eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE On Other Roads AHMEDABAD,LATECITY DECEMBER 29, 2024 Looking back at holidays that led us on unexpected paths and surprising turns 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT Farewell, Dr Singh Musk backs H-1B visas, says ‘will go to war’, asks critics to ‘take big step back’ ‘FAKE DOCUMENTS’ Tesla owner weighs in as a section of Republicans opposes visa programme HUNDREDS LINE CAPITAL ROADS FOR FINAL GLIMPSE KAMAAL SAIYED SHUBHAJIT ROY & AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s body is taken from the Congress headquarters to the Nigambodh Ghat for his last rites on Saturday. PTI King, envoys, workers pay tribute Memorial row: Rahul and to former PM before state funeral Priyanka lead Cong attack; SAMAN HUSAIN NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 FROM THE King of Bhutan to the Palestinian envoy to the CongressworkerfromRaeBareli whotookabusandtraintoreach Delhi, people came from far and widetobidafinalfarewelltoformer Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Nigambodh Ghat Saturday. His wife Gursharan Kaur and their three daughters were present as people paid their last tribute. Dignitaries there included President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha SpeakerOmBirla,andLeadersof Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. In the morning, Singh’s final journeybeganfromhishouseon Motilal Nehru Marg, stopping at the AICC headquarters on Akbar Road where party workers, dignitaries, including those from other countries, and the general public had gathered to catch a glimpse of the man who fought CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE PAGE4 ‘Monumental insult to Dr Singh, protocol lacking at funeral’ INTERVIEW:KC VENUGOPAL ‘Calm, never harsh, always respectful... deserves our time’ site shortlisted, says Nadda Space near Kisan Ghat being looked at; Cong proposed it around Indira memorial LALMANI VERMA & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 HOURS AFTER former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames, the Congress and the government traded fresh charges Saturday over a site for his memorial in the Capital. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led the Congress attack, saying the government had “insulted” Singh by getting his funeral done at the Nigambodh Ghat cremation ground. Union Minister and BJP president J P Nadda struck back, accusing the Congress of spreading false information despite the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 When the Aussies forgot how to boo: Nitish’s ‘very special’ ton unites fans EXPRESSINAUSTRALIA SRIRAM VEERA MELBOURNE, DECEMBER 28 “TENSION, TENSION, tension!” That’showNitishKumarReddy’s joyously tearful father, Mutyalu, described the moment to Adam Gilchrist when his son was one short of a most-memorable maidenTesthundredandthelast manin,MohammadSiraj,joined him in the middle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. With Siraj having to face either three balls or take a single, possibly off the first, before Reddy could come back on strike, “tension” was the perfect emotion—reflectingnotjustthe state of Reddy’s family but of all the cricket fans glued to the television, watching a 21-year-old pull off something special. Gilchrist, too, would be intimate with that emotion, though from the other side, as he has been at the receiving end of another Telugu-speaking cricketer, VVSLaxman,afewtimesinIndia and Australia. At the broadcast centre, another Australian cricketer, Simon Katich, was visibly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Nitish Reddy celebrates his 100 against Australia at the MCG. On Day 3 of the Test, India were trailing by 116 runs. Reuters E EXPLAINED ELON MUSK, the world’s richest man, owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX, and a key ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, waded into the debate around hiring H-1B visa-holders and said he “will go to war” on the issue and asked right-wingers to “take a big step back”. TheH-1Bprogrammeallows businesses in the US to employ skilled foreign nationals. “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F*** Y******* in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” said Musk. He was earlier in November appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency in the new US administration. ● Musk is a key ally of incoming US President Trump Important to India, US TO FIND hard technical skills in the US is difficult, and Indian professionals play a role in plugging this gap. Numbers say it all. In fiscal year 2023, of the 2.65 lakh H-1B visas issued by the US, 72 per cent went to Indian nationals. Musk’s colourful language and weighing in — given the recenttiradeagainsttheH-1Bprogramme from a section of Republicans — is seen as crucial CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC raps Punjab over Dallewal health: ‘This is abetment to suicide’ ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28 THE SUPREME Court on Saturday again pulled up the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjabgovernmentfornotcomplying with its order to shift to a hospitalprotestingfarmerleader JagjitSinghDallewal,whoisona fast-unto-death at Khanauri on the state’s border with Haryana, and said its actions amount to abetment to commit suicide. “This is abetment to commit suicide,” Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, who was part of a twojudge bench, said as state Advocate General (AG) Gurminder Singh pleaded inability to shift him due to opposition from protesters at the site. The bench also comprising Justice Surya Kant said in its order, “We are not satisfied with the efforts made by the Government of Punjab towards compliance of our orders. We are inclinedtograntmoretimetotake appropriate steps in furtherance of the directions issued from time to time. If Punjab requires any assistance, we direct the Centretoproviderequisitelogistic support for the compliance of our direction.” The court indicated that it will not hesitate to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the Punjab chief secretary and director general of police if its order is not given effect to without further delay. Hearing a matter related to the re-opening of the borders, the Supreme Court had on December 20 asked authorities to move Dallewal to a hospital if necessary. Subsequently, an application was filed before the court accusing the Punjab government of not complying with the December 20 order and seeking contempt of court proceedings against the chief secretary. Taking it up on Friday, the court said there is an “impression” that the Punjab governmentisnotdoingenoughtosave Dallewal’s life. The court issued notice on the contempt plea and soughtacompliancereportfrom the state government by Saturday (today). Admitted in Surat schools under RTE, 100 students set to face action SURAT, DECEMBER 28 THE SURAT District Education Officer (DEO) has started the process to cancel admissions of at least 100 students on finding that the seats were secured under the Right to Education (RTE) Act on the basis of fake documents and false declarations to show that they belonged to lowincome families. Surat DEO Bhagirathsinh Parmar told The Indian Express thatinvestigationscarriedoutby his office showed that the parents of these children had a lifestyle “way beyond” the meanstheyhadshownonpaper. “They go on foreign tours, live in luxurious flats and bungalows, and own businesses,” he added. “We have started the procedure of cancellation of admissionof 100studentswhohadgot admissionunderRTEquotawith fake details and documents. The income proof document is mandatorywhilegettingtheadmission. On the basis of complaints from the school authorities, we started the drive... we have collected information and found discrepancies in the details they have mentioned while taking the admission,” Parmar said. Hefurtheradded,“Wegotinformation about parents who hadgoneonforeigntoursaswell as others who stay in luxurious flats, bungalows, are owners of shrimp farms and textile factories besides possessing cars and bikes. We have also received details like they have taken loans worth Rs 25 lakh to Rs 60 lakh.” When questioned, the parents either could not give a satisfactory answer or chose to remain quiet, Parmar said. “We have told them that if they want their children to continue their studies, they have to pay the fees to the schools. Else, they should take the leaving certificate and seek admission in some other schools,” he added. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUJARAT HERITAGE COMPLEX AT LOTHAL WILL BE A CRUCIAL STEP TOWARDS MAKING INDIA A LEADING MARITIME NATION: UNION MINISTER P7 A cell phone, scarf & 11 murders: How Punjab cops tracked down a ‘serial killer’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR JAGDEEP SINGH DEEP MOHALI, DECEMBER 28 AN ORANGE scarf and a mobile phone. That’s what helped the police track down an alleged serial killer connected with as many as 11 murders in Punjab’s Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Hoshiarpur — all committed in the last 14 months. Earlier this week, the Punjab Police arrested Ram Swaroop alias Sodhi, a resident of Chaura village in Hoshiarpur in connection with the killing in August of one Maninder Singh, a resident of Ropar. But what started out as aninvestigationintoonemurder eventually evolved into a multidistrict probe, with the police seekinghelpfromtheircounterpartsinneighbouringdistrictsof Fatehgarh Sahib and Hoshiarpur to help track down a “serial killer”. According to the police, Swaroop, who is now in police custody,wouldallegedlylurehis victims — mostly truck drivers, labourers or roadside tea vendors—withthepromiseof physical relations, and then demand moneyfromthem.If theydidnot pay, he would allegedly murder them, police said. “He told the police he strangled nine of his victims and beat two others to death,” a senior officer involved in the investigation told The Indian Express, adding that the accused was estranged from his family. “He would take away their mobiles and whatever money he could find on them.” According to the police, several of the murders came to light The accused, Ram Swaroop, was arrested by the Punjab Police earlier this week. Express when he was being questioned. Of his 11 alleged victims, five have been identified and police are looking for their families. “In some of these cases, FIRs for murder will be lodged after we reach out to their families. We are also contacting police from neighbouring districts to ascertain identities of those yet to be identified,” Ropar SSP Gulneet Khurana said. According to a senior officer, Swaroop,ahigh-schooldropout, worked as a labourer in Dubai and Qatar in 2005-06. “HereturnedtoIndiain2006 and started taking up daily wage jobs in and around Hoshiarpur. His wife and children disowned him in 2022 and since then, he has been living like a vagabond,” the officer said. According to Khurana, since helefthome,theaccusedmostly stayed in the areas of Ropar, Sirhind, and Hoshiarpur and worked as a cleaner. “Hewouldmeettruckdrivers inroadsidedhabasandteashops. He did not stay in one place for morethantwodaysand,because he wasn’t in touch with his family or old friends, he evaded the police radar,” the officer said, adding that he would throw out SIM cards of the phones he stole. The unravelling It was the murder of Maninder Singh that set the policeonhistrail.WhenSingh,who worked at the toll plaza in Mauran village in Ropar district, didn’t return home on the night of August 19, his brother went looking for him. “Maninder used to reach home by 8-8.15 pm. That night, when he didn’t return and his phone was also switched off, I went to the toll plaza and found he had left for home. We began CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad