DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 90-DAY PAUSE WINDOW WAQF LAW PROTESTS: TWO DAYS AFTER THREE KILLED IN WEST BENGAL High-stakes trade race, India banks on market muscle for early US deal BY UNNY Online talks start this week, broad structure of deal likely in 6 weeks NEW DELHI, APRIL 13 Security personnel at Sajurmore in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Sunday. Partha Paul ‘Lowering cost of doing business, making it easier to operate in domestic economy, will help absorb tariffs’ V ANANTHA NAGESWARAN CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR PAGE 9 In fresh row, TN Governor asks students to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ R N Ravi was chief guest at a college event NIKHILA HENRY HYDERABAD, APRIL 13 TAMIL NADU Governor R N Ravi has triggered a fresh row for allegedly asking students to chant “Jai Shri Ram” during an event at a government-aided college in Madurai. OnSaturday,Raviwasinvited aschief guesttodistributeprizes to the winners of a literary contest.Apurportedvideoclipof the event shows him congratulating the winners. “This gives us the confidence that our roots are strong. It is there and we need to build on it. We take this as a movement,” he says, before going on to add, “You chant after me, Jai Shri Ram.” Prompted by him, the studentsthenchantthesloganthrice. On Sunday, the State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) condemned Ravi's action and demanded his removal for “violating his oath of office”. It said Ravi had violated the Constitution by chanting the “name of the God of a particular religion” at a public function. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUJARAT CONTRACTUAL SPORTS TEACHERS RUE SALARY DELAY, LACK OF JOB SECURITY PAGE 4 At Bengal’s Ground Zero, grief and fear cut across divide: ‘Who will give justice?’ RAVIK BHATTACHARYA JANGIPUR (MURSHIDABAD), APRIL 13 “WEKEPTcallingthepoliceafter the attacks started. No one answered. Even after they hacked myhusbandandfather-in-lawto death, the bodies lay near our house for three hours,” said 32year-old Pinki Das, clutching her six-year-old daughter who was seated on her lap, on Sunday. Das was barely able to speak, appearing to lose consciousness brieflyinbetween.OnFriday,her Parul Das’s husband Hargobind Das and son Chandan Das were allegedly hacked to death; Selima Bibi’s husband Ejaz Ahmed was allegedly killed in police firing. Partha Paul husband Chandan Das (40) and herfather-in-lawHargobindDas (70) were hacked to death by a mob as protests in West Bengal against the new Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent in Murshidabad district. The father and son were among the three killed in the violence Friday, and at least 15 policemen were injured. Later, the Calcutta High Court ordered the deployment of Central Armed Forces in the affected areas. According to the state government,over150peoplehavebeen LASER POWER V-Cs, directors serving in interim capacity or on extended tenures ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, APRIL 13 AT LEAST 17 of India’s 130 premier higher education institutions under the Union Ministry of Education, including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs, are being run by ViceChancellors and directors who are either serving in an interim capacityoronextendedtenures. The Indian Express reviewed appointments to top posts at all the48CentralUniversities(CUs), 23 IITs, 21 IIMs, 31 NITs and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 REGULAR APPOINTMENTS AWAITED Institution Term ended* Current status IIM Calcutta Nov 2023 Director in-charge IIM Kashipur Jun 2024 Director in-charge IIM Shillong Feb 2024 Extended tenure IIT Kharagpur Dec 2024 Director (additional charge) IIT Hyderabad Aug 2024 Extended tenure NIT Srinagar Jan 2024 Director in-charge NIT Uttarakhand May 2024 Director in-charge NIT Andhra Pradesh March 2022 Director in-charge *Of regular Vice-Chancellor/Director CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E Crucial ● pact INDIA HAS a patchy track record in negotiating trade pacts with developed nations. However, a deal with the US is too big to miss. Enhanced access for labour-intensive exports could generate jobs, while deeper integration in the services sector could strengthen India’s IT industry. But to achieve that, India may be forced to cut its protections. ECONOMY RELIEF FOR INDIA AS CRUDE OIL PRICES SLUMP PAGE 11 ■ The DRDO successfully tested a vehicle-mounted Laser Directed Weapon (DEW) MK-II(A), a cutting-edge weapon system used to bring down enemy drones and unmanned aircraft, in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool on Sunday. With this, India joined an elite club of countries, including the US, Russia and China, that have the capability. X/@DRDO_India WASHINGTON, APRIL 13 US COMMERCE Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that smartphones, computers and some other electronics, just exempted from steep tariffs on imports from China, would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months. Lutnick’scommentsonABC's ‘This Week’ flagging the coming levies on critical technology products mark the latest twist in President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, which have upended the globaltradingorderandroiledfinancial markets since they were announced on what he branded as ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2. LateonFriday,theTrumpadministration granted exclusions from the steep reciprocal tariffs on smartphones and a set of other electronic products, a move seen as a big break for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Amaravati project gets bigger: Naidu Govt seeks to acquire another 30,000 acres Plans international airport, more roads New housing for All India Service officers in the Amaravati capital area. Sreenivas Janyala AMBEDKAR JAYANTI TODAY Reciting Preamble to marathon: BJP and Opp seek to outdo each other LALMANI VERMA NEW DELHI, APRIL 13 ABATTLEbetweenmajorparties to stake a claim on B R Ambedkar’s legacy dominated muchof thepoliticaldiscoursein 2024.Itissettocontinuethisyear too as parties, from the BJP and its allies to the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), gear up to celebrate Ambedkar’s 135th DOINA CHIACU & NATHAN LAYNE CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IITs, IIMs and NITs among 17 top Central institutions being run by interim heads seven IISERs under the Ministry — and found interim heads in eight CUs, three IIMs, two IITs, three NITs and one IISER. All of themcarrythetagof Institutions of National Importance. At least eight of these 17 institutions have been helmed by interim leaders for over a year: IIM Calcutta, IIM Shillong, NIT Srinagar, NIT Andhra Pradesh, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, IGNOU, Sikkim University and Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh. Standard practice dictates AS OVER 75 countries race to signatradedealwiththeUSduring the 90-day pause window to avert reciprocal tariffs, New Delhi is banking on its ability to replacethird-countryimportsto theUS,therebyhelpingtobridge the trade gap with Washington, aseniorgovernmentofficialsaid. The official said that virtual discussionswillbeginthisweek, leading to broad clarity over the next six weeks — by the end of May—onwhatdutyconcessions canbeofferedbybothsides,with the aim of signing a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by Fall as per the joint statement. But if substantial progress is made withinthe90-daywindow,andif there is a requirement, India and theUScouldsignaninterimdeal, the official added. Responding to concerns that concessions offered to other countries, such as Vietnam, underaUStradedealmayputIndia at a disadvantage, the official said India is in a stronger position due to its ability to address the trade deficit with the US and EXPLAINED RAVI DUTTA MISHRA Separate levy on exempted electronics & chips, says US Union Minister G Kishan Reddy pays tribute to Dr B R Ambedkar in Hyderabad. PTI birth anniversary on Monday. Last year, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition INDIA bloc came up with the narrative that the Constitution would face a threat if theBJPreturnedtopowerwith a bigger mandate. This narrative was fuelled by the BJP-led NDA’s poll slogan of “ab ki baar, 400 paar(nexttime,400-plusseats)”. This strategy worked as the BJP CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, APRIL 13 WITH ANDHRA Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviving his dream project to make Amaravati the state’s capital soon after he returned to power last June, the state government is planning to acquire another 30,000-40,000 acres of landforadditionalinfrastructure projects, including an international airport. Thisisinadditiontothe34,241 acresacquiredfrom29,881farmersin29villagesofGunturdistrict duringNaidu’searlierstintasCM from 2014 to 2019. Naidu had first announced Amaravati as the state capital when the TDP came to power in 2014. But after losing power in 2019, the project was scrapped bytheYSRCPgovernmentwhich proposed a “three capital formula” for “decentralised governance” — Amaravati as legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as administrative capital, and Kurnool as judicial capital. Work on the Amaravati projectrestartedafterNaidu’sreturn topowerlastJune.Thestategovernment now wants to expand the capital development plan by including an international airport and more outer and inner CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Varanasi club powers UP’s football dreams — with a Spanish touch PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHASHANK NAIR NEW DELHI, APRIL 13 INTERKASHIarejustatechnicality away from winning the I-Leagueandsubsequentpromotion to the Indian Super League. Aftertheendoftheseasonearlier this month, Churchill Brothers and the two-year-old UP-based club had found themselves in a limbo. With the result of one of InterKashi’sleaguegamesundecided — it has been alleged that their opponent Namdhari FC played an ineligible player — the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had put the title, and Inter Kashi’s dream, on hold. But whichever way the decision goes, the world’s most popular sport finally has a presence in India’s most populous state. Club president Prithiijit Das, who hails from West Bengal and had previously worked with the AIFF,believesthatthepopulation of UttarPradesh,combinedwith its GDP, provides an opportunity foraculturalchangeinhowfootball is viewed in a state where cricket pitches and hockey turfs are readily available, but football grounds not so much. Inter Kashi came into existence in 2023 and was inducted into the I-League directly. “We had the opportunity to build a club in one of the oldest citiesintheworld.Also,theUttar Pradesh Football Sangh is based out of Varanasi. So, where you havenofootballculture,itmakes a lot of sense to have a club from the city where the football association is situated,” Das told The Indian Express. In their first year, Inter Kashi signedEnglishprofessionalPeter Hartley.Thenextyear,theywent one step further and hired Antonio Habas as their coach. Inter Kashi, which was formed in 2023, is on the verge of being promoted to the Indian Super League The Spaniard, the most successful coach in the history of the ISL (two titles with ATK and the ISL Winner’s Shield with Mohun Bagan Super Giant), chose to work in the Indian second division once he was convinced about Inter Kashi’s goals. “I accepted the proposal because, from the very beginning, theclubstruckmeashonestand transparentinitsapproach,with a clear vision,” said Habas. “At thesametime,weputtogethera high-leveltechnical andsupport staff, with whom it was very easy to work.” But despite being the first club from Uttar Pradesh that could possibly make it to the ISL, the challenges faced by Inter Kashi are largely institutional. Habasisuniquelyplacedtodelve into them. “The main gap lies in the infrastructure that supports the game — in the I-League, training facilities and pitches are clearly of lowerquality.Insomeaspects, it’saleaguethatfeelsmoresemiprofessional than professional. You can’t run a league with professional actors but provide only semi-professional means to develop it,” said the Spaniard. Inter Kashi captain Sumeet Passi is a forward who has playedformultipleI-Leagueand ISL teams and understands the desire to grow football in a region where it’s not a part of the culture. Passi, whose father played football for Railways, hails from Haryana, a state whichhasgivenIndiasomeof its top sportspersons — yet not many footballers. He feels Inter Kashi has done the basics right. “In my experience, there are only one or two teams in the ILeague that are able to provide players with accommodation, travel arrangements and hotels during the season. They give salariesontime.Thatset-upisn’t a given,” said Passi. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad