The Ideas Page: A new compact to reshape India’s cities 9 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026 JOuRNALIsM of COuRAGE MUMBAI, lATE CITY, 18 PAgES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I lY F R O M : A h M E DA B A D , C h A N D I gA R h , D E l h I , j A I P U R , kO l k ATA , l U C k N O W , M U M B A I , N Ag P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 ‘INDIA’S SECURITY INTERESTS DIRECTLY LINKED TO WEST ASIA’ ‘Extraordinarily productive’: India and Israel elevate ties 17 pacts signed as Modi, Netanyahu hold talks; tech key to partnership Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, February 26 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem, Thursday. @MEAINDIA INDIA AND Israel elevated their ties to a “Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, InnovationandProsperity”andsigned 17pactsaftertalksThursdaybetween Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu, wrapping up what the Israeli Prime Minister called an “extraordinarily productive” and “extraordinarily moving” visit by the Indian Prime Minister. Beforeheadinghome,Modi said, “Our relations are founded on a strong foundation of deep trust, shared democraticvalues,andhuman sensibilities. Our relationship »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E. SC BANS BOOK, ISSUES NOTICE TO NCERT DIRECTOR, SCHOOL EDUCATION SECY Heads must roll: CJI on NCERT book; PM steps in, wants accountability fixed SC: Calculated move to undermine and demean judiciary, needs deeper probe Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, February 26 ExPlAINED focus on critical minerals and AI One of the key outcomes, Modi said, was the decision to establish a Critical and Emerging Technologies Partnership. This will boost cooperation in AI, quantum, and critical minerals. EDITOrIAl PAGE PARTNERShIP SERvES NATIONAL INTEREST, gLObAL STAbILITy: PM TO ISRAEL PAgE 8 COMINGDOWNheavilyonthe National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for introducing a section on “Corruption in the Judiciary” in its Class 8 social science textbook, the Supreme Court Thursday called it a “calculated move to undermine and demean dignity of judiciary”. It imposed a “complete blanket ban” on further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the book. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mumbai, February 26 110 138 171 71 Ramdev aide’s firm got land from Uttarakhand, UP claims ownership ExPrEss investigation Aiswarya Raj Dehradun, February 26 ThE cITY THE UTTARAKHAND Tourism Development Board (UTDB), which allocated land in June 2023 for a one-year pilot project in adventure tourism to a firm owned by Patan- AfTER 3 yEARS, METRO LINE 5 CLEARS bIggEST ROADbLOCk — A hOARDINg & 3 bUILDINgS PAgE 3 mAhArAshTrA AjIT PAwAR PLANE CRASh: STATE CID TO PRObE ‘SAbOTAgE’ ANgLE PAgE 6 happening today lCANADIAN PM MARK Carney starts a four-day visit to India. business as Usual By EP UNNY Uttarakhand awaits return of land by Rajas 20 months after pilot project jali co-founder Acharya Balkrishna, has been unable to get it vacated despite it being overdue for almost 20 months, documentsaccessedbyTheIndianExpressundertheRightto Information Act reveal. EvenasUTDBsentmultiple Maharashtra begins anti-conversion law work, preliminary draft sent for vetting Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, February 26 THEMAHARASHTRAgovernment is learnt to have prepared the first draft of a proposed anti-conversion law aimed at addressing cases of alleged forced religious conversions, an issue that leaders of the ruling Mahayuti coalition have often described as “love jihad”. Sources said the “preliminary” draft has been referred to the LawandJudiciaryDepartment for feedback as part of the procedural process. A source told The Indian Express that drafting is still underwayandthattherewillbe further discussions between the Home and Law and Judiciary departments before the Bill is finalised. “As is the case with any law, there will be several rounds before it is finalised,” the source said. The govern- ment,thesourcesaid,isaiming tobringtheBilltotheHousefor passage this year. The development comes daysafterGujarat,anotherBJPruledstate,tabledamendments to its marriage registration law making parental consent mandatory. In the Gujarat Assembly lastweek,DeputyChiefMinister HarshSanghavisaidthat“under thenameoflovejihad,agameis being played in the state” and that “a strong armour needs to be created for young girls”. Meanwhile, the matter of anti-religious conversion laws also reached the Supreme Court on Monday and it decidedtoexaminethevalidityof anti-religious conversion laws enacted by 12 states, even as Christian groups submitted thatthesestatutes“incentivise” vigilantegroupstocommitacts of violence against minorities. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 reminders and even warnings of taking a legal recourse to the firm Rajas Aerosports and AdventurePvtLtd,itcametolight in September 2025 that the land allocated didn’t belong to the Uttarakhand government »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Union Minister Piyush Goyal with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US envoy to India Sergio Gor in New Delhi, Thursday. ANI Daysafteradverse UScourtruling, LutnickinDelhi fortradetalks Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, February 26 SIXDAYSaftertheUSSupreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping globaltariffs,USSecretaryofCommerce Howard Lutnick and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi Thursday to discuss trade ties. “Engaged in very fruitful discussionstoexpandourtrade »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l JUDOKA FROM GIR IS FIRST SIDDI ATHLETE TO qUALIFY FOR CWG, ASIAD ‘There will be a day when people will want to take a photograph with me’ Mihir Vasavda says his cousin and former judoka Afarudin Chovat, “a few people started calling him AfriINDIA’S TRAILBLAzER ju- can” and other racist slurs. Itwasn’tthefirsttimeMajgul doka, Rohit Majgul, has a grievance. “People think I am Afri- was subjected to such comments. “I have been can,” he says. PAGE 1 called names — One episode sometimes as abuse, from his teenage sometimes teasingly years still lingers. At a national-level U-17 cham- — all my life because of my pionship in Gujarat’s Nadiad in looks,thecurlyhair,”hesays.But 2019, Majgul had reached the thatday,hegotoverwhelmed.“I final.“Whilehewaspreparing,” was disturbed and felt very bad. Mumbai, February 26 anchor All my life I have been called names because of my looks, the curly hair: Rohit Majgul However, I have surrounded myself with good people, good friends. They told me to ignore the noise and focus on my game.” Majgulwentontobenamed thechampionship’sbestjudoka. Hemadehimselfapromise.“He told us, ‘There will be a day when people will want to take a photo with me’,” says Chovat. Seven years later, the 21year-oldbecamethefirstathlete »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Liz Mathew & Abhinaya Harigovind New Delhi, February 26 If allowed to go unchecked, will erode sanctity of the judicial office in the estimation of the public... ” CJI SURYA KANT PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi has taken strong exceptiontotheinclusionofasection on “Corruption in the Judiciary” in the NCERT Social Science textbook for Class 8, sources said Thursday. Expressing his anguish, Modi,ataCabinetmeetingheld Tuesday,wassaidtohaveasked UnionEducationMinisterDhar- mendraPradhantofindoutwho wasresponsibleforthisandwho should be held accountable. Modi took up the issue at theCabinetmeeting,thefirstto be held at Seva Teerth, the newly-constructed PMO. Sources said the Prime Minister asked why Class 8 students werebeingtaughtsuchchapters and who was mo-nitoring the contentintextbooks. Sources in the government said the Prime Minister was »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sunetra Pawar elected NCP national chief Alok Deshpande COMPANY DENIES ILLEGAL OCCUPATION, ENCROACHMENT At Cabinet meeting, Modi inquired who is monitoring textbooks MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was on Thursday unanimously electednationalpresidentofthe Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at the party’s national conference, weeks after the deathofherhusbandandsenior leader Ajit Pawar in a plane crash on January 28. Sunetra, who was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister three daysafterAjitPawar’sdeath,deliveredanemotionaladdressat her first public appearance sincethetragedy.Attimesholdingbacktears,shesaidtheparty would not compromise on the idealsofShiv,Shahu,Phuleand Ambedkar, which she said Ajit Pawarhadsteadfastlyfollowed. “Shiv, Shahu, Phule, Ambedkarideologywasalwaysfollowed by Ajit Dada and he never compromised on it. We, too, are never going to compromise on it. We will never leave any section of the society behind and we will always walk together,” she said. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Maharashtra Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar after being elected NCP national president in Mumbai on Thursday. SANkhADEEP BANERjEE
Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi.
