The editorial Page: restoration of J&K statehood calls for a phased and negotiated roadmap 10 FRIDAY, JUlY 24, 2026 Journalism of Courage neW DeLhi, LAte City, 20 PAges ₹7.00 (₹8 rAiPur, ₹15 srinAgAr) 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 ‘nOThIng MORe IMPORTanT Than welFaRe anD FUTURe OF OUR yOUTh’ PM steps in: Fast-track courts to punish exam leak guilty, tough new law on way whatthismove willaddress: endlesstrials ofleakcases, gapsinlaw Draft Bill ready, will take it to Cabinet today… paper leaks have caused immense distress to students, their parents: Modi harikishan Sharma, Jatin anand & Damini nath New Delhi, July 23 HOURS afTER he announced fast-track courts to punish thosebehindexampaperleaks, Prime Minister narendra Modi posted a video on social media Thursday night, saying a tough new law was on its way. He said he had received its draft and it would be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet friday. In the video, Modi said, “friends, I am well aware that the issue of paper leaks is not a small matter. It causes immense distress to lakhs of studentsandtheirparents.Consequently, numerous measures have been taken over the past two-and-a-half months followingtheseincidents,andtheculprits have been apprehended and are currently in jail.” “Ourprimaryresponsibility was to ensure that the students did not lose an academic year; conducting the examinations promptly was crucial. The government mobilised all its resources to arrange for the exams of 22 lakh students to be held in the shortest possible express interview express news Service New Delhi, July 23 ‘PM’s decision shows Govt very sensitive to issues of the youth ’ aRJUn RaM Meghwal LAW & justiCe Minister Page 6 Business as usual By EP UNNY activist sonam Wangchuk with Union ministers J P nadda and Jitendra singh at medanta hospital in Gurgaon, Thursday, as he ended his hunger strike after 26 days. @WAngChuk66/X Wangchuk ends 26-day fast, cites ‘long negotiation, possible violence’ Jatin anand New Delhi, July 23 aCTIVIST SOnaM Wangchuk, whose indefinite hunger strike in support of the Cockroach Janta Party demands had strengthened the student protestatJantarMantar,endedhis fast late Thursday night at the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. Wangchuk, in a post on X, said, “Just now in the presence of Union Ministers JP nadda & Dr. Jitendra Singh and the sen- »COnTInUeD On Page 2 3 treated for pellet injuries, CRPF probes chain of events, role of RAF Mahender Singh Manral, Pragynesh, Tabshir Shams & Drishti Jain New Delhi, July 23 WITH aT least three persons being treated in hospitals for pellet gun injuries sustained during the July 20 crackdown on protesters marching towards Parliament, the CRPf has initiated an inquiry to ascertain the exact sequence of events and determine whether pellet guns were used by personnel of its Rapid action force. The Raf is a specialised unit of the CRPf, raised in 1992 to deal with riots and other public disturbances. The Indian Express has also learntthattheCentrehasasked the CRPf to avoid using pellet guns while on duty at Jantar Mantar, the site of the ongoing protest by the Cockroach Janta Party and its supporters. followingtheJuly20crackdown on protesters, at least threecasesofpelletguninjuries have come to light — that of 25year-old Irshad Sheikh who works in Gurgaon; 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, a Delhi University student; and a 28-year-old journalist with the Outlook magazine. all three have been to hospitals for treatment of pellet injuries. Respondingtoaqueryfrom The Indian Express on the government’s direction to the CRPf to avoid the use of pellet guns while on duty at Jantar Mantar, the CRPf spokesperson said, “We are comprehensively enquiring into the whole gamut of events. It will be premature to comment now.” Sources said that after the Raf and Delhi Police personnel cracked down on the protesters on July 20, no one in the CRPf was aware of any use of pellet guns. Pellet guns and »COnTInUeD On Page 2 ior leaders of apex Body of Leh Ladakh, I finally broke my fast after 26 days. Earlier, 65 Members of Parliament from different political parties had visited or signed letters urging me to break the fast. This was doneafteralongnegotiationon various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country. I will explain the conditions in detail in a separate video very soon. Meanwhile, urgeyoualltostayveryvigilant about not allowing violence of inside With 360-degree cameras, ai facial recognition, Police monitor Protest no evidence to link key accused to neet-2024 PaPer theft, says cBi full coverage Pages 4, 6, 8, 11 Happening Centre shifts higher education secy, today education ministry gets 2 new secys lThe SUPReMe Court will hear a plea of the Muslim side stating that the alternative site identified for namaz was too far from the disputed Bhojshala complex in Dhar. lJ&K aSSeMbly privileges committee will hear a motion against PDP MLA Waheed Para. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com harikishan Sharma New Delhi, July 23 In a major bureaucratic reshuffle,theCentreonThursday shifted Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and appointed two new Secretaries in the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education has been at the centre of a controversy due to the nEET-UG questionpaperleakandirregularitiesintheCBSE’sevaluation of board exams. While naresh Pal Gangwar has been appointed as the Higher Education Secretary, T KanilKumarhasbeenbrought in as Secretary, Department of SchoolEducationandLiteracy. Gangwar, a 1994-batch Rajasthan-cadre IaS officer, is currently the animal Husbandry Secretary. anil Kumar, a 1995- batch Karnataka-cadre IaS officer, is posted as additional Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development. Joshi was also holding the charge of School Education Secretary, and was the acting chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC) too. HehasalsoservedastheDirector General of the national Testing agency (nTa) and »COnTInUeD On Page 2 anTiqUe cannon sTolen from mP’s narWar forT, hUnT zeroes in on a villaGe in raJasThan Down a fort, now under the ground? Cops of two states search for 3,500-kg cannon Parul Kulshrestha & anand Mohan J Jaipur, Bhopal, July 23 Can a 3,500-kg cannon just disappear? Police of two states are hoping not, as they search fortheantiqueitemstolenfrom the historic narwar fort in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, on July 15, digging up, so far, only mounds of earth and no clues. for the past two days, the search of the Rajasthan Police and Madhya Pradesh Police has been concentrated on Gavda MeenavillageinKaraulidistrict which, at 250 km from the nar- excavation at one of the locations in Gavda meena village in karauli district of rajasthan. eXPress war fort, is a good six-seven hours drive for anyone hauling a 3.5-tonne cannon. Since the Madhya Pradesh Police arrived Wednesday, JCB machines have been deployed for excavation at several locations in the village, with no luck. a team equipped with specialised metal detectorsthatcanscanunderground hasbeensummonedfromBharatpur to help. Giriraj Prasad, the SHO of the Hindaun Sadar Police Station, says the Shivpuri police told them they had received leads that the cannon, dating back 400 years, had been brought to Gavda Meena. “Police and administrative teams are excavating several locations. More than 50 police »COnTInUeD On Page 2 any kind anywhere.” Earlierintheday,inanother post, he urged protesters to remain peaceful, saying he was painedbyreportsthat“anti-social elements” were trying to provoke violence. “Peaceandonlypeaceismy way.WhileatJantarMantarthe protests remain peaceful, I’m pained to learn that elsewhere some antisocial elements are taking advantage of the peaceful protests to provoke violence,” he said. THE faST-track courts, announced by Prime Minister narendra Modi Thursday, to addresstheissueofexampaper leaks, have their task cut out. In a system where accountability for exam leaks has been dismal with most cases stuck in legal quicksand. an investigation by The Indian Express, published on June 5, found that of 45 major exam leaks between 2002 and 2025,eachinvolving at least one lakh candidates or applicants, onlytwoledtoconvictions.The biggest challenge, this newspaper found, is poor quality of investigation and the relatively lenient treatment of paper leaks as ordinary offences with no stringent bail conditions. On multiple occasions, the courts rejected “closure reports” filed by probe agencies mainly citing lack of evidence, E. »COnTInUeD On Page 2 Doping setback for India at CWG: Judoka suspended, sanction on weightlifting team Pritish Raj New Delhi, July 23 EVEn BEfORE the Glasgow Commonwealth Games were declaredopenonThursday,the Indian contingent suffered a setbackastwoofitsmedalprospects — one each in judo and weightlifting — were withdrawn following anti-doping rule violations. arun Kumar, a judoka competinginthe78kgcategory,was dropped from the squad after being provisionally suspended by the national anti-Doping agency (naDa). Though the judoteamisyettoleaveforGlasgow, India cannot name a replacement since competition rules do not allow it. Hours after Kumar’s suspension, it emerged that weightlifter Dilbagh Singh would return from Glasgow — though for no fault of his own. Indian weightlifting has reported five positive cases in the period June 1, 2025 to July 22, 2026. as a result, India’s athlete quota was cut from 16 to 11. Clause2.4ofthequalification system reads: “During the period of 01 June 2025-22 July »COnTInUeD On Page 2