DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 IN 4-3 RULING, COURT SETS NEW TEST FOR MINORITY INSTITUTIONS SCaffirmsminorityrights,setsaside itsverdictthatrejectedAMU’sstatus Court leaves it to regular bench to apply the test, determine AMU’s minority status THE WORLD NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 Rajasthan to file case if photos of NREG worker numbers not same in records HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 IN NEW directions under the MahatmaGandhiNationalRural EmploymentGuaranteeScheme, the Rajasthan government has askeditsdistrictcollectorstoregistercriminalcasesagainstmates (orworksitesupervisors)if there isadifferencebetweenthenumber of workers shown in photographs uploaded by them in an official app and the number shown as present on the muster roll on a particular day. A mate is defined as “a worksite supervisor” by the Union Ministry of Rural Development. Though not a government servant, the ministry requires the presence of at least one mate or supervisorforevery100workers. The “Guidelines for effective implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Scheme” circulated on October 25 this year askedthecollectorstofindoutthe actual reasons for the discrepancy. “…action should be taken to blacklist the mate and register a criminal case against the mate. Action should be taken as per rulesagainsttheresponsiblepersonneloftheGramPanchayatfor negligence in supervision,” said thedirectionsissuedbythestate’s Rural Development Secretary Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar. AnemailtoPednekarseeking response on the new guidelines did not elicit a response. When contacted,anofficialintheUnion Ministry of Rural Development said, “The National Mobile Monitoring System app is used to record attendance of MGNREGAworkersandisaimedatincreasing transparency and proper monitoring of the scheme. It enables capturing of attendance of workers along with geo-tagged photographs twice a day.” The official further saidthatSection23(3)of theAct mentions that a state government may, by rules, determine thearrangementstobemadefor proper execution of the scheme to ensure transparency and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR E CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E X P L A I NE D PUTIN PRAISES TRUMP: ‘RUSSIA OPEN TO RESTORING TIES’ ISRAELI FOOTBALL FANS ATTACKED IN AMSTERDAM; 62 HELD PAGE 16 THE SC’S TEST FOR ● STATUS ■ What’s the institu- ion’s origin? Purpose? Is there minority role in its setting up? ■ Does its administra- tion affirm minority character and serve minority interests? Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud gets emotional at a farewell ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in New Delhi on Friday. Looking on is Attorney General of India R Venkataramani. ANI 3 dissent: 1 rejects minority In AMU, welcome relief: status, 2 other judges join ‘Easier now to prove it’s him in questioning process a minority institution’ AJOY SINHA KARPURAM NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 OF THE three dissenting judges in the case to decide the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, Justice Dipankar Datta was the only one who categorically said that AMU is not a minorityeducationalinstitution. However,allthreedissenting judges — Justices Surya Kant, DipankarDattaandSCSharma– were of the view that the 1981 order by a two-judge bench referringS.AzeezBashav.Unionof India (1967) was incorrect and, according to Justice Kant, sufferedfrom“multipleillegalities”. THE EDITORIAL PAGE A SPECIAL RIGHT AMU verdict is a pushback against political projects that impose uniformity PAGE14 RELATEDREPORTS,P 13&9 In the case of Anjuman-eRahmania v. District Inspector of Schools (1981), a two-judge bench dealing with the minority status of VMHS Rahmania Inter College,doubtedthecorrectness of the Supreme Court’s decision in S. Azeez Basha — where the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND ALIGARH, NOVEMBER 8 A WAVE of relief swept the Aligarh Muslim University campus the moment Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, reading out the 4-3 majority verdict Friday morning, overruled the Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling which had held that AMU was not a minority institution. For students, teachers and staff tracking the court proceedings,this wasa welcomeverdict. Many were cautiously optimistic,pointingoutthatthelong waitforthemattertoberesolved had been prolonged again since No greater feeling than to serve the needy: CJI on last day in office ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 THERE IS no greater feeling for a judge than to be able to serve those in need, outgoing Chief Justiceof IndiaD Y Chandrachud said Friday as he bid goodbye to lawyers in Court Hall 1 of the Supreme Court on his last day in office. He will be retiring on EXPRESS NETWORK THREE MAOISTS KILLED IN BIJAPUR ENCOUNTER HC SEEKS YASIN MALIK’S MEDICAL STATUS REPORT P 10, 8 India won’t travel to Pak for Champions Trophy, wants its games in Dubai: BCCI SANDEEP DWIVEDI ANANTHAKRISHNAN G UNDERLINING THAT that the determination of the “minority character”of aninstitutionisnot a rigid concept, the Supreme Court, in a narrow 4-3 majority verdict,overruled its1967ruling which had held that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was not a minority institution. “The view taken in Azeez Basha... that an educational institution is not established by a minority if it derives its legal character through a statute, is overruled,” the majority verdict, authoredbyChief Justiceof India D Y Chandrachud stated. Along with the CJI, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra formed the majority while Justices Dipankar Dutta, Surya Kant and Satish Chandra Sharma wrote separate dissenting opinions. Friday was CJI’s last day in office. The SC laid down the law SECURITY CITED AS KEY CONCERN November 10. Later in the day, at a farewell event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA), CJI Chandrachud said, “I am probably one of the most trolled individuals and judges across the system... In a lighter vein, I am just wondering what will happen from Monday because all those who trolled me will be rendered unemployed.” Thereweremomentsofemotion as colleagues and lawyers heaped praises on him through theday.Afterthepronouncement of a judgment earlier in the day, the CJI wiped his moist eyes as JusticePSNarasimhasharedhow “extraordinary” had been their association. Recalling his days with CJI Chandrachud on the bench, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘It’s the diversity of the nation which protects the basic structure of the Constitution’ D Y CHANDRACHUD CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA PAGES 20, 21 China okays $1.4-trillion stimulus, may affect FPI inflows into India SHUBHAJIT ROY, RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & AANCHAL MAGAZINE BEIJING, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 THE CHINESE government Friday approved a 10-trillion yuan or US $1.4 trillion (1 US$ = 7.17 Chinese yuan) package aimedatgivingaboosttoaslowing domestic economy and bailing out local governments. The stimuluscomesjusttwodaysafter Donald Trump won the US Presidency following a campaign where he proposed tariffs as high as 60 per cent on goods imports from China. A Xinhuareport saidChinese lawmakers have approved the StateCouncilbilltoraisetheceiling on local government debt by 6 trillion yuan (about US$ 840 billion) to replace existing “hidden debts”, according to Xu Hongcai, deputy head of the financial and economic affairs committee of the National People's Congress(NPC), China's top legislature. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Police security at the Aligarh Muslim University entrance on Friday. Abhinav Saha itwouldnowhavetowaitforthe verdict of a regular bench. Professor Aftab Alam, Chairman and Professor, Department of Strategic and SecurityStudies, INDIAWILLnottraveltoPakistan for next year's Champions Trophy cricket tournament. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in a recent communication to the Pakistan Cricket Board, has cited security concernsbehinditsdecisionandexpressedadesiretoplaythatIndia play all their games in Dubai. “Thishasbeenourstanceand thereisnoreasontochangethat. We have written to them and asked them toshift ourgamesto Dubai,” a source told The Indian Express. The top eight teams of the world are to take part in the February 19 to March 9 50-over ICCeventthathasKarachi,Lahore and Rawalpindi as host cities. Sources said the BCCI has reiterated its stand over Pakistan “in consultation with the government”. Last year before the Asia Cup, India, despite pressure from hosts Pakistan, was able to shift its matches to Sri Lanka. This comes after hopes were raisedaboutcricketnormalcyreturning to the region following last month's meeting between External Affairs Minister S JaishankarandPakistan'sDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar The lastIndia-Pakmatchwas heldin NewYorkonJune 9 duringthe T20WorldCup. ICC on the sidelines of the Shanghai CooperationOrganisationmeeting at Islamabad. This was the first direct conversation between the two nations at this level since 2015. In the aftermath of this cordialmeeting,thawseemedtobe on cards and resumption of cricket ties was talked about. Even the PCB was bending backwards to convince India to make the trip across the border. The Pakistan board had given BCCI the option of the Indian team returningtoIndiaaftereverygame. However,sincetheJaishankar visit on October 16, there have been a string of terror incidents inJammuandKashmirkilling16 people including two soldiers. The last time India toured Pakistan was in 2006 when the Rahul Dravid team won an ODI series 4-1. Of late, Pakistan has hostedEnglandandBangladesh. PM targets Cong, tells OBCs & Dalits to stay united: ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Goa complains to police against X user who said foreign tourists staying away PAVNEET SINGH CHADHA PANAJI, NOVEMBER 8 THE GOA government’s tourism department has filed a police complaint against an entrepreneur, whose post on X about the state of tourism in Goa had promptedseveralothertravellers to chime in with their own negative experiences from the state. In a complaint to the Superintendent of Police of the cyber crime police station in Panaji, tourism deputy director Rajesh Kale stated that he was “writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding an incident of public mischief that occurred on November 5, at approximately 3:52 pm”. According to Kale, the entrepreneur“disseminatedfalsedata through his social media X handles, thereby causing significant annoyance to local businesses and inducing fear or alarm CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj during a public meeting in Nashik, Friday. PTI of special status and constitutional guarantees”, saying “no NASHIK, NOVEMBER 8 power in the world” would be able to restore Article 370. TARGETING THE Congress for “If STs(ScheduledTribes),SCs “pitting one caste against an- (Scheduled Castes), and OBCs other”, Prime Minister Narendra stay united, the politics of ModionFridaylaunchedtheBJP’s Congress will be over. The state Assembly election Congress has become campaign from north parasitic and is survivMaharashtra. ing on crutches. It can Atpublicmeetingsin contest polls only with DhuleandNashik,Modi the support of other appealed to Dalits, tribparties, it cannot stand als,andOtherBackward on its own. Hence, to DECISION survive, it has resorted Classes (OBCs) to stay 2024 united, telling them “Ek to its oldest tactic of diMAHARASHTRA haitohsafehai(Together, viding SCs, STs, and we are safe)”. OBCsby sowing seeds of discord He also targeted the among them to weaken their Opposition over a Jammu and unity,” he said. Kashmir Assembly resolution “Since Nehru’s time, the seeking dialogue for “restoration CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VALLABH OZARKAR As world’s paragliders fill the sky, remote Himachal village gets wings SAURABH PARASHAR BIR (PALAMPUR), NOVEMBER 8 AS HE serves hot tea to Russian and Israeli solo paragliders scattered in and around his kuchcha shop, ‘Chachu Chai’, on an uninhabited hill in Billing in HimachalPradesh,PuranChand, 71, displays a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of the region’s paragliding history. “Neil Kinnear (England) and KeithNecols(theUS)arrivedhere with their hang glider over 40 years ago. On their second trip in 1980, Kinnear, a teacher in a Dharamshalaschool,encouraged me to open a tea stall on the hill for them. In 1984, the HangGliding World Cup was held in Bir-Billing.Forty-threepilotsfrom 13 countries participated in it. In 1986,BruceMilles(NewZealand) broughtparaglidingtoBilling.My fatherattendedsomeparagliding expeditions with him,” says Puran, who ends up staying back in his shop on most nights. While hang gliding didn’t succeed in Kangra district’s BirBilling “because it requires a large landing area to prevent injuries”, a wizened Puran says paragliding is still going strong. He is not wrong. The secondedition of the Paragliding World Cup Association Asian Tour2024 is on in Bir-Billing from November 2. Ninety-four paragliders from 26 countries, including 32 from India, are participating in the event, which ends on November 9. The first edition of the event was held in 2015. Nearly 130 pilots from 35 countries had competed then. Over the past three decades, Bir-Billing has made a name for itself as a “paraglider paradise” due to its strong, stable air currents that help lift the structure easily and allow paragliders to fly over 50 km to Dharamshala and Manali. The area also holds the distinction of being one of Paragliders in Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district. Kamleshwar Singh Asia’s highest paragliding sites. Nearly 16 km downhill from Billing — which just has four-five shops, nohouses and at least five take-offpointsfromtworidges— liesBirvillage,whichhasjustone reservedlandingsite,avastplain ground that technically falls under the nearby Chaugan village. Suresh Thakur, pradhan, Bir panchayat,saysthelandingsiteis still called Bir because “everythingassociatedwiththeadventuresportislocatedinthevillage”. In Bir, home to 190 families as per the 2011 Census, half-adozen registered firms operated by locals offer tandem and solo paragliding, besides equipment for rent. Every street here has a hotel or a hostel, and all houses double as homestays. Each family in the village has at least one licensed paragliding pilot. KuldeepThakur, whoownsa registered paragliding firm and is the president of the Bir Paragliding Pilot Union, says Bir and its neighbouring Chaugan, Gunehar and Kyuri villages have “over300hotelsandhomestays”. Paragliding has also upped thepriceof landhere.Puransays one kanal (nearly 506 square metres) in the neighbouring Raj Guntha village was offered to himforjustRs500in1999.“That landnowcostsapproximatelyRs 50 lakh. I regret not buying it then. In Bir village, one kanal costs nearly Rs 60 lakh at present,” he says. At the take-off site in Billing, AnilBhangalia,28,alicensedtandemflightpilot,looksonasacolleague takes off with a Maharashtraclient.Anil,whohas studiedtillClass12,sayshisfather moved from the remote Bhangal villageintheDhauladharrangeto Bir village almost three decades ago in hopes of a “better life”. WithparaglidingoninBirfor nearly 10 months a year, except during the monsoon months of JulyandSeptember,Anilsaysthe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2