ICICI Bank...,” said the order of Special Judge ShailenderMalikofRouseAvenue Court dated November 12. Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy had on December 23, 2022, sold their 27.26 per cent stake in NDTV to Adani Group-owned AMG Media Network, allowing it to take its holding beyond the majority mark to 64.68 per cent. Earlier, on August 23 that year, AMG Media Network had indirectly acquired 29.18 per cent in NDTV and subsequently launched an open offer to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK SARPANCH, FAMILY BEAT DALIT TO DEATH IN MP: POLICE PAGE 9 New norms effective Jan 1, 2023, but applied for full financial yr: Carmakers EMISSIONS PENALTY Company Cars in Slab 1 sold Hyundai Shiv Sena leader and caretaker CM Eknath Shinde holds a press conference at his residence in Thane, Wednesday. Deepak Joshi I’mnotahurdle,noobstaclefrom us:ShindeclearswayforBJPCM Says Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and he will meet Shah today to discuss next CM VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 27 AMID THE deadlock over who will become the next Maharashtra Chief Minister after the Mahayuti’s landslide victory, caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced Wednesday that the Shiv Sena would accept and support the decisiontakenbyPrimeMinister NarendraModiandUnionHome Minister Amit Shah on the issue and that there would be “no obstacle” from their side. “I spoke to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister andsaidthattherewillbenoobstacle from our side in government formation. Modiji is the leader of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and I said that whatever their decision is andwhoevertheirCMcandidate is, the Shiv Sena will fully support him,” Shinde said, speaking to reporters at his residence in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SAMBHAL VIOLENCE UP to put up posters of ‘stone pelters’: ‘Recovery of damages will be sought’ AMIT SHARMA MEERUT, NOVEMBER 27 The Ajmer Sharif Dargah; the next hearing is on Dec 20. File JAIPUR, NOVEMBER 27 EVEN AS Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh remains on edge following a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid there, a local court in Rajasthan’s AjmeronWednesdayissuednotices to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Archaeological Survey of India, and the Ajmer Dargah Committee over a petition seeking a survey of the renowned Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The petition was filed by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta Company in Slab 2 Cars sold 99,289 who, while speaking to The Indian Express, claimed that there was a temple at Ajmer Sharif Dargah like “in Kashi and Mathura”. Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel issued notices after Gupta claimed in his petition that the dargah — the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti — was a Shiva temple. The court order has not been uploaded online or shared with the petitioners so far. “The court asked us why we are filing it. We told the court everything and after listening to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AS THE Uttar Pradesh government goes ahead with its plan to put up posters of alleged stone peltersinSambhalfollowingthe violenceonSundayoverthesurveyof ShahiJamaMasjid,twoBJP ministers said on Wednesday that “loss of public property would be realised from rioters.” “The Uttar Pradesh government is adopting a firm stance against the individuals involved in the Sambhal violence. Posters of the stone pelters and miscreants will be displayed publicly and recovery of damages will be sought.Arewardmayalsobeannouncedforinformationleading to their arrest,” PTI quoted an official spokesperson as saying on Wednesday. State ministers Dharmaveer Prajapati and Narendra Kahsyap both reiterated that “loss of public property would be realised from rioters,” PTI reported. On Wednesday evening, the Sambhalpolicereleasedonsocial CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Uddhav faces pressure from party to leave MVA ZEESHAN SHAIKH MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 27 RUMBLINGSHAVEbegunwithin the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) afteritshumiliatingdefeatinthe Maharashtra Assembly elections, with the Uddhav Thackeray-ledShivSenacoming under increasing pressure from its leaders to leave the alliance. Majorityof the20Sena(UBT) MLAs reportedly urged this at a meeting held by Thackeray on Monday, The Indian Express has learnt.Sourcessaidthegrassroots cadre of the Sena (UBT), which was completely overshadowed by the Eknath Shinde Sena’s 57seat tally in the Assembly elections, is questioning the “effectiveness” of the MVA. However, sources said, Thackeray as well as other CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 5,67,546 2,837.8 Skoda Mahindra 3,57,664 Plea claims Shiva temple at Ajmer dargah, seeks survey; court issues notices to Centre, ASI HAMZA KHAN Penalty (in Rs cr) 1,788.4 Force Motor 674 Kia 2,69,213 1,346.2 Honda 91,517 457.7 Renault 87,642 438.3 Nissan 34,432 172.3 SOUMYRENDRA BARIK & AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 27 THE CENTRE has found out that eight carmakers including Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, and Honda have higher than mandated fleet emission levels in financial year 2022-23, which could mean penalties of around Rs7,300crore,The Indian Express has learnt. The penalty on Korean carmaker Hyundai is the highest, totalling over Rs 2,800 crore, followed by Mahindra (nearly Rs 1,800 crore) and Kia (over Rs 1,300 crore). For 2022-23, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, under the UnionMinistryofPower,required car companies of all units sold duringtheyeartoachieveIndia’s CorporateAverageFuelEfficiency (CAFE) norms. This meant a fuel IIT-Delhi student dies as excavation pit caves in near Harappan site BRENDAN DABHI & RITU SHARMA AHMEDABAD, NOVEMBER 27 A 23-YEAR-OLD PhD scholar from IIT-Delhi died when an excavation pit from which she was collecting soil samples caved in, near the archaeological remains of the Harappan port town of LothalinGujaratonWednesday. Police identified the victim as Surabhi Verma, a resident of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. Her professor, Yama Dixit (45) from IIT-Delhi, was rescued from the site and reported to be in a “sta- An IIT-Delhi professor was rescued from the pit ble” condition. According to police, a team of four researchers — two from IIT- Delhi and two from IITGandhinagar — was in Lothal to studypaleoclimatologywhenthe cave-inhappenedatabout11am. “The team had dug up a pit in Lothalandwascollectingsamples when the pit collapsed, burying two of the four members at the spot.Ittookthepolice15minutes to reach the site due to the distancefromthenearestpolicestation.Inall,therewerefivepeople there, including the driver,” said Om Prakash Jat, Superintendent of Police, Rural Ahmedabad. Lothal is about 20 km away from the nearest police station CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Penalty (in Rs cr) 248.3 1.8 Slab 1: Penalty Rs 10 lakh (fixed) + Rs 50,000 per unit manufactured Slab 2: Penalty Rs 10 lakh (fixed) + Rs 25,000 per unit manufactured E EXPLAINED OPP-GOVT FACEOFF `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ● Carmakers’ argument CARMAKERS ARE learnt to have argued that the new and stricter penalty norms came into effect only from January 1, 2023, and therefore calculating penalties on the basis of cars sold in the entire financial year would not be appropriate. Hence, notice has not been issued to the companies. consumption of not more than 4.78litresper100kmandcarbon dioxide emissions of not more than 113 grams per km (since it has a direct correlation with the amount of fuel consumed). CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH TRUCE DEAL FOR LEBANON COMES INTO EFFECT HINDU MONK HELD IN BANGLADESH: 30 DETAINED OVER LAWYER’S KILLING PAGE 12 Inside NSO Group’s Pegasus pitch: ‘Heaven’, ‘Eden’, ‘Erised’ and a $6.8 million/year licence VENKAT ANANTH & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK BENGALURU, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 27 “TURN YOUR Target’s Smartphone Into an Intelligence Gold Mine.” As far as sales pitches go, it couldn’t have been any more direct. The above text is what the Israeli spyware maker NSO Group was using to pitch its Pegasus product to potential customers as one “capable of collectinginformationfrommobile devices,” according to recently unsealed court documents in a US District Court for Northern California. The documents, part of a lawsuit filed by WhatsApp against the NSO GroupinOctober2019,wereunsealed on November 14. The end use, per these documents, would happen via the sale of licenses to a trio of innocuously-nameddelivery“vectors”— ‘Heaven’, ‘Eden’, and ‘Erised’ (desire written backwards)—all part of a hacking suite called “Hummingbird.” Simply put, vectors are entry points for attackers. The names of these vectors were previously unknown, and have emerged following depositions of multiple NSO Group executives. The documents reveal that between April 2018 and May 2020, the company charged its customers—“selectgovernment agencies approved by the Governmentof Israel”—$6.8million(Rs57.3crore)foraone-year license. WhatsApp estimated the number following an expert testimony by Dana Trexler, who runs an “intellectual property disputes and valuations practice”. WhatsApp also estimated that NSO Group earned an approximate $31 million in revenue in 2019 from the sale of these licenses. NSO has challenged these numbers. In a sworn declaration to the court on October 11, Tamir Gazneli, the NSO Group’s head of research and development stated that “NSO’s government customers would alone operate CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bareilly bridge deaths: Many red flags, but not on road that mattered PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, NOVEMBER 27 A RIVER that changed course, a projectabandonedmidway,and a tale of negligence and official apathy – a host of factors played a part in the death of three men, whose car veered off a half-finished bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun on Sunday morning. As outrage over the deaths grows, the state’s Public Works Department,initspreliminaryin- quiry,claimstohavefoundnegligenceonthepartoffiveengineers. The victims were on their way to Bareilly to attend a wedding function and were using Google Maps when the incident tookplace,theirfamiliessay.The incomplete bridge spans the Ramganga river, connecting Dataganj in Badaun to Faridpur in Bareilly. The district administration hasregisteredanFIRagainstfour engineers from the PWD's Badaununit,chargingthemwith culpable homicide not amountingtomurder.Noarresthasbeen madesofar.Theaccusedinclude junior engineers Mohammad Arif andAbhishekKumar,aswell as Additional Engineers Ajay Gangwar and Maharaj Singh. Executive engineer Naresh Kumar has also been held responsible in the PWD’s preliminary enquiry, though his name does not figure in the FIR. The preliminary inquiry revealed that proper barricades or signboards were not installed to alert commuters about the unfinished bridge. Additionally, a wall that had been built to block access, but later damaged by miscreants, was never reconstructed, allowing vehicles to approach the incomplete structure, the prelim- The incomplete bridge spans the Ramganga river, connecting Dataganj in Badaun to Faridpur in Bareilly. PTI inary inquiry found. “Naresh Kumar, who is the head of the unit, is also among the five engineers identified. In the inspection report sent to the headquarters in Lucknow, I recommended departmental action against them,” said PWD chief engineer Ajay Kumar. The construction of the bridgebeganin2018-19.Initially, the UP State Bridge Corporation and the PWD jointly undertook the project, with the PWD responsible for constructing the approach road. In 2021, after completing its portion, the Bridge Corporation handed over the bridge to the PWD to wrap things up. Officials claim that the approach road on the Faridpur side was under construction when the Ramganga river changed its course. Around 14 months ago, the under-construction section on the Faridpur side was washed away in a flood, leaving the bridge incomplete, said an official of PWD. Chief engineer Kumar said barricades have now been installed, and explained that since the river’s course has shifted, they have requested that a model study of the bridge be conducted. The study will deter- mine the area, direction, and extent to which the bridge needs to be extended, and what precautions are needed so that such a thing does not occur again. The three who died have been identified as Amit Kumar (34), Vivek Kumar (32), and his cousin Nitin Kaushal (33). Amit Kumar, originally from Mainpuri, ran a security agency in Gurgaon. Vivek and Nitin worked with him. Amit lived in Gurgaon with his wife and three children, while the families of Vivek and Nitin resided in Farrukhabad. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2