DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Guarantee Digital India strengthening the economy Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat 7 have returned, appreciate Emir’s decision to enable release: Govt RITIKA CHOPRA & SHAJU PHILIP ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 12 IN ANOTHER setback to the CongressinMaharashtra,former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan quitthepartyonMondayandresigned as MLA too. Amid speculation that he would join the BJP, Chavan said he had not taken any decision yet. This is the third big exit from the state Congress unit in less than a month. Last month, former Union minister Milind Deora quit the party to join the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Last week, former Congress MLA Baba Siddique joined the NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. AICC in-charge for Maharashtra Congress, Ramesh Chennithala, has called an urgent meeting of all senior party leaders in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon. The party fears that a few more MLAs will join Chavan — four-five names are already doing the rounds. “It is my personal decision to quit the party and I am not a personwhowillmakemygrievances Families got news once men had boarded flight home, say ‘grateful to PM’ SHUBHAJIT ROY 96 124 153 76 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY pleting his visit to the UAE that starts Tuesday. Relieved families hailed the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Talks inconclusive, Punjab farmers to set out for Delhi today KANCHAN VASDEV FAMILY MEMBERS of the eight former Indian Navy personnel, in Qatari custody since August 2022, were informed of their release by the Indian government late Sunday after they had boarded flights to return home. Of the eight, only Commander Purnendu Tiwari, whose CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RLD confirms: Will join NDA, faced injustice in INDIA bloc, pride at stake CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 12 ENDING SPECULATION, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Rajya Sabha MP Jayant Chaudhary on Monday confirmed that his party would join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to reporters at the party office here, after paying tribute to his father and party founder Ajit Singh on his birth anniversary, Chaudhary said: “I havespokentoallmypartyMLAs andworkers,andhavetakenthis decision after speaking to them. There has been no big planning behind the decision, it is not like WHILE THE release of the eight men and the PM’s decision to travel to Doha underline the behind-the-scenes effort, it also charts the course for a new chapter in IndiaQatar relations, more so because Doha is a key player in the Middle East. GOVT & POLITICS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LAW PANEL REPORT SUGGESTS PLAN TO FIGHT EPIDEMICS P 11 FULL COVERAGE PAGE 6 Barricades being put up at Delhi’s Ghazipur border on Monday. Praveen Khanna FARM PROTEST2.0,EXPLAINED,P13 coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher were among those present at the meeting with Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda and officials. Ahead of the talks, police in Haryana and Delhi barricaded CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SANTOSH SINGH AANCHAL MAGAZINE THREERJDMLAscrossedoverto the NDA while five absent JD(U) MLAs turned up with just a few minutes to go for voting, helping Chief MinisterNitishKumarwin the trust vote easily on Monday with 129 votes in his favour. There was no vote against, as the RETAIL INFLATION slipped to a three-month low of 5.1 per cent inJanuaryprimarilyduetolower food prices after having risen to a four-month high in December, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday showed. Separately released data by the NSO showed PATNA, FEBRUARY 12 Central, state leadership: Maharashtra Cong frets ZEESHAN SHAIKH & ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 12 A HUSHED blame game has started in the Maharashtra Congress after the resignation of former chief minister Ashok Chavan from the party, close on the heels of two other leaders quitting the state unit. Atleasttwoseniorleaderssaid Monday that the high command hadfailedtoaddresstheconcerns of party leaders like Chavan, and said there should be “instrospection”onwhypeoplewereleaving. However, others pointed to the twin threats hanging over the heads of many leaders – of probes by Central agencies, and of uncertainty about their own political futures. And that no amountof mollycoddlingwould haveguaranteedtheirallegiance to the party. In its official reaction on Chavan leaving the party, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 12 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar outside the Assembly in Patna on Monday. ANI that the factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to 3.8 per cent in December from 2.4 per cent in the previous month, but was lower than 5.1 per cent in the year-ago period. Theretailinflationrate,based on Consumer Price Index (Combined), slowed in January afterhavingrisenfortheprevious twomonths.Whileitmarkedthe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Comprehensive IAS Preparation Program for the English medium Civil Services Aspirants Prepare with India’s Top Educators PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANJALI MARAR BENGALURU, FEBRUARY 12 Around 50 INDUS members met recently at the 42nd meet of the Astronomical Society of India in Bengaluru. INDUS needed help with a software. The challenges she faced sowed the seeds of the Indian Network for Dynamical and Unified Solar (INDUS) Physicists in her mind. Starting with a humble WhatsApp group, team INDUS launched a website on August 15 last year. Their online presence has only grown since then. The voluntary initiative is led by Indian researchers pursuing PhD, postdoctoral studies and young scientists working in the field of solar and heliospheric CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Shyam Shankar Kaggod Sarmad Mehraj Polity & Governance Indian Economy Mukesh Jha Himabindu Chethan N International Relations & Internal Security Abhishek Mishra Geography Science & Tech History Online Classroom Programme in English for UPSC CSE 2025 Batch starts on February 13 Scan to Enroll Monday - Saturday | 6 AM to 9 AM Early bird offer FLAT 50% off It’s sunny side up when a community of solar physicists unites to help, bust myths WHILE RELOCATING from Finland’s University of Helsinki to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for her second post-doctoral studies in January 2023, solar physicist Anshu Kumari, 32, felt the absence of a support group within the scientific community when she Chavan after resigning from the Congress, in Mumbai on Monday. Sankhadeep Banerjee NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 12 Easy win for Nitish as 3 Retail inflation at 3-month RJD MLAs, ‘missing’ JD(U) low at 5.1% in Jan; factory MLAs surface on his side output at 3.8% in Dec CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ● The road viaDoha LALMANI VERMA TWOYEARSaftertheyforcedthe Centre to repeal three farm laws before ending their year-long protestatDelhi’sborders,Punjab farmer unions announced late Monday night that farmers would set out for the Capital at 10 am Tuesday to press their demands,includingalegalguarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The decision to march to Delhi – ‘Dilli Chalo’ – was taken after marathon talks in Chandigarh remained inconclusive, the farmer unions said. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee EXPLAINED NEW DELHI, KOCHI, FEB 12 E Scan for more information Ashok Chavan is latest to quit Cong, ‘no call yet on joining BJP’ Qatar frees eight former Indian Navy men, PM will go to Doha tomorrow Some of the former Indian Navy personnel after their arrival in New Delhi early Monday. PTI भारत सरकार nts India accounts for 46% of global digital payments IN CUSTODY SINCE AUG 2022; HANDED DEATH PENALTY, LATER COMMUTED NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 12 Government of india cbc 22201/13/0266/2324 Modi Sarkar ki Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Qatar on February 14 and meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, after com- REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES MORE THAN three months after they were sentenced to death, eight former Indian Navy personnel have been released from custody in Qatar and seven have returned to India. This was announced by the Ministryof ExternalAffairsinthe early hours of Monday. Hours later, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said Prime ● Get started with 0% EMI today* 1000+ hours of Structured Live Classes by India's Top Educators Unlimited Access to Live and Recorded classes Special emphasis on Current Affairs & Mains Answer Writing For more information, call: 85 Dedicated Mentorship by experts and daily doubt - solving 85 85 85 85 *T&C apply, as available on the platform.