THE SUNDAY Vol. 35 No. 39 | SUNDAY | JUNE 23, 2024 | 28 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 FREE PRESS www.freepressjournal.in Weekend Phalgun Kompalli, co-founder of upGrad, talks about his gratifying journey fp Briefs BALTIMORE MV Dali crew homeward bound Eight of the 20 Indian crew members on board cargo ship MV Dali that crashed into the Baltimore bridge in US have left for India after nearly three months on the mammoth vessel and are expected to land in Mumbai late on Saturday. This follows a local US court approving the release for departure for the eight crew members. The other crew members were relocated to a service apartment in Baltimore and will remain there pending an investigation into the incident in which the 984 foot cargo vessel crashed into the bridge in March after losing power, resulting in the death of six construction workers. NEW DELHI Immigration fast-tracked Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a special programme to fast-track the immigration process for pre-verified Indian nationals and OCI cardholders. The Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme is designed for Indian nationals and OCI cardholders, he said. It is similar to the Global Entry Programme offered by the US that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival at select US airports, officials said. JODHPUR 51 held after clashes A communal clash erupted in a locality in Jodhpur in which two policemen were injured, two vehicles were damaged and 51 people arrested, police said on Saturday. The clash began on Friday night over the construction of a gate at an eidgah near Rajaram Circle area of the city. Residents of the are opposed the construction of the gate. The subsequent confrontation led to stone-pelting, arson and vandalism. EDITIONS: MUMBAI PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK KONKAN E-paper SUNDAY READ Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (Jan to Dec 2023) Good life Foods that boost vitamin B12 levels A look at artefacts from Shivaji Maharaj’s reign from around the world Live Smart LGBTQIA+ startups that are making a difference INDO-BANGLADESH | India and Bangladesh to deepen cooperation on defence, maritime, counter radicalisation, start talks on CEPA NTA CHIEF Ties now at a strategic level REPLACED Agencies NEW DELHI India and Bangladesh on Saturday firmed up a futuristic vision to expand cooperation in several new areas and inked 10 agreements, including to boost ties in the maritime sphere and blue economy, and bolstering cooperation in a range of critical areas such as digital domain, railways, space, green technology, health and medicine. Both sides also firmed up a "futuristic vision" for bringing transformative cooperation between the two "trusted" neighbours in a raft of new areas. A major focus of the talks between the two prime ministers was to explore ways to Bangladesh is situated at the confluence of our Neighbourhood First policy, Act East policy, Vision SAGAR and IndoPacific vision Joining forces: Narendra Modi meets Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on Saturday. –ANI shore up India-Bangladesh cooperation in digital and energy connectivity even as both sides resolved to work towards peaceful management of borders between the two countries. In his remarks to the media, Modi, describing people-topeople contacts as the foundation of ties between the two nations, said India will launch an e-medical visa facility for people from Bangladesh Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India coming to India for medical treatment. India will open an assistant high commission in Rangpur. Countering radicalisation: Modi and Hasina also resolved to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation including in areas of defence production and modernisation of Bangladeshi armed forces and agreed to enhance engagement on countering terrorism and radicalisation. The issue of Rohingya refugees as well as the situation in Myanmar and boosting regional cooperation under the framework of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) grouping also figured in the talks. "We have decided to start negotiations at the technical level for the renewal of the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty," Prime Minister Modi said. Contd on | nation Tax rates tweaked TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? By by GST Council invitation PTI Gautam S Mengle NEW DELHI The GST Council on Saturday decided to tweak tax rates on items, including accommodation services for students and solar cookers, and took a host of taxpayer-friendly measures including waiver of interest and penalty for demand notices issued in the first three years of GST rollout. Briefing reporters after the 53rd GST Council meeting, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Council has recommended to roll-out the biometric-based Aadhaar authentication of registration applicants on pan-India basis in a phased manner. This will help check fraudulent registration done to avail input tax credit and evade taxes. To reduce litigation, the Council decided to fix a monetary limit for tax officers to file appeals before the GST Appellate Tribunal, the High Court and the Supreme Court at Rs 20 lakh, Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. T It also recommended reduction of the quantum of pre-deposit required to be paid by taxpayers for filing of appeals under Goods and Services Tax (GST). The maximum amount of pre-deposit for filing appeal with the appellate authority has been reduced from Rs 25 crore CGST and SGST each to Rs 20 crores CGST and SGST each. This will help ease cash flow and working capital blockage for the taxpayers. Sitharaman said, “What was decided in the Council is, when we meet in the next GST Council meeting we will start a discussion on rate rationalisation...” Contd on | nation he revelation about the University Grants Commission (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET) being leaked and sold on the dark web has opened a can of worms that has the authorities concerned. A cursory sweep of the dark web by FPJ threw up a thriving ecosystem of leaked question papers with multiple beneficiaries but Rajashekara S Kanishka probe ‘active’ BENGALURU Popular singer Lucky Ali has filed a land grab case against Karnataka cadre IAS officer, who is no stranger to controversies, and her relatives, including her husband. Ali filed the complaint before the Lokayukta, an anti corruption ombudsman in Bengaluru on June 20 and later shared a screenshot of the complaint copy on his ‘X,’ account. In the complaint, the Indipop singer and son of Bollywood comedian Mehmood, who goes by the name Maqsood M Ali stated that IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri's husband Sudhir Reddy, her brother-in-law Madhusudhan Reddy have illegally entered his property which is in the name of a trust and is refusing to show any legal document to prove it belongs to them. In the complaint, Ali wrote: ``My farm which is a trust property located in Kenchenahalli in Yelahanka is being encroached on illegally by Sudhir only one victim - the students. On June 19, the Ministry of Education announced that the NET would have to be held again as its ‘integrity might have been compromised’. The very next day, the Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR in connection with the alleged leak and sale of the NET question paper on the dark web. The FIR was based on a letter to the CBI signed by K Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Ministry of Education. “On 19th June 2024, the UGC received certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analysis Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the Examination. These inputs prima facie indicate that the integrity of the aforesaid examination may have been compromised,” the letter states. CBI Sources said that the exam was cancelled and the investigation sought after the I4C, in its preliminary inquiry, confirmed that the paper offered for sale online Contd on | nation FPJ News Service Personnel and Training. The decision comes amid the raging controversy over irThe Centre on Saturday re- regularities in the conduct of moved Subodh Kumar Singh the raging controversy over irfrom the post of Director Gen- regularities in competitive eral of the National Testing examinations such as the NaAgency (NTA) and tional EligibilityIN named 1985 batch cum-Entrance Test IAS officer Pra(Undergraduate) deep Singh Khaor NEET and the rola in his place. cancellation of the “The AppointUniversity Grants ments Committee Commission-Naof the Cabinet has tional Eligibility approved the asTest (UGC-NET). signment of addiNEET is a national charge of tionwide entrance OUT the post of Direcexamination held tor General, Nafor admission tional Testing in undergraduate Agency, Ministry medical proof Education, to grammes, while Pradeep Singh UGC-NET is held Kharola, Chairto determine man and Manageligibility for posts ing Director, India of assistant proTrade Promotion Organisa- fessor and for junior research tion, till the appointment of a fellowship. regular incumbent or until Several lakhs of students further orders,” the govern- sit for the examinations, ment said in a notification on which are conducted by Saturday. NTA. The government put the Contd on | nation services of Singh on compulSee also | nation sory wait in the Department of NEW DELHI NEET-PG put off The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said it has decided to postpone the NEET-PG entrance examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, as a "precautionary measure" in the wake of recent allegations on the integrity of certain competitive exams. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest, it said, adding the decision has been taken to maintain the sanctity of the examination process. Bhujbal persuades Hake, Waghmare to end fast Kalpesh Mhamunkar MUMBAI OBCs activists Lakshaman Hake and Navnath Waghmare withdrew their hunger strike on Saturday at Wadigodri village at Jalna after a delegation the state cabinet led by Chhagan Bhujbal persuaded them to call off the agitation. Lucky Ali files land grab case against Karnataka IAS officer OTTAWA Investigations into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 remain “active and ongoing”, the Canadian police have said, terming it the “longest” and one of the “most complex domestic terrorism” probes, ahead of the bombing’s 39th-anniversary memorial. The plane exploded 45 minutes before it was to land at London on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent. INDORE JOURNAL Reddy (and Madhu Reddy) from the Bangalore Land Mafia. With the help of his wife who is an IAS officer by the name of Rohini Sindhuri. They are misusing state resources for their personal gain. They are forcibly and illegally come inside my farm and refusing to show the relevant documents, (sic)’’ Ali further said that the land in question has been held by his family for the last 50 years. The singer said that a complaint was filed before the jurisdictional ACP Manjunath but he failed to act upon it. Contd on | nation The protestors' health was fast deteriorating and the government was afraid that the OBCs would take to the streets in a big way if anything untoward was to happen. Bhujbal himself is an OBC leader who commands tremendous goodwill among his community. Hake and Waghmare's demand was that reservation, if Oppn hurdle for Pro Tem Speaker FPJ News Service granted to Marathas, should not be at the expense of the 29 % quota reserved for OBCs. Hake and Waghmare were informed by the cabinet delegation that an all- party meeting would be held during state assembly session, which will start on Thursday June 27 in Mumbai. The meeting has been conveyed by chief minister Eknath Shinde to consider the OBCs' demand and also the demand ‘Don’t enforce new criminal laws now’ Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI NEW DELHI Mexico has regained a lost ancient Mayan vase from a woman in the United States, who bought the artefact for less than $5 at a thrift store. Anne Lee Dozier recently received an expression of gratitude from the Mexican embassy in her home town of Washington DC for her role in reuniting the 1,200-to 1,800year-old vase with its motherland. “A valuable witness of our Maya history returns home. Thanks to the generosity of Anne Lee Dozier, a US citizen, we recovered a classical vessel, dated between 200 and 800 AD. This historical gem will be reintegrated into the @INAHmx (Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology and History) collection to preserve our rich cultural heritage,” Mexico’s ambassador to the US, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, wrote on X on June 18. A story published by the Na- tional Public Radio on Friday summarized the unusual saga. Dozier bought the vase in question in about 2019 at the 2A Thrift Store in Clinton, Maryland, where it was on a clearance shelf by the checkout register. She perceived the vase to be old but not ancient. A human rights advocate with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Dozier told the NPR that she had worked with Indigenous communities in Mexico, and piece seemed to have some links to the country. “I thought it would be just a nice little thing to take home and put on the shelf and to remind me of Mexico,” Dozier, who paid $3.99 for the vase, told NPR. In January, while on a work trip, Dozier visited the national anthropology museum in Mexico City and saw other Maya vases displayed there that bore a striking resemblance to the one she had at home, according to NPR. She reported her thrift store find to a museum official, who Rucha Kanolkar MUMBAI Contd on | nation Contd on | nation Contd on | nation The ultimate thrift store find: Priceless vase for $3.99 Agencies Yellow Alert for Mumbai in turn recommended that she call the Mexican embassy. Dozier sent pictures of the vase along with a description of its dimensions. The national anthropology museum replied that she indeed had an authentic relic. “I got an email saying, ‘Congratulations – it’s real and we would like it back,’” Dozier said. Barragán on X said that the vase dated back to between AD200 and 800. Contd on | nation offgrid MUMBAI Contd on | nation The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai, warning of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, heavy rainfall, and gusty winds (40-50 km/h) over the next five days. This alert will remain in effect until June 26 for both Mumbai and Palghar, while Raigad and Thane are under an orange alert for June 25 and 26. Sindhudurg faces a red alert for June 23 due to anticipated exceptionally intense rainfall. For the next 24 hours, Mumbai is expected to have a generally cloudy sky with intermittent moderate to heavy spells of rain and thunder showers in both the city and suburbs. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 32°C and 26°C, respectively. The forecast for the following 48 hours predicts a similarly cloudy sky with heavy rain showers. Temperatures are expected to range between 31°C and 25°C. Rainfall recorded from June 21 to June 22 shows Colaba receiving 2.4mm, while Santacruz recorded 8.6mm. Across Mumbai, 7.49mm was recorded in the city, 33.68mm in the eastern suburbs, and 18.30mm in the western suburbs. Peeved at senior eight term Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh not being given the role of Pro Tem Speaker, which as per convention goes to the most senior LS MP, the INDIA bloc is likely to not let three of its MPs – Suresh, DMK’s T.R. Baalu and TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay – assist the Pro-Tem Speaker in administering oaths to the newly elected MPs. The first session of 18th Lok Sabha begins on June 24 and the oath will be administered over the first two days. The Congress has demanded that the central government put in abeyance the implementation of the three criminal laws that are set to replace the existing Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 from July 1. The Congress demand comes in the wake of similar demands being made by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the issue is expected to lead to a stormy scenes in the upcoming session of Parliament, especially as all these parties have won a significant number of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The new laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — were “bulldozed through Parliament without proper debate and discussion” when 146 MPs had been suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh contended on Saturday. They were similarly “bulldozed through the Standing Committee on Home Affairs without detailed interactions with stakeholders across the country”. of Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil that OBC certificates be given to ``sage soyare" (close and distant) relatives of Marathas. Hake and Waghmare's agitation was supported by OBC leaders like Pankaja Munde, Chhagan Bhujbal and others.