eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE NEWDELHI,LATECITY DECEMBER22,2024 18+4PAGES,`7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, ` 15 SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JUSTICE LOKUR APPOINTED HEAD OF UN INTERNAL JUSTICE COUNCIL ASSAM ALERTS: N-E INSURGENTS USING RHINO POACHING TO FUND TERROR PAGES 5, 9 IAS officer puts father’s books on top in list for panchayat libraries in Bihar Bihar govt aims to provide books to all panchayat libraries. Ashutosh Kumar Pandey SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, DECEMBER 21 FOR BIHAR IAS officer Mihir Kumar Singh, his father’s is the last word — literally. The former Panchayati Raj Additional Chief Secretary has landedthestategovernmentina spotbyrecommending36books written by his father Jagdish Prasad Singh for panchayat libraries across the state. Only ‘Rashtrakavi’ Ramdhari Singh Dinkarhasmorebooks,47,inthe list cleared by the Additional Chief Secretary. A letter issued in June this year, by Kalpana Kumari, Under Secretaryof theBiharPanchayati Raj Department, to Panchayati Rajofficialsof alldistricts,cleared the list that contained recommendations for 303 books in all for libraries at 8,053 panchayats across the state. APanchayatiRajDepartment official said that the books were yet to be purchased. “It was about to be done, but since the minister has now called for a review of the book list, it has been put on hold.” Prasad, who retired as professorof EnglishataGayacollege and died earlier this year, was awarded a Padma Shri in 2013 for his “contribution to the field of education”. Unlike other authors,noneof hisbooksinthelist — all in Hindi — has won an award. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SPOTLIGHT ON SPYWARE COMPANIES US court holds Israeli company NSO liable for targeting WhatsApp users Hearing on damages NSO owes to WhatsApp to begin in March VENKAT ANANTH BENGALURU, DECEMBER 21 IN A significant ruling on Friday, a United States District Court heldIsraelitechnologycompany NSO Group liable for targeting the devices of 1,400 WhatsApp users.NSOGroupisthemakerof the Pegasus spyware allegedly used by its government clients to infect the devices of several WhatsApp users, including activists, journalists, and other members of the civil society. The case now moves the de- Meta-owned WhatsApp had sued NSO Group in 2019 liberations to determine damages NSO owes WhatsApp, which is set to begin on March 3, 2025, in Oakland, California. The ruling, however, does not ad- dress the rights of individuals whose phones were hacked. Friday’s ruling came five years after the Meta-owned WhatsApp sued the NSO Group in the US District Court of North California in October 2019. In its ruling, the court concluded that inexploitingabuginWhatsApp, NSOGrouphadviolatedsections of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a federal cybersecuritylawthatcriminalises unauthorised access to computers, networks and other digital information, and a similar state CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 300 of 1,400 users from India, why ruling may re-open tapping debate SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 21 NOW THAT a US court has indictedNSOGroupandheld it liable for damages, this may have an impact on the processes in the Indian courts and reopen the debate on state surveillance and privacy of individuals in Parliament. Of the 1,400 WhatsApp users targeted worldwide, it was reported in 2021 that Pegasus was used on more than 300 Indian mobilenumbers,including that of two serving ministers in the Narendra Modi government, three Opposition leaders, one constitutional CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt amends poll rules to restrict public inspection of electronic records Cong demands reversal of decision, says bid to keep public in dark DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 21 THE UNION Government Friday amended the Conduct of Election Rules to limit public inspection of election papers to only those documents specified in the provisions. This amendment, sources in the government told The Sunday Express, would effectively clarify that electronic footage of the NOW, ONLY election papers mentioned under different provisions of the Conduct of Election Rules (like nomination papers) would be open to public scrutiny. Papers available to candidates, like Form 17C, continue to remain available to them. The tweak would effectively exclude CCTV footage or any electronic record of the poll process from public inspection. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and state BJP chief and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule in Nagpur on Saturday. PTI Fadnavis retains Home, Ajit Finance, Shinde gets Urban, Works, and Housing NAGPUR, DECEMBER 21 THE BJP-LED Mahayuti government in Maharashtra announced the portfolios of ministers Saturday, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis keeping Home, a ministry that Eknath Shinde, his predecessor and now Deputy CM, was keen to have. Fadnavis also kept Energy (excluding Renewable Energy); Law & Judiciary; General Administration Department; Information & Publicity; and Departments/Subjectsnotallotted to any other minister. ShivSenaleaderShinde,who was eyeing Home, which Fadnavis had as Deputy CM in the previous government, got What the tweak ● does 4-PAGE PULLOUT MAHARASHTRA PORTFOLIOS ANNOUNCED ALOK DESHPANDE E E X P L A I NE D EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM At SCREEN Live, the Deol brothers discuss their blockbuster year, family legacy, camps in Bollywood threeportfolios:UrbanDevelopment; Housing; and Public Works (Public Enterprises). The other Deputy CM, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, will keep Finance & Planning, and also handle State Excise. The portfolio allocation came hours after the weeklong Winter Session of the state Assembly concluded here. And days after the Fadnavis Government inducted 39 ministers on December 15, although with a rider — their tenure will be for two-and-half years, and their continuance will depend on a review. Many in the ruling alliance feel while the review will fix accountability andputpressureon the ministers to perform after the impressive mandate in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lower GST on food delivery, insurance deferred, many rates 5 KILLED AS CAR RAMS XMAS MARKET ED request for sanction to move on popcorn new row 7 Indians among injured against Kejriwal gets L-G’s nod in Germany attack; Delhi CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM IN KUWAIT Prime Minister Narendra Modi being received by Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah in Kuwait City on Saturday. PM Modi is on a two-day visit to the Gulf country. PTI REPORT, PAGE5 AANCHAL MAGAZINE JAISALMER, DECEMBER 21 says senseless, horrific SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 21 WITH SEVEN Indian nationals among more than 200 injured when a man, identified as a “Saudi dissident and exMuslim,” rammed his car into a busy Christmas market Friday in Magdeburg, Germany, India has condemned the attack as “horrific and senseless”. Fivepeoplewerekilled inthe attack. THE WORLD SUSPECT ARRESTED, ‘EX-MUSLIM’ SAUDI DOC WHO CRITICISED IMMIGRANTS PAGE 12 “We condemn the horrific and senseless attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. Several precious CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FormerCM'splea againstchargesheet cognizanceis alreadypending EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 21 DELHILTGOVERNORVKSaxena has recommended that the EnforcementDirectorate(ED)be granted sanction to prosecute former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalintheexcisepolicycase, officials of the Lt Governor’s Secretariat said Saturday. Arvind Kejriwal with AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Avadh Ojha in New Delhi, Saturday. PTI Granted bail by the Supreme Court in separate cases filed by theEDandCBIrelatingtotheexcise policy, Kejriwal, who leads the ruling AAP in Delhi, has a plea pending before the Delhi High Court in which he has sought quashing of a trial court orderthattookcognizanceof the ED chargesheet without prior sanction for his prosecution. Reacting to the ED move to now obtain prosecution sanction, theAAPcalleditan attempt to“politicallymalign”itsgovernment. “The so-called liquor scam investigation has dragged on for twoyears,harassing 500people, filing 50,000 pages of documents, and conducting over 250 raids, and not a single penny has CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE GOODS AND Services Tax (GST)Councilinits55thmeeting held in Jaisalmer Saturday deferred a decision to lower the tax rate on health and life insurance premiums, and food delivery chargesof e-commerceaggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato. It also discussed inclusion of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under GST, but deferred a decision since most states were not in favouroflosingtheirrighttotaxit. What, however, caught attention was the clarification the Council offered onwhy different varieties of popcorn i.e., regular, salted and spiced, and caramelised,carrydifferentrates Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS Pankaj Chaudhary in Jaisalmer. PTI RELATED,P11 of GST. This led to some political backlash too, with Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh terming it as “absolutely unbelievable” and “sheer madness”. TheCouncildiscussedthetax rate on ready-to-eat popcorn, which is mixed with salt and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Forged letter’, no culprit: Years on, Kerala woman’s death in UAE a mystery PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DECEMBER 21 ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2005, Smitha George, then 25, newly married and in a foreign land, vanished withoutatrace.But shepurportedlyleftbehindaletterintheflat in Dubai from where she went missing, saying she was leaving tojoinherlover.Adecadelater,in February 2015, with no trace of Smitha,theKeralaPolicearrested her husband Valiyaparambil Antony,accusinghimofallegedly forging the letter and allegedly torturingSmithaandcausingher disappearance. Now, almost another decade later, comes another twist: last month, a court in Kochi acquitted Antony of both the charges against him. The CBI court also took note of a letter from the UAE —sent in July this year in response to the CBI’s Letter Rogatory — which said that an unidentified body of a woman had been found in a Sharjah hospital morgue on September 6, 2006, a year after Smitha went missing. The UAE letter said Smitha’s family had been shown photographs of the body and they had “confirmed 100%” that it was hers. The letter Smitha George went missing in 2005; her husband V Antony was cleared of all charges by a Kerala court in November also said forensic tests conductedonthebody—whichwas buried on November 22, 2006 — had confirmed that the person died of “natural” causes. “This report clears the mystery since the missing victim did not die on September 3, 2005,” the court of the chief judicial magistrate court in Kochi said while clearing Antony, who had come out on bail after 80 days in jail. But the questions remained. Where was Smitha between September3,2005,when she reportedly went missing, and September 6, 2006, when her body turned up in a morgue in Sharjah, around 30 km from Dubai? If the body in the morgue wasindeedhers,howdidshedie? And was there another person in Antony and Smitha’s marriage? A body in a morgue Nineteen years ago, on September 1, 2005, Smitha flew to Dubai on a 55-day visa to join her husband Antony, then workedwithamarineengineering firm in Dubai. On September 5, Antony complained to the India consulate in Dubai that his wife had gone missing two days ago, on September 3. He also claimed to have recovered the letter in which she purportedly said she was leaving him for her lover. Police said he also sent a copy of the letter to Smitha’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2