DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SINGH FLAGS PAK SUPPORT TO TERROR IN CALL WITH SECY HEGSETH POST PAHALGAM TERROR ATTACK Perpetrators and backers must be brought to justice, Jaishankar tells Rubio; US calls for de-escalation New Delhi to also raise objections on IMF aid flow to Pak Rajnath names Pak in US call, says got backing for India’s right to defend India works to throttle Pak terror funding, get it back in watchdog FATF ‘grey list’ AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, MAY 1 AS PART of its escalatory matrix againstPakistanfortheterrorattack in Pahalgam on April 22, India is considering two specific moves aimed at curbing financial flows that aid the neighbour fund terror activities. The first is to make a concerted effort to try and bring back Pakistan into the ‘grey list’ of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laun- SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MAY 1 UNDERLININGTHE“strongsupport” of the US government in India’sfightagainstterrorism,US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Defence Minister Rajnath SinghThursdaythatWashington stands in solidarity with New Delhi and “supports India’s right todefenditself”,accordingtothe Indian government. Singh told Hegseth that “Pakistan has a history of supporting, training and funding terrorist organisations”. This is the first time that Pakistan has been named by a seniorIndianministerinthecontext of the Pahalgam terror attack. And the most clear and unequivocal support for the Indian government, at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the top military leadership that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response” to the Pahalgam terror attack in whichterroristskilled25tourists and a local resident. The call between Singh and Hegseth came hours after US CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 1 UNDERLINING THE government’s resolve to go after terrorists and their backers, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday promised retribution for the Pahalgam terror attack, saying “har vyakti ko chun chun Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Thursday. Tashi Tobgyal Create in India, create for world: PM’s message to global creators EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, MAY 1 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Thursday appealed to the entertainment industry across the globe to choose India to create content for the world. Inaugurating the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025) at JIO World Center in Mumbai, Modi said,“Thisistherighttime.Right time to create in India, create for the world. When the world is searching for new modes of storytelling, India has a treasure of stories of thousands of years whicharetimeless,thoughtprovoking and truly global.” “It (stories) is not only about culture, but also about science, sports, valour, fiction, courage. India’s storytelling landscape blends science with fiction, and heroism with innovation, forming a vast and diverse creative ecosystem. Our treasure is huge and to take it to every corner of theworld,presentittoanewgeneration is a responsibility of the WAVES platform,” the PM said. WAVES2025,afour-daysummit with tagline “Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries”, is poised to position India as a global hub for media, entertainment and digital innovation by bringing together creators, startups,industryleaders,andpolicymakers from across the world. PM Modi said that WAVES is merelynotanacronymbutareal millions worldwide. “I believe that this platform will connect creators, animators toglobalvisionaries,gamerswill be turned into global champions... I welcome global investors to make India a content playground,” he said. Appealing to the global creators, PM Modi said that India hasalwaysfollowedcivilisations openness. “India’s civilisational openness has welcomed communities like Parsis and Jews, who have thrived in the country and become an integral part of its cultural fabric... every nation has its own successes and contributions.India’sstrengthliesin respecting and celebrating global artistic achievements, reinforcing the country’s commitment to creative collaboration,” he said. He highlighted a unique CONTINUEDONPAGE2 BY UNNY DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, MAY 1 ADDITIONALSOLICITORGeneral S V Raju, who has appeared in courts for the Enforcement Directorateinmanyhigh-profile cases of alleged money laundering, cautioned the agency Thursday against hasty arrests, saying “use your power to arrest IN THE enumeration of castes to be done in the forthcoming Census,asannouncedbythegovernmentWednesday,Pasmanda Muslimsasawholemayfigurein the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category. “Pasmanda Muslims will be given their due share in the national caste census,” said a senior BJP leader. Leaders of the BJP Minority Morcha and OBC Morcha confirmed the same. “As per the Mandal Commission recommendations, some groups among Muslims are includedinthestateandCentrallist of Backward Classes. These Muslims will be enumerated as such in the caste census (among OBCs),” K Laxman, the national president of the BJP’s OBC Morcha, told The Indian Express. The national president of the BJP Minority Morcha, Jamal Siddiqui, said: “Pasmanda Muslimstooarecitizensof thiscountry. So they will be enumerated as per their backwardness in the caste census.” So far, all Census undertaken by the government, including the last one in 2011, included Muslims as a separate, single bloc. The move is significant as CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED THE MOVE on FATF is the latest in a raft of measures taken by India against Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam. It also directly confronts the spectre of cross-border terror and aims to strike at its financial sources. The next step would be to rally support within the task force — 23 of the 40 members had sent condolence messages over the attack that killed 26 people. Additional Solicitor General of India S V Raju at the ED Day event in Delhi. PTI not liberally, but sparingly” and do “not use it at an early stage” of a case. Addressing ED officials at an eventtomarktheagency’sfoundation day at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Raju suggested that arrests made in the early stages of a case were not only counterproductive to investigation but also to the outcome of the case in courts. “Arrest is very crucial for all agencies.Butitisthethreatof arrest that makes people disclose detailsinacase.Aftertheyarearrested, their conduct changes CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Constitutional institutions have own role, should not play role of others: Dhankhar MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, MAY 1 VICE PRESIDENT Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Thursday that constitutional institutions have their own roles and hence they should not try to play the role of others, expressing concern over statements against the occupants of “dignified and supreme” posts like that of the President and governors. At the launch ceremony of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandi Ben Patel's memoir 'Chunautiyan Mujhe Pasand Hain' in Lucknow, Dhankhar appealed to the judiciary to show “coordination,collaborationand cooperation”, alluding to the recentSupremeCourtobservation on the Waqf Amendment Bill Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath during a function in Lucknow on Thursday. Express passed by Parliament. Underlining that mutual respect among constitutional institutions can only be ensured when they remain within their jurisdiction, he, however, maintained that he has the highest of regard for the judiciary. “I would say something with pain. In our Constitution, two positions are supreme. One is of the President of India and another is of the governor. They are supreme because their oath is not like that of mine, a chief minister, MP, minister,MLAof anyjudge,”said Dhankhar. While others take oath of “abiding by the Constitution”, the President or a governor take oath to “protect, preserve and defend the Constitution” and “serve the people of the country or the state”, he added. “We have to respect the Constitution in letter, in spirit,” henoted.Publicrepresentatives, he remarked, are chosen as an outcome of the sentiments expressedby140croreIndiansand they are held accountable through elections by the people of the country. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Will look at contempt: HC pulls up Ramdev on ‘sharbat jihad’ remarks UTTAR PRADESH SOHINI GHOSH NEW DELHI, MAY 1 THE DELHI High Court Thursday pulled up Baba Ramdev, warning that it would consider issuing a contempt notice to him, after the yoga guru released a new video in which he purportedly disparaged pharmaceutical and food company Hamdard and its products with communally di- DON’T COMPARE PARTY LEADERS WITH ICONS: AKHILESH TO SP SUPPORTERS PAGE 3 Yoga guru put out second video, offers to remove after rap visive undertones. Ramdev later told the High Court that he would take down the relevant portion from all social media platforms. This is the second time in a span of 10 days that Ramdev has offered to take downavideopurportedlytargeting Hamdard following adverse observations by the High Court. On April 22, after Hamdard moved a suit claiming trademark infringement, disparagement and defamation, the High Court had directed Ramdev to take down the initial video in which he allegedly referred to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 It’s a Himalayan task as India’s longest rail tunnel races to finish line DHEERAJ MISHRA DEVPRAYAG, MAY 1 “DHYAAN SE (Be careful),” Vivek Kumar’s words of caution, shouted from atop a telehandler machine that is used to carry heavy loads, echo around the quartzblacktunnel,whereworkers are installing explosives to make way for an electric room. Inside what is slated to be India’s longest transportation tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Devprayag,the14.57-kmJanasutun- nel, also known as tunnel no 8 (T-8), workers race against time and the uncertainty of Himalayan geology to complete theexcavation.Apartof the125km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag line, T-8 is located on the DevprayagJanasu stretch. Moving ahead with a box of explosive fuse, Kumar, a blaster fromBihar,tellsTheIndianExpress, “Only some work like electric rooms is pending. Track work in the tunnel will start after that.” A few minutes and a big boom later, the explosives have RISHIKESH-KARNAPRAYAG RAIL LINE DEV NAGARI RISHIKESH Dhari Devi Maletha Janasu Shivpuri Byasi Srinagar Existing railwayline Devprayag Haridwar The 14.57-km Janasu tunnel or T-8 is located on the banks of the Ganga in Uttarakhand’s Devprayag. Abhinav Saha 125km Totallength oftheproject Tilani Line Gholtir Gauchar KARNAPRAYAG 14.57-kmtunnel between Devprayag and Janasu stations 104km Source: Indian Railways PAGE 1 ANCHOR HYDERABAD, MAY 1 wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity. Films, music, gaming, animation, storytelling and everything that is part of creativity, further underlining that the summit showcases the expansive world of films, music, gaming, animation andstorytelling,offeringaglobal platform for artists and creators to connect and collaborate. “The summit showcases the expansive world of films, music, gaming, animation, and storytelling,offeringaglobalplatform for artists and creators to connect and collaborate,” he said. Recalling the release of India’s first motion film Raja Harishchandra, produced by DadasahebPhalke,112yearsago this day, Modi said that each artiste from Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Ritwik Ghatak to AR Rahman and Rajamouli, has brought Indian culture to life for BUSINESS AS USUAL CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NIKHILA HENRY PM Modi speaks at WAVES 2025 in Mumbai. PTI Says hasty arrest leads to default bail, courts faulted grounds many times ke jawab bhi milega, jawab bhi diya jayega” (each person will be given a befitting reply). Speaking at an event in New Delhitounveilastatueof thelate Bodo leader Upendranath Brahma and name a road after him, Shah said, “I want to tell the citizens of the country that Prime Minister Narendra Modi Pasmanda Muslims likely to be counted as OBCs in caste census CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E A strike on terror ● funding Use power to arrest sparingly, and not at early stage: ASG to ED Pahalgam terror attack victim Lt Vinay Narwal’s wife Himanshi Narwal pays tribute to him on his birthday, in Karnal, Haryana on Thursday. Manoj Dhaka REPORT,PAGE7 ‘Chun, chun ke jawab diya jayega’: Shah promises response to attack dering and terror financing watchdog, two people in the know told The Indian Express. Pakistan was put in the ‘grey list’ in June 2018, and faced “increased monitoring” till it was removed in October 2022. Being in this list adversely impacts FDI and capital flows as businesses havetoundertakeenhanceddue diligence. Government officials said this had helped curtail illicit fund flows from Pakistan into India, especially into J&K. The second is to raise objections to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) continued financing of a $7-billion aid package that commenced July 2024,citingdiversionof fundsby Pakistan for nefarious activities (83%)Totallength ofthetunnels blown a clean, 1.5-metre hole in the quartzitic phyllite rock. The cleared space will house one of the five electric rooms that will powerelectricequipmentinside the tunnel. From mobilising a “factorysized” 2,200-tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) that excavates hard rocks to using three types of technologies to dig through the fragile Himalayan rocks — the making of T-8 has been one of Indian Railways’ most challenging projects so far. On April 16, T-8 completed the critical tunnel breakthrough phase (when a tunnel under excavation from both ends connects), witnessed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. While the project is a singleline broad-gauge network, consideringfuturerequirements,the plannershaveadoublelineinthe tunnel.Theexcavationof thesecond tunnel by TBM has reached upto8.70kmandisscheduledto be complete in June. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow