DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Elon Musk reaches agreement to acquire Twitter for $44 bn ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 25 TN passes Bills to allow state to appoint V-Cs in 13 universities ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, APRIL 25 IN WHAT’s likely to open a new front amid escalating tensions between Governor R N Ravi and the DMK-led state government, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday passed two Bills empoweringthegovernmenttoappoint Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs) to 13 state universities. While the Opposition AIADMK and the BJP opposed the Bills, BJP MLAs walked out of the House. The Tamil Nadu Universities CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E X P L A I NE D E Opens up a new ● front SEEN AS a bid to curtail the Governor’s role in V-C appointments, the move is set to escalate tensions with Raj Bhavan. Earlier, the state boycotted events organised by the Governor to protest delay in clearing some Bills. SINCE 1932 BILLIONAIRE ELON Musk has reachedanagreementtoacquire Twitter for approximately $44 billion, the company said. TheoutspokenTeslaCEO,the world’s wealthiest person, has said he wants to buy Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for “free speech.” He says it needs to betransformedasaprivatecompany in order to build trust with users and do better at serving what he calls the “societal imperative” of free speech. Twitter said it will become a privatelyheldcompanyafterthe sale is closed. “Twitter has a purpose and relevancethatimpactstheentire Musk calls himself a ‘free-speech absolutist’ world,” its CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet. “Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.” Musk describes himself as a “free-speech absolutist,” although he hasn’t been exactly clear what he means bythat. Ina recentTEDinterview,thebillionaire said he’d like to see Twitter err on the side of allowing speech instead of moderating it. He said he’d be “very reluctant” to delete tweets and would CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ADDRESSES RAISINA DIALOGUE GATHERING Ukraine war will impact Indo-Pacific: EU chief PM Modi listening, President von der Leyen urges global community to ‘support our efforts for lasting peace’ SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, APRIL 25 WITH PRIME Minister Narendra Modilistening,visitingEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday described the killings in Bucha as “severe violations of international law” and said what is happening in Ukraine will impact the Indo-Pacific region. She said the outcome of the war will not only determine the future of Europe, but also “deeply affect the Indo-Pacific region and the rest of the world”. “For the Indo-Pacific region, it is as important as for Europe, that borders are respected, and PM Narendra Modi with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New Delhi on Monday. PTI that spheres of influence are rejected,” she said, while addressing the Raisina Dialogue. The core principles that underpin peace and security across the world, she said, are at stake in Asia as well as in Europe. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Centre, states have to align more to boost investments: CII chief P 13 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & PRANAV MUKUL NEW DELHI, APRIL 25 CONFEDERATION OF Indian Industry (CII) president and Tata Steel CEO & MD, T V Narendran, told The Indian Express on Monday that “greater alignment” between the Centre and states, and policy stability, are “very important” to encourage investments in the country. Narendran’s remarks come atatimewhenCentre-staterelations have been strained over revenue and economic issues -thelatestpointof contentionbeing the demand for the Centre to share revenue from the privatisation of airports with states. TheCIIchief alsosaidthatthe Russia-Ukraine war has presented Indian steel exporters with an opportunity in the light of “space vacated by Russia and Ukraine”inthesector.Russiaand Ukraine are the fifth and 12th THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW T V NARENDRAN CII PRESIDENT largeststeelmakers intheworld, respectively, and cumulatively account for around 10 per cent of the global steel trade. Speaking about the scenario in India, Narendran said: “Obviously for the industry, greater alignment between Centre and states and policy stability are very important. Particularly when you look at foreign investors, they struggle even more to understand these complexities. At a very broad CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Given bail, Mevani held again for ‘assaulting’ LS Speaker seeks details of No farmers, dealers at Mamata govt’s woman police officer MP Navneet Rana’s arrest flagship mandis, dept rents out space THE EDITORIAL PAGE TORA AGARWALA GUWAHATI, APRIL 25 EVEN AS a court in Kokrajhar granted him bail in the case relatedtoapurportedtweetagainst Prime MInister Narendra Modi, GujaratMLAJigneshMevaniwas re-arrested on Monday in a fresh casefiledinBarpetadistrictonthe basis of a complaint by a woman policeofficerwhoaccusedhimof “assaulting” her and “outraging her modesty”. Confirming the arrest, BarpetaSuperintendentof Police (SP) Amitava Sinha said a case CUT AND PASTE BJP PAGE 8 (81/2022) was registered on the basis of a complaint filed at the Barpeta Road police station by a woman police inspector from Kokrajhar on April 21 — the morning after Mevani was arrested from Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. “He is currently in police custody in Barpeta Road and will be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE RAVIK BHATTACHARYA, ATRI MITRA & JOY PRAKASH DAS NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, APRIL 25 LOK SABHA Speaker Om Birla has sought details from the Maharashtra government within 24 hours on the arrest of independent MP Navneet Rana in Mumbai, after receiving a letter from the Amravati lawmaker that she had been subjected to “inhumantreatment”bythepolice following her “illegal” arrest two days ago. According to sources, the de- PURBA BARDHAMAN, HOWRAH, HOOGHLY, APRIL 25 Navneet Rana, Ravi Rana tails of the incident were sought by the Speaker through the Ministryof HomeAffairs(MHA). CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IT WAS a flagship scheme of the Mamata Banerjee government, a year after it came to power in West Bengal in 2011 on the strength of its anti-land acquisition agitation. The Krishak Bazars or farm mandis announced across the state were meant to burnish the Trinamool At the Krishak Bazar in Howrah district. Partha Paul Congress government’s profarmer credentials. Ten years later, the spaces withmodernamenitiesmeantto provideaplatformforfarmersto deal directly with buyers, with the hope of getting them the proper price for their commodities,house—accordingtowhere youvisit—alocalMLA’soffice,an office of an alleged syndicate in soil supply, automobile repair shops, garment stalls, a dentist’s chamber etc. Rust covers machines such as weigh bridges meant for agricultural produce, and the toilets are broken. Only twice a year, when the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2