The editorial Page: india-Bangladesh ties should be Hasina-proof 10 FRIdaY, aUGUST 7, 2026 JoUrnalism of CoUrage luCknow, laTE CITy, 18 PagES ₹6.00 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 if GEn Z iS PRotEStinG, it iS not anti-national, HE SayS at mEEtinG witH yoUtH express investigation RSS chief: Gen Z grievances Govt deep-tech fund: Rs 2,192 cr real, protest way of dialogue cleared, 62% goes to firms linked to panel that chose them 15 of 22 firms chosen have links to seven members in selection panel; members say they disclosed their interests, recused; it’s public money, need guardrails, says MP who flagged issue amitabh Sinha & Sandeep Singh New Delhi, August 6 A neW public fund to boost India’s deep-tech ambitions in the private sector has approved, in its first round, rs 2,192 crore in soft loans to 22 private companies at the cutting edge of space science, energy tech and pharma, among others. these companies were chosen from 124 applicants by a 12-member panel, including 11 established names in private equity and technology, and a non-voting government representative. the credentials of each company are well-established. there’s one question mark, though. An investigation by The Indian Express has found that of the22recipientsofpublicmoney, 15 have investment ties to seven members of the selection committee, raising questions of conflict of interest and propriety. these together got over rs 1,377 crore.nineofthefirmsarelinked to the chairman of the selection panel,thefounderofanangelinvesting network who also has a personalstakeinatleastoneofthe companies selected. these members are part of the Investment Committee of the technology Development Board (tDB), one of the two organisations under the Ministry »continUEd on PaGE 2 l whichfirmgothowmuch,what’sthelink saurabh srivastava company & funding approved l noccarc robotics (Medical) K.r.s. Jamwal Former Executive Director Tata Industries Ltd. l noccarc robotics l endureair systems l Tejas networks (Digital Infra) ₹250 cr l Bigendian l peptris Technologies, l Thinkmetal (Advanced Manufacturing) ₹6.7 cr l manastu space Technologies debashish Bhattacharjee Former Vice President (Technology amitabh Sinha New Delhi, August 6 Former Chairman, NASSCOM & IVCA and Co-founder, Indian Angel Network ₹11.41 cr l endureair systems (Advanced Manufacturing) ₹30.01 cr l e-Trnl energy (Energy) ₹94 cr l dhruva space (Space) ₹105 cr l Bigendian (Semiconductors) ₹130 cr l astrome Technologies (Space) ₹64.05 cr l peptris Technologies (Pharma) ₹86 cr l serigen mediproducts, (Medical) ₹20 cr l manastu space Technologies (Space) ₹116 cr SoftloanforR&d inprivatesector tocutredtape: Howitworks TaShI ToBgyal dept of science & Technology. and R&D), Tata Steel, Managing Partner, Lionstead Ventures & TDB Board Member l neo seekermetals (Minerals, metals) ₹10 cr sanjay nayak Former CEO & Co-founder, Tejas Networks Ltd. l ather energy (Semiconductors) ₹211.89 cr l Tejas networks anand deshpande Chairman, Persistent System l serigen mediproducts gopal srinivasan Chairman & MD, TVS Capitals Fund l agnikul cosmos (Space) ₹200 cr sudhir mehta Founder and Chairman, Pinnacle Industries and EKA Mobility l replus engitech (Energy) ₹42.75 cr RDI FunDIng aPPRovED In ₹CR, SouRCE: DEPaRTMEnT oF SCIEnCE & TEChnology, RoC RECoRDS the reSeArCh, Development and Innovation (rDI) fund, with a corpus of rs 1 lakh crore, was created by the Government last year to provide collateral-free, low-cost, longterm loans to private sector companies engaged in advanced research and innovation in priority deep-tech sectors like artificial intelligence, quantum technology, space science, defence, robotics, clean energy, semiconductors and digital healthcare. E. Who administers the fund? the fund is housed under the Anusandhan national research foundation (Anrf), a recently established statutory body under the Ministry of Scienceandtechnologytopromote research and innovation, especially in the university system,mobiliseadditionalfinancial resources for r&D activities, and strengthen industry-academia collaborations. A Special Purpose fund (SPf) has been created under Anrf, which is the custodian of money allocated for the rDI fund. Leadership brings image of someone giving speeches, winning elections... it doesn’t work that way, says Bhagwat Shubhangi Khapre Mumbai, August 6 InAmajoroutreachtoGenZin the wake of the Jantar Mantar protest,rSSchiefMohanBhagwat said thursday that agitation was a legitimate form of dialogue in a democracy and that concerns raised over India’s education system were genuine. he described today’s youth as “more honest” than previous generations, dismissedattemptstobrandthem Experts relied on chits, memory to leak NEET questions: CBI probe nirbhay thakur New Delhi, August 6 Bhagwat in mumbai, Thursday. aP as anti-national, and said reforms in education must come through dialogue. »continUEd on PaGE 2 the CBI probe into the neet (UG) paper leak has found that threesubjectexpertstookexam questions out of the national testing Agency (ntA) office in Delhi using different methods — one scrawled questions on paper chits before hiding them while two others memorised the questions, returned to their hotel rooms to either write them down or mark the relevant paragraphs in nCert textbooks. And, according to the CBI, theycoulddothisbecausethey were not frisked while exiting the “confidential section”, a wing situated on the first floor of the ntA office, which also lacked a dedicated CCtV live feed monitoring control room. »continUEd on PaGE 2 Consider Opp request for HC overturns acquittal of Tejpal, sentences him Shah presence in House, to 10 years in jail for rape RS Chairman tells Govt Pavneet Singh chadha nikhil Ghanekar Panaji, August 6 New Delhi, August 6 UnDerlInInGthAtnotions of a “perfect victim” are a myth and neither the court nor the respondentcandecidehowshe should react or process her trauma,thehighCourtofBombay at Goa thursday overturned the 2021 trial court AMID OPPOSItIOn demands for a statement in the house by Union home Minister Amit Shah on the July 20 police action on protesters marching towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar, rajya Sabha Chairman andVice-PresidentCPradhakrishnan told Parliamentary Af- »continUEd on PaGE 2 ex-Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in panaji, Thursday. anI fairsMinisterKirenrijijuthursday to “echo the sentiments of the Opposition” to Shah and “consider the request” for his presence in the house. radhakrishnan made the remarks amid interruptions after house proceedings had resumed at noon after an adjournment. After Question hour began, disruptions »continUEd on PaGE 2 »continUEd on PaGE 2 In Conversation with Ted Sarandos netflix co-ceo Ted sarandos in conversation with anant goenka, executive director, indian express group, at express adda in new delhi on Thursday. REnuka PuRI Happening today lUnion EdUcation Minister Pralhad Joshi will lead deliberations at the BRICS Education Ministers’ meet in Bhubaneswar, aimed at deepening cooperation among member countries. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com Business as Usual By EP UNNY lfir filed againsT cook, headmisTress of siTapur school UP headmistress suspended as video shows ‘poor’ mid-day meal page 1 anchor Express news Service Lucknow, August 6 After A video showing watery vegetable curry being served to students during the mid-day meal at a primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district went viral on social media, the education department on Wednesday suspended the school’s headmistress and terminated the services of the cook. Officials said an fIr was also registered against the two at the Mahmoodabad police station late Wednesday evening. the video purportedly screengrab of the video showing watery vegetable curry being served to students at a primary school in sitapur. showed chunks of potato floating in watery curry ladled onto the children’s plates. rotis handed out to the children fell on the floor, before one child picked one up and put it back on his plate. Sitapur District Magistrate Dr rajaganapathy r and Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Gorakhnath Patel said in a statement that the block education officer (BeO), Udaimani Patel, whoistheimmediatesupervising official for primary schools in the block, was also held responsible for dereliction of duty. An adverse entry was made in his service record. the BeO and the Block DevelopmentOfficerofMahmoodabad were asked to conduct a preliminary inquiry after the »continUEd on PaGE 2 Lucknow