DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2022, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PM AT INDIA-NORDIC SUMMIT TODAY Influence Russia to end war: Denmark to India ` 118 per kilo ` 146 per kilo In Copenhagen, PM Frederiksen says she discussed with Modi ‘consequences of horrible crimes against civilians’ ` 181 per kilo ` 50 per Dozen SHUBHAJIT ROY Raj Thackeray booked for delivering provocative speech, violating rally conditions NEW DELHI, MAY 3 VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, MAY 3 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Denmark counterpart Mette Frederiksen at her residence in Copenhagen. Reuters MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MAY 3 WHEN IMAGE politics plays 24by-7 on social media, a 12-second video of Rahul Gandhi from an evening in Kathmandu came in handy for the BJP Tuesday. And for the Congress, as it prepares for its three-day “chintan shivir” in Udaipur beginning May 13, the video, purportedly fromaweddingof Rahul’s friend journalistSumnimaUdas,forced A video still of Rahul Gandhi in Kathmandu the party to damage control. Many of his colleagues have longbeenworriedabout theim- Asian Games in September, China looks at strict ‘closed-loop’ Covid curbs MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, MAY 3 IF THE Tokyo Olympics presented athletes with the unique challenges of living and competing in a bio-bubble, this year's Asian Games in the Chinese city Wisden trims W G Grace’s numbers, & some myths around the legend Illustration: Suvajit Dey SRIRAM VEERA MUMBAI, MAY 3 “THE LAW has finally caught up with W G Grace after 150 years; it’s such a W G story in many ways,” Lawrence Booth, the editor of Wisden Almanack, says in jest about his decision to amend the statistics of cricket’s first superstar in this year’s Almanack. Ten matches have been excised from Grace’s much-contested numbers as they have been deemed not to be of firstclass nature; his hundreds have come down from 126 to 124, run-tally from 54,596 to 54,211, and wickets from 2,876 to 2,809. Grace,whoplayedfrom1865 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 INSIDE LEAKED DRAFT SUGGESTS U.S. TOP COURT SET TO OVERTURN RULING THAT LEGALISED ABORTION PAGES 9, 12 BY UNNY Tuesday and was received by Frederiksen at the airport. Condemning Russia’s “un- Where’s Rahul? A familiar question Death registrations show 6% rise in pandemic year from an evening in Kathmandu of Hangzhou will likely be more of the same, perhaps even tougher. In a busy second half of the year, India's athletes will crisscrosstheworld,takingpartinvarious World Cups, World Championships,Commonwealth Games and the Asiad. But after twoyearsofpandemic-forcedrestrictions, while most events, including the Birmingham CWG, are likely to be less conditional, theAsianGames,scheduledtobe held from September 10-25, could be an exception. Amidst reports of a possible CONTINUEDONPAGE2 age of Rahul as the “reluctant and absentee” leader disinterested in humdrum political work — bread and butter for leaders of a lesser league. The cherrytopping,forhiscritics:his foreign trips usually cloaked in secrecy. This one started April 17-18, after Rahul attended a meeting with Prashant Kishor and a band of senior leaders on April 16, along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, just over a month CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D TWO DAYS after the MNS held a massive rally in Aurangabad, an FIR was registered against party chief Raj Thackeray and Rajiv Jawalikar, the organiser of the rally, on Tuesday for allegedly delivering provocative speech andviolating theterms andconditions imposed by the police while granting permission for the rally. ThepolicesaidRajThackeray has been named as the main accused in the case, as he allegedly made provocative statements at therallyand“instigated”hissupporters. The police have also issued notices to thousands of MNS workers. Apoliceofficerindicatedthat Raj Thackeray may be summoned to record his statement in Aurangabad in a couple of days. “The speech was provocative and can disrupt peace in society.Hence,anFIRhasbeenregistered,” said the senior officer UNDERLININGTHATshehaddiscussed the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the “consequences of the horrible crimes committed against civilians”, Denmark’s PrimeMinisterMetteFrederiksen said Tuesday she “hoped” that “India will influence Russia” to end the war. This is one of the most clear expectations enunciated andarticulatedbyanyEuropeanleader in the last two months since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Modi arrived in Copenhagen BUSINESS AS USUAL lawful and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine”, she said her message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was “very clear” thathehasto“stopthiswar"and “end the killings”. Modi,whowasstandingwith her as they made statements after their bilateral meeting, said they discussed Ukraine and called for a ceasefire and resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy — a reiteration of New Delhi’s position, articulatedattheUNaswellasin BerlinMondayinthepresenceof German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Prime Ministers will meet again Wednesday for the India-Nordic summit which will CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Eye on Covid ● surge WITH CHINA reporting a surge in cases, Hangzhou — the Asian Games host city — has began mass testing. The proximity of Hangzhou to Shanghai, which is under strict lockdown, has added to the anxiety. 2020: Registrar General ANONNA DUTT NEW DELHI, MAY 3 NEW DATA released Tuesday by the office of the Registrar General showed that 81.16 lakh deaths were registered in the country in 2020, about six per cent higher than the previous year’s number, which is consistent with the recent trend of increasing registrations of births and deaths in the country. Data from the civil registration system (CRS) showed that while the number of registered birthsin2020haddeclinedfrom 2.48 crore in 2019 to 2.42 crore, the death registrations had increased from 76.41 lakh in 2019 to 81.16 lakh now. These are not the actual number of births and deaths in India in 2020, but only those CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Curfew in Jodhpur, 97 arrested after communal clashes Gehlot calls for calm in hometown, BJP blames his ‘politics of appeasement’ DEEP MUKHERJEE JAIPUR, MAY 3 CURFEW WAS imposed in 10 policestationareasof Jodhpurin Rajasthan and mobile internet services were suspended Tuesday as communal tension mounted in the city, hours after two communities clashed late Monday night over the hoisting of a flag on Eid. Jodhpur is the hometown of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who appealed to the public to maintain peace and chaired a high-level meeting after cancelling events planned for his birthday Tuesday. Police said 97 people have been arrested so far in connection with the clashes. The BJP, including Union Jal Shakti Minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and former Chief Minister VasundharaRaje, slammedGehlotand said the violence was the result of his “politics of appeasement”. Police said the immediate trigger for the clash had to do with the hoisting of a flag on Eid on the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa near Jalori Gate in Jodhpur. Curfew was imposed after fresh clashes took place between police and members of the Muslim community Tuesday morning. Vandita Rana, Deputy CONTINUED ON PAGE 2