DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY FOOD PRICES DRIVE OCTOBER CPI INFLATION TO 6.2% Retail inflation rises to 14-month high, hopes of rate cut next month recede Manufacturing, mining and power help factory output improve to 3.1% in Sept from contraction of 0.1% in Aug AANCHAL MAGAZINE EXPLAINED NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 12 MAHARASHTRA: ANELECTORAL HISTORY PAGE 13 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 RETAILINFLATIONratesurgedto a 14-monthhigh of 6.21 per cent in October with a sharp rise in prices of food items, especially fruits, vegetables, meat and fish, and oils and fats, data released Tuesday by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed. Food inflation, based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), shot up to a double-digit level of 10.87 per cent in October — a 15-month high — from 9.24 per cent in September and 6.61 per cent in the year-ago period. Separately released data by the NSO showed India’s factory output, as measured by the ALL-INDIA RETAIL INFLATION RATES ■ CPI ■ CFPI (Figures in %) 12% 6.61 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 4.87 Oct ’23 8.3 8.7 5.1 4.83 Jan ’24 April ’24 Index of Industrial Production (IIP), improved to 3.1 per cent in September fromacontractionof 10.87 5.42 3.6 July ’24 6.21 Oct ’24 0.1 per cent in August, mainly due to pickup in manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors. Food inflation has risen to double digits after a gap of 14 months for the first time since July 2023, the NSO statement showed — it was released at 4 pmforthefirsttimeafterthe advancement of the data releases from 5.30 pm. With the October print, the headline retail inflation rate, based on Consumer Price Index (Combined), has again breached the 4 per cent mark in the 4+/- 2 per cent band of RBI’s mediumterm inflation target for the second consecutive month. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trump taps Rubio & Waltz, known to be pro-India and tough on China, for top jobs BEIJING, NEW DELHI, NOV 12 US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump is expected to name Florida Senator Marco Rubio as theUSSecretaryof State,officials have told The New York Times. He is said to have selected US Representative Michael Waltz fromFloridaasthenewNational Security Advisor. Rubio and Waltz are known China hawks and have held proIndia views over the years. Trump has also enlisted Robert Lighthizer, the architect of his trade wars in his first term, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 E E X P L A I NE D SHUBHAJIT ROY & RAVI DUTT MISHRA Building DC-Delhi ● bridge IT WAS during Trump’s first term that India-US ties blossomed after predecessors Bush and Obama pushed bilateral ties to a new level. Trump declared China a strategic threat and rival, bringing US-India ties closer. It was he who revived the Quad grouping in 2017 and removed hurdles in defence cooperation by signing two key pacts. ● Jharkhand: 43 seats to vote today in Phase 1 EXPRESSINTERVIEW ‘Partieswillhaveto promiseMarathaquota.If theydon’t...wewon’tlet themcometopower’ ManojJarange-Patil, quotaactivist PAGES 6, 7 PAGE 1 ANCHOR Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Liz Mathew, Deputy Editor, at the Express Adda in New Delhi. Renuka Puri ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 12 WHILE THE Union Ministry of Rural Development has allocated 37.80 lakh houses to 18 states under its Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAYG) for 2024-25, BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh and poll-bound Maharashtra together account for over one-third of the total. Chhattisgarhtopsthelistwith 8.61lakhhouses(over22percent of the total allocation), followed by Maharashtra with 6.37 lakh (over16percent).Theotherstates in the top five list are: Madhya ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 12 IN WHAT may add fuel to the Opposition’s allegations of GautamAdaniholdingundueinfluenceintheModigovernment, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has claimed that the industrialist was part of government formation talks including top BJP and NCP leaders “five years ago”. Addressing the issue of his short-lived 2019 “rebellion” to form a government with the BJP, before he returned to the NCP, Ajit told The News Minute in an interview: “Everybody knows where the meeting took place... Everyone was there. Let me tell you again. Amit Shah was there, Gautam Adani was there, Praful Patel was there, Devendra Fadnavis was there, Ajit Pawar was there, Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) was there.” He went on to reiterate his claim that he acted with full knowledge of Pawar Senior in going with the BJP at the time, and as “a party worker”, fol- I acted with knowledge of Sharad Pawar: Ajit lowed his leader. Among the first to react to Ajit’s Adani claims was Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, who posted on X, “As per an interview given to a digital platform by a senior minister in the Cabinet, Gautam Adani has sat through in meetings to decide how to get BJP to power in Maharashtra by trying to fix unlikely alliances. It raises some serious questions: Is he a BJP authorised negotiator? Has he been given the responsibility to fix alliances? Why is a businessmansokeenlyandcloselyworking to bring BJP to power at any cost in Maharashtra?” The Sena (UBT) is an ally of the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the NCP. Asked about the meeting, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JHARKHAND Pak unwilling to move games out, questions India refusal to play there ‘Infiltration’: Fake Aadhaar, printers found in ED searches on voting eve SANDEEP DWIVEDI NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 12 THE PAKISTAN government is learnt to have asked its cricket board not to give in to India’s demand of moving the Champions Trophy games to Dubai. Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the refusal of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to cross the border for the 50-overs tournament nextyear.TheBCCIwasreported to have asked for India's games to be shifted to a neutral venue like Dubai. “We have been told by our government not to move any game out of Pakistan, and that will be our stand when the time comes. Right now, the ICC has justinformedusaboutIndia’sdecision.Wehavethehostingrights for the Champions Trophy so there is no way we can move the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Poll-bound Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh get over 1/3rd share of rural housing scheme for 2024-25 HARIKISHAN SHARMA As Uddhav Sena raises questions, Sule says no idea of such a meet; BJP silent Day after 10 militants killed in Manipur, two Meitei men found dead, six of family missing ADDA WITH THE CM US President-elect Donald Trump with Senator Marco Rubio at a campaign event in North Carolina on November 4. Reuters Adani was present with Shah, Pawar Sr at 2019 talks for govt in state: Ajit Pawar TARGETS FOR PMAY-G HOUSES* Chhattisgarh 8.61 Maharashtra 6.37 *For 2024-25 MP 3.68 Gujarat 2.99 Bihar 2.43 All figures in lakh PMAY-G PHASE-II PROGRESS Total target until 2028-29: 2 cr Of the 37.80 lakh houses ■ Registered: 22.85 lakh ■ Completed: 4,691 Pradesh with 3.68 lakh houses, Gujarat with 2.99 lakh and Bihar with 2.43 lakh (see chart). Target for 2024-25: 37.80 lakh ■ Geotagged out of registered: 21.14 lakh ■ At least one 19.68 lakh instalment released: Contrast this with the first phase of the PMAY-G (20162024), when the overall target was 2.95 crore houses, of which Chhattisgarh, which had a Congress government till Novemberlastyear,got11.76lakh (3.98 per cent) and Maharashtra got 13.78 lakh (4.67 per cent). The target set for the second phase of PMAY-G is 2 crore houses by 2028-29, of which 40 lakh were to be built in the first year (2024-25). Of the 40 lakh, the ministry has allocated 37,80,374 houses to 18 states — Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A search operation underway in Manipur. Manipur Police/X ABHISHEK ANGAD RANCHI, NOVEMBER 12 THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate Tuesday conducted searches at 17 locations in Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with illegalinfiltrationof Bangladeshi citizensintoIndia,allegedlywith the help of agents who provide fake documents to establish Indian citizenship. Sources in the ED said the raids were conducted based on aJune4FIRregisteredinRanchi’s Bariatu police station, after a woman allegedly entered India by crossing the border with Bangladesh, in connivance with private agents. “ED, Ranchi is conducting searches at 17 locations under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002, in Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with illegal Bangladeshi infiltration. So far, various incriminating items, including fake Aadhaars, forged passports, illegal arms, SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 12 A DAY after 10 suspected militantsfromtheHmarcommunity were shot dead by security forces in Manipur’s Jiribam, the bodies of two Meitei men were recoveredfromtheareaTuesday morning. Six persons from the Meitei community, including three children, from the area are still missing. The Jakuradhor and BorobekraareainJiribamdistrict,close tothehillsofneighbouringHmar- majority Pherzawl district, witnessedamajorgunfightbetween thesuspectedmilitantsandsecurity forces Monday afternoon. This took place, police said, after a CRPF post at Jakuradhor andthe Borobekra police station nearby came under gunfire. Local residents said that before this, the armed miscreants had also attacked homes and shops inMeiteisettlementsinthearea. On Tuesday morning, the bodies of two men, identified as Laishram Barel Singh (61) and Maibam Keshwo Singh (75), CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD RAMGOOLAM NEW MAURITIUS PM AFTER LANDSLIDE WIN GERMANY: SCHOLZ TO HOLD DECEMBER 16 CONFIDENCE VOTE P14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Dream on pause for 7 years, Yashasvi’s brother returns to cricket PRATYUSH RAJ NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 12 LASTWEEKwhenTejasviJaiswal, 27, scored his maiden first-class 50 while representing Tripura in his rookie Ranji Trophy season, hegotaheart-warmingmessage from his younger brother Yashasvi, 22, India’s Test opener for the upcoming BorderGavaskar Trophy in Australia. “Tune sab ke liye kiya, apne sapne ko chhoda, bahut sacrifice kiya, abhi tumhara time hai,enjoy karo (You sacrificed your dream for us, now it is your time, enjoy it),” read the message. TejasvitellsTheIndianExpress thatthephonecallthatfollowed the message, after he scored 82 againstBaroda,wasanemotional onebetweenthetwobrothers— one a rising star of Indian cricket and the other, a late bloomer given his family circumstances. In 2012, the Jaiswal brothers, sons of a hardware shop owner in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, moved to Mumbai to become cricketers. They shared the groundsman’s tent at Mumbai’s AzadMaidan,butonlyonecould afford to pursue the sport. Soat17,Tejasviquitcricketto keep Yashasvi’s dream of becoming an India cricketer alive. As Yashasvi started breaking records in age-group cricket, the elderbrother,whotooktoworking as a salesman in a store selling decorative lights at South Extension in Delhi, would send him pocket money. Tejasvi also got his two elder sisters married. “I also wanted to play cricket, but the financial situation of our family was not good. Yashasvi wasdoing well... So by the end of 2013, I quit Mumbai and cricket and moved to Delhi, where a relative runs a shop,” he said. The financial struggle apart, Tejasvi had also faced accusations of age-fraud while playing cricket in Mumbai. “I played one The Jaiswal family at their residence in Mumbai gameinHarrisShieldandpicked up seven wickets. Then people started saying that I had an ageverification issue. I was benched forayearandahalf.Yashasviwas doing extremely well and I didn’t want his prospects to be affected because of me. Anyway, Mumbai was too expensive for both of us.Itwas gettingdifficult for both of us to have two meals a day. At that point Jwala sir, Yashasvi’s coach, wasn’t in the picture yet,” Tejasvi said. Tejasvi eventually moved back home to Bhadohi and now, in his late 20s, cricket was well andfirmlyonthebackburner.“By 2021, my sisters got married and Yashasvi got the IPL contract. Life eased for us after that,” he said. But Yashasvi wanted his brother to get a second chance. The plan was to move to Tripura, away from the highly competitive Mumbai circuit. Three years after the move, Tejasvimadehisfirst-classdebut againstMeghalayalastmonth.He hadn’tplayedcompetitivecricket for seven years — 2014 to 2021 — yet grabbed the opportunity. “It was destiny. I decided to movetoTripura,enrolledinacollege, played cricket, scored runs, picked wickets and now I am a first-classcricketer,”Tejasvisaid. On Sunday, November 10, Tejasvi made a stopover at Delhi enroute to Jammu, the venue of Tripura’snextRanjiTrophygame against J&K. “Our Delhi-Jammu flight got cancelled. The good thing was that I got time to meet my friends in Delhi. I went back tomyoldshop.Alothaschanged in Delhi as well,” he said. Though Tejasvi has started to make a name for himself, what giveshimthegreatestjoyistobe seen as Yashasvi’s elder brother. “I am so proud of my brother. Iamplayingcricketagainbecause of him. And I am happy when people say ‘woh dekho Yashasvi Jaiswal ka bada bhai ja raha (See, that is Yashasvi's elder brother).”