eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE A Lamp for Every Story KOLKATA,LATECITY OCTOBER19,2025 There is no one narrative but a collection of diverse stories that lights up Diwali. 14+4PAGES,`7.00 ( `12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT CBC 15502/13/0036/2526 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA SAYS MISSILE FACILITY SYMBOL OF DEFENCE SELF-RELIANCE Operation Sindoor was just a trailer, now BrahMos can reach all of Pakistan: Rajnath BHUPENDRA PANDEY LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 18 CHINA REMOVES ITS NO.2 GENERAL AND 8 OTHERS OVER GRAFT CROWDS GATHER FOR ‘NO KINGS’ RALLIES IN U.S. P10 DESCRIBINGOPERATIONSindoor as a “trailer”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh sent Pakistan a tough message on Saturday, saying every inch of its territory was now within the reach of the BrahMos missile. Addressing a gathering after he and Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogiAdityanathflagged off the first BrahMos batch CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 in one has tax benefit not been passed on’ to consumers Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak in Lucknow, Saturday. Express Afghanistan pulls out of Azerbaijan and Turkey backed Pak in Op Sindoor, tri-series in Pakistan after see dip in Indian tourists 3 players killed in attack Stand in solidarity with ACB, says BCCI THE PLUMMETING NUMBERS COUNTRY PERIOD AZERBAIJAN JAN-APR 2025 2024 YoY change 33% MAY-AUG 43,957 99,267 TURKEY 81,093 60,979 -55.7% JAN-APR 83,306 84,522 MAY-AUG 90,383 1,35,507 -1.4% -33.3% Data from Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Turkey’s Tourism Ministry SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18 IN THE weeks and months after Operation Sindoor and the hostilities that followed, Indian tourist traffic to Turkey and Azerbaijan, twocountries which DECISION 2025 BIHAR came out in Pakistan’s support during the conflict in May, fell drastically,accordingtotheirlatest available tourism statistics. Between the two countries, the drop in the number of visitors from India has been steeper for Azerbaijan, which saw a 56 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE7 CHENNAI, OCTOBER 18 AFGHANISTAN CRICKET Board (ACB) has pulled out its team from participating in a tri-series in Pakistan next month, after three local cricketers died in a Pakistanimilitarystrike.Inapost on X, the ACB said that following the airstrikes, it decided not to send its team to Lahore and Rawalpindi for the T20 tri-series in November, which also involved Sri Lanka. The Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to respond to the issue, and it is unclear whether the series will go ahead with just Pakistan (Clockwise fromleft) Sibghatullah, Haroonand KabeerAgha and Sri Lanka or if a third team will be invited. The neighbouringcountrieshavebeenengaged in a conflict for nearly a week CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18 CAUTIONING INDIA against any “fresh wave of hostilities” while underlining that there was “no spaceforwarinanuclearisedenvironment”,PakistanArmychief Field Marshal Asim Munir said Saturday that his country would “respond much beyond the expectations of the initiators”. Addressing cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul in Abbottabad, Munir asked India to settle core issues and said, “We will never be intimidated nor coerced by your rhetoric and shall respond decisively, beyond proportions, to even a minor provocation withoutanyqualms.Theonusof ensuing escalations, one that may ultimately bear catastrophic consequences for the entire region and beyond, will squarely lie with India.” Thisisthesecondtimeintwo months that Munir has issued a nuclearthreattoIndia.InAugust, in an address to the Pakistani diasporainFlorida’sTampa,Munir was quoted saying “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Railways and I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Saturday. ANI AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18 ASHARPjumpinsales,especially of electronics and consumer goods; reduced prices for key daily-use items; all adding up to a significant push to consumption which may even reflect in the GDP numbers for financial year2025-26—theseweresome of the key gains, highlighted by thegovernmentSaturday,attributedtoGST2.0reformsrolledout September 22. At a joint conference named “GST Bachat Utsav,” held by Finance Minister Nirmala VEHICLE AND TRACTOR SALES Sept Aug Sept Sept2025 2025 2025 2024 YoYchange Passengervehicles 3,72,458 3,21,840 3,56,752 4.4% 2-wheelers 21,60,889 18,33,921 20,25,993 6.7% 3-wheelers 84,077 75,759 79,683 5.5% Tractors 1,46,180 64,322 1,00,542 45.4% Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Tractor and Mechanization Association Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the government’s message was that the benefits of GST rate cuts are reaching the end-consumers and these cuts have resulted in consumers increasing their CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Unilateral, revoke it’: Mamata writes to PM on appointment of Gorkhaland interlocutor KOLKATA, OCTOBER 18 ● Age, education ‘row’ add to heat on BJP Dy CM Samrat Choudhary EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE SHUBHAJIT ROY ‘DECISION VIOLATES SPIRIT OF COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM’ RAVIK BHATTACHARYA ● NitishunanimousNDA leader: JD(U) underlines after Amit Shah remarks GST cuts passed on, spurred consumption, may show in GDP: Govt Munir’s second n-threat to India in two months: ‘Response will be catastrophic’ 54 items being closely monitored, says Sitharaman, ‘not Along with UP CM, flags off first batch of missiles from new Lucknow unit THE WORLD ‘MULTIPLIER EFFECTS IN INVESTMENT, INDUSTRY’ WEST BENGAL Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to revoke the Central government's “unilateral decision” to appoint interlocutor for talks with leaders of the Darjeeling hills over various demands, including the issue of Gorkhaland West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee statehood, saying she was “surprised and shocked by the decision”. Intheletter,Banerjeesaidthe decision was taken without any consultation with the state governmentanditviolatedthespirit of cooperative federalism. On Thursday, the Centre appointed former deputy national security adviser Pankaj Kumar Singh as interlocutor to find a “permanent political solution” to the demand for Gorkhaland statehood and Scheduled Tribe status for 11 Gorkha sub-tribes. Several Gorkha leaders from the region had welcomed the Centre’s decision. Banerjee wrote, “I am surprisedandshockedtoknowthat the Government of India has appointed Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh, IPS (Retd.) as an interlocutor to hold discussions on the issues relating to Gorkhas in Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars regions of West Bengal. This appointment has been made without any consultation with the Government of West Bengal, even though the issues under reference directly relate to the governance, peace, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 ‘Age is just a number… if you are doing well, then it is in your hands for how long you want to play’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, OCTOBER 18 A CRICKETER should be judged byon-fieldperformanceandnot by age, T20 captain Suryakumar YadavsaidatanExpressAddaon Friday. His comments came aheadof India’sthree-matchODI series in Australia from October 19, which features two former captainsRohitSharma,whois38 years old, and Virat Kohli, who is 36.Thereisuncertaintywhether thetwoveteranswillbeselected for the 50-over World Cup in 2027. When asked if there is extra scrutinyonplayerslikeRohitand Virat because of their age, Suryakumar,whowasinconversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director of The Indian Express Group, and Devendra Pandey, deputy associate editor, said:“Accordingtome,ageisjust a number. If you are scoring runs and doing everything your team wants, then it is just a number. I was reading about James CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav was the guest at Express Adda in Mumbai on Friday. Amit Chakravarty Kolkata