DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FIRST VISIT BY MODI TO SANGH HEADQUARTERS SINCE 2014 31/03/2025 95 123 152 62 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY RSSisthemodernAkshayvatanditis energisingnation’sconsciousness:PM At Deekshabhoomi, says committed to work harder for Babasaheb’s India 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 THE WORLD “continuously energising Indian cultureandtheconsciousnessof 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 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 P Prime Minister Narendra Modi with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Sunday. PTI BHUBANESWAR, MARCH 30 MYANMAR QUAKE: TOLL TOUCHES 1,700 PAGE 12 THE CITY THOSE REFUSING TO SPEAK MARATHI WILL GET A SLAP ON FACE: MNS CHIEF PAGE 3 SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 30 Derailment took place at 11.54 am in Cuttack dist ChennaiKolkata Hwy Nergundi station Cuttack junction Mahanadi river overtheincidentanddirectedofficialstorestorenormalcyon the railway line as soon as possible. “Deeplyconcernedaboutthe Rescue work at the site of the train derailment in Cuttack district, Sunday. PTI derailment of Kamakhya ExpressnearNergundistationin Cuttack… Authorities are onsite, ensuring assistance and restoring normalcy at the earliest. Helplines activated for support,” Majhi wrote on X. Majhi’s Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma said his CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2 held after explosion inside mosque in Beed SAGAR RAJPUT 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 the incident, the low-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 ECONOMY DIGITAL PAYMENTS SURGE, BUT SOME GAPS REMAIN; CASH COMES BACK TOO INDIGO FACES `944 CR TAX PENALTY PAGE 13 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 brought under control. In the early hours of Sunday, policewereinformedthatthetwo hadplacedgelatinsticksinsidethe mosqueandcausedtheexplosion. “We received a call from the sarpanch informing us that an explosion had occurred in the mosque.Wearrivedatthescene, controlled the situation, recorded the complainant’s statement, and registered a case, after which the two suspects were arrested,” Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kavat told reporters. He urged the people to re- main calm and maintain peace. Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in Nagpur that those behind the blasthadbeenidentified.“Those involved in this have been identified. The Beed SP will provide information on this,” he said. Authorities are working to determine the exact cause of the explosion. Bomb detection and forensicteamshavegatheredevidence from the site. Aseniorpoliceofficer,requestinganonymity,said,“Gavhanehas lived near the mosque all his life. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CM slams Sangh Parivar SUJIT BISOYI TRUMP: WILL BOMB IRAN IF IT DOES NOT SIGN NUKE DEAL 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 11 coaches of Bengaluru-Kamakhya Mohanlal apologises as ‘Empuraan’ row rages, train derail in Odisha, one killed 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 kin of the deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh for those who suffered serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries. The Commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry into the incident, officials said. OdishaChief MinisterMohan CharanMajhiexpressedconcern (Left) ABVP’s Maithily Mrinalini elected PUSU president; (top left) Independent Saloni Raj is general secy; NSUI’s Soumya Srivastava is treasurer Amid judge row, Cong for a Bill on judicial accountability, but wary of NJAC revival 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 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, the Supreme 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 EXPLAINED MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ● 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 ‘Corruption, misconduct, partisanship: Judiciary hasn’t responded to these issues institutionally... that’s disturbing’ KAPIL SIBAL, RAJYA SABHA MP PAGE 10 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2