DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES THE WORLD GERMANY POLLS WON, MERZ FACES DIFFICULT PATH TO FORMING GOVT XI SPEAKS TO PUTIN, AFFIRMS ‘NO LIMITS’ PARTNERSHIP `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 STALLED DUE TO ELECTIONS THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF WAR InshadowofUS tariff,Indiaback totablefortrade talkswithUK,EU US joins Russia to vote against UN resolution on Ukraine war; India and China abstain UN passes resolution: 93 in favour, 18 against, 65 abstain; rejects US resolution PAGE 14 Hightariffstoprotectdomesticbusinesses fromnon-marketeconomies,saysGoyal Disputed well near Sambhal mosque on public land: UP Govt to SC THE CM & LoP, DELHI Delhi CM Rekha Gupta greets her predecessor Atishi and other members after taking oath as MLA on the first day of a special Assembly session Monday. Tashi Tobgyal MOREREPORTS,P4 Vote results are displayed at the UN headquarters. Reuters SHUBHAJIT ROY Response to the report will be filed: Masjid’s lawyers ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 THE UTTAR Pradesh government has told the Supreme Courtthatthedisputedwellnear Sambhal’s Jama Masjid is actually “situated on public land”. In a status report filed before the top court, the state said “the well...islocallyknownas‘Dharani varah koop’...” and is “situated near and not inside the disputed religious site, and as such, has no relation/connection with the mosque/disputed religious site”. “Even the disputed religious site is itself situated on public land.Itissubmittedthatthewell is a public well and is not situated anywhere inside the mosque/disputed religious site. In fact, there is no access to the subject well from inside the mosque,” the report said. Claims that the Mughal-era mosque, the Shahi Jama Masjid, was built after destroying a temple called Hari Mandir, have led to a dispute between communities over the religious site. Hearing a plea by the mosque management committee, the apex court had on January 10, 2024 stayed the execution of a “notice”, purportedly issued by Sambhal municipal authorities, regarding a well adjoining the mosque. The mosque committee contended that the public poster, which bore the name of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 FOR THE first time since Russia invadedUkrainethreeyearsago, the US voted with the Russians inanattempttoblockadraftresolutionbyUkraineattheUNthat called for a “de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution” of the war against Ukraine. The resolution was passed with the Europeans and the G7 (minus the Americans) voting in favour of the draft resolution. India abstained along with China, one of Russia’s closest allies since the war broke out. The final score: 93 countries, includingmajorEuropeancountries like Germany, UK, France and the G7 (minus the US) voted in favour; 18, including Russia, US, Israel and Hungary voted against; and 65, including India, China and Brazil, abstained. That’s lower than previous votes,whichsawover140nations condemn Russia’s aggression. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In 5 yrs since Covid, flip in Rlys revenue from AC, non-AC In 2019-20, non-AC contributed 58%, now just 41%; AC up from 36% to 54% DHEERAJ MISHRA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 IN THE five years since Covid-19 pandemic,therevenuesfromAC class and all Second Class tickets including Sleeper Class (which offer a berth), have more or less flipped, according to the analysis of Budget documents by The Indian Express. In 2019-20, revenues from passengers travelling on AC (AC First Class, AC 2-Tier, AC 3-Tier and AC Chair Car), were just over one-third or 36 per cent of the total passenger revenues of Rs 50,669 crore. That from passen- gers travelling non-AC (excluding sub-urban) accounted for a bulk of 58 per cent. This trend has almost reversed now. In 2024-25, those travelling ACclassesintheRailwaysareexpected to contribute 54 per cent of total passenger revenues of Rs 80,000 crore. And those in nonACclasses(excludingsub-urban) are estimated to contribute just 41 per cent. The non-AC classes include Second Class Mail/ Express, whichrunlongdistancesandare alsocalled General Class, Second Class Ordinary, which run CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 REPORT ON DELHI POLLUTION SET TO BE TABLED IN ASSEMBLY CAG flags ‘dodgy pollution OKs, faulty air monitors, parking funds’ JATIN ANAND & MALLICA JOSHI NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 AIR QUALITY monitoring stations located near trees and roads, which possibly skews readings; Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCC) being issued at the same time for two vehicles, and in some cases within a minute of each other; and no account of money collected in taxes to build parking facilities in the city — these are among the findings of a ComptrollerandAuditorGeneral (CAG) report on measures taken to control air pollution in Delhi, The Indian Express has learnt. The report, Prevention and Mitigation of Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi, 2021 will be tabled in Delhi Assembly in the ongoing session. It is among the 14CAGreportsthattheBJPhasaccused the AAP of “suppressing” during its tenure. Former AAP ChiefMinisterAtishihascalledthe Tunnel rescue ops hit new challenge: Wall of mud and water BJP's allegations an attempt to mislead, stating that she had forwarded the reports to the AssemblySpeakerbeforetheelections. The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, ending AAP's 10-year run in power. According to sources, the CAG report states that a September 2020 audit of 13 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) under the Delhi Pollution Control Committee shows that CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY IN A major shift approved by its governing body, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will introduce two levels — standard and advanced — for Science and Social Science subjects in Class 9 from next year. AsfirstreportedbyTheIndian Express on December 4, 2024, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 What it ● means FOR THE board exam, there could be different question papers for the two levels, or a common question paper with additional questions for ‘advanced’ students. NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 THE DEPARTMENT of Expenditure (DoE) has asked the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD),headedbyShivrajSingh Chouhan, to absorb two autonomous bodies under its charge while cutting the annual outlay of a third to just a fraction of its previous allotment in the Union Budget — despite requests from the ministry to reconsider, The Indian Express has learnt. BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 24 WHAT HE remembers vividly is theall-consumingdarknessthat surrounded him on the evening that he, then 14, stepped into a dimlylitroominnorthKashmir’s Sopore. A single oil lantern hung in one of its corners and under it allegedly sat the “pir baba (faith healer)”AjazAhmadSheikhwith arosaryinhand—“mesmerising and pious-looking”. “It was a dark room, and the darkest night of my life,” he says, recounting the horrors of that night nearly 23 years ago. As he sat silently in awe and fear, he wasallegedlygiveninstructions: “He said: ‘I will summon the djinn now but let me explain to you the process first. I will put myhandonyourheadandwhen I jerk it three times, look down, don’ttryto lookup,thefire in his (djinn’s) eye may burn you’.” 9 YRS TO JUSTICE First complaint March 2, 2016 Chargesheet June 16, 2017 Framing of charges October 10, 2017 Conviction February 17, 2025 Sentencing February 18, 2025 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24 AS US President Donald Trump moves to upend the world trade order with tariff threats against allies and rivals alike, New Delhi Monday re-started negotiations for two long-stalled, big-ticket trade deals with Britain’s new Labour Party-ledadministration — just days aheadof President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to India for trade talks. After an eight-month pause due to general elections in India, the UK and European parliamentary elections, New Delhi and London announced plans to HYDERABAD, FEBRUARY 24 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Shivraj Singh Chouhan; units deal with tech support, research Accordingtorecords,theDoE has asked for the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) and National Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (NRLPS) to be merged with MoRD by March-end, sayingit“maybedifficult”torelease Now 37, he was one of the prosecution witnesses in the caseandallegedlyoneof theearliest victims of Sheikh, who was sentencedto14yearsof rigorous imprisonment on February 17 for rape. The conviction, by a courtinKashmir’sSopore,intwo casesof rapecameeightyearsafter one of the victims broke his silence and recounted his ordeal to his father. The court had also ordered police to file separate cases for other victims — including his. The story of his abuse al- 2021-22 7.02 2022-2023 8.96 2023-2024 8.41 2024-2025* 5.43 INDIA’S EXPORTS ($ bn) TO UK 2021-22 10.46 2022-2023 11.41 2023-2024 12.92 2024-2025* 9.60 Source: Commerce and Industry Ministry *(Apr-Nov) PM TARGETS LALU: ‘THESE JUNGLE RAJ WAALE BADMOUTH MAHA KUMBH’ SREENIVAS JANYALA & RAHUL V PISHARODY THE RESCUE operation at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, where eight men have been trapped since Saturday morning, has become more difficult with heavy seepage of water and mud, rescuers told The Indian Express. NDRF's 10th Battalion Commandant Prasanna Kumar told The Indian Express on INDIA’S IMPORTS FROM UK ($ bn) GOVT & POLITICS No contact with eight trapped inside PAGE 6 LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI At the site of the tunnel collapse in Nagarkurnool, Telangana, on Monday. PTI th 30 Foundation Day on Tuesday, 25 February, 2025 th any more funds for the two autonomous bodies. Atthesametime,theDoEhas slashed the budget of MoRD’s National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), which is based in Hyderabadandfunctionsmainly asathinktank,toRs1lakhforthe financial year 2025-26 from Rs 73.68 crore in revised estimates of the 2024-25 fiscal and Rs 75.69 crore in 2023-24. Amongthefourautonomous bodies underMoRD, onlyBharat Chief Guest Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena Lieutenant Governor, Delhi Shri Anil Shastri Former Union Minister & Chairman-BOG, LBSIM will preside CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Faith healer’s victim opens up about decades-old trauma: ‘Tell no one... the djinn will destroy you’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR RAVI DUTTA MISHRA CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CBSE to start 2 levels of Finance over-rules Rural, calls for Science, Social Science merger, budget cuts in 3 key units in Class 9 next year HARIKISHAN SHARMA ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal meets UK’s Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in Delhi. ANI legedly began in 2002 with the financial losses his maternal uncle suffered. “My uncle had gone to pray inavillagemosquewhenhesaw the faith healer and was immediately taken by him — his personality,hissenseof dressing,his smile and his manners. Someone told him the pir could help to find a solution to his problems,” he says. Some days later, his uncle headed to Sheikh’s residence in a village on the foothills of a low CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SALIENT FEATURES » » » » » » Top 15 Private B-Schools of India 2025 by Times, Business Today, Outlook, The Week & Fortune India. Highly Qualified Faculty Members with Ph.D. Consistent Strong Placements. 12 Terminal Bloomberg Lab & Analytics Lab with SPSS, SAS & EViews. State of the Art Infrastructure & highly Resourceful Library. Separate Hostel facility for boys and girls. 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