DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES TWO SOLDIERS KILLED IN KASHMIR ENCOUNTER PUNJAB OKAYS `20,000/ACRE FOR CROP LOSS PAGE 8 THE WORLD GUNMEN OPEN FIRE AT JERUSALEM BUS STOP, KILL 6 FRENCH GOVT ON BRINK OF COLLAPSE PAGE 12 `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ‘SHALL BE TREATED AS THE 12TH DOCUMENT’ Accept Aadhaar as identity proof in Bihar SIR, Supreme Court tells EC Authorities shall be entitled to verify authenticity of Aadhaar... by seeking further proof/documents: Bench ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 THESUPREMECourtMondaydirected the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as a 12th document,inadditiontothe11ithas permittedforidentificationinorder to be included in the final electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar ahead of Assembly elections. The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, made it clear that Aadhaar “is not proof of citizenship”, and statedthattheECwillbeentitled to assess its authenticity. “There is no quarrel that as perthestatutorystatusassigned to Aadhaar Card under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, itisnotaproof of citizenshipand therefore shall not be accepted as proof of citizenship. However, keeping in view Section 23(4) of theRepresentationof PeopleAct, 1950, Aadhaar Card is one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person,” the court ordered. The court directed the EC “and its authorities to accept Aadhaar Card as a proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar". "Aadhaar card, for this purpose, shall be treated as the 12th document by the authorities. It is, however,madeclearthattheauthorities shall be entitled to verify the authenticity and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 No citizenship proof but top court raises the bar for exclusion by EC APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 tively raises the bar for the Election Commission (EC) to exclude an individual from the voter rolls if they have a valid Aadhaar card. For, the inclusion of Aadhaar as the 12th doc● umentmakesroomforan individual excluded from the draft list to cite Aadhaar to file claims for inclusion and E HOW HAS the Supreme Court's intervention on Monday moved the needle on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision exercise? In terming Aadhaar as the “12th document” to establish proof of identity, the SC effecEXPLAINED EXPRESS NETWORK JOURNALISM OF COURAGE CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SRMU degree row: Yogi orders probe into admissions at all private institutes in UP ADAYaftermeetingstudentleaders of the Akhil Bharatiya VidyarthiParishad(ABVP)andassuring them of action on alleged administrative irregularities at Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University (SRMU) in Barabanki, UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogi Adityanath Monday ordered a detailed probe into the recognition and admission processes at all private and non-government aided universities, colleges, and educational institutions across the state. Every Divisional Commissioner—thereare18divisionsinUP—hasbeendirected to constitute a special investigation team to conduct a probe covering institutions in their respective divisions. Each team will have a senior officer from the administration, a police officer, and an officer from the Education department, and will conduct ground-level inspections. The ABVP was protesting againstvariousallegedirregularities in the varsity, including an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Personal space, light, storage in jail: India assures Belgium on Mehul Choksi, if extradited MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 FOUR MONTHS after Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond trader wanted in India for the alleged Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, wasarrestedinBelgium,Indiahas sent a letter of assurance to the country’s government, saying it willkeephiminMumbai’sArthur Roadjailcomplex,“if extradited”. Choksi was arrested in Belgium in April based on an extradition request by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Last month, his bail plea was turned down by a court of appeal in Belgium, just ahead of his extradition hearing before a court in that country. InalettersentonSeptember4 At BRICS, Jaishankar red-flags ‘linking of trade measures to non-trade matters’ SHUBHAJIT ROY INANobliquereferencetotheUS administration’s decision to imposeanadditional25percenttariff on India as penalty for purchase of Russian oil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Mondayexpressedconcernatthe “linking of trade measures to non-trade matters”. Calling for a “stable and predictable environment for trade and investment”, he underlined that economic practicesshouldbe“fair,transparent and to everyone's benefit”. “The state of the world today is a cause for genuine concern. The last few years have witnessedthedevastatingimpactof The gates of UP minister OP Rajbhar’s Lucknow residence being fortified on Monday. Rajbhar is being targeted by ABVP for his ‘goonda’ remark on student protesters. Vishal Srivastav NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 EAM S Jaishankar and other BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia President Vladimir Putin and Brazil President Lula da Silva during the virtual summit. PTI NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 HOME MINISTER QUITS; REPORT AFTER MIDNIGHT SAYS BAN LIFTED EXPRESSNEWSSERVICES ADDRESS AT ONLINE MEET Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium in April BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 Zelenskyy: Tariffs on countries making deals with Russia right idea SHUBHAJIT ROY Riot police disperse protesters outside Nepal’s Parliament in Kathmandu on Monday. AP 19 killed in ‘Gen Z protests’ against Nepal social media ban, corruption YUBARAJ GHIMIRE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 AT LEAST 19 protesters, including16inKathmandu,werekilled andover200injuredonMonday as police opened fire on youths demonstratingagainsttheNepal government’s recent decision to ban over two dozen social media platforms. The Army was de- ployed in the capital as the situation deteriorated. The protesters, under the banner of “Gen Z”, also targeted the “rampant corruption” in the government and sought accountability. The protests were held in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhairahawa,ItahariandChitwan.Police arelearnttohaveopenedfireinat least two places — Kathmandu INSIDE GRAFT & GAG: WHY BAN TRIGGERED NEPAL’S GEN Z PAGE 9 andItahariineastNepal.While16 werekilledinKathmandu,theremaining three were killed in Itahari. A PTI report after midnight said the Nepal government had liftedthebanonsocialmediaplatforms. No further details were available. Earlier in the evening, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, who represented the Nepali Congress partyinthecoalitiongovernment ledbyPrimeMinisterKPSharma Oli, resigned on moral grounds. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 SUPPORTING US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on India as penalty for purchase of Russian oil — taking the total tariff to 50 per cent —Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that such action on countries who “make deals” with Russia was the “right idea”. His remarks come nine days after his phone call with Prime MinisterNarendraModiaheadof theShanghaiCooperationOrganisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. Asked if he thought the plan to impose tariffs backfired when he saw photographs of Modi Zelenskyy, who met Trump last month, also called for sanctions against Russia. File with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent SCO summit, Zelenskyy, in an interview airedonABCNews’‘ThisWeek’on Sunday,said:“No.Ithinktheidea to put tariffs on the countries who continue (to) make deals CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rehabilitation package, meet with In first, J&K AAP MLA held under displaced in PM’s Manipur itinerary PSA for ‘disturbing public order’ DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & SUKRITA BARUAH NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 8 PRIME MINISTER Narendra ModiislikelytomeetpeopledisplacedbytheconflictinManipur and announce a rehabilitation package during his visit to the state, which is expected to take place later this week. However, efforts to convince Nagas in the state not to go ahead with their scheduled“tradeembargo”from Tuesday have not succeeded, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the Covid pandemic, major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East/WestAsia,volatilityintrade and investment flows, extreme climate events and a discernible slowing down of the SDG Agenda.Inthefaceof thesechallenges, the multilateral system appears to be failing the world. Thatsomanyseriousstressesare beingleftunaddressedis,understandably, having consequences for the global order itself,” he said, addressing the BRICS leaders’ summit online. “Trade patterns and market access are today prominent issues in the global economic discourse. The world requires constructive and cooperative approaches to promote trade Scheduled to visit the state on Sept 13 presenting the administration with a challenge. A tentative itinerary of the PM’svisitonSeptember13—his first since ethnic conflict began in Manipur in May 2023 — was discussed at a meeting between Governor Ajay Bhalla and legislatorsof theruling alliance atthe Raj Bhavan on Sunday. Former Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh, and state BJP chief A Sharda Devi wereamongthosepresentatthe meeting. The Governor urged the legislators to engage withtheirconstituenciestominimise tensions before the visit, The Indian Express has learnt. According to sources, the MLAs were also asked to get people from their areas to attend the PM’s address. The PM is likely to meet the displaced people at the venues CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ARUN SHARMA JAMMU. SEPTEMBER 8 JAMMU AND Kashmir’s lone Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Doda, Mehraj Malik, was apprehendedbythepoliceonMonday on charges of disturbing public order and detained under the stringent Public Safety Act for one year. He is the first sitting legislator in Jammu and Kashmir to have been detained under the PSA, which allows the administration to keep a person under Mehraj Malik named in 18 FIRs, 16 Daily Diary reports preventive detention without trial, if it is satisfied that his remaining free might disturb public order and peace, or threaten security of the state. SenttoKathuajail,Malikwas namedin18FIRsand16dailydiaryreportsatdifferentpolicestations in Doda district, officials said.Theyallegedhewasincreasinglycausingdisturbancetopublic order, especially at a time whenthedistrictadministration was busy initiating relief measures for people hit by recent heavy rains and flash floods in far-off areas of the hilly district. Malik is accused of attacking officials on duty, locking them inside their offices, and abusing and intimidating them in public, officials said, adding that he is also facing charges of abduction. The imposition of PSA will not affect his membership in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Personalised software doubled learning rates in Andhra govt schools: Study PAGE 1 ANCHOR ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 AN EVALUATION study by researchers, including Nobel laureate and economist Michael Kremer,hasfoundthatapersonalised learning software used in Andhra Pradesh's government schools led to a doubling of learning rates among those who used it. The Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) software — now used on tablets across over 1,200 schoolsinthestate—determines astudent’slearninglevel,andprovides learning material and assessments like questions accordingly. By tailoring instruction to each student’s learning level, it is meant to address differences in learninglevelsandabilitieswithin a class. The Andhra Pradesh government had partnered with ConveGenius.AI, an AI-powered adaptive learning solution platform,tointroducetheirCGPALin 2019forstudentsinClasses6to9. The evaluation study — by theDevelopmentInnovationLab (University of Chicago) — examined 60 schools where the PAL software was used, and 60 schools where it wasn’t, for a 17month period from 2023 to 2025. At the end of this period, the 14,000 students who were studied were given a tabletbased math assessment with questionsfromGrade2uptothe student’s current grade. In 2023, the Development Innovation Lab partnered with the Andhra Pradesh government’s Department of School Education and Central Square Foundation for a randomised controltrialtoevaluatePAL’simpact on math learning. The PAL software was found to have increased the rate of UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO STUDY schools in state where Personalised Adaptive 1,224Learning (PAL) software now used on tablets GRADE-WISE GAINS CLASS 6: 2.04 equivalent years of schooling (in one academic year) CLASS 7: 2.36 equivalent years of schooling (over two years) CLASS 8: 1.77 equivalent years of schooling (over two years) CLASS9: Gainof 1.54equivalentyearsof schooling(over twoyears) learning for students by more thantwice—theirlearninggains were around 2.3 times higher thanstudentswhodidnotuseit. Girls were found to have gained more than boys — in terms of equivalent years of schooling,girlsgained2.31years, while boys gained 1.54 years. Students in the lower grades were also found to have gained more — students in Class 6 gained 2.04 years of schooling when they used the PAL software in the 2024-25 academic year, while students in classes 79, who used the software over two academic years, from 202325, saw gains ranging from 1.54 years of schooling (grade 9) to 2.36 years (grade 7). The figure for grade 8 was 1.77 years. Presenting the findings in Delhi on September 8, Kremer, who is Director of the Development Innovation Lab, University of Chicago, said higher usage of the PAL software resulted in larger learning gains. While the average usage of PAL by students over the 17 months was 35.3 hours per student, the researchers found that an extra hour of usage per year is associated with 0.06 more equivalent yearsof schooling.Usageamong students varied — those in smallerclasseshadbetteraccess to the tablets, and used the software more. With higher usage leading to morelearning,Kremeraddedthat girls used the programme more than boys, and girls gained more from the programme than boys. Going by details Kremer presented,thePALsoftwareformath wassupposedtoreplacetwo40minute math classes per week. The Andhra Pradesh government provided tablets in these schools, and costs were covered from Samagra Shiksha funds, saidBSrinivasaRao,StateProject Director, Samagra Shiksha, Andhra Pradesh. Teachers were CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow