DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SINCE 1932 ON UKRAINE WAR IMPACT, GEN NARAVANE SAYS ARMY HAS BUFFER STOCKS ‘KeenongoodtieswithPakbutitmustend terror,bidstodrawglobalattentiontoJ&K’ ‘China troops along Ladakh LAC up from 8,000 to 60,000; Army can counter PLA’ 2 top athletes fail dope test; dropped from camp, face ban NIHAL KOSHIE NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 INDIA’S DRIVE against doping in sports has received a setback with two of its track-and-field Tokyo Olympians, a male and a female, failing dope tests for usingbannedanabolicsteroidsand facing bans up to four years, The Indian Express has learnt. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) was tight-lipped about the cases but multiple sources confirmed that the two top athletes have been dropped from the national training camp. “Twotrack-and-fieldathletes havetested positiveandtheyare no longer part of the national camp,” a national coach said, speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity. India is ranked third in doping,accordingtothelatestWorld Anti-DopingAgency(WADA)report released in 2021. With 152 cases across disciplines, the country is marginally below leaders Russia (167) and Italy (157) on this list. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ESHA ROY & SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 MORE THAN a year after India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire along the Line of Control, Indian Army chief General M M Naravanehassaidthat“ceasefire violations along the border are in no one’s interest” and India is “more than keen to have good relations with Pakistan”, but “they (Pakistan) have to first rein in their support to terrorism and attempts to draw international EXPRESS EXCLUSIVE attention to J&K”. Thisisthestrongestendorsement of the ceasefire between the two countries and a positive articulation from the Indian Army chief, weeksafter Pakistan Armychief GeneralQamarJaved Bajwa said the situation on the LoC has been “fairly peaceful” thepastyearandPakistanstands ready to address the Kashmir CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 After 3 failed bids, Govt sells its stake in Pawan Hans to pvt consortium ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 AFTER THREE unsuccessful attempts at disinvesting its stake in the helicopter services provider, the governmentFriday approvedthesaleof PawanHans Ltd along with management control to Star9 Mobility Pvt Ltd — a three-way consortium between Big Charter Private Limited, Maharaja Aviation Private Limited and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC. P7 This disinvestment is the second major sale from the government's aviation portfolio in the last 12 months — Air India went toTataGroupinJanuarythisyear. PawanHans,whichcurrently operates 42 helicopters, is a 51:49joint-venturebetweenthe government and state-owned Oil&NaturalGasCorpLtd.ONGC had earlier decided to offer its entire shareholding to the successful bidder identified in the government strategic disinvestment transaction, on the same CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ‘CONTINUING TO ENGAGE (WITH CHINA)... WILL LEAD TO RESOLVING OUR DIFFERENCES’ GENERAL M M NARAVANE CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF After two years, China says will permit ‘some’ Indian students to return SHUBHAJIT ROY & SHEETAL BANCHARIYA NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 A MONTH after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the issue, China on Friday announced plans to permit the return of “some” Indian students stranded here for over two years following visa and flight restrictions imposed by Beijing after the pandemic. “China attaches high importance to Indian students’ concerns about returning to China for studies.We have shared with the Indian side the procedures and experience of other countries’ students returning to China,”ChineseForeignMinistry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing. “We understand that there is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Power shortage: Rlys cancels 753 trips to prioritise coal delivery KARUNJIT SINGH & ANISHA DUTTA NEW DELHI, APRIL 29 WITHLOWcoalstockssignalling a power crisis, the Railways has decided to cancel 753 trips involving 42 trainsto prioritise the delivery of coal rakes across the country. A total of 713 trips of the South East Central Railway (SECR) have been cancelled till May 25 while 40 trips of the Northern Railways (NR) have been cancelled till May 8. Thecancellationswillprimarilyimpact passengerstravelling from key coal-producing states, including Chhattisgarh, Odisha, MadhyaPradeshand Jharkhand. Atleast108ofIndia’s173thermal coal-fired plants currently have critically low levels of coal inventory.Anumberof states,in- E E X P L A I NE D JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ● Strain on the sector HIGH HEAT, rising demand and low output from imported coal-based thermal power plants have put major stress on the supply of coal. Shortages have already led to power cuts across most of north India and in parts of south India. cluding Maharashtra, Punjab, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, have faced power outages due to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HEAT WAVE UNTIL MAY 2: IMD PAGE 7 Curfew in Patiala, violence breaks Mevani gets bail, court slams Assam Police: out over ‘anti-Khalistan’ march ‘False FIR... police state’ NAVJEEVAN GOPAL PATIALA, APRIL 29 AN 11-HOUR curfew was imposed in Punjab’s Patiala from 7 pm on Friday after the police fired several rounds in the air to avert a clash between members of Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), who had called for an “antiKhalistan” march, and Sikh activists and Nihangs brandishing swords outside the Kali Mata temple, officials said. The incident also led to stone-pelting by both sides, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TORA AGARWALA GUWAHATI, APRIL 29 TheclashtookplacenearKaliMata Mandir,Patiala. Harmeet Sodhi MANNFACESFIRSTTEST PMMEETSSIKHDELEGATION,PAGE6 GRANTING BAIL to Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman police officer while in custody, a court in Assam's Barpeta district on Friday pulled up the state police for lodging a “false FIR” and “abusingtheprocessof thecourt and the law”. It also warned the Assam Police against “converting our hard earned democracy into a police state”. Was accused of assaulting a woman police officer Citing “ongoing police excesses in the state”, Barpeta District and Sessions Judge Aparesh Chakravarty urged the Gauhati High Court to direct the police force to “reform itself”. “Converting our hard earned CONTINUED ON PAGE 2