DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 MOB ATTACKS TEAM PROBING WEST BENGAL PDS SCAM ED officers attacked by loyalists of TMC leader, Governor steps in Higher govt spend, investment, set stage for 7.3 pc growth in FY24 Meet Shahjahan Sheikh, TMC In election year, India posts 7 per cent strongman, lord plus growth rate — third time in a row of his own courts AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5 SWEETY KUMARI & ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, JANUARY 5 An injured ED officer who was assaulted by supporters of TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh during a raid at the latter’s residence in North 24 Parganas district on Friday. PTI Chorus in BJP: NIA should probe, Mamata should quit EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5 THE ATTACK by a mob of Trinamool Congress loyalists on an Enforcement Directorate teamdrewasharpreactionfrom theBJP,withitsleadersdemanding a probe by the National Investigation Agency, seeking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation, and suggesting that Rohingya immigrants were part of the crowd. In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Sukanta Majumder, president of the party’s West Bengal unit, wrote: “In a shocking turn of events today,anEDteamconductingaraid in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, facedaviolentassaultbyagroup of 100-200villagersinthevillage of TMCleaderShahjahanSheikh. In responsetotheseverityof this attack, an urgent plea has been made for the immediate initiationof anNIAprobe.Thisinvestigation is seen as crucial to ensuringthesafetyoflawenforcement personnelandupholdingtherule of law in the country.” “Notably, the Hon'ble Justice of Calcutta High Court, Shri Abhijit Gangopadhyay, remarked that this incident is a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sheikh, 42, joined the TMC in 2013. File RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, JANUARY 5 SHAHJAHAN Sheikh may have burst onto the national limelight on Friday morning when an Enforcement Directorate team that came to raid his residence was attacked by a mob of followers,menandwomen,leavingseveral injured. However, in and around Sandeshkhali block in North24Parganas,locatednotfar fromtheborderwithBangladesh, Sheikh, 42, is well-known — for hisfisheriesandbrickkilns,forbeing the “Bhai” running one of the strongest “teams (a euphemism for gangs)” around, and for his kangaroo courts. It’s been a steady rise up the Trinamool Congress ranks and a swifter climb up the power INDIA’S GROSS Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow7.3percentin2023-24,according to the first advance estimates of national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) Friday. The 7 per cent-plus growth rate in FY24 — the third year in a row, and in the backdrop of poor global conditions and a slowing down of the world economy — comes ahead of national elections likely to be held in MarchApril this year. The first advance estimates of growth is marginally up from 7.2 per cent in 2022-23, but way higher than the government’s initialgrowthestimateof 6.5 per cent. E EXPLAINED Three officers in hospital with serious injuries, cars vandalised, belongings looted CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES A POLITICAL storm erupted in West Bengal Friday after Enforcement Directorate officers, conducting a search at a TMC leader’s house in North 24 Parganas in connection with the PDS case, sustained serious injuries in an attack by the leader’s loyalists who also manhandled accompanying CRPF personnel. The ED, in a statement, said three of its officers sustained serious injuries and had to be admitted to a hospital after being attacked by a mob of 800-1000 people who gathered when the team went to search the house of TMC convener Sahajahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas. The armed mob, the agency said, “marched towards the ED officials with an intention to cause death”, vandalised cars of the team, snatched their personal and official belongings, andraisedslogansagainsttheED and the Central government. While the BJP demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying law ● Resilience in slowing ● world INDIA CONTINUES to post the fastest growth rate amidst a slowing global economy, clearly indicating a resilience despite worries in many parts of the world. A pick up in private consumption can broadbase economic growth. Higher investment coupled with government expenditure along with a pickup in sectoral outputs of mining, manufacturing, construction and financial services,areseensupportingthe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Navy foils ship hijacking Courts must safeguard bid in Arabian Sea, crew interests of courageous with Indians rescued journalists: High Court Destroyer INS Chennai responds to SOS, intercepts Liberia-flagged vessel AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA JAGPREET SINGH SANDHU NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5 FOILING A hijacking attempt in the north Arabian Sea, Indian Navy’s marine commandos (MARCOS) boarded a Liberiaflagged vessel Friday and rescued its crew of 21, including 15 Indians, after carrying out “sanitisation” operations. TheNavysaiditswarshipINS Chennai—aKolkataClassstealth guided-missile destroyer, it was on an anti-piracy patrol — intercepted the MV Lila Norfolk, a bulk carrier, at 3.15 pm Friday. Punjab & Haryana High Court quashes summons to Express editors, others CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 5 Bulk carrier MV Lila Norfolk on Friday. PTI The merchant vessel had sent a message on the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) portal, indicatingthatithadbeenboarded CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NOTING THAT “journalism is civilisation’s mirror, and investigativejournalismitsX-ray”,the Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the summons and all subsequent proceedings in a defamation case registered against resident editors of The Indian Express and others. The Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara, in a detailed order, noted: “Journalism is the fourth pillar of any democracy. As a journalist, the reporter’s sacrosanct duty is loyalty towards the citizenry. They serve as independent monitors of power, reporting information for public good and safety, addressing any problems or lacunae in the public system for its effective functioning and immediate redressal.Inthefearlesspursuitof their duties to uncover the truth and report such facts to the masses throughmedia,thesebravejournalists do face various hurdles, e.g., pressures from influential CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mumbai hospital teaches AI how to detect cancer from medical scans PAGE 1 ANCHOR RUPSA CHAKRABORTY MUMBAI, JANUARY 5 CONSIDERTHISscenario:Witha simple click, doctors will be able to assess the hardness, texture andelasticityof tumours,includinggaininginsightsintothelikelihood of a patient’s survival and responsivenesstochemotherapy. Oncethe stuff of sci-fi, an initiative by Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital, India’s The Tata Memorial Hospital has laid the groundwork to develop a cancer-specific algorithm. File largest cancer hospital, is doing justthat—deployingdeeplearningtoteachArtificialIntelligence (AI) how to diagnose cancer earlyon.Thisdetectiontool,doctors say, will also help avoid unnecessary chemotherapy for predicted non-responders. WithitsBioimagingBankhavingintegrated60,000digitalscans of cancer patients over the past year, the hospital has laid the groundworktodevelopacancerspecific algorithm. It has also started using AI to reduce radiation exposure for paediatric patients undergoing CT scans. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY BIG PICTURE PAGE 7 Ayodhya 2.0 Transformation of a temple town