DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 AN EXPRESS SERIES – PART 1 Jammu flares up, frames challenge: reset counter-terror grid, fill ‘vacuum’ Will take some time for security grid to ‘mature and manifest’, patience and perseverance required: Army officer Cloudburst in Himachal: 5 of school’s sports stars still missing SAURABH PARASHAR SAMEJ (KULLU), AUGUST 4 ATAtimewhenalleyesareonthe ParisOlympics,teachersatagovernment school in Himachal's Kullu are facing up to the possibility that five of their own state medal prospects, including four members of an extended family, may never step into the school's courts again. These promising sportspersons from the Government SeniorSecondarySchoolinSamej — three state-level volleyball players and two district-level shuttlers — are among the 33 peoplefromtheirvillagewhoare AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA, ARUN SHARMA, DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & P VAIDYANATHAN IYER POONCH, JAMMU, SRINAGAR, NEW DELHI, AUGUST 4 ON JUNE 19, two terrorists were killed by the Army in an encounter in Sopore in north Kashmir’sBaramulladistrict.The two had crossed from Pakistan into Rajouri-Poonch in Jammu and were behind the December 21 killing of four soldiers in an ambushinThanamandilastyear. Their cellphones, a probe revealed, had clips of a T20 cricket match in Abu Dhabi, details that suggested a “level of education not very common and a good family background”, and their use of weapons reflected they were among the “most highly trained terrorists seen in 20 years”, said an official. The story of how these two terrorists moved from Jammuto Kashmirisillustrativeof asignif- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK HURTS WHEN INDIA CALLS BANGLADESH PROTESTS INTERNAL MATTER: YUNUS P 7 5 YEARS SINCE AUG 5 AN EXPRESS SERIES SECURITY icant security shift five years since August 5, 2019, when the state lost its special status and later split into two, downgraded to a Union Territory and put CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TOMORROW Securing the Valley: what has worked TERROR TOLL IN JAMMU 2019* 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024** Incidents 3 14 21 19 23 13 Terrorists killed 3 18 11 14 22 5 Security forces killed 0 1 14 5 20 13 *Aug 5 onwards; **Up to July 31 Source: J&K Police Security personnel conduct a search operation in J&K’s Poonch on Sunday. ANI Progress made, Raj Bhavan for fine balance with elected UT govt: L-G P VAIDYANATHAN IYER SRINAGAR, AUGUST 4 THEGOVERNMENThasbrought peace and development to Jammu and Kashmir, and ensuredthatallinstitutionssuchas schools and colleges, hospitals and businesses carry on with their normal routine 365 days a year, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said ahead of August 5, marking five years of the end of the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K and its subsequent division into two Union Territories. THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW MANOJ SINHA J&K LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR In an hour-long interview to TheIndianExpress(detailedtranscript to be published tomorrow), Sinha, who took charge of J&K four years ago in August 2020, said: “There should be no doubtaboutelections.ThePrime Minister recently said that Assembly elections would be held at the earliest.” Asked if an elected government would be able to function smoothly with most powers including law and order vested with the L-G, Sinha said: “I will work to achieve a fine balance with the elected government and ensure smooth functioning. Is peace and development not the objective of all? Doesn’t everyone want this? If this is the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 1 man short, India script thrilling fightback to enter hockey semifinal EXPRESSAT OLYMPICS MIHIR VASAVDA PARIS, AUGUST 4 STADE YVES-DU-MANOIR in Paris has a mythical place in the Olympic universe. About 10 km from Notre Dame, it is the site of one of the greatest sporting spectacles, the 100 and 400m races of the 1924 ParisOlympics,thatwasimmortalised in the movie Chariots of Fire.Onehundredyearslater,the only venue from that era in use forthe2024Olympicshaspotentially become a site for another sports epic — with the Indian hockey team at the centre. On Sunday, India booked a INDIA AT OLYMPICS BADMINTON ■ Sen loses in semifinal, to play bronze playoff PAGES 14, 15, 16 second consecutive Olympics semifinal berth in memorable fashion, beating Great Britain in a penalty shoot-out despite being a man down for most of the match. The drama came from a controversial send-off — an occurrenceasrareinhockeyasafloodless monsoon in Mumbai — which triggered a feeling of injustice among the Indians who fought for 43 minutes despite the disadvantage. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad