eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE When Love Stops Being Easy NEW DELHI,LATE CITY Long-married couples are now parting ways. What has prompted this and why are grey divorces on the rise? FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT JULY 14, 2024 16+ 4 PAGES, ` 7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM MUMBAI VISIT: INAUGURATES PROJECTS WORTH OVER `29,000 CR BYPOLLS IN SEVEN STATES PM Modi hits back at Opp: More jobs as pace of infra projects stepped up INDIA bloc takes 10 of 13 Assembly seats, BJP gets 2 PM: Aim to make state a financial powerhouse of world, Mumbai fintech capital ASAD REHMAN NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, JULY 13 COUNTERING THE Opposition's attack on rising unemployment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated projects worth over Rs 29,000 crore in Mumbai on Saturday, said that every infrastructure project leads to job creation, and the increased pace of infrastructure development has led to increased employment generation. This was Modi's first visit to the city since his re-election last Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Governor Ramesh Bais and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Saturday. Sankhadeep Banerjee month. Among other projects, he laid the foundation stone for two underground twin tunnel projects. “With the construction of every bridge, road or manufacturing of railway coaches, someone gets a job. With the increasing pace of infrastructure development, employment generation is also increasing, and with higher investment, these opportunities will increase further,” he said. Saying that Maharashtra has propagated cultural, social and national consciousness in the country, Modi added: “We have to remember that goodwill (sadbhaav) and harmony (sauhard) are intrinsic to the path to prosperity (samruddhi).” Accusing the Opposition of creating a false narrative, he cited a recent report released by the Reserve Bank of India which said almost 8 crore jobs had been created in the last three-four years. “With these projects which are worth about Rs 30,000 crore, employment opportunities will also be created in Maharashtra. Only two-three months back, the Central Government gave clearance for Vadhavan port. This project, which is close to over Rs 76,000 crore, will create employment opportunities for over 10 lakh people,” he said. “I had said that in the third term of the NDA government, we will work at thrice the pace. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TMC sweep in Bengal; Bihar seat goes to Independent CONSTITUENCY IN THE first big electoral battle after the Lok Sabha poll results last month, the INDIA bloc parties, which contested separately in West Bengal and Punjab, gained five seats to win 10 of the 13 Assembly seats across seven states where bypolls were held. The BJP, on the other hand, won just two seats, down from three, while ally JD(U) lost its seat in Bihar to an Independent. In the bypoll results on Saturday, only one of the three outgoing Independent MLAs who contested as BJP candidates this time, retained his seat in Himachal Pradesh. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal saw the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, JULY 13 NEW DELHI, JULY 13 SHORTLY AFTER attacking a bus ferrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi on June 9, killing nine people, three terrorists from Pakistan gave Rs 5,000 to a local resident for the logistical support he provided, it is learnt. With his help, central agencies have now prepared sketches of two more attackers. Investigation into the case had been transferred from the Jammu and Kashmir police to the National Investigation Agency, on the directions of the STATE-OWNED Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has sought funds from the government since it does not have sufficient funds to pay interest on its debt obligations. With the date for paying interest on a part ofdebt due a week later on July 20 and more interest payments to be made in coming months, any further delay may force lenders to invoke the sovereign guarantee accompanying the debt raised by the company. A section in the government INSIDE Nine people were killed in the attack on June 9. File Ministry of Home Affairs. On June 20, the J&K police had arrested Hakam Din, a 45-yearold from Rajouri district. He used to be a porter at Mata Vaishno CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, JULY 13 PAGE 6 E Managing long-term ● debt ONE OF the options MTNL had to ensure was an asset monetisation plan that would have helped it raise funds. But of the Rs 17,500 crore target fixed in 2019, it has monetised assets to the tune of only Rs 1,500-1,600 crore. is concerned since most MTNL debt is backed by a sovereign CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Army looking at ‘360-degree’ appraisal with inputs from peers, subordinates AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA AS J&K L-G GETS MORE POWERS, PARTIES CALL IT ‘ANTI-DEMOCRATIC’ EXPLAINED MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL SEEKING TO bring in a more comprehensive process to assess the performance of its personnel, the Army is learnt to be considering the “360-degree appraisal” method which would include inputs from peers and subordinates too. This is likely to be on the lines of the appraisal method learnt to be employed by the central government to assess the performance of civil servants, including officers from the All India Services and other Group A services, for empanelment to the post of joint secretary and above. Senior officials said the issue was discussed at the Army Commanders' Conference in May. The Army is learnt to have sought comments from all its Commands on the need for such an appraisal system. The Army, at present, follows a three-tier hierarchical model for performance appraisal of its personnel. The initiating officer (IO), who is the immediate superior of the person being assessed, writes the Annual Confidential CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 As MP doubles down on cattle smuggling, officials busy with arrests and demolitions PAGE 1 ANCHOR ANAND MOHAN SEONI, JULY 13 MADHYA PRADESH has declared 2024 as ‘Gauvansh Raksha Varsh’ (Bovine Protection Year), doubled down on efforts to confiscate vehicles used in cattle smuggling, tripled the budget for cow protection and directed senior officers in every district to clamp down on cow slaughter. MP CM Mohan Yadav had directed state officials to take strict action on illegal transportation of cows. Anand Mohan Since Mohan Yadav took over as Chief Minister six months ago, the BJP government has made evident that cow protection and a crackdown on cattle smuggling are among its top priorities, forcing an already stretched government machinery — the district administration, police and prosecution — to match up to the task. From January to June this year, police arrested 1,651 people in 731 cases related to illegal cattle transport in the state; the corresponding period last year saw 212 cases and around 400 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CANDIDATE VOTE SHARE WEST BENGAL (TMC retains Maniktala, wrests the rest from BJP) Raiganj Krishna Kalyani, TMC Ranaghat Dakshin Mukut Mani Adhikari, TMC 57.97% (+21.39) 55.08% (+12.57) Bagda Madhuparna Thakur, TMC 55.04% (+10.1) Maniktala Supti Pandey, TMC 71.65% (+20.83) HIMACHAL PRADESH (Seats were with Independents who joined BJP) Dehra Kamlesh Thakur, Cong Hamirpur Ashish Sharma, BJP 57.94% (+26.38) 51.23% (+27.98) Nalagarh Hardeep Singh Bawa, Cong 46.43% (+19.58) UTTARAKHAND (Cong retains Badrinath, wrests Manglaur from BSP) Badrinath Lakhapat Singh Butola, Cong 51.93% (+4.05) Manglaur Qazi Md. Nizamuddin, Cong 37.91% (+1.41) BIHAR (Singh was with LJP last time and got 24% votes, wrests seat from JDU) Rupauli Shankar Singh , Ind 39.97% TAMIL NADU (DMK retains seat) Vikravandi Anniyur Siva, DMK 63.22% (+14.81) PUNJAB (AAP retains seat ) Jalandhar West Mohinder Bhagat, AAP 58.39% (+24.66) MADHYA PRADESH (Shah retains seat he fought last time from Cong) RELATED REPORTS PAGE 5 Reasi attackers paid MTNL on the brink local cattle trader for of debt default, knocks logistics, finds probe on Govt door for funds THE WINNERS NEW DELHI, JULY 13 Amarwara Kamlesh Pratap Shah, BJP 40.84% (+3.54)