eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE The Journey Is Her Home LUCKNOW,LATECITY Women from small town India are also travelling now — both solo and in groups FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT MARCH23,2025 14+4 PAGES,`6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA THE WORLD ISRAEL RESPONDS TO LEBANON ROCKET FIRE WITH STRIKES U.S. REVOKES TEMPORARY STATUS FOR 5,32,000 PAGE 12 INSIDE EXPLAIN CASH, HC CJ ASKED JUDGE; NOT MINE, HE SAYS Report on cash at residence of Delhi HC judge made public by top court CJI forms probe team, Justice Varma not to be assigned any work for now ANANTHAKRISHNAN G & APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, MARCH 22 ‘UTTAR PRADESH COUNTRY’S LARGEST INVESTOR MARKET’ PAGE 3 IN THE first official confirmation that cash was found at the residence of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma when a fire broke out there on March 14, Nagpur violence claims first life: 38-yr-old man succumbs to injuries A video released by the SC showed burnt cash at Justice Varma’s house THE MARCH 17 violence that rocked Nagpur claimed its first victim Saturday when 38-yearold Irfan Ansari succumbed to injuries sustained during an attack by a mob. Irfan Ansari passed away Saturday afternoon, five days after being injured. His death was confirmed by Dr Sagar Pandey, DeputyMedicalSuperintendent attheIndiraGandhiGovernment ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, MARCH 22 MaharashtraCMDevendra FadnaviswithNagpurPolice Commissioner. ANI Medical College & Hospital (IGGMCH). CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CBI files closure report in Sushant Rajput case: ‘Simple case of suicide’ SAGAR RAJPUT & SADAF MODAK MUMBAI, MARCH 22 ALMOST FIVE years after actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging at his Mumbai home, the CBI has filed a closure report on its probe into his death, calling it a “simple case of suicide”. In a miscellaneous criminal application filed Friday before the Bandra magistrate court, the CBI,seekingtoclosethecase,has absolved all named in two FIRs filed in the case, including actor Rhea Chakraborty, her parents, A delegation led by Supreme Court judge Justice B R Gavai at a relief camp in Churachandpur on Saturday. ANI MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, MARCH 22 ONTHEdayChief Justiceof India Sanjiv Khanna formed a threemember panel to investigate allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma, the Delhi High Court contacted police authori- HC judges visits relief camps in Manipur ties requesting comprehensive details about security personnel deployed at the judge's residence and his call records, The Sunday Express has learned. A letter from Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya's office, sources said, SUKRITA BARUAH was received by the Delhi Police CHURACHANDPUR, Commissioner Sanjay Arora BISHNUPUR, MARCH 22 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DESCRIBING AS “unclear and confusing”thepromiseof Union Home Minister Amit Shah that southern states will not lose a single seat in the Lok Sabha on a pro rata basis after delimitation, aJointActionCommitteeforFair Delimitation (JAC) led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin passed a resolution demanding thatthe“freezeonParliamentary CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Hindi belt Opp parties not on same page, TMC stays away; TDP silent MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MARCH 22 THE LEADERSHIP of anti-BJP parties, including the Congress, from states in the South, Punjab and Odisha forged a broad coalition Saturday against the proposed delimitation exercise but thesilenceof theINDIAblocparties from the Hindi belt and Maharashtra and the TMC’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Opp dilemma in North INDIA bloc partners RJD and SP do not want to be seen opposing a delimitation move that guarantees their states — Bihar and UP — more seats in Parliament. Especially ahead of Assembly polls. ARUN JANARDHANAN & SREENIVAS JANYALA TANGELLA UDAY Srinivas, the Jana Sena Party (JSP) MP from Kakinada, arrived in Chennai on Fridaynight,ostensiblytoattend theJointActionCommittee(JAC) meeting on delimitation being hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. By Saturday morning, he was gone. RSS flags role of ‘deep state’ in anti-Hindu violence in Bangla MP from Pawan Kalyan’s party arrived in city, left before meet CHENNAI, HYDERABAD CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WARSHIP MIGHT GROWS The actor was found hanging at his Bandra home in June 2020 Tavasya, the second frigate of the Navy’s Project 11356 (Yard 1259), being launched at Goa Shipyard Limited in Vasco on Saturday. The warship is engineered to execute a diverse range of offensive and defensive operations, ensuring strategic dominance in the Indian Ocean Region, officials said. PTI brother; and Rajput’s sister Priyanka and a doctor, named in a counter FIR filed by Rhea, concluding that there was no involvement of these persons in abetment of the suicide. Rajputwasfoundhangingby his staff at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NationalLegalServicesAuthority (NALSA) and distributed relief materialssuchasmattressesand health cards. They also virtually inaugurated medical camps and 265 legal clinics in 109 locations across the state. “One of the most vulnerable sectionsof thesocietycomprises internallydisplacedpersonsdue tovariouscircumstancesbeyond their control. Many individuals and families have found themselves uprooted from their houses, struggling to rebuild their lives. It is our moral and constitutional duty to ensure thattheyarenotleftbehind...the legal aid will also play a crucial role in ensuring that displaced individuals receive their rightful entitlements, be it in matters of identity documentation, property rights or compensation claims,” said Justice Gavai, who is the executive chairman of NALSA, in Churachandpur on Saturday. WITH THOUSANDS of people in Manipur close to completing two years displaced from their homes, judges from the Supreme Court and Manipur High Court led by Justice B R Gavai visited relief camps in Churachandpur and Bishnupur on Saturday. Even in their visit, the deep fault lines persisting in the state were evident, with Justice N Kotiswar Singh — a judge from the Supreme Court delegation from the Meitei community — and two Meitei Manipur High Court judges, A Bimol Singh and A Guneshwar Sharma, skipping the visit to Kuki-Zo majority Churachandpur. The judges visited a relief camp each in Churachandpur and Meitei-majority Bishnupur as part of a delegation from the Opp states pass resolution: Freeze Lok Sabha seats for another 25 years south states attend; Mamata skips NAGPUR, MARCH 22 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HC to Delhi Police: Give details for last 6 months of judge’s security staff Delegation of SC and STALIN HOSTS CHENNAI MEET: JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE ON DELIMITATION SET UP MDP founder among arrested; rioters Except Andhra, CMs, Dy CM of 4 must pay for damages: CM Fadnavis ANKITA DESHKAR the Supreme Court Saturday released an internal inquiry report by the High Court. In the redacted report, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya,, in a letter dated March 21, asked JusticeVarmato“accountforthe presence of money/cash” in the room located in his official bungalow. The Supreme Court also uploaded videos and photographs which Delhi Police CommissionerSanjayArorapurportedly shared with the Chief Justice Upadhyaya. The images and video show CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Part of larger effort to destabilise region’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE BENGALURU, MARCH 22 THE RASHTRIYA Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS)hasraisedstrongconcernsoverwhatitdescribedasthe “unabated and systematic persecution” of Hindus in Bangladesh, attributingittoalargergeopoliticalconspiracyinvolving“Pakistan and the Deep State”. The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highestdecision-makingbodyof theRSS,passed a resolutionduring its annual meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday, highlighting what it called the “institutionalized oppression” of Hindu and other minority communities in Bangladesh. The resolution alleged that radical Islamist groups, with implicit support from sections of Bangladesh’s administration, havebeenorchestratingtargeted attacks on temples, religious institutions, and individuals from theHinducommunity.Theseinclude the alleged desecration of deities, arson, forced conversions, and instances of sexual violence against women. “To dismiss these attacks as mere political conflicts is to ignore the reality that the victims belong overwhelmingly to the Hindu and other minority communities,” the resolution stated. The RSS body claimed that the violence is not just an internal issue of Bangladesh but part of alargerefforttodestabilisethe region. “There is a concerted attempt by international forces, particularly Pakistan and the Deep State, to create an atmosphere of distrust and hostility CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hello unplugged music, goodbye printing press — The Beatles ashram revamp PAGE 1 ANCHOR AISWARYA RAJ DEHRADUN, MARCH 22 A CAFETERIA, a “satvik” kitchen, a tea pavilion, a venue for unplugged music, an exhibition on The Beatles in India, and a souvenir shop — these are some of the proposed upgrades to the Chaurasi Kutiya Swargashram, popularly known as The Beatles Ashram, situated inside the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh, The Indian Express has learnt. The consultancy firm HCP Design, Planning, and ManagementPrivateLimited,whichwas also behind the architecture of the Central Vista and the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project, is learnt to have submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to the Uttarakhand government along with a final master plan report. These proposals feature in these documents, which the govern- ment will look into before the tender is floated for execution. While the Tourism Department bears the consultancy cost, the Forest Department will execute the project as the ashram is situated in the tiger reserve. The Indian Express first reported about the plan to revamp the ashram in October last year. The British band members George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon visited the ashram, at the time the home to Mahesh Yogi, in 1968. Chaurasi Kutiya Aiswarya Raj GeorgeHarrison,RingoStarr,PaulMcCartneyandJohnLennon visitedtheashraminsidetheRajajiNationalParkin1968 gets its name from the 84 meditation rooms — 42 on either side of a yoga centre. The complex hasnearly25buildings,of which 12 will be revamped in the upcoming project. With a budget of Rs 84 crore, the conceptual estimate by the consultant has a detailed proposal of retrofitting, repairing, andrebuildingseveralstructures, and the demolition of the iconic PrintingPress.Constructedinthe early 1960s, this press was used to print literature on “transcendental meditation”. The Science of BeingandtheArtof Livingand Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s commentary on the first six chapters of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita were printed in this building. This dilapidated building, now overrun by vegetation and plants, has been recommended to be turned into a souvenir shop. If executed, the concrete steel, roofing, doors, and windows will be demolished to accommodate the new structure. The other proposal at the Ashram, where the band composed White Album, which in- cludes Dear Prudence and Blackbird, is to turn the Ved Bhawan into a venue for unplugged music. Constructed in 1976, this building was used as a lecture hall and is currently a popularlocationinsidethecampus because of the famous graffiti of The Beatles. The structure has corrosion, cracks between themasonrywallandreinforced concrete column, algae growth in walls and columns and spalling of concrete. Currently, visitors cannot enter the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow