Wednesday, July 23, 2025 | Vol. 68 No. 249 | 31 Pages THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation GAMES NATION Chaos in Parliament over SIR, Pahalgam attack, Op Sindoor and resignation of Dhankhar Cinema The origins of Akashvani on National Broadcasting Day Team India look to bounce back in the 4th Test starting today in Manchester Edit Are Maha politicians unaware of the impact of media optics? DHANKHAR DEPARTURE | Prez accepts resignation, Oppn probes ‘deeper reasons’ SURPRISING EXIT, QUESTIONS ERUPT Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI As President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday accepted Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation from the post of Vice President on India and the Union home ministry notifying his departure, the sudden decision triggered a firestorm of speculation on whether there was more to it than "to prioritise health care" as cited by the latter as reason for his surprise move. PM Narendra Modi wished him “good health”, and said in his message: “Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India.” But several opposition leaders raised doubts over why the lawyer-politician from Ra- jasthan actually stepped down and that too on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was reserved in his remarks. He said: “Only he (Dhankhar) knows the reason, We have nothing to say on this”. MP Manish Tewari said the "resignation remains somewhat of a riddle, which is at the moment wrapped in a mystery and rolled in an enigma.” However, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh expressed his apprehension that Dhankhar resigned after being slighted by some of his party colleagues. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation Push for Nitish as VP? “Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar Ji has got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities, including as the Vice President of India. Wishing him good health.” Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Briefs New Aadhaar app unveiled The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has introduced an all-new Aadhaar mobile application known as ‘Aadhaar FaceRD’. It's expected to prove beneficial for individuals, who face difficulty with fingerprint-based verification such as senior citizens or those with worn fingerprints. UIDAI reports that over 150 million face authentications are already being processed each month. In addition to biometric upgrades, the app allows users to share their Aadhaar details digitally by scanning or generating a QR code, eliminating the need for physical copies or photocopies of their identity documents. New bill to cover BCCI The BCCI will come under the purview of the National Sports Governance Bill, which is set to be introduced in Parliament on Wednesday and will be required to take recognition from the proposed National Sports Board even though it is not reliant on government funding, a top Sports Ministry source said. SEE GAMES mid speculations over the next Vice President, a host of BJP leaders pitched for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for the post. State ministers including Prem Kumar and Neeraj Kumar Bablu said it would be nice if Nitish was chosen. But senior JD(U) leader and minister Shravan Kumar said, “There is no question of Nitish Kumar leaving Bihar. He will lead the NDA to victory in assembly polls and enjoy another term in office.” A FTA in focus as PM heads to UK today Ashwin Ahmad Cabinet nod to trade agreement NEW DELHI The India-UK FTA will be in the spotlight as PM Narendra Modi heads to the UK on a two-day official visit where he is expected to meet with his British counterpart Keir Starmer and King Charles. Negotiations for the FTA were finalised on May 6 this year, and reports state that the agreement will be unveiled on July 24. He will be in the UK from July 23-24 and then travel to the Maldives for a state visit from July 25-26. At a special briefing ahead of his visit, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the FTA would have to go in for “legal scrubbing and other formalities” before both countries formally adopt it. The agreement, which is expected to double bilateral trade in goods and services from $60 billion to $120 billion by 2030, will not come into force immediately, as it will require ratification from both the Indian and British Parliaments, a process that could take close to a year. Misri said India accords "highest priority" to ensure energy security for its people. He was responding to questions on whether the fresh Western sanctions targeting the Russian he cabinet on Tuesday approved the free trade agreement between India and the UK, which will be signed in London on July 24, sources said. The pact will be signed during PM Modi's visit to London. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will accompany Modi. The pact proposes to remove taxes on the export of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper, in a bid to double trade between the two economies to $120 billion by 2030. Once the agreement is signed, it will require approval from the British Parliament before it can take effect. T energy sector will figure in Modi's talks with Starmer. Asked about the issue of Khalistani extremism in the UK, Misri said that New Delhi had brought the issue to the attention of its partners in the UK and would continue to do so. “This is a matter of concern not only to us but should be a matter of concern to our partners as well because this impacts social cohesion and social order in these other countries as well.” Khalistani extremism has remained an irritant in IndiaUK ties. The Indian High Commission has been targeted by extremists in the past, and in March this year, there was a security breach as a Khalistani protester broke through the security cordon and ran towards S Jaishankar as the Ex- ternal Affairs Minister came out of the Chatham House building in London. 4Contd on | nation PRESSURE POINTS? Why Dhankhar decided to quit is still not clear, but developments on Monday suggest faultlines were exposed over the motion to remove Justice Varma. 7/11 TRAIN BLASTS Maha cites ‘grave error’, moves SC against HC verdict ■ Senior ministers are believed to have met PM Modi and huddled in the office of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. ■ BJP MPs in RS were summoned and asked to sign a motion on the Justice Varma issue, sources said. ■ Some observers feel that Dhankhar, who had taken lead in taking on the judiciary over a host of issues, might have felt left out when it appeared that the motion was to be piloted in the Lok Sabha. Urvi Mahajani MUMBAI A day after the Bombay High Court acquitted all the 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the verdict, calling it a “serious matter” warranting urgent hearing. The state termed the HC order as a “grave error” considering that the accused are “continuously indulging in the activities prohibited by law which are cognisable offences”. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta mentioned the Special Leave Petition (SLP) before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Kalpesh Mhamunkar MUMBAI Gavai, seeking an immediate listing. “It is a serious matter. The SLP is ready. Please list it tomorrow. There is urgency,” Mehta submitted. The CJI said he had read in newspapers that eight of the 12 convicts had already been released from prison following the High Court’s judgment and agreed to list the matter for hearing on July 24. The state’s SLP challenges the High Court’s findings on several grounds, including its rejection of confessional statements, seizure recoveries, and application of provisions under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Explosive Substances Act. Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate on Tuesday found himself at the centre of a fresh controversy. Days after being criticised for allegedly playing online rummy during a legislative session, Kokate has stirred political backlash with his recent clarification about the remark, claiming he never called farmers "beggars" — but instead, was referring to the government. Kokate said, “People misunderstood what I said. I never called farmers beggars. In fact, what I meant was that the government is the beggar, not the farmer. We collect one rupee from the farmers for crop insurance. That’s not giving — it’s taking. So who’s the beggar?” Kokate’s clarification came after he was heavily criticised for a past statement in which he said, “Even beggars these days don’t accept just one rupee, but we gave crop insurance to farmers for one rupee, and some misused it.” 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation ■ The government was apparently upset after Dhankhar accepted the opposition MPs' proposal against Justice Varma. ■ It went against the government's plan to introduce the motion in the Lok Sabha and Dhankhar's move risked diluting its stand. Kokate at it again, calls govt ‘beggar’ ITAT denies Cong ₹199 cr tax relief FPJ Online MUMBAI The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Monday dismissed an appeal by the Congress party seeking tax exemption for the income of ₹199.15 crore during the assessment year 2018-19. The Tribunal rejected the party's claim for exemption on the ground that there was a violation of the conditions in Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, LiveLaw reported. The returns were filed late, the ITAT noted. "The assessee's return filed on 02.02.2019 is not within the 'due' date to make it eligible for the impugned exemption," ruled the coram of Judicial Member Satbeer Singh Godara and Accountant Member M Balaganesh. The Congress party had filed its income tax return on February 2, 2019, declaring nil income after claiming Section 13A exemption of ₹199.15 crore. However, this was filed after the extended due date of December 31, 2018, prescribed under Section 139 of the Income Tax Act for the assessment year 2018-19. During scrutiny proceedings The tribunal dismissed the party’s claim for exemption due to late filing of I-T returns and violations of cash donation limits initiated in September 2019, the Assessing Officer discovered that the party had received ₹14.49 lakh in cash donations exceeding ₹2,000 from various individuals. Sec- tion 13A(d), inserted by Finance Act 2017, mandates that political parties receive donations above ₹2,000 only through banking channels like account payee cheques or electronic transfers. The party's total receipts for the year were ₹199.15 crore against expenses of ₹197.43 crore, showing a surplus of only ₹1.71 crore. However, the assessment order dated July 6, 2021 denied the entire exemption claim, making the full receipt amount taxable. 4Contd on | nation AI flight catches fire after Delhi landing Agencies NEW DELHI An Air India A321 plane's auxiliary power unit caught fire after landing at the Delhi airport on Tuesday afternoon. There was some damage to the aircraft, but passengers and crew members disembarked normally and are safe, an AI spokesperson said in a statement. "Flight AI 315, operating from Hong Kong to Delhi, experienced an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire shortly after it had landed and parked at the gate. The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking, and the APU was automatically shut down as per system design," the statement noted. "The aircraft has been grounded for further investigations and the regulator has been duly notified," the spokesperson added. ‘Fuel switch check done, no issues’ ecalling that it was from the soil of Bihar that he had resolved to launch Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam terror attack, PM Modi said in Motihari: "This is a new India - an India that spares no effort in punishing the enemies, mobilizing forces from both land and sky." R offgrid France to honour its last newspaper hawker Gita Gopinath bids farewell F rench President Emmanuel Macron will soon confer upon Ali Akbar, 73, France’s oldest and now the only street newsboy, the prestigious title of “Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite.” They say Paris is the city of love – and not just romantic love. Ali Akbar’s tale of love is his passion for this long-lost profession – that of a street newspaper seller. He left his hometown, Rawalpindi in Pakistan, in 1972 at the age of 20 to seek a “better life” in France and to be able to help his mother special despatch from Paris Roshan Bourget build her dream home back home. Like many other refugees, he reached the French coast by boat. Upon his arrival in the land of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, he worked as a kitchen help in a restaurant in Rouen. But evidently, he didn’t speak a word of French then. During a visit to Paris, he got acquainted with a street newsboy. The job caught his interest. Then, a chance meeting with Professor Choron, the founder of ‘Charlie Hebdo’, the highly satirical French magazine, was the turning point in Ali Akbar’s professional trajectory. While a growing friendship blossomed between the two men, Ali’s love for selling newspapers in the street became a passion. It is in the 6th arrondissement, in the wealthy neighbourhood of SaintGermain-des-Prés, that one has been hearing the jovial voice of Ali Akbar crying out headlines of the French publications for over 50 years. He is known for his witty humour and affable personality. If one is in the quartier, Ali Akbar chatting with passersby and clients in the brasseries is an unmissable sight. to IMF, set for Harvard return Agencies NEW DELHI Indian-origin economist Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will leave her position at the end of August 2025 to return to academia. She will rejoin Harvard University as the inaugural Gregory and Ania Coffey Professor of Economics. Gopinath made the announcement through a post on X, writing, “After nearly 7 amazing years at the IMF, I have de- cided to return to my academic roots.” She added that she looks forward to continuing her research in international finance and macroeconomics and training the next gener- ation of economists. She joined the IMF in January 2019 as its first female Chief Economist and was promoted in January 2022 to the IMF’s second-highest position, First Deputy Managing Director. During her time at the IMF, Gopinath played a central role in shaping the institution’s response to global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and international capital flows. 4Contd on | nation