The Editorial Page: Bihar has got tall promises, it needs a credible development strategy 10 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE NEW DELHI, lATE CITy, 18 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) l www.indianexpress.com dA I ly F R o m : A H m E dA B A d , C H A N d I GA R H , d E l H I , J A I P U R , ko l k ATA , l U C k N o W , m U m B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA d o dA R A AfTeR punJAb pRoTesTs moVe To inClude uT in ARTiCle 240 Happening today Centre’s rethink on Chandigarh Bill: No final decision taken lJusTiCe suRyA kAnT will take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. He will succeed Justice B R Gavai, who demitted ofice on Sunday. l TuRkish pResidenT RecepTayyip Erdogan will have a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine and resumption of the Black Sea deal for passage of grains. Proposal under consideration, no intention to bring Bill in winter session: MHA lpunJAb Assembly will hold a special session in Sri Anandpur Sahib, the first time it meets outside Chandigarh. It is being held to honour the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur on his 350th martyrdom anniversary. l supReme CouRT is scheduled to hear a plea filed by Sonam Wangchuk's wife which termed his detention under the NSA as illegal and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights. TRACk These And moRe on www.indiAnexpRess.Com Jatin Anand New Delhi, November 23 Farewell, Fighter Wing Commander Afshan Akhtar, wife of Wing Commander namansh Syal, who was killed in a Tejas crash at the dubai Airshow, with their 7-year-old daughter Aariya as his remains are brought to his ancestral home in dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, Sunday. A US f-16 team cancelled its final performance at the air show ‘out of respect for the pilot, his colleagues and family’. ANI rePorT, PAGe 8 s.i.R. of eleCToRAl Rolls UP moves against BLOs: 60 face FIRs in Noida, 2 suspended in Bahraich saman husain & manish sahu Noida, Lucknow, November 23 THE NOIDA administration has registered FIRs against over 60 booth-level officers (BLOs) and seven supervisors across three police stations for alleged negligence and disobedience during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, two BLOs have been suspended for alleged negligence and a third has been booked based on a BJP leader’s complaint. In Noida, the action was taken under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. On the orders of District Magistrate Medha Rupam, who is also the District Election Officer of Noida, the Sub-District Magistrates of three Noida assembly segments lodged FIRs naming the BLOs who have allegedly shown a lack of compliance. The one-month enumeration phase for the SIR phaseII, ongoing in nine states and three Union Territories, has put BLOs in charge of distribution and collection, with a December 4 deadline. Unlike the Bihar exercise, the current phase places the onus on the BLOs to match the elector details on the forms with the old electoral rolls of electors or their parents during the enumeration phase itself. According to the Nodia administration, despite repeated instructions, warnings and notices, several BLOs “did not report to their assigned areas” and “failed to adhere to orders issued by senior officials”. Four FIRs have been registered. Two are in Dadri, naming 18 officials: 12 anganwadi workers and government school teachers in one, and six khAmbATA sAid ‘Coup’ TAlk AbsuRd, buT bATTle simmeRs Tata director admits: Breaking consensus got us unwelcome publicity, govt’s attention Tension persists as September 11 meeting also seen to have cost Trusts a seat on Tata Sons board George mathew Mumbai, November 23 DESPITE THE exit of Mehli Mistry from Tata Trusts, there is still pain and rancour within the organisation over the manner in which a group of trustees led by Mistry blocked the nomination of Vijay Singh to the board of Tata Sons at the September 11 meeting. Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Responding to a recent letter from Darius Khambata, who is a senior lawyer and trustee on the boards of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, a senior Tata Group director said the September 11 meeting was “botched” and triggered a series of developments that went against the Trusts’ interests. “I don’t know if there was a coup or not, but whatever happened was certainly botched. It resulted in the loss of a Trusts seat on the Tata Sons board, the attention of the Government of India, and a great deal of unwelcome publicity,” the Tata Group director said in a written re- sponse to The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity. In his November 10 letter to Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and other trustees, Khambata said, “We felt absolutely nothing against Vijay (Singh), and we regretted that he was not present at the meeting so that we could explain our position to him face to face.” Singh, who retired as India’s Defence Secretary, had joined Tata Trusts in 2018 on the invitation of Ratan Tata. While Ratan Tata always stood for consensus on appointments and nominations, especially in Tata Trusts, a bloc of four trustees led by Mistry »ConTinued on pAGe 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY From Tilak’s arrest to dreaded dons: Curtains to fall on Mumbai landmark manish kumar pathak FROM BAL Gangadhar Tilak’s arrest by the then British government to the interrogation of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, underworld dons Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli and Abu Salem, and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt — the iconic 117-year-old Crime Branch building, inside the Mumbai Police HQ premises, has been the stage for several key episodes in the country’s history. pragynesh Muzaffarnagar, New Delhi, November 23 The building inside the Mumbai Police HQ premises. GANESH SHIRSEkAR MOHD SHAHID remembers clearly the words his father said to him as he left home in Ludhiana for Ghaziabad in April 2013. “Aaj ya toh bahar, ya hamesha ke liye andar (Either I will be out, or be imprisoned forever).” Then 17, Shahid barely Chandigarh an emotional issue for Punjabis, says Jakhar Raakhi Jagga Ludhiana, November 23 THE CENTRE’S statement that the proposal on inclusion of Chandigarh in Article 240 of the Constitution was “still under consideration” and it had “no intention of introducing any Bill to this effect” in the up- New Delhi, November 23 understood what Mohammad Ilyas meant. Over the next 12and-a-half years, he would be reminded of it every day. He is grateful the second part of Ilyas’s prediction will not come true. Ten days ago, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Ilyas in the 1996 Ghaziabad bus blast case, which left 18 dead — 29 years after charges were first framed against him, and 12 years after he was jailed following a life sentence. Lodged in Dasna Jail, Ilyas is yet to be released, though the family says it has submitted the required documents. Forced to start working after Ilyas’s imprisonment, Shahid, 30, took up carpentry, like his father. The work often takes him to Muzaffarnagar, the town from where Ilyas had moved to Punjab. A part of the family still lives in the Meerapur area of Muzaffarnagar, past the main bazar »ConTinued on pAGe 2 coming session of Parliament came after the Punjab unit of the BJP too voiced concern over the move which had all other parties in the state protesting. It is learnt that Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah late Saturday. State BJP general secretary Anil Sarin said, “On Sunday, the core committee of the Punjab BJP held a virtual meeting and conveyed their opposition to the MHA after which the Ministry issued a clarification. We stand fully committed to Punjab’s interests and communicated our »ConTinued on pAGe 2 After key gains at COP, India tells developed countries: We won’t fill in for your failures Amitabh sinha 29 years an accused, 12 years a convict — and now a free man How case against man charged in 1996 Ghaziabad blast got thrown out by HC Mumbai, November 23 Since 1984, Punjab’s Governor has been the UT’s Administrator. FIlE BJP’s Punjab unit too pushed back, told MHA it opposed move »ConTinued on pAGe 2 »ConTinued on pAGe 2 117-yR-old CRime bRAnCh buildinG To be RAzed This week »ConTinued on pAGe 2 EXPRESS exclusive A DAY after a Bill to include Chandigarh in Article 240 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to make regulations for the Union Territory and legislate directly, figured in a tentative list of Lok Sabha business for the winter session next month and led to an uproar in Punjab, the Centre said Sunday the proposal was “still under consideration” and it had “no intention of introducing any Bill to this effect” in the upcoming session of Parliament. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2025, seeking to “include the Union Territory of Chandigarh in Article 240 of the Constitution of India, in alignment with other Union Territories without legislatures — namely, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Puducherry (when its Legislative Assembly is dissolved or suspended)”, was mentioned in IN A demonstration of the newfound assertiveness of the developing countries after their securing a reasonably satisfactory outcome at the COP30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, India told the developed nations that their agenda on climate change cannot be imposed on the rest of the world. It warned that attempts to “overturn the architecture of the Paris Agreement” will not be allowed to succeed. Speaking on behalf of Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), a negotiating group that also includes China and Saudi Arabia, India underlined the long-held position of the developing countries on climate action — that reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was primarily the responsibility of the developed nations and the burden could not be shifted to the developing countries be- E. EXPLAINED Consistent stand In the last few years, India has consistently taken the position that development imperatives cannot be compromised for climate action. In fact, it has argued that development was the best defence against climate change. It has also made the case for prioritising adaptation in developing countries. cause of their own failures. India also reminded the developed countries that along with cutting down emissions, they were legally obligated to provide finance and technology to developing countries. It said that for developing countries, adaptation, and not »ConTinued on pAGe 2 l SenUrAn MUTHUSAMy SCoreS HiS firST TeST HUndred, TAkeS SoUTH AfriCA To STronG PoSiTion AGAinST indiA in THe SeCond TeST South African mom races home to watch her ‘freedom baby’ make history in India Lalith Kalidas gone on a business trip. “I watched him bat till stumps yesterday, and it was around SHE CALLS him “freedom 2.30 am India time when I was baby” because he was born in on the flight out from Ghana,” 1994, the year apartheid ended says Vani, speaking to The Inin South Africa. And on Sunday, dian Express. Touching down in Durban, minutes after he strode to a landmark in the land of her fore- her nerves were a mess — in fathers, Vani Moodley changed contrast her “obedient and maher WhatsApp profile ture” son, who was a PAGE 1 picture of serenity as picture to show her son, Senuran Muthuhe studiously samy, celebrating. pushed South Africa When Senuran was ap- to a strong position in the secproaching his hundred on the ond Test of the two-match second day of the India-South series. His innings of 109 from Africa match at Guwahati — 206 balls helped his team reach the first ever Test at the venue 489 in the first innings after — Vani was travelling to Dur- being 201 for five at one stage. ban from Ghana where she had “I was frantically asking them Guwahati, November 23 anchor to change the TV channel in the lounge,” says Vani. She was still in a race against time when her son hit India’s premier wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for a slog-swept six and a fine-glance for four to reach 98. But when Senuran finally punched a ball from pacer Mohammed Siraj to cover and reached his first Test hundred, the mother was in front of the screen at her Durban home. “I was racing through the roads crazily to get home. Luckily, I made it just in time for his century,” Vani tells. Soon, the frame of her son in South African whites, celebrating the hundred, appeared on her WhatsApp profile. It also had a Senuran Muthusamy with his mother, Vani Moodley, after the World Test Championship final at Lord’s earlier this year. small note: “The first centurion at the Guwahati Stadium.” For Vani, it was an important moment. The collective dream of an “entire village” had taken close to two decades. That was the time Senuran was 11. Born into a family that faced discrimination in the eastern port city of Durban, Senuran’s arrival coincided with a new era that broke the shackles of apartheid in South Africa. “Our forefathers came here in the early 1900s, as indentured labour from our roots back at Vellore in Tamil Nadu,” says Vani. “My paternal grandfather was basically a stowaway on one of the ships that came to Africa. I was born in a period when apartheid was raging, and we were raised in segregated colonies. I couldn't afford to go to university and had to work full-time to support my studies. I had the opportunity to be part of the anti-apartheid struggle as a young activist at the time.” Vani recalls her grandfather working even on Sundays, and contributing the money for the government to build a school in the community. Senuran's paternal grandfather Punnatambaran Muthuswamy, too, had played cricket but could not reach the top due to the curbs on people of colour. “Things changed in my son’s era. He was born into a multicultural community and had his grandfather and father to plant the seeds of cricket in him,” says Vani. The making of Senuran started with his cricket-loving dad, who passed away when he was 11. “From the time he could stand, he was fully kitted out and basically having throwdowns with his dad. That continued until his dad passed away. I had to equip myself with cricket knowledge to keep giving him those throwdowns,” Vani recalls. Those long hours helped. At 14, Senuran took his first step to become a professional cricketer. He made his First Class debut in 2013, as an allrounder who bowls left-arm spin, and played his first Test in »ConTinued on pAGe 2