DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES HRD MINISTRY COMMITTEE After denial, BSY admits he met JD(S) MLA’s son Empower IITs to pick their directors: Panel EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE HUBBALI, FEBRUARY 10 RUSSIA KARNATAKA BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday admitted that he had met Sharanagouda Kandakur, son of JD(S) MLA Naganagouda Kandakur, on the night of February 7 and discussed the possibility of getting his father to join the BJP. On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaras- ‘Discussed wamy had re- some things’ leased an audio recording of a purported conversation between Yeddyurappa and Sharanagouda, in which the BJP leaderisallegedlytryingtopoach the JD(S) MLA with the offer of money and a ministerial berth. Yeddyurappa had dismissed the audio clip as “fake” and said CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 BENGAL MLA KILLED 2 ‘BJP workers’ held, TMC alleges Mukul Roy hand RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10 Reena, wife of Rakesh, one of the hooch victims in Saharanpur, on Sunday. Gajendra Yadav Hooch toll 99, over 3,000 held: Sold at weddings, prayer meets AMIL BHATNAGAR SAHARANPUR, FEBRUARY 10 AT WEDDINGS, prayer meetings and multiple mass gatherings, white plastic pouches of country-made liquor were sold in villages across Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh along the Uttarakhand border. Manufactured with cheap raw materials and sold for between Rs 10 and Rs 30, the liquor, locals say, was a common sight in the region. The deaths, however, are a first. Over the last four days, officials say, the illicit liquor has killed at least 99 people — 59 in Saharanpur, 10 in Kushinagar and 30 in Haridwar, the source of the poisonous liquor, according to police. In a two-day drive against spurious liquor trade, a UP government spokesperson said in a statement, 3,049 people have been arrested and over 79,000 litres of country-made liquor seizedacrossthestate.According to the spokesperson, 2,812 FIRs havebeenfiled,andthemostarrests, around 2,700, were made in the Agra zone. Dharam Singh (36) said the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A YEAR after the IIMs were granted unprecedented autonomyunder anew Act, acommittee of IIT directors is learnt to have sought powers similar to the 20 premier business schools to appoint their own institute heads and chairmen. As reported by The Indian Express on October 24, 2018, the seven-memberpanel,headedby former IIT-Kanpur chairman M Anandkrishnan,wassetupbythe HRDMinistrytoexplorethefeasibilityofdilutinggovernmentcontrol over the 23 IITs. The directors of IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, IITBombay,IIT-DelhiandIIT-Kanpur and a professor of IIT-Madras are the other panel members. Rupali Biswas, wife of MLA Satyajit Biswas. Partha Paul IITautonomy testforCentre THE IIMS have always enjoyed more autonomy than IITs. The true test of the NDA-II government’s intention to unshackle higher education institutions lies in what it does with the recommendations to give similar powers to IITs, starting with empowering them to appoint their own heads. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAVIK BHATTACHARYA PHULBARI (NADIA), FEB 10 KRISHNAGANJ MLA Satyajit Biswas was killed by a man who lived close to the Trinamool Congress leader’s home, and is a local hoodlum and BJP worker, witnesses and members of Biswas’sfamilyallegedonSunday. The alleged assailant, Abhijit Pundari, is absconding. Police havearrestedtwootheraccused, and recovered a countrymade handgun from a field not far from where Biswas was killed. Thetwomenwhowerearrested CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rafale deal: Conflict of interest, For Cong, defence sector only Gaming, social media, selfies: This clinic CAG must recuse, says Cong about brokering deals: PM in Bengaluru helps tech addicts log out BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 10 IN A fresh offensive on the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Congress on Sunday asked Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishito“recuse”himselffrom auditing the deal, citing “conflict of interest” and “gross impropriety”. Saying that the CAG may table its report in Parliament on Monday, the Congress accused Mehrishi of “attempting to help the government by giving it a ‘We are watching overenthusiastic officials’. PTI clean chit certificate”. Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAHUL TO MEET FOREIGN ENVOYS P9 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 10 FACING OPPOSITION attack on the Rafale deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit back on Sunday, saying that for the Congress,thedefencesectorwas only about “brokering deals and helpingtheir ownsetof friends”. Addressing a rally in Tirupur, he said: “From the seas to the skies, the Congress has several scams associated with defence, and, in the process, the party did ‘Opposition misleading farmers, youth.’ PTI not allow the modernisation of defence forces for the long years that they were in power... Every middleman caught had a link with some Congress leader or other...Thosewhogottheopportunitytorulethenationforyears CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TRACKING CHANGE» JOHNSON T A BENGALURU, FEBRUARY 10 AMONG THE case studies at the technology de-addiction clinic or the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluruisthatof a21-year-old college student who took selfies every 15-20 minutes. Doctors said her obsession with the thought that her ap- EVERY MONDAY For all Change stories, log on to www.indianexpress.com/change Witness Change? Write to us at change@expressindia.com Professor Manoj Kumar Sharma operates the clinic pearance is somehow flawed was the consequence of a mental health ailment called body dysmorphic disorder. She was CONTINUED ON PAGE 11