The Ideas Page: message from the young — we don’t feel at home 11 SAtUrDAY, AUGUSt 8, 2026 JournalIsm of Courage mumbAI, 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 reG.No. McS/067/2018 - 20 rNi reGN. No. 1543/57 POliCe lOOk at Pak sPy ring 94 122 150 76 THE BIG PICTURE AT WoRk In kAsHmIR: BEInG A mIGRAnT WoRkER In THE vAllEy PAGE 13 gn saibaba event noanticipatory bailfor2tiss studentsover sloganstofree Umar,sharjeel sadaf Modak Mumbai, August 7 Observing that students are expected to respect the law of the land, a Mumbai sessions court Friday rejected the anticipatorybailpleasoftwotissstudentsaccusedofraisingslogans seeking the release of Umar Khalidandsharjeelimam,who arefacingtrialundertheUnlawful activities (Prevention) act (UaPa), and of possessing downloaded books and other material that the prosecution said reflected Maoist ideology. seven others, who had also attended an October 2025 gatheringtomarkthedeathanniversary of former Delhi University professor g n saibaba, were granted anticipatory bail. thepleaswerefiledinthesame month. the court held that while payinghomagetosaibaba—he was acquitted in the case against him before his death — was not illegal, the allegations thatthetwostudentshadraised slogans supporting Khalid and imam, coupled with the materialrecoveredfromtheirelectronicdevices,weighedagainst grant of anticipatory bail. »COntinUeD On Page 2 PUnjab asseMbly Sukhbir-PM meet: Buzz of alliance in poll run-up IAF officer arrested for sharing defence information, booked under Secrets Act Arrested two months ago, Wing Commander now in judicial custody sakshi Chand New Delhi, August 7 a Wing Commander of the indianairForce(iaF)wasarrested two months ago by Delhi Police for allegedly leaking sensitive defence-related information. theofficerhasbeenbooked under provisions of the Official secrets act and is currently in judicial custody, The Indian Express has learnt. senior sources in the Delhi Policesaidthearrestpointedto a “larger espionage network aimed at collecting strategic military intelligence”. Claiming that the Wing Commander had fallen victim to a “honey trap” orchestrated by Pakistani intelligence of- ficers, the sources said the arrested officer allegedly installed data-stealing software on a colleague’s mobile phone to gain control of the device. sourcessaidtheWingCommander was arrested on the night of May 31 after the iaF’s intelligence wing shared specific information related to the case with Delhi Police. “initially, he was taken into police custody after his arrest. hewaslatersenttojudicialcustody in tihar Jail. he has been booked under the provisions of theOfficialsecretsactforsharing classified information and confidential documents related to national defence,” the sources said. the iaF spokesperson said, “he was under active surveillance and was handed over to the suitable law enforcement agencies.” the police probe into the case has so far revealed that the officer had been going through a difficult phase in his personal »COntinUeD On Page 2 A waterlogged road in Gurgaon as heavy rainfall lashed the National capital region, Friday. Gurgaon was among the worst-hit, receiving 67.5 mm until 5.30pm. Delhi received 59.2 mm. PTI No cover over House gate, Speaker asks CPWD to consider a porch Damini nath New Delhi, August 7 three years after the new Parliament building was inaugurated,LoksabhaspeakerOm birla asked the Central Public WorksDepartment(CPWD)this week to consider adding a porchoverMakarDwar,theentrancecurrentlyuncoveredand used by the majority of MPs, according to sources aware of »COntinUeD On Page 2 gOvt’s DeeP-teCh fUnD The WORLD Checks in place, in next batch only one firm with member stake: Govt sAUdI, TURkEy, PAk sIGn kEy dEfEnCE PACT Govt: No review of process needed, if ‘strengthening’ required, will address Business as Usual By EP UNNY amitabh sinha New Delhi, August 7 UnDerLining that its newly created fund to support deep tech companies had adequate safeguards to deal with conflict-of-interest situations, thegovernmentFridaysaid that inthesecondcohortoffirmsselected,therewasjustoneof13in which a selection committee member had a stake. the government was reacting to an investigative report The Indian Express report published on August 7 by The Indian Express published Friday that over 62 per centofthers2,192-croreofsoft »COntinUeD On Page 2 expReSS special Ev fleet, driver welfare fund: maharashtra could tighten norms for food delivery apps ishika gupta Mumbai, August 7 FOOD DeLivery and e-commerce platforms such as swiggy, Zomato and Zepto could soon be brought under theambitofMaharashtra’sbike taxi norms, which would require them to maintain an electric vehicle fleet and contribute 2 per cent of the fare per ride to a driver welfare fund, The Indian Express has learnt. Currently, such platforms l State’sBike-Taxirulestobetweaked PlatfOrMs like Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto brought under ambit of bike taxi norms sUCh PlatfOrMs will have to maintain EV-only bike fleets and provide insurance cover under the bike-taxi norms PlatfOrMs MUst obtain a unique license identification number from the state or Regional Transport Authority state transPOrt Commissioner to develop portal for real-time monitoring of onboarded bike taxis are governed by central laws, including the Consumer Protection act, 2019; the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) rules, 2020; and the Code on social security, 2020. Maharashtra does not have a separateregulatoryframework fortheseservices,unlikeitsaggregator rules, 2026, which govern ride-hailing apps such as Ola, Uber and rapido. now, the state’s transport department headed by »COntinUeD On Page 2 l NetFlix co-ceo: DoN’t See theAtreS AS coMPetitioN… whAt we coMPete For iS ScreeN tiMe ‘India has a great storytelling culture, but under screened... we can solve that’ trisha Mukherjee New Delhi, August 7 COntrary tO popular belief that streaming is in competition with theatres, netflix coCeO ted sarandos wants viewers to keep watching films on the big screen. “We don’t see it as a competition at all,” sarandos said thursday at the express adda in new Delhi. “People on netflix love movies, (they) love to gotomoviesandwatchthemat home. an individual watches an average of seven movies in a month and sees one or two in the theatre. We are not saying MPs at Makar Dwar of Parliament amid rainfall, Friday. ANI Netflix co-ceo ted Sarandos at express Adda in New Delhi, thursday. RENukA PuRI one(medium)isbetterthanthe other. it is a rich, beautiful ecosystem and i want our viewers to go to the theatres because it strengthens their relationship with movies. that’s where we will benefit.” the netflix co-CeO, who wasinconversationwithanant goenka,executiveDirector,indianexpressgroup,said,“What we compete for is screen time. We want to become the first place you check for something greattowatchandthelastplace you would want to cancel.” Consideredoneofthearchitects of the streaming revolution,sarandoshasplayedapivotal role in transforming netflix into one of the world’s leading entertainment companies. expanding into all areas of entertainment programming, he led the company’s transition into original »COntinUeD On Page 2 PAGE 16 Voice of people that old alliance be revived, says Akali leader raakhi jagga & jatin anand Ludhiana, New Delhi, August 7 shirOMani aKaLi Dal (saD) president sukhbir singh badal met Prime Minister narendra Modi at Parliament house in newDelhionFridayafternoon, providing fresh impetus to speculationaboutapossiblerevival of the saD-bJP alliance ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections. a senior akali leader called it a significant meeting, given that it came after years of little or no contact between the two parties. sukhbirbadal’sofficedidnot disclosetheagendaofthemeeting. however, sources in the saD said the interaction was centred on issues concerning Punjab, including the law-andorder situation in the state and alleged corruption in welfare »COntinUeD On Page 2 Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal E. expLaineD Why BJP-sAd alliance works The BJP-SAD alliance was one of the longest-running political partnerships in Punjab. The two parties shared power in the state in 1997, 2007 and 2012, combining the SAD’s strong rural and Sikh support base with the BJP’s traditional urban support. With the footprint of the Akalis having shrunk in recent elections and BJP looking to make gains in the state, many leaders in both parties want a return of the alliance.