DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM INDIA-CHINA SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES’ TALKS TODAY Wang Yi begins India visit, Jaishankar says de-escalation process must move forward Putin calls up PM Modi, others, ‘shares insights’ on meeting with Trump Chineseforeign ministersetto meetPMtoday SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 EAM S Jaishankar with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on Monday. PTI E EXPLAINED AS CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi began his two-day visit to India on Monday — his first sinceIndiaandChinacompleted the disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in November last year, and days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely first visit to China in seven years — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined that the “de-escalation process” must “move forward”. While he is in Delhi for the 24th round of talks between the India-China Special Representativesontheboundaryissueon Tuesday, Wang will also call on Modi — he did not get a meeting with Modi during his last visit in April 2022. Wang and National SecurityAdvisorAjitDovalarethe designated Special Representatives for the boundary talks. Doval travelled to China in Decemberlastyearfortalksafter five years of the border standoff. This is the first visit by a Chinese Minister since Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for the BRICS leaders’ summit in Russia's Kazan in October 2024, whentheysetthestagefordisengagementoftroopsattwofriction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and resumption of patrolling. Kremlin: Leaders discussed prospects of long-term resolution to Ukraine crisis Ahead of PM’s ● likely visit FOR BEIJING, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit is a key step towards facilitating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to China at the end of this month. For Delhi, it serves as an important leverage to get Beijing to agree to de-escalation within a time frame. Amid the US tariffs, the meetings will also provide an opportunity to discuss economic issues of concern. Trump aide: India must act as strategic partner to be treated as one SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 CLAIMINGTHATIndiawas“now cozying up to both Russia and China”, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro has said India needs to start acting like a strategic partner of the US if it wants to be treated like one. In a very sharply-worded opinion piece in The Financial Times, Navarro, one of US President Donald Trump’s closestadvisors,wrote:“Indiaactsas ROW OVER DEPORTATION OF BENGALI-SPEAKING MIGRANTS Bengal announces scheme for returning migrants — `5000 per month for a year ATRI MITRA KOLKATA, AUGUST 18 WEST BENGAL Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a new financial scheme for migrants returning to the state in the wake of detention and deportation of Bengalispeaking people from different parts of the country, especially BJP-ruled states like Delhi, Haryana, and Maharashtra, on suspicion of them being illegal Bangladesh immigrants. Under the scheme, named Sramosree, every migrant family would receive Rs 5000 per month for a year on their return. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Banerjee. Addressingthemediapersons after the Cabinet meeting, the chief minister said: “In the double-engine government states, Bengali migrant workers are beingattackedinaplannedmanner. They are being detained, jailed, andevendeportedtoBangladesh. Our 22 lakh migrant workers CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Pregnant woman sent to Bangladesh, family asks: What if baby born there? RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, AUGUST 18 AS THE Calcutta High Court hears the case of Sunali Bibi, a resident of West Bengal’s Birbhum who was pushed into Bangladesh on June 26 after being detained by the Delhi Police, a lingering question remains: what happens if she gives birth in the neighbouring country? Sunali, who was pushed into Bangladesh alongside her husband,Danish,andeight-year-old son, is eight months pregnant. Sunali and members of her family have worked as ragpickers and domestic helpers in Delhi for the past two decades. After she was picked up, her family first approached a court inDelhi,butwithdrewtheirplea White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs.” NewDelhiwas“nowcozying up to both Russia and China”, he later. With the help of the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board,theyfiledahabeascorpus plea with the Calcutta High Court instead. “Our last hope is with the court. My daughter is eight months pregnant, due for deliveryeitherattheendofthismonth CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Monday. AP meeting with President Trump in Alaska. India has consistently called for a peaceful resolution CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEET P 10 U.S. TO BACK EUROPEAN SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE: TRUMP ZELENSKYY SAYS OPEN TO TRILATERAL TALKS: ‘IT'S A GOOD SIGNAL’ Opposition INDIA bloc leaders address the media in New Delhi on Monday. ANI Opp alliance targets CEC: Looking at both legal, constitutional measures against him Kharge,otherOppfloorleadersdiscuss noticeformotiontoremovetheCEC JATIN ANAND NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 TAKING EXCEPTION to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s comments at a press conference a day earlier, the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties on Monday said it was considering “both legal and Constitutional measures” against the poll panel chief. It is learnt that the Opposition is considering moving a notice for impeachment againstKumar,whom itaccused of “talking like a BJP spokesperson” instead of answering questions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Biharandallegedvoter-listirregularities. On Sunday, faced with THE EDITORIAL PAGE QUESTIONS & QUESTIONS The EC faces many, it undermines itself in the shrill and adversarial way it responds to them PAGE8 mounting questions from the Opposition, Kumar asked Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi to either submit allegations of vote theft on a sworn affidavit or apologise to the nation. According to sources, the matter of the CEC’s impeachment was discussed at a meeting of Opposition floor leaders CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GST on health, term insurance may be Cadets disabled in training: SC scrapped or cut to 5% notice to Centre, armed forces ECONOMY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ex-cadets, parents welcome top court decision: ‘Ray of light’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 THESUPREMECourtonMonday sought the response of the Centre and the armed forces in a suo motu case based on reports published in The Indian Express about officer cadets who were discharged from the nation's top military training institutes on medical grounds and have since been battling severe disability with poor benefits. The affected cadets and their parents described the court’s intervention as “a ray of light” and BUSINESS AS USUAL Sunali Bibi was sent to Bangladesh along with her husband, Danish, and son THREE DAYS after he met US President Donald Trump in Alaska, Russian President Vladimir Putin called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and “shared his insights” on the meeting. This came hours before Trump’s meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. “Thank my friend, President Putin, for his phone call and for sharing insights on his recent CEC TALKING LIKE BJP SPOKESPERSON: OPP BY UNNY TheIndianExpressreportson August11ontheissue a sign that “their struggle is finally being seen”. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued notice to the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) in the Ministry of Defence; Department of Defence in the Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; Chief of DefenceStaff;and,heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The court inquired whether the Centre can implement a scheme for ex-cadets, such as a group medical insurance plan or CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GEORGE MATHEW & AANCHAL MAGAZINE MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, AUG 18 THE GOODS and Services Tax (GST) reforms expected around Diwali this year could likely lead to scrapping of the tax on insurance policies — or at least a calibrated reduction to 5 per cent — making insurance more affordable, improving financial security for millions and accelerating insurance penetration in India. The long-anticipated reductioninGSToninsuranceisunder active consideration by the government, although it is expected to result in annual revenue loss of approximately Rs 17,000 crore, said a source. ‘India there for us... can put pressure on Israel to end the conflict in Gaza’ DIVYA A NEW DELHI, AUGUST 18 WITHISRAELannouncingaplan to take control of Gaza — and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it the “best way” to end the war — Palestinian Ambassador Abdullah Abu Shawesh spoke to The Indian Express aboutTelAviv’sdecision, whether US President Donald Trumpcanbringpeacetothebesieged strip, and Palestine’s expectations from India. Excerpts: What do you have to say on Gaza takeover plan mooted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? They are calling it the Gaza takeover plan; some others are CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ABDULLAH ABU SHAWESH PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR MAJORSTATESWARN OF `7,000-9,000 CR ANNUALLOSS PAGE 11 There is a worry, however, amonginsurancecompaniesthat they will lose the input tax credit (ITC)claimiftheGSTiscompletely abolished,whichwillpushupoperating costs for insurers. Industry veterans have long criticised the 18 per cent on health, term and ULIP insurance premiums, particularly for health and term life insurance, asadeterrenttowiderinsurance CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WEST BENGAL PARTHA GETS BAIL FROM SC IN CBI CASE, WON’T BE OUT OF JAIL FOR NOW PLEA IN HC AGAINST EC ORDER TO SEEK BLAs’ LIST, PAGE 3 In Kerala village, ‘living lab’ provides local weather forecast, landslide alert PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP KANICHAR (KERALA), AUGUST 18 BEFORE HE ventures for rubber tapping each morning, Anil T R scrolls his WhatsApp for weather updates. The informationthathegetsisn’tfromfar-off weather stations — it’s specifically for his gram panchayat Kanichar, sourced from the neighbourhood and localised just for people like him. Anil’svillageof Kanichar—60 km from Kannur — is India’s first village panchayat where a living lab approach has been adopted forenhancingclimatesensitivity and people’s resilience capacity. ImplementedbytheKeralaState DisasterManagementAuthority (KSDMA), the project has one aim — making the 4,600-odd household owners in the panchayat resilient to natural disasters. The living lab approach is an ecosystem that integrates realworldsettingswithresearchand innovation to create and test solutions. First developed in the Netherlands, the approach is marked by the involvement of severalstakeholders—including government, experts, private agencies and civic society — to find real-world solutions. For the village, which saw three people being killed and 36 hectares of farmland being destroyed in a series of landslides in 2022, this has come as a relief. “Every day, we get data on rains and wind from an automatic weather station installed at the village,” 55-year-old Anil says. “When there’s heavy rain, there are frequent alerts and updates about the situation.” The village currently has one automaticweatherstationtopro- Kanichar village in Kerala’s Kannur district; (right) an automatic weather station installed to provide local weather data in the landslide-prone area. Express vide local weather data in the landslide-pronepanchayat,with authoritiesnowplanningadozen moreinthepanchayat’s13wards. Another highlight is that the panchayat will have an early landslide warning system installed by IIT-Roorkee. ThisistheonlyplaceinKerala where KSDMA has opened a resilience centre and appointed a resilienceofficer,whoisengaged instrengtheningthedisasterpreparednessandsocialresilienceof the people. The panchayat has madereadya60-memberemergency response team, with each person given a specific task. This is the first time in the country that the concept is being implemented with landslide as thefocaltheme.“TheNetherlands was first to use the living lab approachtofindsolutionsforurban issues.TheconceptisnewinIndia, andKeralaisthefirsttotakelandslides as a theme for this approach,” SDMA member secretary Sekhar Kuriakose says. After the landslides of 2022, KSDMA conducted investigations in the region at the request of the panchayat. Subsequently, thegovernmentdirectedtheKSDMA to set up a living lab. “Developing a living lab in a hilly region has figured in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata