DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ONLY BUSINESS ON LAST DAY: 39-MEMBER PANEL FOR BILLS ON JOINT POLLS The cold, bitter end BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY A protest against the Parbhani police custody death near the Collector’s office in Thane on December 16. Deepak Joshi ‘He aspired to be just 1% of Babasaheb, but police killed him’: A family seeks justice Bhagwat: Ram temple matter of faith, raking up new issues unacceptable In Parbhani’s Dalit areas, allegations of police brutality do the rounds PARBHANI, DECEMBER 20 SEATEDONacotinthecourtyard of arelative’shouseinAnnabhau SatheNagarareaof Parbhanidistrict, Vijayabai Suryawanshi remembers her son as “an avid booklover”.“Hisonlyassetswere his books, running into hundreds. He aspired to be even 1% of what Babasaheb (B R Ambedkar) was,” Vijayabai says. On December 15, Somnath Suryawanshi, who wasstudying to become a lawyer like Ambedkar, died in custody, two daysbeforehislawexam.Theinterimpostmortemreportattributed the immediate cause of death as “shock following multiple injuries”. Somnath’s death triggered protests in Parbhani town as it followed allegations of widespread policebrutality inrounding up people from its Dalit ar- RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat The winter session of Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die amid pandemonium in the House Friday. PTI Amid protests, Speaker Crime Branch to investigate BJP’s issues warning, Dhankhar FIR against Rahul, Cong complaint flags ‘severe criticism’ Make scuffle footage public, says Cong; Stormy EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 THE WINTER session of Parliament came to an acrimonious end Friday when the two Houses were adjourned sine die after a few minutes of business amid the faceoff between the ruling NDA and the Opposition. The divide appeared to have deepened a day after they clashed on the premises of Parliament, accusing each other of insulting Dr B R Ambedkar. Two minutes after proceedings began in the morning, Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die as Opposition members stormed the Well of the House, raising slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’ and protesting a remark by Union Home Minister Amit Shah which they called an insult of Ambedkar. Amid the din, Speaker Om BirlaallowedLawMinisterArjun Ram Meghwal to move the proposal that the Bills related to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP gives notice against Rahul, Kharge PRAGYNESH, ASAD REHMAN & LALMANI VERMA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 A DAY after it registered an FIR against Leader of Opposition RahulGandhionaBJPcomplaint followingascuffleonParliament premises in which two BJP MPs were injured, Delhi Police transferred the case to its Crime Branch. TheInterstateCell(ISC)of the CrimeBranchwillinvestigatethe FIR against Gandhi which was registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that included those on voluntarily causing grievous hurt, use of criminal force and criminal intimidation. DCP (Crime) Sanjay Kumar Sain said, “A team led by ACP CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JAIPUR, DECEMBER 20 CHANDIGARH, DECEMBER 20 At the site of the accident in Jaipur on Friday. Rohit Jain Paras burnt in the accident. Within seconds, Mohanlal turned around his bike and shot straight to the spot. “It took me a good15minutestofindHaralal,” he told The Indian Express at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INDIAN NATIONAL Lok Dal (INLD) supremo and five-time Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, patriarch of one of the most influential political families of the state, died at his Gurugram residence Friday. He was 89. Adominantfigureof Haryana politics for over five decades, Chautala was born to former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal and Harki Devi. He grew up ob- OM PRAKASH CHAUTALA 1935-2024 servinghisfather,atwo-timeCM and one of the tallest Jat and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New game in town: Opinion trading sees surge in users, funding — under the radar NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 20 WILL INDIA take three wickets againstAustraliaattheendof six overs? Will Bitcoin breach the $110,000 mark today? Will the Congress contest 30 or more seatsintheDelhiAssemblyelections in 2025? You can bet real money on the outcome of these and many more questions. Welcome to the world of opiniontrading:platformswhich allow users to wager on the outcomeof futureevents.Thesector is growing exponentially, raking in funding and an estimated 5 crore users, but it seems to have largely gone under the radar in India, unscrutinised. Parochially, opinion trading platforms appear to be betting platforms–andsomeingovern- mentalsohavethisview.But,investors and founders argue that thereisabigelementof skillthat goesintomakingmoneyonsuch platforms. Whether it’s a game of skill or of chance, stakeholders in the larger online gaming sector in India are privately calling for a clear Central law to deal with opinion trading platforms, The Indian Express has learnt. The sector in India has companies like Gurugram-based Probo and MPL Opinio. While the former offers questions on a varied set of sectors like sports, elections and cryptocurrency, the latter only deals with questions related to cricket matches. These platforms have received more than Rs 4,200 crore in funding so far from over 35 investors which include Sequoia Capital (PeakXV), ElevationCapital,AccelPartners, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Near the slopes of the Caucasus, a hotel tragedy at a ski resort reveals India-Georgia connection PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA JALANDHAR, DECEMBER 20 A DECADE ago, having hot idlis near the snow-clad Caucasus mountains in Gudauri was perhaps a pipe dream for most Indian tourists and medical students in Georgia. With Gudauri becoming a “must-visit” destination for Indian tourists and medical stu- THE END of the winter session on an acrimonious note has deepened the divide, and hardened positions on either side. It is likely that this faceoff will play out across the country in the days leading to the Budget session of Parliament. SC: PUNJAB SHOULD ENSURE DALLEWAL’S HEALTH IS STABLE DHARAVI PROJECT: HC DISMISSES DUBAI FIRM PLEA PAGE 5 VARINDER BHATIA SOUMYARENDRA BARIK TOP US OFFICIALS IN SYRIA TO DISCUSS TRANSITION TRUDEAU LOOKS SET TO LOSE POWER AS KEY ALLY VOWS TO TOPPLE HIM PAGE 12 days ahead EXPRESS NETWORK patriarch, dies at 89 PARUL KULSHRESTHA THE WORLD ● CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Truck-LPG tanker crash triggers O P Chautala, five-time Haryana CM and INLD Jaipur highway blast, 12 killed AT 5:45 AM — 15 minutes after he dropped his nephew Harlal and another relative, Raju, at the Jaipur-Ajmer highway to board a truck to take them back home — Mohanlal (47) got a distressingcall:therehadbeenanexplosion and that Harlal was nowhere to be found. The explosion occurred after the truck they were travelling in collidedwithanLPGtankerwhile it was taking a U-turn on the highway.Accordingtoofficials,12 peoplediedand40vehicleswere E EXPLAINED SIDDHANT KONDUSKAR eas over a violent agitation on December 10. The agitation had been sparked off by the “desecration” of a copy of the Constitution kept next to an Ambedkar statue in the area. TheOppositionhassoughtto corner the newly elected Mahayuti government over the issue, particularly as it coincides with the war of words between the two sides in Parliament and outside over the Constitution and Ambedkar. On Friday, replying to a discussion on the Parbhani incident in the Maharashtra Assembly, Chief MinisterDevendraFadnavissaid Somnath was suffering from breathlessness and other diseases, and had not complained of any police torture when produced before a magistrate. Atthesametime,thegovernment has set up an SIT to probe the incident, suspended a police sub-inspector and sent on leave dents — thanks to its breathtaking views, snow and hotels — restaurants serving Indian food are thriving in this scenic Europe-based ski resort. Gudauri was thrust into the spotlightonDecember14,when agasleakatanIndianrestaurant, Haveli, claimed 12 lives, including 11 Indians, due to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning during a severe snowstorm. On the day the bodies were discovered, temperatures had plunged to minus 18 degrees. According to the local media, the deaths allegedly happened after fumes An Indian restaurant in Gudauri, Georgia. Special arrangement from a generator placed in a closed room filled the premises. The incident, however, shed lightonthegrowingIndianpresence in Gudauri, which started developing as a tourist resort afterthefirsthotelwasestablished there in the late 1980s. Located neartheRussianborder,Gudauri is now home to nearly 36 Indian and Indian-Arabic restaurants, catering to the increasing number of Indian tourists and students who are primarily pursuingmedicaleducationinGeorgia. Onesuchrestaurantisowned CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PUNE, NEW DELHI, DEC 20 UNDERLINING THAT Ram temple in Ayodhya was a “matter of faith” for Hindus, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that it is“unacceptable”torakeup“such new issues on a daily basis” simply because of “extreme hatred, malice, enmity and suspicion”. His remarks come amid the debate over the Places of WorshipAct,thechallengetothe validity of which is before the Supreme Court, and a clamour for surveys of mosques and dargahs in different parts of the country. In his address on “VishwaguruBharat”atalecture series in Pune on Thursday, Bhagwat said, “Ram temple is a matter of faith for Hindus. The Hindus believed Ram temple should be constructed. But by doing that one does not become a Hindu leader….” “Under the burden of the extreme past,it isnotacceptableto resorttoextremehatred,malice, enmity, suspicion and rake up suchnewissuesonadailybasis,” Bhagwat said. He said that while the world believes that all have to be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2