DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA GDPgrowthrateslumps toneartwo-yearlow of5.4%inJuly-Sept AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 UK MPs VOTE FOR BILL TO LEGALISE ASSISTED DYING PAGE 16 Legal matter between pvt party & US: Govt on Adani indictment DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 IN THE first official comment after the US indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani for his alleged role in a bribery scheme, the government on Friday termed it as a “legal matter involving private individuals and private entities and the US Department of Justice”. Responding to a question at the weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian government was not informed in advance about the matter, nor had it received any request to serve a summons or arrest warrant. “Obviously, there are established procedures and legal avenues in such cases which we believe would be followed…We have not been informed in advance on the issue,” he said. Jaiswal added that there had been no “conversations” with the US on the matter. “Thisisamatterthatpertains toprivateindividualsandprivate entities. The Government of India, we are not part of it legally in any manner at this point in time.Weseeitasacasebetween the US Department of Justice and private individuals and entities,” he said. Saying that the government had not received any requests to serve summons or arrest CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE Friday prayers were offered at the mosque in Sambhal amid tight security. PTI ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 UNDERLINING that “peace and harmony must prevail”, the Supreme Court on Friday directed a trial court in Uttar Pradesh — which had allowed a survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal which Hindus claim was built by de- HARIKISHAN SHARMA & NIKHIL GHANEKAR NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 OBSERVING THAT the benefits outweigh the potential drawbacks, a Supreme Court-appointedpanelhasbackedsetting up five hydroelectric projects (HEPs) on the Ganga and its tributariesinUttarakhand—evenas theMinistryof Environmentand Forest (MoEF) and Jal Shakti Ministry opposed the projects. The ministries had raised apprehensions ranging from impact onriversnotbeingtakenintoaccount to the projects falling in landslide or seismic zones. Thetopcourthasbeenexaminingthequestionofstartingnew HEPs on the Ganga since 2013, in asuomotucaseittookupfollowing the Kedarnath floods that SAMBHAL COURT GRANTS SURVEY TEAM MORE TIME PAGE 11 Sanjay Kumar was hearing a SpecialLeavePetitionfiledbythe mosque management commit- tee,whichsoughtanex-parteadinterim stay on the operation of theNovember19trialcourtorder. Appearing for the mosque managementcommittee,Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi urged the bench to stay the trial court orderbutthebenchdeclinedthe request. “No. We are saying that no further steps in the suit without the permission of the High killed over 5,000 people. Initially,thecourtputamoratoriumongrantingclearancesfor any new HEPs, and asked the MoEF to form a committee to first study the impact of such projects.Sincethen,theministry has formed three committees: ■ The first one, led by environmentalist Ravi Chopra, concluded in 2014 that HEPs exacerbated the disaster. It also recommended not going ahead with 24 proposed projects. ■ After six HEP proponents moved the Supreme Court for permissiontoresumetheirprojects, the ministry formed a secondcommitteein2015underIITKanpur’s Vinod Tare. This panel found that the six projects had prior clearances but would pose serious ecological impacts. ■ Then, a third committee CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 mate arrived at through a poll of economists. Several factors added up to what Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran described 5.4 Source: NSO, MoSPI as a “disappointing but not alarming” lower growth rate in Q2. Going forward, he said, doubling down on deregulation, expanding state capacity for public investment, and improving hiring and compensation policies intheprivatesector,willimprovegrowthprospectsandturn thesecondquarternumbersinto a fading memory. “Bulk of the slowdown has been predominantly due to the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 defeats in Haryana, Maharashtra due to ‘malpractices’ Day after Delhi visit, Shinde leaves for his village; Mahayuti meeting put on hold SHUBHANGI KHAPRE & MANOJ MORE MUMBAI, PUNE, NOVEMBER 29 MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 AT A meeting of the Congress WorkingCommittee(CWC)held against the backdrop of back-tobackelectoraldefeatsinHaryana andMaharashtra,theOpposition partyonFridaydecidedtolaunch a “national movement” seeking “free and fair elections” and targeted the Election Commission (EC)forits“partisanfunctioning”. The party decided not to focus solely on the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) or the demand for a returntoballotpapers,andinstead agreed to widen the ambit of its A 5.4% growth rate in Q2 has set alarm bells ringing in the government. The key question going forward is, has India entered a cyclical growth slowdown phase. The CEA said in clear certain terms that deregulation, improving state capacities for public investment, and private sector compensation policies, will pave the path for higher growth in the coming quarters. 8.1 8.6 7.8 6.7 Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi during the CWC meeting in Delhi. Anil Sharma GOVT & POLITICS TILL WHEN WILL YOU DEPEND ON NATIONAL LEADERS: KHARGE PAGE 6 movement to the “entire electoral process”. DaysafterCongresspresident Mallikarjun Kharge called for a returntoballotpapers,thelarger consensusatthemeeting,which lastedfour-and-a-half hours,was to focus on what the party believes are “electoral malpractices”atalllevels.Asectionof the Congress leadership thinks it is not prudent to blame EVMs for the losses since the party does not yet have any solid evidence CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A DAY after meeting the BJP top brass, including Union Home MinisterAmitShah,inDelhi,Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra’s caretaker Chief Minister Eknath ShindeleftforhisvillageinSatara on Friday, triggering speculation on his next move. With Shinde away, a Mahayuti meeting that was expected to be held in Mumbai to discuss government formation had to be put on hold. Sena spokesperson Uday Samant said Shinde was unwell, and denied that he was upset. “He is suffering from fever and cold...To say that he is upset will not be appropriate... We all feel that he should be a part of the Shinde visits village when he has to take big decision: Party leader government and guide us,” he said. Shinde, too, told reporters in his village of Daregaon that he had“throatpain”andwouldtalk to them later. Party leader Sanjay Shirsat, however, said that whenever Shinde has to “reflect on an importantmatter”ortakea“bigdecision”, he visits his village. “As he has gone today, he may take some big decision by tomorrow. Considering the ongoing political developments in Maharashtra,andwhatheneeds CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Anti-national’: Biren Govt hits back Telangana govt schools for SCs, STs under at BJP’s Mizo ally for targeting him scanner after girl’s death; toll 49 this year GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 29 PAGES 8, 16 EXPRESS NETWORK MoEF, Jal Shakti said CWC RESOLUTION SILENT ON EVMs no, but panel tells SC Cong widens focus to ‘entire poll process’, targets ‘partisan’ EC 5 hydro projects on Calls for national Ganga are good to go movement, says SUKRITA BARUAH EXPECT FAIR TRIAL: MEA ON HINDU MONK HELD IN BANGLADESH BANGLADESH FREEZES 17 BANK ACCOUNTS stroying a Hindu temple — to temporarily halt proceedings in the matter. Asking the mosque management committee to approach theAllahabadHighCourtagainst the trial court order, it said further proceedings before the trial court would follow the directions of the High Court. The bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice INDIA’S REAL Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent in July-September 2024, pulled down by “sluggish growth” in manufacturing and a decelerationinminingandquarrying, data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Friday showed. The 5.4 per cent growth rate in Q2 is lower than 6.7 per cent in the April-June quarter and 8.1 percentinJuly-September2023. It is at least a percentage point lower than the consensus esti- E GDP GROWTH RATES (%) Q2FY25 THE WORLD Beating cyclical ● slowdown Q1FY25 Deregulation, state capacity to spend, pvt hiring key to higher growth: CEA Q4FY24 CJI bench tells mosque management committee to approach High Court MANUFACTURING, MINING DRAG GROWTH Q3FY24 BY UNNY Sambhal mosque survey: SC halts trial court proceedings, says maintain peace `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Q2FY24 BUSINESS AS USUAL SINCE 1932 E X P L A I NE D JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES TRAINING ITS guns on the Mizo National Front (MNF) for seeking Chief Minister N Biren Singh’sresignation,theManipur government has dubbed the Mizoram ally of the BJP an “antinational party”. It also alleged that Mizoramis“currently…the primary route” for the transit of arms, ammunition and drugs between India and Myanmar. TheMNF—which,despiteits differences with the BJP on multiple matters,is stillamember of Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh the BJP-led North East DemocraticAlliance(NEDA)—is the main Opposition party in Mizoram after the Zoram People’s Movement formed the governmentinthestatelastyear. When the Manipur conflict began in May 2023, the MNF was the ruling party, with Zoramthanga as Chief Minister. The Mizos share a deep ethnic bond with the Kukis of Manipur, and the Mizoram government since the MNF time has been vocal in its support to them in their conflict with the Meiteis. In a long official press statement issued Thursday night — the day the MNF sought Biren Singh’s removal — the Manipur governmentaccusedtheMNFof “constant meddling” in Manipur’s internal affairs and said it had employed “a shrill wave of anti-national pro-Myanmar refugee propaganda and antiManipurstance”intheAssembly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 29 A YOUNG girl with big dreams, who wanted to study for as long as the family could afford it — this is how 16-year-old Sailaja’s brother remembers her. “She made our father promise that he would not insist on her getting married until she completeshighereducation.She used to talk about science and engineering courses,” says C Navneet, her brother. Her dreams came crashing after she got food poisoning at the government-run residential school where she was studying — in Wankidi Mandal in Telangana’s Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. She was among 60 students to have fallen ill after lunch on October 28 at the ST Ashram School, run by the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS). After a month of hospitalisation, she died on November 25. TSWREIS runs 268 residential educational institutions that catertostudentsfromScheduled Caste,ScheduledTribe,Backward Sailaja, 16, was among 60 students who fell ill after lunch at school on Oct 28 Classes,andminoritycommunities. The schools are under intensescrutinyafterthedeathsof 49 students over the course of this year — 30 from suicide, five duetofoodpoisoning,and14because of other illnesses. But it is Sailaja’s death that has perhaps shaken the system the most, with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who also holds the education portfolio, pulling upDistrictCollectorsandeducation officers. Thestategovernmenthasordered the setting up of committees to address incidents of food CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 As India play PM’s XI today, an Aussie quick recalls Sachin wicket in ’91 EXPRESSINAUSTRALIA SRIRAM VEERA CANBERRA, NOVEMBER 29 “SACHIN TENDULKAR wasn’t such a big name then; Ravi Shastri was,” says the one-time Aussie first-class pace bowler Greg Rowell with a laugh. A successful lawyer and Cricket Australia official in his mid-50s now,heistalkingaboutthe1991 Prime Minister’s XI game at ManukaOval,wherethecurrent India team is set to play the warm-up game from Saturday. Rowell, 23 then, and looking tobreakintotheAustralianteam, finishedthegamewithflattering figures of 7 for 27, including the wicketsof TendulkarandShastri. Like now, India had played just oneTestbeforethatPM’sXIgame then and the 18-year old Tendulkar hadn’t yet scored much. But soon, hundreds at Perth and Sydney Tests would follow. “Oh, by the end of the series though, I would know who Tendulkar really was,” he says. The Prime Minister’s XI games were a big deal then in Australian cricket, with talented youngsters rubbing shoulders with seniors and having a crack at the national scene. “It was televisednationally,andforusfirstclass players, it was a game where the country saw and judged you,” Rowell recalls. In that game, apart from young Rowell, there was Shane Warne, Damien Martin, Matthew Hayden, Michael Bevan, Damien Fleming with his mullet hair style, Greg Blewett, Jamie Siddons and Tim Zoehrer. Rowell grew up in Canberra but Greg Rowell, who played in the 1991 PM’s XI match at Manuka Oval, is now a lawyer and Cricket Australia official played his cricket in Sydney as Canberracricketwasn’tbigthen. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team, too, met with Australian PM Anthony Albanese ahead of their pink-ball practice game in the capital against PM’s XI. When the PM told Virat Kohli in jest that his Perth century kept adding to the grief of Baggy Greens, Kohli is reported to have retorted cheekily, “Always gotta add some spice”. But Albanese was only following a long-held tradition. The touring team playing PM’s XI dates back to the time when Australia had the crickettragic prime minister, Robert Menzies. That was 1951, when the vastly popular West Indies team was in the country and Menzies spotted a gap in the schedule when the visitors weren’t playing a game. So he called up the Australian cricket board head and said he would liketothrowagameatCanberra, Australia’s capital and home of its parliament and politicians. “I added that it was a personal proposition, not a government matter; that I would personally guarantee the expenses, including transport of players and if any profit resulted, it wouldgoto theCanberraLegacy Club,devotedtohelpingwidows andchildrenof fallencomrades,” he is reported to have said. In 1963, even Don Bradman played for PM’s XI, years after his retirement.Incidentally,hescored four runs, the exact number he needed in his last international game to get the average of 100; backthen,hewould,ofcourse,fall foraduck.Ongettingoutin1963, BradmanreportedlytoldMenzies, “Itwouldn’thappeninathousand years!Anyway,that’smyfinalappearance at the wicket.” These games stopped after Menzies’s tenure, but another popular prime minister, Bob Hawke,revivedthefixturein1983. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2