DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ‘RESOLUTION ONLY WHEN RUSSIA, UKRAINE AT TABLE’ Trumphasclearroadmap,weworkingwith Chinatorestorepre-2020conditions:PM ‘Pak epicentre of terror, causing immense suffering not just to India but to world’ SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MARCH 16 BIG PICTURE BSPINRETREAT PAGE 16 `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 PRAISING US President Donald Trumpforhis“humility”and“resilience” and noting that he seems “far more prepared than before”,PrimeMinisterNarendra ModihassaidTrumphasa“clear roadmap in his mind with welldefinedsteps,eachonedesigned toleadhimtowardhisgoals”and that he is for “America First” while “I stand for India First”. Inawide-ranginginteraction with podcaster Lex Fridman, made public Sunday, Modi said India and China are now “working to restore conditions to how they were before 2020” — when the military standoff began along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh — and “our focus is to ensure that these differences don’t turn into disputes”. On the Russia-Ukraine war, the Prime Minister said a resolu- tion will only come when both Ukraine and Russia come to the negotiatingtable,andhecanalso tell Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a “friendly way that brother, regardless of how many people standwithyouintheworld,there will never be a resolution on the battlefield… Ukraine may hold countless discussions with their allies, but it will bear no fruit”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi with podcaster Lex Fridman. ANI Moving on security, Gabbard and others from Five Eyes join intel tsars in Delhi PM ON ROLE OF RSS, GUJARAT RIOTS, IDEA OF INDIA PAGE 5 THE WORLD U.S. STRIKES KILL 31 IN YEMEN 5 KILLED IN ATTACK IN BALOCHISTAN P 12 TARGET: 92,000 JOBS In IT policy pipeline: `23k-cr electronic subsidy scheme for value-add and jobs SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, MARCH 16 THE IT Ministry has finalised the contoursforanambitiousincentive policyfor electronic components manufacturing, with an outlayof aroundRs23,000crore, spread over six years, as the government looks to deepen domestic value addition after successfully localising smartphone assembly in the country. The components that the government is looking to target through the scheme include display modules, sub assembly camera modules, printed circuit board assemblies, lithium cell enclosures, resistors, capacitors, and ferrites, among others. Employment creation is also likely to see a major push through the scheme, with the governmenthavingsetyearlydirect job creation goals for participatingentities.“Overall,thegov- MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, MARCH 16 SET TO RETURN Sunita Williams and other astronauts greet each other after the SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station on Sunday. The mission paves the way for the return of Williams and her fellow US astronaut Butch Wilmore after nine months. PTI REPORT,PAGE12 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MARCH 16 SIGNALLING CLOSE cooperation on issues related to security, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, UK’s National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell and New Zealand’s intelligence head Andrew Hampton joined intelligence chiefs of differentcountries ata gatheringin New Delhi Sunday. Theintelligencetsars,attending a conference organised by the National Security Council Secretariat, were being hosted by National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval, R&AW chief Ravi Sinha and Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka. Both Gabbard and Powell will also attend the Raisina Dialogue, starting Monday. Organised by the Observer Research Foundation and the Ministry of External Affairs, the three-day conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who reached New Delhi CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Next big move after ● PLI scheme THE ELECTRONICS component incentive plan is a crucial next step for India as the PLI scheme for smartphones nears its sunset. Despite the latter’s success, local value addition in electronics manufacturing remains low at 15-20 per cent, with the government hoping to raise it to 40 per cent with the component subsidy plan. ernment is targeting that the schemewillhelpgenerate91,600 direct jobs over the six-year period, with annual incentive payoutsrangingfromRs2,300crore CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For 2027 UP polls, BJP names 70 unit chiefs — 2 out of 3 OBC and Brahmins PM Modi, New Zealand counterpart Luxon at Raisina Dialogue today New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is received by Union MoS S P Singh Baghel in New Delhi on Sunday. PTI E E X P L A I NE D MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES LAYINGTHEpreparatorybedrock fortheAssemblyelectionsinUttar Pradesh,whichistwoyearsaway, therulingBJPonSundayinanorganisational overhaul named 70 of the 98 district/city unit chiefs. While the party has retained Newly appointed Noida BJP chief Mahesh Chauhan celebrates on Sunday. PTI 26 unit chiefs, it did not declare the names of 28 district/city unit chiefs. Sources said that tussle among local leaders led to the partyholdingbacktheannouncement of some of the 28 names. The party said the names were declared after a twomonth-long electionprocessand the aim is to reach 50 per cent CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hafiz aide Abu Qatal, wanted for terror in J&K, killed in Pak: Official MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL & ARUN SHARMA NEW DELHI, JAMMU, MARCH 16 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE agencies have received information that Abu Qatal, a key member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba known for his involvement in several terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Saturday night in Jhelum district of Pakistan's Punjab province. Abu Qatal alias Faisal Nadeem, also known as Qatal Sindhi, was a close aide of Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and operated in the PoonchRajouri region. “We received information thathewasgunneddownbyunknown armed assailants on Saturday night while travelling with his security. A member of his security team is also learnt to have beenkilled, and we are told CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘I AM KIND OF A RANDO(M), LIKE, ABSOLUTE RANDO’ ‘Seemed so dangerous’: How Indian student at Columbia fled to Canada LUIS FERRÉ-SADURNÍ & HAMED ALEAZIZ ‘We need to not only be technologically self-reliant but also develop solutions that are disruptive and game-changing’ ABHAY KARANDIKAR SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PAGE 15 MARCH 16 THE FIRST knock at the door came eight days ago, on a Friday morning. Three federal immigration agents showed up at a Columbia University apartment searching for Ranjani Srinivasan, who had recentlylearnedherstudentvisa hadbeenrevoked.Srinivasan,an internationalstudentfromIndia, Ranjani Srinivasan’s US visa was revoked on March 5. PTI did not open the door. She was not home when the agentsshowedupagainthenext night, just hours before a former Columbia student living in campus housing, Mahmoud Khalil, was detained, roiling the university. Srinivasan packed a few belongings,lefthercatbehindwith a friend and jumped on a flight to Canada at LaGuardia Airport. When the agents returned a third time, this past Thursday night,andenteredherapartment CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 An Uttarakhand couple’s fight against rigid social structures — and the UCC PAGE 1 ANCHOR AISWARYA RAJ DEHRADUN, MARCH 16 IT’S 10 PM, and in a two-bedroom house in Haldwani, a couple in their late 20s are getting ready to take their exuberant dogs for a walk before calling it a day.“Peopleassumewearemarried because we raise dogs,” she says as she steps out. “We don’t correct them,” the man adds. On the face of it, nothing dis- Theunmarriednon-binarycouplewerethefirsttochallenge Uttarakhand’s UniformCivilCode tinguishes these two from the many couples that live around them. Except one thing: they are an unmarried non-binary couplethatare the first of threecouples challenging Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code. Aimed at regulating aspects such as marriage,divorce,inheritance, adoption, and property succession, the Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024 was passed in February last year, with the rules under it coming into effect this January. According to the government, the rules were meant to codify a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow