WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Qawwali that got through In Dhurandhar, a repurposed qawwali with Pak origins engages with a shared cultural past NEW DELHI, DEcEMbER 28, 2025 SPOTLIGHT When Maria Goretti Cooks Up a Memory LATE CITY 16+4 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) 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 Digvijaya praises structure of Sangh in message to Rahul happening today Flags Cong need to decentralise; says will always remain staunch opponent of RSS and Modi 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. 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 Goaclubblaze: Probereport placesbulk ofblameon panchayat Pavneet Singh Chadha A LOCAL panchayat that failed to do its job and a host of government departments that turnedablindeyetoviolations, bigandsmall—theseare,inessence, the key findings of a magisterialinquiryintothefire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora that killed25peopleonDecember6, The Indian Express has learnt. A senior official privy to the reportsaidtheprobefoundthat “primary culpability” lies with thelocalpanchayatforallowing the club to operate. “The trade licence expired in March 2024, but the panchayat failed to seal the premises or stop its operations.Thoughitissuedademolitionorder,therewasawindow todemolishthestructurebefore the order was stayed. Here, it failed to act. The property has existed since 1996, and two restaurants previously operated from the premises. The probe found a systemic failure by the panchayat for years. Why did it issue no-objection certificates despite complaints regarding the construction being approvedinaneco-sensitivezone andwithouttheoccupancycertificate?” 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 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ThE wOrlD New Delhi, December 27 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Digvijaya Singh arrives for the cWc meeting. AMIT MEHRA INTERVIEW, pAGE 6 P U N E , 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 NATION South 24 Parganas, December 27 ON THE first day of hearings in WestBengal’sSouth24Parganas districtaspartoftheSIR(Special Intensive Revision) exercise to decideifelectorswhohavebeen issuednoticeswillremainonthe rolls, Bidhubhushan Mondol, 62, and his wife Renuka, 52, slowly make their way to one of the two ‘hearing tables’ inside PaGE 8 BaNGladESH SHOUld BE TaUGHT a lESSON akIN TO Gaza: adHIkaRI the office of the Block Development Officer at Canning. Their names figure in the 2025 voter list, but they have been issued notices because neither they nor their parents figure in the 2002 electoral roll — the legacy base list used as a reference for the current exercise. “I’m worried about my oldestsonwho’sinTamilNadufor work and can’t come back now. I came with his documents but »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 9 allU aRjUN IN STamPEdE cHaRGESHEET Court initiates suo motu proceedings after storm over threat to hills An aerial view of the Aravallis in Haryana. TASHI TOBGYAL ing on December 29. A three-judge bench, pre- 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 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 RATAN N TATA 28.12.1937 - 09.10.2024 P 12 TATA SONS & TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES RUSSIa aTTackS kyIv aHEad Of TalkS BETWEEN U.S. aNd UkRaINE December 28, 1937 - October 9, 2024 Celebrating a legacy rooted in purpose, progress and giving back to society. THaIlaNd aNd camBOdIa SIGN NEW aGREEmENT fOR TRUcE »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Two weeks before SC accepted 100-m Aravalli norm, its panel cautioned on mining leases PADMA VIBHUSHAN 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 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 Spellings to mismatches: Bengal voters queue up to remain on rolls Atri Mitra Panaji, December 27 P A T N A , New Delhi, December 27 Asad Rehman & Jatin Anand TRAcK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm N A G P U R , Express News Service l PRESIDENT DROUPADI 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. M U M B A I ,