NEW DELHI 31 MARCH 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 26  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in THE DIET OF LONGEVITY PLUS: 12 PAGES Steps Without Names MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Act Two Anand Neelakantan Ravi Shankar Anant Merathia Ganesh Saili THE PAINTED BRIDES OF DHAKA’S STREETS Balaji Vittal Santwana Bhattacharya Sutanu Guru Anuradha Goyal UP ABOVE THE WORLD SO HIGH Notes for the Future Maharishi of Our Times No Hand-out, state units urged to raise poll funds AID HEAVY CLASHES, CHAOS IN GAZA Heavy clashes and explosions shook Gaza, witnesses said on Saturday, as the Red Crescent reported several people killed during the aid distribution in the north, where famine looms PAGE 11 FACING heat from the Income Tax department, the cashstrapped Congress party had cut down its advertisement spending in print and electronic media for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party’s High Command has already sent a missive to all the state units to mobilise funds through the door-to-door campaign or by reaching out to the people. It is also giving a big push to its election campaign through various other means such as social media platforms, influencers, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. Amplifying the crisis, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party was not able to even spend `2 for campaign work as it’s accounts have been frozen. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress has already started raising funds through crowdfunding, says party MP B Manickam Tagore. Tagore, who is contesting for the fourth consecutive time from the Virudhunagar, 2 MORE I-T NOTICES “We got two more notices on Friday night. Today I don’t know how many more we will get. We got tax notices from the time of Sitaram Kesari (1993-94). It is not surprising anymore. I get surprised if we don’t receive notices,” said party leader Jairam Ramesh P7 told this paper that the party is holding door-to-door campaigns to tell people that the BJP is misusing ED and the income tax department to strangle the Opposition. “We have scaled down on our expenditure on campaigns through print and visual media. It may cost `50 crore to run a day’s campaign on national media. We don’t have that kind of funds now,” said Tagore. “We are going to the people and asking them to donate. The state unit is already mobilising funds through crowdfunding. The I-T action came as a big setback on the eve of the elections. The situation could have been handled better if we had known about it six months Prabir Purkayastha PERUVIAN named main accused in PREZ HOUSE RAIDED BY GOVT AGENTS NewsClick chargesheet U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Delhi Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet running into nearly 8,000 pages in the NewsClick case under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in which Prabir Purkayastha, founder and editor-in-chief of the newsportal, is the prime accused. According to official sources, the chargesheet which named Purkayastha and his company , PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd, as accused, includes details of the 480 electronic devices that were seized in multiple raids during the investigation. As approval under Section 45 of the UAPA and Section 196 (for prosecution for offence against state and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence) of the CrPC are still awaited, the Special Public Prosecutor requested that taking cognisance on the chargesheet be deferred. P u rk aya s t h a a n d A m i t Chakraborty were arrested in October for allegedly being involved in continuous unlawful activities, which included undermining India’s unity sover, eignty and territorial integrity — like fuelling farmers’ protests through illegal funding or back,” said Tagore. Given the lack of resources, the party is lagging behind the BJP on advert spending on print and visual media, points out Vaibhav Walia, chairman of the Congress war room for the Lok Sabha polls. “The first phase of elections is just 19 days away but we haven’t had any major campaign in any newspaper or TV. Though we tried to give an ad on the electoral bonds, most newspapers refused to publish it,” he said. “The Congress is trying to go organic mostly because of the cash crunch. We are trying to put out our content on social media,” he adds. In Kerala, as the central leadership has asked party leaders to raise funds on their own to weather the unprecedented crisis, the party decided to print coupons and distribute them at the booth level to collect funds. In Odisha, the Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has asked candidates aspiring for party tickets in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to deposit `50,000 each for the supply of campaign materials. Govt agents broke into the president’s residence with a sledgehammer in a raid authorised by the judiciary at the request of attorney general’s office | P11 R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi A day before the INDIA rally, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren meets Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Sunita may share dais with top INDIA leaders A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE INDIA bloc’s Sunday rally , called amid Enforcement Directorate’s action against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, is likely to see his wife Sunita share the dais with top alliance leaders. Though AAP is yet to disclose the names of its party leaders who will occupy the stage prominently and will deliver speeches from Ramlila Maidan, sources hinted that Sunita would take a lead role there. The AAP has released a list of prominent leaders from INDIA bloc who will attend the rally . Sunita Kejriwal has been in the limelight since her husband’s arrest. She is in the forefront of protests and has held pressers thrice to convey the messages sent by Kejriwal from the ED custody to the people. She also released two WhatsApp numbers for the public to directly connect with people against the CM’s arrest. On Saturday, she met Kalpana Soren, the wife of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren who is in ED custody . A day ahead of the rally AAP , leaders were seen taking stock of preparedness by reaching the ground. These leaders said that all preparations have been made to make the rally “successful”. “The party leaders said this was the last chance to save the country’s democracy If people . do not act, then no one will be able to help them in future. The BJP first snatched away our rights, given by the Supreme Court from people of Delhi and now it has snatched away their Chief Minister,” said a leader. He also alleged that the Modi government has adopted a dictatorial attitude and arrested the CM causing public outrage. Earlier, AAP said senior leaders of INDIA bloc. including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Sharad Pawar, will join the mega rally The leaders . said other prominent faces, which will join the rally are T richy Shiva, Derek O’Brian, Tejashwi Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Sitaram Yechury D Raja, Farooq Abdul, lah, Dipankar Bhattarcharya, Champai Soren, G Devaraja, and Kalpana Soren. P3, 6, 7 & 10 IN anticipation of a third consecutive term at the Centre postLok Sabha poll results on June 4, the BJP-led government has indicated a gubernatorial reshuffle. Some senior BJP leaders and a former MP of BJP’s ally in Bihar may be assigned governorship and an L-G’s post in north and northeast states, including a Union Territory . Sources indicated on Saturday that two senior Union ministers and MPs belonging to BJP who have not been fielded , this time in LS polls, are tipped to be appointed as governors in a first move soon after June 4. “The denial of nomination may take them to a new constitutional responsibility of governorship. They are well-versed in constitutional and parliamentary knowledge also,” said sources, adding the government will have to effect a gubernatorial reshuffle after the formation of a new government because terms of some of the present governors are ending. “Speculation is on about two ex-Union ministers—Ashwini Choubey and Gen. (Retd) VK Singh. They can be sent to new posts of governors in north India after June 4,” said a source. Gen (Retd) VK Singh “may be considered for the L-G’s post after the term of the present J&K L-G ends. Singh may also be considered to serve Ladakh as its L-G,” hinted a source. BD Mishra is L-G of Ladakh appointed in 2023 while Manoj Sinha is the J&K L-G since August 7 in 2020. Sources said Sinha is not willing to continue. ED files chargesheet in DJB ‘graft’ case Chargesheet against Soren in land ‘scam’ case The ED on Saturday filed a Prosecution Complaint (equivalent to a chargesheet) in the money laundering case linked to land scam registered against former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. The 5,500-page PC has information about Soren and his aides, who allegedly played a key role in the money laundering through land scam. The court will now scrutinise the chargesheet before taking its cognisance. being involved in a “larger conspiracy” of illegally infusing foreign funds in India through Chinese telecom companies. In the chargesheet, it has been alleged that Purkayastha received money to destabilise the country by creating narratives and attempting to disrupt the 2019 polls. According to the FIR registered by cops on August 17 last year, funds were routed from China in a camouflaged manner and paid news was peddled criticising domestic policies, development projects of India and promoting, projecting and defending policies and programmes of the Chinese government. Uplifting Oneself Guv roles for Choubey, Singh likely after Jun 4 Cash-starved Congress cuts down on advert spending in print, TV P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA SPEAKS UJ WA L JA L A L I @ New Delhi Alchemist assets seized THE Enforcement Directorate on Saturday filed its first chargesheet in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). According to official sources, the prosecution complaint was filed by the federal agency before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi on March 28. Four individuals and a company have been named as accused in the chargesheet — former DJB chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora, contrac- ED has provisionally attached assets worth `29.45 crore of Kanwar Deep Singh’s Alchemist group in a money laundering case. The assets include an aircraft. tor Anil Kumar Agarwal, former NBCC general manager D K Mittal, one Tejinder Singh and NKG Infrastructure Limited. The probe agency has alleged that bribe money generated from corruption in a contract issued by the DJB was “passed on” as election funds to the ruling AAP in Delhi. The ED also summoned CM Arvind Kejri- wal for questioning in the case, but he did not depose before it. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in another money-laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy . The probe agency had initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI for offences related to corruption and bribery in DJB. As per the FIR, Arora allegedly awarded a contract to NKG Infrastructure Ltd for a total cost of `38 crore despite the company not meeting the technical eligibility criteria. The firm allegedly obtained the bid by submitting fake documents. EXPRESS READ ED questions Gahlot in excise policy case RATNA RAO President Droupadi Murmu confers Bharat Ratna on former PM P V Narasimha Rao posthumously on Saturday. His son P V Prabhakar Rao accepts the award | PTI Shahjahan ‘arrested’ after ED grilling 3 accused of killing Kerala teacher let off The ED on Saturday interrogated transport minister Kailash Gahlot for five hours in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case. This was the second summons issued to Gahlot as he could not appear last month due to the Budget session. P3 The ED on Saturday questioned suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in the Basirhat Correctional Home in connection with cases of financial irregularities and land grabbing. Sheikh, who is in judicial custody, was “shown arrested” after he failed to cooperate. The Kasaragod Principal Sessions court in Kerala on Saturday acquitted three RSS men in a case relating to the murder of a madrassa teacher inside a mosque in the district in 2017. The accused spent seven years in jail without bail. P4 Forest fires rage across the country at 600-plus points as mercury begins to climb J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi THERE are at least 600 forest fire points in India at present, including 30 large fire events that have been active over three days in the Central and Southern regions. The Forest Survey of India’s fire tracking portal showed on Saturday that Maharashtra has the highest number of forest fire points, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. In terms of large fire events, Andhra Pradesh is at the top followed by Maharashtra. Maharashtra has 134 forest fire points, six of which have been raging for more than three days. Andhra Pradesh has eight major fire events out of 94 forest fire points. While Telangana has 82 fire points at present and five large fire events, Odisha has 63 fire points and two large fire events. (see table) According to NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, the spatial resolution of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite shows that for- est fires are raging nationwide especially in the Central, Western and Southern regions since the past week. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) anticipates heat wave conditions in isolated pockets over Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, north interior Karnataka, Telangana and Rayalaseema between March 30 and April 3. It forecast hot and humid conditions in Odisha, with the mercury likely to soar to 40°Celsius. IMD scientists say high temperatures and extreme dryness provide favourable conditions for a natural fire. Moreover, temperatures are soaring all across the country above normal and causing forest fires. However, “western disturbance induced rainfall and snowfall in the Northwest and a cyclonic circulation caused rainfall in Eastern India. They reduced the forest fire intensity in these two regions,” said a senior scientist at the IMD. Studies show that most forest fires in the country are of anthropogenic origin and therefore preventable. MAJOR FIRE POINTS AS ON SATURDAY Nasa’s satellite image of forest fires raging across the globe on Saturday STATE Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh Telangana Odisha Chhattisgarh Uttarakhand Madhya Pradesh Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu FOREST FIRE POINTS 134(6) 94(8) 82(5) 63(2) Source: 56 Forest Survey 44 of India 37(4) Large fire 26(1) events of at least 24 3 days in 20(3) brackets (3)