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, AUGUST 7, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NAME SPELLS COURAGE: JANTAR MANTAR TO PARIS PODIUM Vinesh Phogat Defeats unbeaten Yui Susaki of Japan on way to historic final today EXPRESSAT OLYMPICS MIHIR VASAVDA PARIS, AUGUST 6 VINESHPHOGATstartedtheday byslayingagiantandendeditby breaking a barrier. By making it to Wednesday's final in the 50kg category, assured of at least a silver,sherosetoaheightthatno Indian woman wrestler has ever reached. Afterovercomingthedefendingchampion,theso-farunbeatableJapan’sYuiSusaki,inthefirst round,Phogat outclassed Cuba’s Vinesh Phogat after defeating Japan’s Yui Susaki at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris on Tuesday. PTI Rollback after criticism: Indexation benefit on sale of property before Budget brought back New 12.5 per cent tax on LTCG will apply to all property sales after July 23 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 FOLLOWINGOUTRAGEandconcerns from certain quarters over the Budget proposal to remove indexation benefits on longterm capital gains (LTCG), the government Tuesday decided to offertaxpayersachoicetopay20 per cent LTCG tax with indexation benefit on sale of property acquired before July 23, 2024. The other option introduced in the Budget to pay the tax on LTCGatareducedrateof 12.5per centwithoutindexationwillalso be available to taxpayers, as per the list of amendments moved bythegovernmentintheFinance Bill. Taxpayers can pay the lower tax amount of the two options. These amendments are being seen as a major rollback of the LTCG-related announcements pertaining to the real estate sector in the Budget. While the government had defended the new LTCG tax regime saying CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sweeping terms in draft broadcast Bill raise red flags on free speech APURVA VISHWANATH & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 EXPANDING ITS remit from OTT content and digital news to include social media accounts and online video creators; defining a “digital news broadcaster” in sweeping terms; requiring prior registration with government to prescribing standards for content evaluation, the latest draft of the Broadcasting Services CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Widening the ambit THE LATEST draft seeks to include individual creators of content on social media including those outside India, covering all kinds of speech. It also seeks to validate the Code of Ethics prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, which has been stayed by two High Courts. Vinesh Phogat being dragged away by Delhi Police which detained her at Jantar Mantar on May 28, 2023. She became the face of the protests by wrestlers against the then WFI chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they accused of sexual harassment. ANI file UNDER UK RULE, SHE CAN’T SEEK ASYLUM FROM OVERSEAS QuestionmarkoverherLondon plans,DelhireadytohostHasina Dhaka dissolves House, frees Khaleda, Yunus appointed head of interim govt Ousted Bangla PM wants refuge because she fears persecution if sent back home SHUBHAJIT ROY ANISUR RAHMAN NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 OUSTED BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who landed in India Monday evening after fleeing Dhaka, is expected to remain here for “a while” because her plans to travel to the UK face a “technical roadblock,” The Indian Express has learnt. NewDelhiisdrawingupplans to host her in the country for “as long as it takes”, sources said. Hasinawasplanningtotravel to London as her sister Sheikh Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq is a member of the British Parliament. Tulip is economic secretary to the Treasury and Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate. The “technical” challenge emanates from the UK’s Immigration rules which have CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EDITORIAL PAGE AFIGHTINGCHANCE BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA PAGE 10 DHAKA, AUGUST 6 Official vehicles seen entering the Hindon air base near Delhi where ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina landed on Monday after fleeing her country. PTI REPORTS,P8,15 India advised restraint, dialogue: Jaishankar on Bangladesh protests LIZ MATHEW & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SAYING THAT there was growing tension and polarisation in Bangladesh politics since the January elections, External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar told ParliamentonTuesdaythatIndia “repeatedly counselled restraint” and dialogue, but “various decisions and actions taken thereafter only exacerbated the situation”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BANGLADESH PRESIDENT Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for fresh elections, and an interim government was taking shape, a day after Sheikh Hasina abruptly resigned as Prime Minister and fledthecountryfollowingweeks of violent anti-government protests. As the Army took charge on Mondayand the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, the President appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, 84, as the head of the interim government. The decision was taken at a meeting of Shahabuddin with chiefs of the three services and a 13-member delegation of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Bangabhaban, President's Press Secretary Md. Joynal Abedin said. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief and ex-premierKhaledaZiawasfreed from house arrest, according to Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semifinal to be a win away from an Olympic gold. From the middle of the first round, when she got a point due to her opponent's passivity, Phogat was the more dominant wrestler in the bout,andsettledthematterwith two separate takedowns in the second period. Itwas,however,Phogat'swin over Susaki, one of the biggest upsets of these Games, that made the entire Olympic universestandupandacknowledge her.Anoutcomethathasshaken the wrestling world. There isn't a direct parallel that captures Susaki’s perceived invincibility on the wrestling mat.Theclosest,perhaps,would CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EC TEAM ARRIVES TOMORROW On J&K street: Talk of elections with some fingers crossed BASHAARAT MASOOD, NAVEED IQBAL & ARUN SHARMA SRINAGAR, JAMMU, AUGUST 6 THE SUPREME Court has directed the government to conduct Assembly elections in Jammu&KashmirbySeptember and expedite the process of restoring statehood. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinhahassaidthereshouldbeno doubtelectionswillbeheld.And indeed,theElectionCommission ofIndiacommencesitsthree-day visit to the Union Territory on August 8 to review the preparations for elections. But amid talks about imminent polls and an elected government, there are some fingers CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TOMORROW Laying down hard line 5 YEARS SINCE AUG 5 AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-3 POLITICS P9 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW OMAR ABDULLAH VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONFERENCE THE WORLD AFTER DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION, HARRIS PICKS TIM WALZ AS RUNNING MATE HEZBOLLAH SENDS ATTACK DRONES, ISRAEL WARJETS FLY OVER BEIRUT PAGE 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3 students move SC challenging Bombay HC SEEKING JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY After Symbiosis student drowns in verdict upholding Chembur college’s hijab ban Pavana dam, kin serve notice to state 07/08/2024 80 108 132 62 NALASOPARA ARMS HAUL: 5 GET BAIL P4 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, AUGUST 6 THREE STUDENTS of Acharya andMaratheCollegeinChembur have approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order that dismissed their plea against the institute’s dress code that banned hijabs, amongotherreligiousidentifiers. On June 26, a division bench of JusticesAtulSChandurkarand Rajesh S Pati, while rejecting the plea of nine students who had objected to the dress code, had held that the instruction issued by the college "does not suffer from infirmity so as to violate provisions of Article 19(1)(a) (Right to freedom expression) and Article 25 (freedom of practising religion) of the Constitution”. Three of the nine students have challenged the same in the Supreme Court. "The object behind issuing thesameisthatthedressof astudentshouldnotrevealhis/herreligion,whichisasteptowardsensuringthatthestudentsfocuson gaining knowledge and educationwhichisintheirlargerinterest," it had added. The dress code, which was to come into effect in the academic yearbeginninginJune,stipulated thatburqas,niqabs,hijabs,orany religious identifiers such as badges,caps,orstoleswouldnot be permitted inside the college. Only full or half shirts and trousers are prescribed for boys, while girls can wear "any Indian/western non-revealing dress" on the college campus. In a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed in the Supreme Court through advocates Hamza LakdawalaandAbihaZaidi,three CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SK SAFRIN BEGUM PUNE, AUGUST 6 THE FAMILY of an 18-year-old student of Symbiosis in Pune, whodrownedinthewatersofthe Pavana dam in June, has served a legal notice to the state government, seeking justice and fixing of accountability. The notice was served under Section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code on July 23. Advaitha Verma, from Delhi, was a second-year student at Symbiosis, Viman Nagar, where he was pursuing BBA. He had gone on a picnic with friends to Pavana dam, 58 km from Pune, where he drowned on June 23. Advaitha’s uncle Suresh Verma, a Delhi-based lawyer said,“There were no danger boards or signs barring tourists from entering the dam’s waters, so blaming the students for going to a popular tourist spot makes absolutely no sense.” “On July 23, the legal notice was sent through lawyer Nitin Kambletothegovernment,focusingonnegligenceandsafetyloopholes. Prevention is better than cure,andit’sthegovernment’sjob to look into it,” he added. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A year on, Irshalwadi villagers battle landslide trauma, lack of livelihood PAGE 1 ANCHOR NAYONIKA BOSE & SADAF MODAK MUMBAI, AUGUST 6 IT WAS the uncanny similarities of the circumstances that was the first thing thatstruck Ganpat JaituPardhi(29),asurvivorof the IrshalwadilandslideinJuly2023, when he heard about the devastating landslide that tore through the hills of Wayanad in Kerala on July 30. “Thecrisisthatwefacedayear ago is now being faced by them. LikeinIrshalwadi,onlysomewho were away managed to survive,” says Ganpat for whom the woundsinflictedbythedevastating landslide are fresh as they were on July 19, when a landslide following heavy rainfall wiped out the village of Irshalwadi in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, killing 84. Ayearon,thenewsof thedestruction in Kerala reminded Irshalwadiresidentsof theirown loss last year. “It has not been easy to come to terms with losing our entire village, our loved ones,ourhomes,”saysYashwant Dore, who lost his parents and teen daughter in the incident. Nearly 138 survivors were rendered homeless after the landslide buried nearly 44 homes in the village, which was perched on a hill leading up to the Irshalgad fort. The district administration set up a temporary camp, comprising a colony of 42 containers Work is underway on new, permanent homes for the landslide-affected people in Irshalwadi. Express in Chouk village, around four kilometres away, on a piece of land where a petrol pump stood earlier. The camp was set up withinaweekwithofficialsstating that the survivors would be shifted to permanent homes built by town planning authority CIDCO in Naniveli, within six months of the tragedy. However, one year on, the residents of Irshalwadi continue to live in the temporary township made of containers, with the hope of occupying their new under-constructionhomessoon. According to an official from the City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the new homes are likely to be handed over in the next couple of months. “The homes are constructed and the interior works are going on. We will hand them over as soon aspossible,” an official of CIDCO said. Having lost not only their loved ones but also their means of livelihood, survivors are yet to recover from the shock inflicted by the landslide. Ankush Wagh, who lost nine members of his family to the tragedysaid,“Peopleinthevillage are still very scared and shocked. They have not returned back to farming. We have been told that we will get our new homes in Diwali. After that, depending on thesituation,wewilltaketofarming again as well as having acres of land in our village. Besides farming, we have nothing.” Wagh’s family used to grow nachni, cucumbers, til, pulses and flowers in their farm. “Now, we are taking up small labour CONTINUED ON PAGE 2