The Editorial Page: India needs a clear, rules-based framework for petrol prices 8 TueSdAy, APRIl 28, 2026 Journalism of Courage AhMEdABAd, lATE cITy, 20 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 Happening today lPrime minister narendra Modi is scheduled to virtually inaugurate indoor cricket infrastructure in six states of the Northeastern region. CentraL forCes WiLL remain in state for 60 days after PoLLs: shah As campaign ends, Modi, Mamata make last pitch for West Bengal lPresident of the 80th session of UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, will visit India and discuss key multilateral issues with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. examining seven key questions concerning the balance between religious freedom and fundamental rights, triggered by the Sabarimala review case, will continue its hearing. soumyarendra Barik Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com By eP uNNy New Delhi, April 27 Prime minister narendra modi campaigns in Barrackpore, north 24 Parganas. ANI; west Bengal chief minister mamata Banerjee in south kolkata, monday. PArThA PAUl Will return for oath ceremony, says PM; CM leads 12-km padayatra in Kolkata atri mitra & tanusree Bose Kolkata, April 27 robbersloot rs52LfromsBi branchinsurat afterholding staff,customers atgunpoint The CaMPaIGn for the second and final phase of the West Bengalassemblyelectionsconcluded on Monday after weeks offierceexchangesoverSpecial Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, undocumented immigration, corruption, and unemployment. From Prime Minister narendra Modi and Union home Minister amit Shah to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, top leaders of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) made their last-minute pitchestovoters.amidacouple of incidents of pre-poll violence, Shah said at a roadshow inKolkatalateronMondaythat central forces would remain in the state for 60 days after the elections. For the BJP, the day started withPMModiaddressingapublic meeting in Jagatdal in north 24 Parganas district’s Barrackporearea.“Thisismylastpublic meeting for this election. Given what I felt wherever I went in Bengal, I can say that after the May4results,Iwillreturnforthe (BJPgovernment’s)oath-taking ceremony,” the PM said. »Continued on Page 2 SIR stokes fears, Bengali asmita divides, but on fractured ground fault-lines don’t run straight Vandita mishra & sweety kumari Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, April 27 The ShaRPneSS of the big issue in this West Bengal electionisbluntedonthestate’suneven and fractured ground. at stake in the election Commission’s controversial Special IntensiveRevision(SIR)ofelecto- deLhi exCise PoLiCy Case New Delhi, April 27 Surat, April 27 In a daylight heist, a gang of armed robbers targeted a branch of State Bank of India (SBI) in Gujarat's Surat city on Monday afternoon, looting Rs 50 lakh in cash after threatening the staff and customers at gunpoint and escaping on sports bikes, police said. The robbery took place at the SBI branch in the Varachha area of Surat city. Surat Deputy Commissioner of Police alok Kumar said the gang of five reportedly disabled the alarm system of the bank and snatched mobile phones from both employees andcustomerstopreventthem from alerting the authorities. Kumar said the CCTV footage has revealed the presence of five accused, but more persons might be involved. The police are working to »Continued on Page 2 2026 W e st B e n ga L ral rolls is a non-negotiable right and a fundamental promise — the right to vote that lies at the heart of the democratic compact, the promise of a free »Continued on Page 10 In an unprecedented move, aaP national convener arvind Kejriwal wrote to Delhi high Court judge Justice Swarana KantaSharmaonMondaytosay “hewillneitherappearinperson northroughalawyerbeforeher” in the excise policy case. “I have lost hope of getting justice from Justice Swarana aaP national convener arvind kejriwal in a video posted on X Kanta. Therefore, I have decided to follow the path of Satyagraha as shown by Mahatma Gandhi...,” he said. The letter comes days after Justice Sharma refused to recusefromhearingthecaseafter Kejriwalandfiveotheraccused raised apprehensions of bias and made allegations of a conflict of interest for the judge. Justice Sharma is hearing a criminal revision filed by the »Continued on Page 2 Ruchir Sharma, ace global investor and author, is guest at Adda today ens economic Bureau Mumbai, April 27 aCe GlOBal investor, fund manager and best-selling author Ruchir Sharma will be the guest at express adda in Mumbai on Tuesday — an interaction that comes at a time whentheWestasiaconflicthas changed the course of the global economy. »Continued on Page 2 ruchir sharma is chairman of rockefeller International and founder of Breakout capital j&kseminary nation Pages 10, 12 gets‘unlawful’ ladakh talks will tagunderuaPa; Be decisiVe if shah at meet: wangchuk dangeroustrend, Vande Bharat coach derails sayleaders at Pune station Bashaarat masood E. explained govt’s worries A BLOCK by a cloud system provider can log out a client company from accessing its own data, communication channels and other tools and products. This can critically endanger operations in sectors such as telecom, energy and financial services. This is the reason why the government seeks greater control over such digital infrastructure. tighter control over sensitive data and digital infrastructure, they said. The consideration was prompted last year, when Microsoft suddenly blocked oil refiner nayara energy from its »Continued on Page 2 Maharashtra: BJP-led environment dept scraps lake projects cleared by Shinde Mumbai, April 27 gayathri mani & apurva Vishwanath express news service deCision and fair election. But even on the SIR, the dividing lines lose their straightness in West Bengal. The possibilities of empathies and solidarities in the current moment are interrupted by fraught backstories. On the SIR, the dispiriting story so far: It has raised genuinefearsoflarge-scalevoterdisenfranchisement and targeted aMID RISInG geopolitical and cybersecurity concerns, the government may require companiesincriticalsectorssuchas energy, telecom, and banking touseMade-in-Indiasovereign cloud systems, The Indian Express has learnt. according to government officials, the move under discussion is aimed at reducing dependence on foreign cloud providers and strengthening data security. The government may be comfortable with alok deshpande Kejriwal withdraws from proceedings before HC judge, invokes satyagraha Police at the sBI branch in surat’s Varachha on monday. PTI Govt keen firms in critical sectors use ‘Made in India’ cloud systems Officials: Indian service providers are not globally competitive yet, need policy push la nine-judge sC BenCh Business as usual miCrosoft’s nyara BLoCk trigger MahaRaShTRa’S environment and Climate Change Department, led by BJP minister Pankaja Munde, has cancelled administrative approval to 14 lake conservation projects clearedunderpreviousgovernments, including 11 sanctioned whenformerChiefMinistereknath Shinde, an ally, held the portfolio. The department has also ordered recovery of funds already released for these projects, along with interest. Of the 14 projects scrapped, 11 were approved during Shinde’s tenure, while three were cleared when the department was headed by Shiv Sena (UBT) Mla aaditya Thackeray during the Maharashtra Vikas aghadi (MVa) government. »Continued on Page 2 Srinagar, April 27 The JaMMU and Kashmir administrationhasdeclaredSirajul-Uloom, one of south Kashmir’s biggest educational seminaries, an unlawful entity under the Unlawful activities (Prevention) act (UaPa), accusing it of having “covert linkages” with the banned Jamaate-Islami (JeI), “serious legal, administrativeandfinancialirregularities”, and of fostering “an environment conducive to radicalisation”. Siraj-ul-Uloom is the first seminarytobedeclaredunlawful in J&K. The move comes days after the administration took over 58 schools that officials claimed were affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami and itseducationtrust,theFalah-eaam Trust. “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 8(1) of theUnlawfulactivities(Prevention) act, 1967, I, anshul Garg, IaS, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, hereby notify Darul Uloom Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom, »Continued on Page 2 Gujarat local body poll results today Preparations underway at a counting centre in ahmedabad on monday, a day ahead of the declaration of results of the local body elections in the state. BhUPENdrA rANA relaTed rePorTs, Page 4 l afTer slowIng down In wInTer, cargo moVemenT regaIns momenTum Cement & cars in, apple baskets out: Freight supplies hit high gear on Kashmir’s rail link dheeraj mishra that, cars, foodgrains, and even military consignments have been transported on rakes. On aPRIl 22, milk became the Freight operations began latest commodity to be trans- modestly, with 13 rakes in auported to anantnag over the gust 2025 and 20 in September, railwaylinktotheValleyopened but rose sharply to 46 rakes — in July last year, arriving from thehighest—inOctober,largely linch Railway Stadriven by construction in ahmedabad tion activity, with 41 page 1 Division. rakes of cement enData shows that tering the Valley that between august month. 2025 and March 2026, during Movementslowedinwinter, the time Kashmir has been part droppingto34rakesinnovemoftheRailwaynetwork,cement ber, 22 in December, and 16 in accounted for the largest in- January, before regaining moboundfreightintoKashmir,and mentumwith22rakesinFebruapples the largest commodity ary and 30 in March 2026. transported out. apart from One of the first rakes carryNew Delhi, April 27 anchor lFreighttrainstoValley Commodity cement Automobiles foodgrains (fcI) fertilizers Military consignment Apple Basket Salt others no. of rakes 155 18 17 6 2 1 1 3 dATA IS froM AUGUST 9, 2025 To MArch 31, 2026 A STANdArd frEIGhT TrAIN rAkE IN INdIA TyPIcAlly coNSISTS of 42 wAGoNS, 21 wAGoNS IN MINI rAkE ingcementtravelledtoKashmir on august 9, with 21 wagons loadedinPunjab’sRupnagar.By March 2026, 203 rakes had travelled to anantnag, carrying 3,514wagonsinall,ofwhich76% or155rakeswereloadedwithcement. Vehicles are the next inboundcommodity,havingbeen transportedover18specialnew Modified Goods rakes. Maruti Suzuki India was the first to do so in October 2025, with automobile transportation among the Railways’ key initiatives to diversify its freight basket. Foodgrains come third at 17 rakes, from the Food Corporation of India. In December 2025, a mini foodgrain freight train carrying 1,384 tonnes, dispatched from ajitwal Railway Station in Punjab, reached the anantnaggoodsterminal—the first bulk food grains supply by rail to Kashmir. Other cargo includes fertilisers,tworakesofmilitaryconsignments,andonerakeeachof apple crates and salt. Recently,amazonextended its operations to the Valley through a door-to-door parcel delivery service by Indian Railways and India Post. With freight movement expected to generate revenue and stabilise supply chains — especially in remote areas — the Railwaysisgivingitasignificant push.“Morethan65%ofthenational carrier’s revenue comes from this segment. We are ex- Ahmedabad ploring new areas of freight supply to Kashmir,” a senior Railway official said. “Daily vehicle parcel-based cargo movement has commencedbetweenadarshnagar and the Budgam rail terminal. Thisservicewillensureforward loadingfromthenationalCapital Region to the Valley and return loading of Valley produce back to the capital. It will be a two-waysupplychainwitha30hour train,” he said. With Kashmir the country’s leading apple producer, it is hardly a surprise that it is the leading produce transported out. a total of 278 apple-loaded bogie covered wagons — de- signedtoprotectgoodsfromthe weather — were dispatched from anantnag during the period. The272-kmUdhampur–Srinagar–Baramula Rail link (USBRl), or Kashmir line, became fully operational on June 6, 2025, when Prime Minister narendraModiinauguratedthe 63-km Katra–Sangaldan section,markingthecompletionof a project to link Kashmir to the rest of the country that was first initiated 42 years ago. While different stretches of theprojectwereoperationalised earlierinphases,themostchallenging was the 111-km Katra– Banihal section.