MCS/204/2020-22 RNI NO. MAHENG 2002/21899 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Qawwali that got through In Dhurandhar, a repurposed qawwali with Pak origins engages with a shared cultural past MUMbAI, DEcEMbER 28, 2025 SPOTLIGHT When Maria Goretti Cooks Up a Memory LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , REMARKS AMID POLL LOSSES, RAHUL’S ‘VOTE CHORI’ CLAIM 124 152 189 Digvijaya praises structure of Sangh in message to Rahul Flags Cong need to decentralise; says will always remain staunch opponent of RSS and Modi 93 Murmu will embark on a sea sortie in a submarine from Karwar Harbour in Karnataka. Murmu has earlier taken air sorties — in a Rafale fighter jet in October this year and a Sukhoi-30 MKI in 2023. lMYANMAR WILL VOTE in the first phase of a general election — the country’s first poll since the military seized power nearly five years ago, setting off a devastating civil war. TRAcK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANEXPRESS.cOM Goaclubblaze: Probereport placesbulk ofblameon panchayat Pavneet Singh Chadha IGNITING A political row and a debate within the party as the Congress Working Committee metSaturday,Congressveteran Digvijaya Singh heaped praise on the organisational strength of the BJP and RSS and the rise ofNarendraModifromanordinary party worker to Prime Minister. He followed it by calling for “decentralisation” of power within the Congress and the“needforstrengthening”its own organisational structure. Singh’s remarks, in a social mediapostandlaterattheCWC meeting in the presence of the party brass including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Digvijaya Singh arrives for the cWc meeting. AMIT MEHRA INTERVIEW, pAGE 7 A LOCAL panchayat that failed to do its job and a host of government departments that turned a blind eye to violations, big and small — these are, in essence, the key findings of a magisterial inquiry into the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora that killed 25 people on December 6, The Indian Express has learnt. A senior official privy to the reportsaidtheprobefoundthat “primary culpability” lies with the local panchayat for allowing the club to operate. “The trade licence expired in March 2024, but the panchayat failed to seal the premises or stop its operations. Though it issued a demolition order, there was a window to demolish the structure before the order was stayed.Here,itfailedtoact.The propertyhasexistedsince1996, and two restaurants previously operated from the premises. The probe found a systemic failure by the panchayat for years. Why did it issue no-objectioncertificatesdespitecomplaints regarding the construction being approved in an eco-sensitivezoneandwithout the occupancy certificate?” the official said. The Indian Express earlier reported that at least seven approvals were given by the local panchayat in Arpora and government departments so that the club could operate. The approvals include trade, excise and food safety licences; a pollution body nod; and three noobjection certificates. All of these are now under E. EXPLAINED The grouse within As the Congress reels from a string of poll defeats, most recently in Bihar, and not many buying Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ allegations, a section within wants the party to devise a new strategy on the way forward given that some key states will be going to polls in 2026. Calls for decentralisation stem from the grouse that all power, even in local appointments, rests with the leaders in Delhi. Cong stir against new job law starts January 5 Asad Rehman & Jatin Anand New Delhi, December 27 ANNOUNCINGTHATtheCongress will launch a nationwide campaign from January 5 against the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025thathasreplacedtheUPAera MGNREGA job guarantee scheme, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said Saturday that the decision to scrap MGNREGA was taken directly by the Prime Minister’s Office Mumbai exhibition brings to life a colonial-era 4,000-km hedge Mohamed Thaver lThe‘SaltLine’ Mumbai, December 27 NEARLY TWO centuries back, the British put in place a massive 4,000-km ‘Inland Customs Line’ also known as ‘the Great HedgeofIndia’extendingfrom Punjab in the northwest to the then princely state of Orissa near the Bay of Bengal. The whole idea was to ensure that nobody could take away salt from within British-occupied Extended from Punjab in northwest to the then princely state of Orissa Nearly 2,500 km (marked in red) was shrubbery 14,000 staffers posted at chowkies across the length TORbELA SONAPuR p 10 THaIlaNd aNd CambOdIa SIGN NEW aGREEmENT fOR TRUCE Court initiates suo motu proceedings after storm over threat to hills Map taken from the book The Great Hedge of India by Guy Moxham; Photo by Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser withoutconsultingtheminister concerned and the Cabinet. Briefing the press with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after the Congress Working Committee meeting on the party’s strategy on the issue of MGNREGA being replaced by VB-G RAM G Act, Rahul Gandhi said that scrapping the scheme will hurt the rural economy. Responding to his remarks, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NATION paGE 6 allU aRjUN IN STampEdE CHaRGESHEET An aerial view of the Aravallis in Haryana. TASHI TOBGYAL ing on December 29. A three-judge bench, pre- On Nov 7, CEC asked court not to approve 164 Rajasthan mines since they were part of Aravalli hills as per FSI Jay Mazoomdaar New Delhi, December 27 ONOCTOBER14,adayafterthe Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed a new 100-metre definition of the Aravalli hills to the SupremeCourt,theCentralEmpowered Committee (CEC) wrote to the court’s amicus cu- riae and underrecommended EXPRESS lined the need to that the proposal protect and confor renewal or exserve the hills’ tension of 164 ecologybysticking mining leases of to the 3-degree slope bench- Rajasthan placed before the marksetbytheForestSurveyof court “may not be approved or India. processed further till a final Three weeks later on No- definition of the Aravalli” was vember 7, the CEC, in a way, re- approved by the apex court. affirmed its position when it »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 exclusive REMEMBERING RATAN N. TATA 28.12.1937 - 09.10.2024 December 28, 1937 - October 9, 2024 Celebrating a legacy rooted in purpose, progress and giving back to society. TATA SONS & TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Two weeks before SC accepted 100-m Aravalli norm, its panel cautioned on mining leases RATAN N TATA Remembering Ratan N Tata, an icon of industry and a humanitarian, on the occasion of his 88th birth anniversary. V A D O D A R A sided by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, will hear the matter. The bench will also comprise Justices J K Maheshwari and A G Masih. On November 27, a week after the Supreme Court accepted the recommendations of a Union Environment Ministry panel on the definition of AravalliHillslimitingittolandforms at an elevation of 100 m or more above local relief, a report in The Indian Express, basedonaninternalFSIassessment, flagged what the panel did not mention: that by this PADMA VIBHUSHAN »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE wORLD P U N E , Aravalli definition row back in SC, hearing tomorrow AMID THE row over the threat to the Aravallis following the Supreme Court-approved definition that limits legal recognitionofthehillstolandformsrising 100 metres or more above local relief, the top court Saturday initiated suo motu proceedings on the definition question and fixed it for hear- Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi during the cWc meeting on Saturday. AMIT MEHRA »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Panaji, December 27 P A T N A , New Delhi, December 27 New Delhi, December 27 l PRESIDENT DROUPADI N A G P U R , Express News Service Asad Rehman & Jatin Anand Happening today M U M B A I ,
Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi.
