DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 MEETING TO TAKE PLACE ON SIDELINES OF BRICS SUMMIT IN KAZAN 23/10/2024 97 125 154 Modi-Xi bilateral today, first in 5 years, after China confirms LAC agreement Army chief: Need to first restore trust, assure each other on buffer zones Reached a solution, will work with India TMC MP Kalyan to implement smashes bottle plan: Beijing 74 at House panel meeting on waqf Bill, suspended Kalyan Banerjee (left) and Jagdambika Pal ASAD REHMAN NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 TRINAMOOL CONGRESS (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee was suspended for a day from the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after he smashed a glass bottle during a heated discussion with BJP member and former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who chairs the panel, later alleged that Banerjee tried “to hit the Chair” with the bottle. Banerjeeislearnttohavesufferedcutsonhisthumbandafingerwhilesmashingthebottle.He was provided first-aid, and was laterseenbeingescortedbackto the meeting room by AIMIM presidentAsaduddinOwaisiand AAP MP Sanjay Singh. Banerjee and Gangopadhyay are learnt to have had an ugly spat during a discussion on the registration of Waqf properties. Afterexchangingbarbs,Banerjee is learnt to have smashed a glass bottle on the table. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 IN FIRST remarks on the agreement between New Delhi and Beijing over restoration of patrolling rights along the Line of Actual Control, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi has underlined the need for the Indian Army and the Chinese PLAtofirst“restoretrust”ineach other by “not creeping” into the buffer zones, “go back to the status quo of April 2020” — before the Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh led to the military standoff — and then look at “disengagement,de-escalation,nor- Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan Tuesday. Reuters SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 HOURS AFTER China, without mentioning the agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, confirmed it had “reached a solution” and would “work with India” to “effectively implement” the plan, India announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold a bilateral meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of theBRICSSummitinKazan,capital of Tatarstan in Russia. This will be the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders in five years — they met for an informal summit in Mahabalipuram in October 2019,monthsbeforetheChinese incursionsineasternLadakhthat triggered a military standoff along the LAC. They did have pull-aside meetings in Bali PAGES 7 & 11 mal management” of the LAC. Speaking on the sidelines of the Colonel Pyara Lal Memorial Lecture organised by the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi, General Dwivedi said: “We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation, normal management of the Line CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt looks at options as business mounts pressure for China dealings again SOUMYARENDRA BARIK & RAVI DUTTA MISHRA BUSINESS AS USUAL NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan on Tuesday. PTI BY UNNY WHILE THERE has been a gradual reconciliation in India and China’stradetiessincetheblockade triggered by 2020 border clashes, pressure from New Delhi’s business community for goods and specialised manpower from across the border, and its ambitions of becoming a manufacturing hub have played a big role in the progressive shift. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ranade ‘welcomes with thanks’ as Gokhale Union Minister, guest Institute withdraws his termination as V-C at Express Adda today PUNE, OCTOBER 22 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 FROM OVERSEEING spectrum auction to pushing connectivity in India’s Northeast, Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya Scindia has had an impactful four months in the third term of the NDA government. ScindiawillbethefirstUnion Minister to be the Express Adda guest after Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed his Cabinet in June this year for the NDA third term. With India aiming to become the third largest economy, he has his task cut out given the critical role that telecom plays as a growth enabler. Communications & DoNER Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia ECONOMIST SANJEEV Sanyal, whorecentlyacceptedthechancellorship of Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), has withdrawn the order to terminate Ajit Ranade from the post of Vice-Chancellor of the institute. On Tuesday, Sanyal’s lawyer informedtheBombayHighCourt that the September 14 order of terminationofRanadeastheVice- Chancellor has been withdrawn. A division bench of Justices R V GhugeandMMSathayeaccepted the statement and disposed of Ranade’spleachallengingthetermination order. The bench said that in the event the institute proposes any further action, it should follow the principle of natural justice. It accepted a request by advocate Vivek Salunke for Ranade that in case of any adverse decision, it should not be implemented for the period of seven days for him to seek appropriate Ajit Ranade, Sanjeev Sanyal relief against the same. Earlier, the court had passed an interim order and directed that the termination order shall not be brought into effect till In a first, more farm fires in UP than Haryana in a month; Punjab still at top MALLICA JOSHI NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 22 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOR THE first time since 2020, when farm fires began to be tracked centrally, Uttar Pradesh has seen more paddy stubble burningincidentsthanHaryana. AccordingtotheICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) data, between September 15andOctober21thisyear,Uttar Pradesh recorded 723 farm fires as compared to 655 in Haryana. Punjabremainedatthetopof the list with 1,510 cases. Overthelastfewyears,thefocusonimplementingguidelines tocurbfarmfires—includingimposing fines, using specialised machineryandincentivisingthe saleof paddystubble—hasbeen on Punjab and Haryana due to their high numbers during the paddy harvest season. The area under paddy cultivation, however, is higher in UttarPradeshthaninPunjaband Haryana together. According to experts, the peak stubble burning season is expected to start by the end of next week, and will coincide with Diwali. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 October 25, when Ranade’s plea was to be heard next. On Tuesday, the institute’s lawyer informed the bench that the impugned termination letter was withdrawn, after which it disposed of the plea. Welcoming the decision, Ranade said, “I welcome with thanks the decision of the Honourable Chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics to withdraw the earlierorderof myterminationfrom the post of Vice Chancellor... CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE The effect it has on ● Capital air STUBBLE BURNING is a key source of Delhi’s air pollution in the October-early December period, typically accounting for 2025 per cent of the pollution, and at times going up to 40 per cent, as per government data. Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat and Shiv Sena UBT’s Anil Desai at Matoshree in Mumbai on Tuesday. Ganesh Shirsekar Stalemate over seats ends, final list to be announced today, say leaders of MVA ALOK DESHPANDE & VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, OCTOBER 22 AFTER DAYS of stalemate, the seat sharing among the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents — NCP-SP, ShivSenaUBTandCongress—in poll-bound Maharashtra achievedsomebreakthroughon Tuesday after a marathon meetingheldthroughtheday.Evenas Congressleaderswerestillinside thevenuetilllatenight,ShivSena (UBT)leaderswhocameoutsaid thatallissueshavebeenresolved. Accordingtosources,theseat sharing arrangement has been finalised with Congress likely to contest on 105-110 seats, Shiv Sena-UBT on 85-90 and NCP -SP set to contest on 75-80 seats. Whileleavingthevenue,Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said, “There are no differences among MVA allies anymore and the formal announcement will bemadeWednesdayafternoon.” The talks had come to a halt followingdifferencesbetweenthe CongressandtheShivSena(UBT) over seats in Vidarbha region. The Congress had deputed senior leader and legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ● LS loss, rebel threat see BJP retain 80 MLAs in first Maharashtra list ● In MNS first list, Raj Thackeray’s son to contest from Mahim PAGE 4 Eknath Shinde on Shiv Sena’s first list of 45 VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, OCTOBER 22 CHIEFMINISTEREknathShindeledShivSenaonTuesdayreleased itsfirstlistof45candidatesforthe upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls, giving tickets to all 41 sitting MLAs and to those who had joined Shinde in his rebellion,excepttothosewhowent ontobecomeMPsintherecently held Lok Sabha polls. According to the list, Eknath Shinde will contest again from Kopri-Panchpakhadi assembly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD BLINKEN IN ISRAEL AS U.S. LOOKS TO PUSH CEASEFIRE DHAKA PROTESTERS DEMAND PRESIDENT OUSTER PAGE 12 After tunnel attack, J&K cracks down on Lashkar module ‘recruiting’ locals BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 22 TWO DAYS after seven persons were killed in a terror attack at a key tunnel construction site in Gagangir, the Counter IntelligenceKashmir(CIK),aunit of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, Tuesday said it has busted a militant recruitment moduleintheValleywiththedetention of eight youths. The youths, police said, were part of a newly floated militant outfit called the Tehreek Labaik Ya Muslim, which officials claim is an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Senior Superintendent of Police, CIK, Tahir Ashraf Bhatti confirmed the detentions. Policesaidtheyconductedsimultaneous raids at different locations in seven districts of the Valley after inputs about the recruitmentmodule,saidtoberun byaPakistan-basedLashkarcommander named Baba Hamas. “On the basis of information and inputs/evidence developed bytheCIK,itwasfoundthatBaba Hamas,aterroristhandlerof LeT, is going to float a new terrorist organisation by the name of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hockey to wrestling, CWG drops 9 sports, dents India’s medal hopes PAGE 1 ANCHOR MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, OCTOBER 22 SIX OF the 12 disciplines in which India won a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games — contributing 37 out of the total 61 medals — have been dropped from the 2026 edition, it was announced Tuesday. For the 2026 CWG, which will be held in Glasgow, badminton, cricket, hockey, squash, table tennis and wrestling have been omitted. This comes after shooting and archery — the two sports Indians have dominated historically at the Commonwealth level — faced the axe from the 2022 edition held in Birmingham. The 2026 edition, featuring only10sportsandroughly3,000 athletes,willtakeplacefromJuly 23 to August 2. Glasgow will be CWG‘lite’sincethepreviousedition in Birmingham had 19 sportsandalmost5,000athletes. In a statement, the Glasgow CWG organisers said the sports programme will include athletics and para-athletics, boxing, bowls and para-bowls, swim- mingandpara-swimming,artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para-track cycling, netball, weightlifting and para-powerlifting, judo, 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball. The decision was met with fiercebacklashfromIndia’ssporting administrators. Former CWG medallist and Indian Olympic Association executive council member Gagan Narang said the move was “disheartening”. “I can imagine the disappointment for (the) shooters who were preparing for this event. I am also disappointed that (a) few more disciplines which are medal prospects for The closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. India won 61 medals in this edition. File/Reuters India don’t figure in the list of disciplines for CWG 2026,” Narang said. Badminton legend and national coach Pullela Gopichand saidhewas“deeplyappalledand disappointed by the decision”. “It is crucial that we raise our voices and bring this issue to the appropriate authorities to ensure badminton continues to thrive and inspire future generations. We cannot allow such shortsighteddecisionstoundermine the progress we have tirelessly achieved,” he said. While badminton has been played in every edition of the CWG since 1966, squash and hockey have been a part of the programme since 1998. Table tennis has featured at every Games since 2002. The decision also marks a rare occurrence of no racquet sport being included in a multi-discipline event. Incidentally,shootingwasincluded in the initial programme announced by Victoria, before they surrendered their hosting rightsduetohighcosts.Glasgow stepped in as a last-minute replacement and dropped a number of events to keep the Games within budget. Originally, the Australian state was scheduled to host the 2026 edition before it pulled out citing huge costs. With Glasgow operating on an extremely tight budget, the organisers chose to restrict the Games to just four venues. In a way, the Glasgow CWG will also set a new trend, wherein the sports programme has been finalised based on the venues available rather than choosing the sports first and then building a venue. The organisers said they will usefourvenueswithinan8-mile radius in Glasgow to save on transport and security, among other things. Athletes and supportstaff willbehousedinhotels instead of a dedicated Games Village to further save costs.