www.IndIAnEXPrESS.CoM What the Rain Became Kerala was raised on the romance of the monsoon. Somewhere along the line, the rains stopped being the backdrop to its life and became a thing to fear kolkaTa, JulY 19, 2026 lATE CITy 16+4 PAGES ₹7.00 sCreen Raghav Juyal on his non-linear journey (₹12 In norThEAST STATES, ₹20 In AndAMAn) d A I l y f r o M : A h M E d A B A d , C h A n d I G A r h , Vikram-1 India’s first private orbital rocket mission; defining moment, says PM Tech payloads; India third country, after US & China, to have launch capability in pvt sector anonna Dutt New Delhi, July 18 UShering in a new era of india’s space programme, Vikram-1, a rocket named after the legendary space leader Vikram Sarabhai, on Saturday became the country’s first privatelybuilt launch vehicle to achieve an orbit around the earth, and successfully deploy a diverse set of technology demonstration satellites in space. Built by the hyderabadbased company Skyroot Aerospace, Vikram-1 marks the beginning of private space flights in india, a development that has been actively enabled and supported by the indian Space research organisation (iSro) and the government. With this »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 skyroot aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket lifts off from sriharikota on saturday. PTI PAge 8 ukrAine ATTAck kills 8 in russiA Abhishek’s dare to rebels: ‘Return and I will quit from party posts within 1 hour’ Forthefirsttimesinceawave ofdefectionsanddissidencehit thetrinamoolCongressfollowingitsdefeatintheWestBengal Assemblyelectionstwomonths ago, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday dared the rebels to return to the party fold, saying he would resign from all posts withinanhourofthemdoingso. Abhishek, who is being blamed by the rebels and the »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 k o l k A T A , l u C k n o w , M u M B A I , n A G P u r , convene an all-party meeting ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting Monday. lPanama’s ForeiGn Minister will arrive on a five-day visit, during which he will meet Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Acted on HC order, expert’s advice due to his deteriorating health: Delhi Police Soon AFter dawn on Saturdaymorning,policeswoopedon Sonam Wangchuk’s protest at Jantar Mantar, breaking up the hunger strike that had entered its21stdayandbeguntogainvisible political traction this week. the action came the day after a new Commissioner took charge of the delhi Police and two days before the Monsoon Session beginning on Monday, when Wangchuk and the activist platform Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had planned a march to Parliament. Wangchuk had been on a hungerstrikesinceJune28,demanding the resignation of education Minister dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged neet-Ug paper leak. dipke later announced that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike. “they thought the andolan (movement) would lose steam without Sonamsir.now,insteadofhim, iwillsitonanindefinitehunger strike,” he said. »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 monsoon session BeGins Tomorrow activist sonam wangchuk being removed from the protest site at Jantar mantar, saturday. PTI inside PAge 6 manoj C G & jatin anand New Delhi, July 18 WAngchuk MurAls leAd TO 2 ArresTs, POlice scruTiny in guWAhATi PrOTesTs AcrOss MuMbAi, OTher ciTies on the eve of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, the beleaguered opposition, reeling under splits and floor-crossings, rallied together Saturday to attack the BJP government over moving activist Sonam Wangchuk from his Jantar Mantar protest site to Safdarjung hospital. the signal was clear:theissuewillfindanecho in the house when it reopens Monday. Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike since June 28 as part of a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party, demanding broader reforms to »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 72nd national Film awards nATiOn, PAge 6 BesT FeaTUre Film BesT aCTress arTiCle 370 yami GaUTam, ArTIClE 370 BesT aCTor inside Opp slams Govt, signals Sonam issue for House; BJP cites HC directions BesT DireCTor PAge 4 Abhishek Office rAzed, TMc TO MOve high cOurT karTik aaryan, mammooTTy ChAndu BrAMAyuGAM ChAMPIon rajkUmar Periasamy AMArAn Zeeshan shaikh Mumbai, July 18 theMAhArAShtrAgovernment has constituted a 27member committee to examine whether Scheduled tribe (St) members who convert to another religion should continuetoreceivereservationand other government benefits, reopening a politically and constitutionallysensitiveissuethat »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 ● maharashtra’sstpopulation 1.05 cr According to 2011 Census E. 9.35% religious proFile Share of STs in state population hindu 97.22% Muslim 1.07% Buddhist 0.20% Christian 0.19% other religions & persuasions 0.89% religion not stated 0.38% Sikh 0.02% Jain 0.02% Night before final, every line in New York cuts across divides, leads to No. 10 Messi World Cup sandip G New York, July 18 in the basement of Javits hall, supporters of Argentina and Spain fidgeted in the sinuous queue to the Fanatics Festival in the heart of new york, twodaysbeforethefinalinMetLifeStadium.thegruffsecurity v A d o d A r A Hunger strike Day 21: Police shift Wangchuk to hospital l argenTina and spain Vie for world fooTball crown aT meTlife sTadium express at P u n E , he is sTaBle... DeClineD meDiCal inTervenTion: saFDarjUnG hosPiTal happening Maharashtra panel to examine if STs today who convert can still receive benefits lThe GovernmenT will P A T n A , New Delhi, July 18 TWO u.s. MiliTAry PersOnnel in JOrdAn killed in irAn ATTAck ravik Bhattacharya J A I P u r , sakshi Chand, mahender singh manral, Pragynesh & Tabshir shams the world Kolkata, July 18 d E l h I , guard, stifling his yawn, quizzically verified the loyalties of every new entrant, “Spain in the line over there and Argentina down here. no fights, no punches please. i know you guys are sweet.” Both groups of fans were separated by barricades nearly 50 m ahead but he had read about the skirmishes between england and Argentina fans in times Square on thursday. the two lines, as if in a procession outside a temple, are unified in their singular wish. »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2 Tennis star novak djokovic with lionel messi, argentina coach lionel scaloni and goalkeeper emiliano martinez in new York, friday. AP Kolkata Speaker clears merger of 6 Sena UBT MPs with Shinde Sena, separate seating for TMC rebels Kiren Rijiju invites TMC rebel leader to all-party meet liz mathew, jatin anand & Zeeshan shaikh New Delhi, Mumbai, July 18 tWo dAyS before the start of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, Lok Sabha Speaker om Birla on Saturday approved the merger ofsixrebelShivSena(UBt)MPs withtheeknathShinde-ledShiv Sena,raisingthelatter’sstrength in the Lower house to 13. Birla’sdecisionwasreflected in a circular issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat on the “revisedpartyposition”inthe18th Lok Sabha “consequent upon change in party affiliation of 6 Members of Shiv Sena (UBt)”. the move assumes significanceastheBJPhassteppedup itseffortstomusteratwo-thirds majority required to pass the 131stConstitutionAmendment »ConTinUeD on PaGe 2
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