eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE There’s a story for everybody NEWDELHI,LATECITY AUGUST18,2024 Anime, manga in India are here to stay, maybe forever. What’s behind their popularity? 20+4PAGES,`7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR,` 12SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT LAND ALLOTTED TO CM’S WIFE From ‘no’ to ‘discussing it’: Omar rethinks stand against fighting polls Karnataka Gov sanctions CM prosecution Decision not backed by law: Cabinet; will challenge it, says Siddaramaiah BENGALURU, AUGUST 17 Wrestler Vinesh Phogat is greeted by supporters at New Delhi’s IGI Airport after she returned from Paris on Saturday. Gajendra Yadav Vinesh returns: Love A village stays up to I got worth more than bestow their honours: 1,000 Olympic Golds Cash, turbans, swords NAMIT KUMAR NEW DELHI, AUGUST 17 NEVER HAS an athlete without a medal around her neck got the kind of grand homecoming that awaited Vinesh Phogat on Saturday. It took even the wrestler by surprise. Phogat’s return to India was delayed as she stayed back in Paristoawaittheoutcomeof her appealintheCourtof Arbitration for Sport (CAS), challenging her disqualification from the 50-kg gold-medalboutattheOlympics for being 100g overweight. Her appeal was dismissed on Wednesday. On Saturday, as she exited fromGateNo.18ofDelhiAirport’s Terminal 3 at around 10.30 am, Phogat seemed to be in a state of daze — the Paris trauma of the missed medal writ large on her face. Eyes puffed due to lack of sleep,cheeksshrunk,andamessy haircutgivenbyhertraineracruel reminder of the night before the finalweigh-in,shelookedaround expressionless. Then she broke into a smile. She had spotted her mother, brother, other family members and her two fellow protesters, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3RD VOICE OF GLOBAL SOUTH SUMMIT PM MODI PROPOSES ‘GLOBAL COMPACT’ TO SPUR GROWTH P6 GOVTCOMMITTEDTO FAIRPOLLS:YUNUS P12 INTERVIEW: SECY GENERAL GOLAM PARWAR Jamaat says won’t be threat to India; but it’s easier said than done EXPRESS INDHAKA SHUBHAJIT ROY DHAKA, AUGUST 17 CLAIMINGTHAThisorganisation will be a “friend of India and the people of India”, the Secretary Generalof thebannedoutfitand Parwar was freed from jail two days after Hasina fled country thepremierIslamistorganisation in Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami, has said it will not be a threat to India, the India-Bangla borders CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGES 19, 20 NITIN SHARMA BALALI, AUGUST 17 IT’S BEEN a long day for 10-yearold Anshaj Kumar, a resident of Balali, aka Vinesh Phogat’s village in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district which is a three-and-ahalf hour drive away from Delhi on most days. At about 10 am, around the time Phogat’s flight from Paris landed in the Capital, hewas tasked withguardingthe templepremisesthathad750kg of desi ghee laddoos. The wait for Phogat gets over past midnight, when she finally reachesthevillage,over12hours Among the gifts: Vikrant Fauji’s `21,000; Sanjay Chowkidar’s `100. Jasbir Malhi after she walked out of the Delhi airport. With every Haryana CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Vandalism at RG Kar: TMC men, students, gym trainer, delivery staff among accused RAVIK BHATTACHARYA & ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, AUGUST 17 TWO TRINAMOOL Congress workers, several men in their teens or 20s, and a couple of women — these are among people identified or arrested in connection with the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the night of August 14, The Indian Express has found. The vandalism took place when doctors were holding a midnight protest against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital. Facing criticism over the violence, the police have released 76 photos of people allegedly involved in the vandalism, and made 30 arrests. The Indian Express spoke to Inside RG Kar’s emergency building after it was ransacked Wednesday. File the families of 15 people — 14 who have been arrested and one who is allegedly absconding. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CENTRE TO FORM PANEL FOR SAFETY MEASURES PAGE 9 Delhi HC comes to rescue of aspiring cop rejected over tattoo, opens doors for others PAGE 1 ANCHOR SOHINI GHOSH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 17 A DETERMINED youth and a recent Delhi High Court ruling have come as a ray of hope for multiple young men and women who aspired to join the Delhi Police but were rejected because of impermissible tattoos on the right forearm, which is considered the saluting arm. Nearly a year ago, in September 2023, Deepak Yadav came acrossadirectrecruitmentnotification by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) on vacancies forthepostofDelhiPoliceconstable(executive)anddecidedtogive it a go. Aresidentof BaghpatinUttar Pradesh,the20-year-oldcleared The medical test for the post of Delhi Police constable was held on January 20. File SPORT RAJ KUMAR PAL, INDIAN HOCKEY’S LATEST STAR NEERAJ BACK TO BUSINESS IN SWISS TOWN AFTER SILVER the computer-based exam in December 2023. Only two hurdles remained now — the medicalexam,whichincludesaphysical fitness test, on January 20, 2024, and the removal of his mother’snamethatwastattooed on his right forearm as a child. Toavoidgettingrejectedduring the physical fitness test — sincetattoosonthesalutingforearm are not permitted — Yadav CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 KARNATAKAGOVERNORThawarchand Gehlot on Saturday accorded sanction for prosecution against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and allowed three private complainants to file cases in courtseekingaprobeagainsthim overallotmentof14housingsites in Mysuru to his wife in 2021 (when the BJP was in power) in exchangefor3.16acresoflandacquired from her by Mysuru authorities. “I hereby accord sanction against Chief Minister Sri SiddaramaiahunderSection17A of the Prevention of Corruption CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D JOHNSON TA & AKRAM M What the land deal ● is about THE LAND was allotted under a special 50:50 scheme to the CM’s wife in a prime Vijaynagar area in Mysuru in 2021 in exchange for her land in Kesare village. The Kesare land, allegedly of Dalit families, was acquired by her brother and gifted to her. The scheme, introduced when BJP was in power, was discontinued in Oct 2023 after the urban development dept flagged it as contrary to compensation rules. NC leader and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, AUGUST 17 SINCE JAMMU and Kashmir’s special status was abolished in 2019 and it was made a Union Territory, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah has consistently stated that he will never contest Assemblyelections.However,he is having a rethink in the aftermath of his party’s subpar performance in the Lok Sabha polls and amid pressure from his father and party colleagues. Inhisfirstinterviewsincethe abrogation of Article 370, Omar, in July 2020, told The Indian Express that he would never be a member of the Assembly of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2