DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ORDER IN LOTTERY KING SANTIAGO MARTIN CASE The Indian Express wishes its readers A Merry Christmas SC red line for ED: Can’t copy, access content from laptop, mobile phones Protect fundamental right to privacy, petitioners pleaded RITU SARIN BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Army vehicle falls into gorge in Poonch, five soldiers killed EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, DECEMBER 24 FIVE SOLDIERS were killed and several injured when an Army vehicle skidded off the road and rolled down a nearly 350-foot deep gorge in Poonch district of JammuandKashmironTuesday. Confirming the deaths, Nagrota-based White Knight Corps said in a post on X: “All ranksof #WhiteKnightCorpsextend their deepest condolences on the tragic loss of five brave soldiers in a vehicle accident during operational duty in the #Poonch sector... Rescue operations are ongoing, and the injured personnel are receiving medical care.” A defence spokesperson said thecauseof theaccidentwasbeingascertainedbut“possiblythe driver lost control at the turn of the road”. The accident occurred in the Gharoa area when a convoyof sixvehicleswasonitsway to a forward post in the evening. “One2.5-tonvehicle,partof a convoy of six vehicles, while moving on the operational track near Poonch, went off the road into a nallah. Operational track is on the home side of the LoC fence,” the defence spokesperson said in a statement. “A terroristinitiatedincidentpositively ruled out after confirming from ground sources. Own post approximately130metresfromthe incident site and backup vehicle was barely 40 metres away.” On November 4, a soldier died and another was injured when their vehicle fell into a gorge in Rajouri’s Kalakote area. NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 IN A SIGNIFICANT order that could prompt a rethink by probe agenciesbeforetheyseektoconfiscate mobile phones or laptops of citizensforallegedcrimes, the Supreme Court has restrained the Enforcement Directorate (ED) fromaccessingandcopying content from electronic devices seized during searches conductedon“lotteryking”Santiago Martin,hisrelativesandemployees in November. ED searched Santiago Martin’s premises in Nov The searches were conducted by the ED in 22 places in six states following a complaint by Meghalaya Police, which al- leged that Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Limited had “illegally” captured the lottery business in the state. The searches had yielded Rs 12.41 crore in cash. Santiago Martin’s company Future Gaming was the single largest donor of electoral bonds, having purchased Rs 1,368 crore inbondsbetween2019and2014. It donated across party lines — Trinamool Congress was its biggestbeneficiaryatRs542crore, DMK came a close second at Rs 503 crore. YSR Congress CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN WHAT is expected to be the first high-level contact between the incoming Trump 2.0 administration and the Indian government in its third term, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to meet the new Trump team in the US. On a six-day visit to the US from December 24-29, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DECEMBER 24 AJOURNALISTinKeralahasbeen sent a notice by police demanding that he produce his mobile phone aspartof an investigation into a newsreport thathe wrote, prompting the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) on Tuesday to take out protest marches to the offices of the statepolicechief andvariousdistrict police chiefs. The news report in question, whichappearedonJuly28inthe Malayalam daily Madhyamam, wasaboutanallegedleakof data of job applicants at the state CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahead of Budget, PM calls for deeper and bolder reforms for higher growth DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 FAREWELL TO THE MASTER Actor Naseeruddin Shah was among those who paid tribute to veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who was cremated with full state honours at Shivaji Park Crematorium in Mumbai on Tuesday. Pradip Das REPORT,PAGE12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the meeting with economists, Tuesday. PTI AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 WITH JUST OVER a month left for Union Budget 2025-26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told economists Tuesday that deeper reforms were required for the economy to grow faster. Inameetingorganisedbythe Niti Aayog, the Prime Minister stressed on the need to undertake new and bold reforms and invited suggestions from the economists. The meeting comes amid slowing of economic growth, tepid urban consumption, persisting external volatility, and the threat of high tariffs further impeding world trade and stoking global inflation. India’s GDP rose by 5.4% in July-September, the lowest rate in seven quarters, as weaker expansions in manufacturing and consumption hurt the economy. Sources said the ideas put forward by the economists ranged from land and labour reforms to states taking the lead in easingregulationsthatareaconstraining factor for businesses, sources said. Economists also spoke on the pace of fiscal consolidation,theneedtolowerpersonal income-tax rates, and tax incentives for companies employing women. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaishankar will start his engagements by meeting the outgoing Biden administration officials. He is likely to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NSA JakeSullivanandotherseniorofficials from the Biden team. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is already in the US, and, togetherwithIndianambassador to theUSVinayKwatra,metDeputy SecretariesofStateKurtCampbell andRichardVermatosetupsome of these conversations. E Looking at the road ● ahead INDIA WILL look to not just insulate but deepen its ties with the US, especially those important from the strategic perspective, once the change of guard in the US is completed. Former Home Secy Bhalla is Governor of Manipur, Arif Khan goes to Bihar Former Army Chief Gen V K Singh appointed Mizoram Governor Economists say cut I-T rates to boost demand, incentivise hiring of women E X P L A I NE D NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 SHAJU PHILIP NITI AAYOG INVITES ECONOMISTS Laptop manufacturing: Import nods likely to be linked to local capacity RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 TO REDUCE import dependence andboostdomesticmanufacturing of laptops and other IT hardware items, the Union government may link import permissions to domestic capacity expansion going forward,The Indian Express has learnt. The government is also considering the introduction of a credit system for such imports, with a final decision likely once domestic production in India As Biden makes way for Trump, Jaishankar goes to US for talks on deepening relations SHUBHAJIT ROY Police notice to Kerala journalist for phone over report triggers a furore Sources said the idea behind thevisitistoensureIndia-USties are not impacted by the polarised political atmosphere in the US. Jaishankar said at an event in New Delhi that Trump has had a positive political view of India and the country is in a much more advantageous position than many others to build “deeper” relations with his administration. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 reaches a critical threshold. The strategy, a source said, mirrors the approach that successfullyattractedinvestmentin the tyre manufacturing sector where the government temporarily eased import restrictions on certain tyre categories, contingent on establishing local manufacturing facilities. In 2020, the import of ‘New Pneumatic Tyres’ was classified under the ‘restricted category’. However, in 2023, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry relaxed the guidelines for tyre manufacturers who committed EXPRESS NETWORK to investing in India through “brownfield or greenfield projects for manufacturing tyres within the restricted category”. As a result, global tyre manufacturers such as Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear pledged investments worth overRs 1,100 crore in India. MANIPUR GENERAL VKSINGH MIZORAM ARIFMD KHAN BIHAR HARIBABU KAMBHAMPATI ODISHA RAJENDRAV ARLEKAR KERALA Meitei and Kuki populations in the state has continued unabated. Bhalla, who retired in August this year, will be expected to use his experience as Union Home Secretary to check the violence and find a way to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IRAN ENERGY CRISIS: INDUSTRIES FORCED TO SHUT DOWN AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHTS RESUME AFTER BRIEF HALT P 20 The use of import permissionstopromotedomesticmanufacturing in “strategic sectors” arises as India cannot increase CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cong’s dissent on NHRC chief pick: ‘Ignored consensus, balance of caste’ NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 PAGES 12, 16 AJAYKUMAR BHALLA THE WORLD India’s commitment to the WTO DEEPTIMAN TIWARY BANK HEIST: TWO SUSPECTS GUNNED DOWN IN LUCKNOW STAMPEDE: ALLU ARJUN APPEARS BEFORE POLICE THE GOVERNMENT on Tuesday announced new gubernatorial appointments, including former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Governor of Manipur and former Army Chief GeneralVKSinghasGovernorof Mizoram. Among the other appointments by President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday are: Kerala GovernorArif MohammedKhan as Governor of Bihar; Mizoram Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati as Governor of Odisha; and Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as Governor of Kerala. The choice of Bhalla as Manipur Governor is significant astheCentrehasbeenstruggling to control the ethnic violence in thestateforoverone-and-a-half years. Bhalla was Union Home Secretary when the violence began on May 3, 2023. Despite the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces and Army personnel in significant numbers, violence between the NEW GOVERNORS CALLING THE selection of the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)“apre-determinedexercise that ignored the established tradition of mutual consultation and consensus”, the Congress has accused the Narendra Modi government of pushing the appointment through its majority in the selection committee and disregarding India’s diversity in the process. The Congress made these allegationsinadissentnotesigned by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to theselectioncommittee that shortlists and recommends names for the NHRC chairperson to the President. On Monday, the government announced the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice V Ramasubramanian as the new NHRC chairperson. Arguingthatwhilemeritwas the primary criterion in selecting the chairperson and members of the NHRC, the party said “maintaining a balance that reflects the regional, caste, community,andreligiousdiversityof the nation is equally important”. The Congress note said the balance of caste and community CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Almost 4 decades after ban, The Satanic Verses is on a bookshelf, in a store PAGE 1 ANCHOR SOHINI GHOSH & MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 24 NEARLY 37 years after its import wasbannedbytheIndiangovernmentamidmuchsoundandfury, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses has made a quiet return. The book under ‘Limited Stock’isnowondisplayatDelhi’s prominent Bahrisons Booksellers. The Khan Market bookstore has posted a message about its latest acquisition on X, and including a mentionof the controversysurroundingthebook.“The Satanic Verses is now in stock at Bahrisons Booksellers! This groundbreakingandprovocative novel has captivated readers for decadeswithitsimaginativestorytelling and bold themes. It has alsobeenatthecentreof intense global controversy since its release, sparking debates on free expression, faith, and art,” it posted Tuesday. On August12, 2022, Rushdie, facing an Iranian fatwa over the book, was stabbed multiple times by 24-year-old LebaneseAmerican Hadi Matar who was quotedashavingjustifiedtheattack saying Rushdie had “attacked Islam.” The sale of the book, which is available in Delhi only at Bahrisons for now, has begun a month-and-a-half after the Delhi High Court noted in response to a plea that it has no other option “except to presume that no such notification (about a ban) exists”. Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses on display at Bahrisons Booksellers in Delhi’s Khan Market. Amit Mehra This was after government authorities failed to produce the saidOctober5,1988,notification banning the import of The Satanic Verses. The ban had been ordered by the Rajiv Gandhi government at a time when it was trying to balance Muslim sentiments and a rising Ayodhya temple movement. Two years earlier, the government had passed a law overturning a Supreme Court order for alimony to be paid to Shah Bano, under pressure from some Muslimquarters,whocalleditintervention in Islamic personal law. Facing backlash over this fromHindugroups,theRajivgovernment had facilitated removal of locks to a structure containing idolsatthedisputedRamtemple site. The temple movement that surgedafterthiseventuallypaved thewayfortheBJP’smeteoricrise. BeforeTheSatanicVerses row, the Rajiv government was left further bruised by the Bofors scandal and an anti-defamation Bill, which was criticised for trying to censor the media. Finally, under increasing calls from Muslim clerics, the government banned the book on October 5, 1988, via a Customs order. Later, it would use that as a fig-leaf, saying it was not the book that was banned, but just its import. Among those who castigated Rajiv for the “capitulation” was Rushdie himself, who wrote an open letter to the then PM. OnTuesday,asthebookmade a return, there was conspicuous silence from the political class. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Rajiv government, said a few years ago that the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2