DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ` 185 per kilo ` 70 per Dozen There’s strong possibility of J&K polls by the end of this year: Rajnath ARUN SHARMA JAMMU, JUNE 17 IN THE first indication of a timeline for Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Fridaythatthereisa“strongpossibility” of starting the electoral process by “the end of this year”. In August 2019, the State of J&K lost its special status following the abrogation of Article 370 and was downgraded to a Union Territory — the State’s bifurcation led to the creation of a separate UT of Ladakh. Speakingatafunctionorganised to mark 200 years of the coronation of Maharaja Gulab Singh, the first Dogra ruler of the princely State of J&K, Singh said, “Mujhe lagta hai ki is saal ke ant tak ho sakta hai ki chunavi prakriyabhiprarambhho.Iskiprabal sambhavna hai (I think the electoralexercisemayalsocommence by the end of this year. There is a strong possibility).” Referringtotherecentlyconcluded delimitation exercise, he CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, JUNE 17 THE MAHARASHTRA State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) declared the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results on Friday. The overall pass percentage for the state and the Mumbai division stood at 96.94 per cent. While the Konkan division retained its top position with a pass percentage of 99.27, the Mumbai division ranked 6th among all nine divisions. The overall pass percentage has seen a considerable drop from last year’s result, which broke several records without a traditional examination. Last year, the pass percentage for Maharashtra was 99.95 per cent and for the Mumbai division it EXPRESS INVESTIGATION - PART 1 As protests rage, Services ready From Emergency to to start Agnipath recruitment Gujarat riots, lessons of past deleted from textbooks of future Age relaxation shows Govt cares for youth: Rajnath EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 AS AUTHORITIES grappled with protests against the short-term Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces, the three services announced Friday that they were all set to start the recruitment process. The Indian Army said a notificationwillbeissuedinthenext two days while the Indian Air Force said the recruitment process will start June 24. The Indian Navy too said the process will begin very soon. The announcements came a day after the government announced a one-time age relaxation for candidates this year, raising the upper age limit from 21 to 23 years. On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the “relaxation of age indicates that the governmentcaresforouryouth”. He said the Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence and the services “are committedtocommencetherecruitment process at the earliest” and “we invite the youth of our country to join the Indian Armed Forces and serve the nation through Agnipath.” Welcoming the age relaxation decision, Army chief General Manoj Pande said the A train set on fire during protests at Danapur railway station near Patna on Friday. PTI Secunderabad protester killed in police firing, more trains torched in Bihar, UP EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 AS VIOLENT protests against the Agnipath recruitment scheme continued acrossthecountry for theseconddayonFriday,ayouth BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY MOVING TO allay concerns and dial down anger on the streets over the short-term Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces, the government announced a one-time relaxation MORE REPORTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 3 NDA-ruled Bihar, where the houses of state BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal and Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi were targeted and several coaches of at least 14 trains were set on fire. Protests were also reported CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why age relaxation can also become a problem NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 PAGE 6 was 99.96 per cent. The SSC results this year has been brought back to its ‘regular range’ of marks. In 2019-20, the overall pass percentage for Maharashtra was 95.30 per cent and 96.72 per cent for the Mumbai division. “This is due to the continuation of student-friendly measures by the MSBSHSE, which were introduced last year amid pandemic conditions. In case of complete lack of these facilities, the impact would have been more significant on the result,” said a senior teacher Jaywant Kulkarni from the city, adding how this has been an easing into the traditional exam format from Telangana became the first casualty, killed in police firing in Secunderabad. Besides Telangana, the protests were most violent in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, where protesters set ablaze a train, buses and a police outpost, and KRISHN KAUSHIK CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SSC exam: Mumbai division sees 96.94 pass percentage, Konkan stays on top with 99.27 score PALLAVI SMART in the upper age limit for entrants this year, raising it from 21 to 23 years, saying there had been no recruitment in the last two years. But this one-time waiver can also become a problem. Recruitmentdatashowsthat the intake of 46,000 recruits this CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Report sought from cops for applying scrapped section on actress held for posts on Pawar MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, JUNE 17 THE SENIOR officers of Maharashtra Police have sought a report from officers responsibleforapplyingscrappedsection 66 A of the Information Technology Act against Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale, who was arrested for allegedly making defamatory remarks against NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Apart from 66A, she was also charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including defamation. A total of 22 FIRs and four non-cognisablecomplaintshave been registered against Chitale in connection with her alleged Section 66 A of the IT Act was slapped on Ketaki Chitale Facebook post. The senior officers have asked for a report after the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Delhi pulled up the Maharashtra police for applying the scrapped section in addition to other aspects of the case. While Chitale was on Thursday granted bail in an atrocities caseregistered against her by Rabale police in 2020, she is still behind bars in connection with another FIR registered by Kalwa police station in connection with the alleged Facebook post. Section 66 A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015 after it was challenged through a PIL on thegroundthatitwasbeingmisused. A senior officer of Maharashtra Police said, “We havesoughtareportfromtheofficers investigating the case to find out why they applied section 66A of the IT Act which has been scrapped by the Supreme Court. Therehave been repeated reminders sent to the officers asking them not to use it.” The official added that this CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 With Moosewala’s portrait on vehicles, Pakistani truck drivers pay him tribute PAGE 1 ANCHOR DIVYAGOYALGOPAL LUDHIANA,JUNE17 OVER TWO weeks after singerrapper Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead at a village in Mansa, he has now occupied a rare space across the bordertoo.HisfansfromPakistan arepayinghimtributesbyputting up his portrait on their vehicles `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NOTIFICATION WITHIN TWO DAYS: ARMY CHIEF ` 149 per kilo REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ` 121 per kilo ● suchastrucks,bikes,carsetc.One such video that has gone viral is thatofatruckdriverfromPakistan who could be seen posing with a huge portrait of the singer, which he has installed on the back of his truck. The caption on the portrait says ‘29-5’ which signifies two things-- Moosewala’s popular song titled ‘295’ and the date on whichhewaskilled‘May29.’ In the neighboring country, trucks are not just a means of transporting goods but a part of the post-independence heritage where drivers have a fascination ‘Truck art’ is an internationally recognised art form. Express toadornandbeautifytheirtrucks ‘like a bride.’ With its roots in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 'Truck Art is an internationally recognised artform, with not just murals but also hand-painted portraits of known personalities adorning the truck's back view. “It is because of Moosewala's humble beginnings and struggle in life and the close-to-reality lyricsofhissongsthatpeoplehere connect to him. There is a huge craze for Punjabi songs and people who aren't even fluent in Punjabi listen to them, especially youths.Hissong'295'wasahuge hit and every other person is familiar with its lyrics 'Nitt controversy create milugi, dharman de naam te debate milugi.. sach bolenga taan milun 295, karenga tarakki putt hate milugi,” said Rizwan Mughal, son of a truck artistfromRawalpindi.“Itisbasically the cultural similarities between both countries that connectitspeople.Thesection295,in thePakistanPenalCode(PPC)also deals with insulting a religion, as incaseofIndianPenalCode(IPC)," saidanotheryouthfromPakistan. Express matched NCERT’s revisions with content in 21 history, political science and sociology textbooks for Classes 6 to 12 — found sweeping changes GUJARAT RIOTS: References dropped from Class 12 textbooks RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, JUNE 17 DELETING REFERENCES to the 2002Gujaratriots,droppingpassagesthatdealtwithEmergency’s draconian impact on people and institutions, removing chapters on protests and social movements, including those spearheaded by the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Dalit Panthers and Bharatiya Kisan Union. These are some of the most sweeping changes in social science school textbookssincetheNDAgovernment came to power in 2014. These changes result from a textbook “rationalisation” exercise undertaken by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) six months ago for all subjects. It EMERGENCY: Chapter slashed, references removed in Class 12 comesaheadof theproposedrevamp of the national school curriculum (National Curriculum Framework or NCF), which will see a further revision in NCERT textbooks. TheIndianExpressscrutinised 21 current history, political scienceandsociologytextbooksfor Classes6to12andmatchedtheir content with tables circulated TOMORROW: SPACE CUT FOR DALIT DISCRIMINATION within NCERT on the proposed changes.Whilethetextbookswill not be reprinted due to shortage of time,thechangeswillbecommunicated to schools formally. This is the third textbook review since 2014. The first one took place in 2017, in which the NCERT made 1,334 changes, including additions, corrections and data updates, in 182 textbooks. The second review was initiated in 2019 at the then Education Minister Prakash Javadekar’s behest to reduce the burden on students. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7