DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BY UNNY FIRST VISIT BY MODI TO SANGH HEADQUARTERS SINCE 2014 RSSisthemodernAkshayvatanditis energisingnation’sconsciousness:PM At Deekshabhoomi, says committed to work harder for Babasaheb’s India Maharashtra: Explosion in Beed mosque, two arrested SAGAR RAJPUT “continuously energising Indian cultureand the consciousnessof our nation”. ThePrimeMinister,whoalso visited Deekshabhoomi where Dr B R Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956, hailed it as “a symbol of social justice and empowering the downtrodden”. “Generations of Indians will remain grateful to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar for giving us a Constitution that ensures our ANKITA DESHKAR & SHUBHANGI KHAPRE NAGPUR, MUMBAI, MARCH 30 DESCRIBING THE RSS as a “vatvriksh” (banyan tree) and an “Akshayvat” (eternal, sacred banyan tree), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first visit to the Sangh headquarters in Nagpur after entering office 11 years ago, said Sunday that it is Collegium substitute yes, but control MAOISM SURGED DUE must not be in hands of Govt: Leaders EXPRESS NETWORK TO CONG’S POLICIES, OUR GOVT SCHEMES BROUGHT PEACE: PM PAGE 6 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Sunday. PTI dignity and equality. Our Government has always walked on the path shown by Pujya Babasaheb and we reiterate our commitment to working even harder to realise the India he CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, MARCH 30 TWOPERSONSwerearrestedon Sunday, hours after they allegedly planted gelatin sticks inside a mosque in Maharashtra’s Beeddistricttriggeringanexplosion. Although no one was injured in theincident, thelow-intensity explosion caused cracks in the structure. Police identified the two suspects as Vijay Rama Gavhane and Shriram Ashok Sagde. They said that after the blast occurred around2.30am,Gavhaneposted a video of him holding gelatin sticks on his Instagram account, leadingtohisandSagde’sarrests. According to the FIR, a procession was organised in Beed’s ArdhamaslaSaturdayeveningin which people from all communities participated. However, around 9.30 pm, the two suspects arrived at the spot and started making communal remarks, the FIR said. They also raised questions over the construction of the mosque and tried to incite communal tension. But the situation was soon CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 11 coaches of Bengaluru-Kamakhya Mohanlal apologises as ‘Empuraan’ row rages, train derail in Odisha, one killed CM slams Sangh Parivar SUJIT BISOYI BHUBANESWAR, MARCH 30 SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 30 AT LEAST one person died and several people were injured on Sunday after 11 coaches of the Bangalore-Kamakhya Superfast Express derailed near Nergundi station in Odisha’s Cuttack. Sources in the East Coast Railway (ECoR) said the derailment occurred at 11.54 am. ECoR officials identified the dead passenger as West Bengal resident Subhankar Roy. A woman passenger suffered serious injuries and two men were being treated for minor injuries, officials said. Several others who were injured were given first aid at the site of the derailment. The Railways announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next of Derailment took place at 11.54 am in Cuttack dist ChennaiKolkata Hwy Nergundi station Cuttack junction Mahanadi river Amid judge row, Cong for a Bill on judicial accountability, but wary of NJAC revival Rescue work at the site of the train derailment in Cuttack district, Sunday. PTI kin of the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh for those who suffered serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. ACTOR MOHANLAL on Sunday expressed “sincere regret for the mental distress caused to many I hold dear” by the political and socialthemesof hislatestmovie, Empuraan, which has caused a political storm in Kerala. The Malayalam movie, which hit screens worldwide on Thursday, has angered several Hindutva organisations and leaders, who accused it of maligning Hindutva and trying to please “anti-national elements” with its references to the 2002 Sincere regret: Actor Mohanlal Gujarat riots and other scenes. At the same time, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post that he had seen the movie and accused the Sangh Parivar of threatening the filmmakers into making changes in the film. “It has come out that the filmmakers were forced to edit the film under pressure. This atmosphere of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MARCH 30 AMID THE furore over the alleged discovery of wads of currency notes at the New Delhi home of a High Court judge which rekindled the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) debate, the Congress leadership has signalled that it is in favour of a Bill on judicial accountability. At the same time, it is wary of backing anypieceof legislationthatgives the government control over judicial appointments. TheCongressbackedtheNJAC Bill in 2014, when Parliament passed it. However, theSupreme Court struck down the Act in October 2015. This March 21, after Congress MP Jairam Ramesh raisedtheissueoftheallegeddiscoveryofcashfromtheresidence of Justice Yashwant Varma, VicePresident and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar referred to the NJAC Act, saying, “That historic legislation endorsed by this Parliament with unprecedented consensual sup- E E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ● The Cong dilemma THERE WAS near unanimity in Parliament on the Bill to create the NJAC and replace the Collegium system which parties said was not so transparent on appointments to higher judiciary. But given their hostility now with the BJP, the Congress and others in the Opposition are wary of replacing the Collegium with a system whose controls are with the party in power. port unknown to parliamentary historyof thiscountrydealtwith the malaise very severely.” Justice Varma has since been transferred from the Delhi High Court to his parent High Court in Allahabad. On March 25, Dhankhar CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Corruption, misconduct, partisanship: Judiciary hasn’t responded to these issues institutionally... that’s disturbing’ KAPIL SIBAL, RAJYA SABHA MP PAGE 14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Piazza and park to shopping centre: Delhi to soon get its riverfront near Sarai Kale Khan RESTORATION AND REJUVENATION OF YAMUNA FLOODPLAINS NEW DELHI, MARCH 30 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD TRUMP: WILL BOMB IRAN IF IT DOES NOT SIGN NUKE DEAL P 12 WEST BENGAL BJP TEAM ON WAY TO MOTHABARI STOPPED BY POLICE PAGE 3 Yamuna river 12 7 9 NIG DELHI WILL get its long-awaited Yamuna riverfront at the site of the erstwhile Millennium Park Bus Depot near Sarai Kale Khan. A central piazza, a topiary park, a local shopping centre along the lines of that in the Sunder Nursery, along with two parking areas and a river promenade will come up over an area of 25 hectares, sources said. The project, part of Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) plans to redevelop the 22-km riverstretchbetweenWazirabad barrage and the Okhla barrage, will come up on a 200-metre wide stretch. Riverine grass plantation 7 8 8 9 2 5 11 10 3 6 4 1 3 6 2 3 11 NH-24 MALLICA JOSHI 3 Ring Road 1. Entry from Ring Road 7. Steps to Bund 2. Exit 8. Stramps 3. Drop off 9. LSC (Local Shopping Centre) 4. Arrival Zone 10. Lawn 5. Central Piazza 11. Parking 6. Planting Beds and Topiaries 12. Existing I&FC Bund SITE AREA: hectares approximately 25 LOCATION: Near Sarai Kale Khan ■■Parking reserved for local shopping centre Before rolling out Green Credits, MoEF sidestepped Law queries NIKHIL GHANEKAR NEW DELHI, MARCH 30 THE ENVIRONMENT Ministry’s ambitious Green Credit Programme (GCP), which aims to enhance the country’s forest and tree cover and encourage “pro-planet actions”, was rolled out despite apprehensions from YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW E AN XPRESS RTI APPLICATION the Law Ministry, records obtained by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI) Act show. A week before the Environment Ministry notified the Green Credit Rules on October 12, 2023, the Legislative Department under the Ministry of LawandJusticecautionedthat provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, “perhaps” did not support the business CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Patna women send powerful message, win key posts in students’ union polls PAGE 1 ANCHOR SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, MARCH 30 ONE WINNER wants to ensure “quality education”; another wantstofightagainst“favouritism and corruption”; and, the third wants “digital libraries” to be established in “every department”. Their goals may be different (Left) ABVP’s Maithily Mrinalini elected PUSU president; (top left) Independent Saloni Raj is general secy; NSUI’s Soumya Srivastava is treasurer but together, they have already deliveredapowerfulmessage.It’s for the first time that three women have won top posts in elections held for the Patna University Students’ Union (PUSU). In the results declared Saturday, ABVP’s Maithily Mrinalini was elected as PUSU president, independent candidate Saloni Raj as general secretary and NSUI’s Soumya Srivastavaastreasurer.Theother top posts went to independent CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata