DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES House panel summons Twitter CEO, may call other platforms too KARISHMA MEHROTRA & LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11 THE PARLIAMENTARY Committee on Information Technology Monday decided to summon Twitter CEO Jack Dorseyandtopcompanyofficials to appear before it on February 25, it is learnt. The committee alsoresolvedtosummonofficials from other social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and other tech platforms on the issue of “Safeguarding Citizens Rights on Social/Online News Media Platforms”. The decision to summon top Twitter executives comes after the microblogging platform declined to send Dorsey or global executives to appear before the parliamentary committee Monday and sent instead officials from Twitter India. Sources said the parliamentary committee did not call Twitter India executives for deliberations Monday when they reached the meeting venue. Twitter India Director of Policy Mahima Kaul and Twitter India Government and Policy official Payal Kamat were seen outside the venue. It is learnt that committee chairman Anurag Thakur read out a letter from Twitter that company officials in India were not authorised to take enforcement decisions. He is learnt to havesaidthattherewasnopoint in the committee meeting Twitter officials from India, to which the members agreed. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Shah dials Uddhav who talks of old formula and more tickets for Sena NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11 BJP PRESIDENT Amit Shah dialled Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Monday as a part of his efforts to finalise a seat-sharing agreement well before Lok Sabha polls. The Sena chief, according to sources, sought a returntothe1995-formulatoshare Maharashtra Assembly seats withtheBJP,whentheSenacontested169of the288seats,while the BJP had fought 116. Then, the two parties had secured a total of 138 seats — the Sena 73 and the BJP, 65 — and formed their first coalition government in the state, headed by Manohar Joshi of the Sena and supported by independents and others. Apartfromthequotaof seats, WEST BENGAL BJP SEEKS POLICE PERMISSION FOR SIT-IN AT MAMATA’S DHARNA SPOT PAGE 4 FORMER IPS OFFICER BHARATI GHOSH MOVES SUPREMECOURT PAGE 5 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ‘CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL PAINFULLY UNPOPULAR’ Hazarika’s son slams Bill, puts Govt on notice on Bharat Ratna How Centre moves far outweighs award... display of short-lived cheap thrills:Tej ABHISHEK SAHA GUWAHATI, FEBRUARY 11 TWO DAYS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Bhupen Hazarika and took a swipe at previous governments for delaying the Bharat Ratna conferred posthumously on the celebrated singer this Republic Day, Hazarika’s son Tej, protesting the “painfully unpopular” Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, put the government on notice Monday, saying the Bill was “actually undermining” his father’s “documented position” and “would in reality be in direct Was awarded Bharat Ratna on Republic Day opposition to what Bhupenda believed in his heart of hearts”. “Bharat Ratnas and longest bridges,whilenecessary,willnot promote the peace and prosperity of the citizens of India. Only SAGAR RAJPUT MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 11 AN INDIAN woman prisoner in Pakistan has presented Mumbai Police with a unique challenge. The woman, who has given her name as Gulo Jan, and her address confoundingly as “Jalindhar” in Mumbai, is men- Bill undermines his documented position. It would be in direct opposition to what Bhupenda believed in his heart of hearts” — TEJ HAZARIKA SON OF BHUPEN HAZARIKA just popular laws and foresight on the part of leadership will. Numerous media journalists are now asking me whether or not I will accept the Bharat Ratna for my father. I go on record here to answer that A), I have not received any invitation so far there is nothing to reject, and B), how the Center moves on this matter far outweighs in importance the awarding and receiving of such national recognition — a display of short-lived cheap thrills,” Tej Hazarika,whoisbasedintheUS, saidinanemailstatement toThe Indian Express. When his comments were CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Quitting last act in long story of disregard: Stats panel ex-chief NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11 BJP keen but ally pushes hard Not having shared the best relations with the Sena post-2014, BJP chief Amit Shah is trying to win back their trust and support before the Lok Sabha polls. His phone call to Uddhav underlines as much his sense of urgency as his keenness to finalise a deal. The allies, too, have sensed it and are, therefore, pushing him as hard as they can. this arrangement would mean that the Sena would choose the chiefministerintheeventofboth CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EVEN AS the government responded to the controversy over withholdingaNationalStatistical Commission(NSC)employment survey for 2017-18 by calling it a draft report, P C Mohanan, who resigned as the acting Chairman of theNSCinprotestoverthedelay in releasing the survey, has said that questioning the report is perhaps the first step in the standard government response. According to Mohanan, the next step possibly would be to refer the report and its methodology to a committee of experts, only to delay the findings. “...it was the NITI Aayog and not the Chief Statistician whose THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday completed the interrogation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) former MP Kunal Ghosh in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. For the second consecutive day, Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar was broughtface-to-facewithGhosh at the CBI office in Shillong. An official said on condition of anonymity, “We need to examine him again, Kunal Ghosh part is over.” While Kumar did’t comment on the investigation, Kunal Ghosh claimed it a “moral victory”. “I consider it my moral victory that after so long, police commissioner WORLD THE EDITORIAL PAGE BECAUSE DATA IS A PUBLIC GOOD BY P C MOHANAN PAGE 8 CBI ends interrogation of TMC ex-MP, top cop may be examined again KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 11 Congress president Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jyotiraditya Scindia and UPCC chief Raj Babbar in Lucknow, Monday. Vishal Srivastav REPORTPAGE10 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SARADHA CHIT FUND SCAM PROBE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE ON THE ROAD Rajeev Kumar was made to sit in front of me and listen to what I had to say. I have always cooperated with the investigation and even now I am doing the same... I don’t want to speak on investigation,” Ghosh told reporters while leaving the CBI office after seven hours of interrogation. According to sources, investigating officers focused on previous statements made by Kunal Ghosh and a letter he wrote to the investigating agency. They said the agency, probing a “larger conspiracy” behind the scam, examined Kumar on Monday to verify Ghosh’s claim. It was the second day when Kumar and Ghosh were questioned together. Ghosh reached CBI office around 10.20am while Kumar reached an hour later. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TOP PENTAGON OFFICIAL VISITS AFGHANISTAN AMID PEACE PUSH PAGE 13 Principal, VP quit after Gujarat college says no Mevani event EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 11 A DAY after the management of the HK Arts College in Ahmedabad declined permission to use the college auditorium for an annual function where Vadgam independent MLAJigneshMevaniwasinvited as chief guest, the in-charge principal of the college, HemantkumarShahresignedon “moral grounds”. Shah tendered his resignation to the Brahmchari Wadi trust, which runs the college. He said there has been no response from the trust. Hours later, the college’s in-charge vice-principal,MohanbhaiParmarresigned too, citing similar reasons. While Shah, currently head of the Economics department at HK Arts College, has worked CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jailed in Pak, mentally ill woman from ‘Jalindhar’ in Mumbai has cops probing PAGE 1 ANCHOR `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU DECISION 2019 PRADEEP KAUSHAL SINCE 1932 tally ill, and has been unable to giveamoredetailedaddress.The government needs to verify her nationality before accepting her as an Indian. To Mumbai Police hasfallenthetask,akintofinding a needle in a haystack, of tracking down any family that she may have in this city. The only other clues that the police have are a photograph of her, and some details gleaned by Indian officials during consular access: her parents are Raj Kumar and Yasmeen; she has A sketch of Gulo Jan four sisters and three brothers; she has two sons and two daughters,andtoaddtotheconfusion, she has also given her husband’s name as “Jalindher”. “Wearenotevensurewhether the details that we have been asked to work on are reliable but wearestillworkingontheinputs. Afterwereceivedtheletterwefirst tried to get the location with the help of Google maps, but we couldn’tfind‘Jalindhar’anywhere in Mumbai. It was just Jalandhar which we could find and that too inPunjab,”saidanofficer. Like Gulo Jan, there are 31 other mentally ill Indians in Pakistani jails, whose nationality the Indian mission in Islamabad is trying to verify. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2 wks before Rafale announcement, Anil Ambani met French Defence officials SUSHANT SINGH NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 11 IN THE fourth week of March 2015, about a fortnight before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France, businessman Anil Ambani visited then French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s office in Paris and had a meeting with his top advisors, The Indian Express has learnt. Themeetingwasattendedby Le Drian’s special advisor JeanClaudeMallet;hisindustryadvisor,ChristopheSalomon;andhis technical advisor for industrial affairs, Geoffrey Bouquot. Ambani’s meeting was described by Salomon to a top official of a European defence company as “confidential and plannedasyoucanimaginewith very short notice”. Ambani, according to an official who was briefed on the meeting, expressed his wish to workwithAirbusHelicopterson both commercial and defence helicopters.Heisalsosaidtohave mentioned a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)“inpreparation and the intention to sign during the PM visit”. When Ambani visited the FrenchDefenceMinister’soffice, it was known that Prime Minister Modi would make an official visit to France from April 9-11, 2015. Subsequently, Ambani was part of the PM’s delegation during the visit where the deal for 36 Rafale aircraft was announced by Modi and then Ambani visited office of then French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian CONG, BJP TRADE CHARGES ON RAFALE THE BJP and Opposition partiescontinuedtotrade charges over the Rafale deal Monday inside and outside Parliament. While the Congress, citing a report, accused the Centre of dropping provisions for anti-corruption penalties days before the aircraft deal was signed, the BJP said the Congress was “lying on a daily basis on the Rafale deal, in the hope that some allegations would stick”. P10 French President Francois Hollande in a joint statement issued by the two sides. Incidentally, Reliance Defence was incorporated on March 28, 2015, in the same week as this meeting. Emails sent to the official spokesperson of Le Drian last week did not elicit any response. Emails sent to Ambani’s Reliance Group have also gone unanswered. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2