The editorial Page: sC has nurtured environmental law. is it distancing itself from its legacy? 8 FRIDAY, AUgUSt 14, 2026 Journalism of Courage AhmedAbAd, lATe CITy, 24 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 lElEction will be held for Karnataka Assembly Speaker and Council Chairperson. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By EP UNNY FADnAViS oRDERS PRoBE express special Kirpan attack on Sukhbir in Maharashtra, assailant held the other Jharkhand story: they fought odds, cleared prelims, but exam got cancelled Over 2,000 who cleared JPSC Combined Civil Services prelims have to start over Shubham tigga Ranchi, August 13 Gujarat pages 3, 4 sChool makes malala, anne Frank books ‘optional’ how Chandipura virus spread? experts Clueless tHe JHarKHaND government’s decision to cancel the 14th JPsC Combined Civil services examination is being countedasawinbyprotestersin ranchi. But for over 2,200 candidateswhohadclearedtheprelims, the august 9 announcement spells a setback many say they may not recover from. TheIndianExpressspoke to eight such aspirants — from an engineer who gave up a job, to an adivasi woman who took time out from helping her father at work, to a wheelchairbound aspirant who spent Stormy Monsoon Session ends nda and opposition mPs protest at Parliament on the last day of the monsoon session, Thursday. Both houses passed 12 Bills during the session. PTI rePorTs, page 19 candidates who cleared prelims protest in ranchi. ShubhAm TIggA years preparing — who said that while they support strict action on paper leaks, cancelling an exam without a thorough probe defies logic. »continUED on PAGE 2 Protest against CJI: Bar Council blackballs NALSAR graduates, then rolls back order Amaal Sheikh New Delhi, August 13 Hours after it directed all state bar councils not to enrol any 2026 graduate from the NaLsar(Nationalacademyof Legal studies and research) university of Law, Hyderabad, asanadvocateuntilfurthernotice, the Bar Council of India (BCI)onthursdaywithdrewits directive. thecontroversystemsfrom a campaign by around 450 NaLsar students against in- viting Chief Justice of India surya Kant for the university's convocation. “after thorough discussion, the members are of the unanimous view that as per the latest report, vast majority of the »continUED on PAGE 2 DU’s revised History syllabus drops paper on Delhi Sultanate Vidheesha Kuntamalla New Delhi, August 13 stuDeNts PursuING a postgraduate degree in History at Delhi university (Du) no longer have the option of choosing a course on the Delhi sultanate, which examines how the medievalstatewasformed,howauthority was exercised, and how political, religious and cultural lifeevolved,recordsreviewedby TheIndianExpressshow. the paper, “the Delhi sultanate: structures of authority in medieval North India (13th14th Centuries)”, which was being taught in semester III, E. explained policy shift There have been syllabus revisions at DU since it began restructuring programmes under the National Education Policy 2020. The postgraduate revision follows changes in DU’s undergraduate programme from 202223 in line with the policy. has been dropped from Du’s newly notified syllabus, along with several other long-run- ning courses on medieval, ancient and modern India. someoftheotheromissions in the third semester include papers on “History of North India, c. 1400-1550”, “Gender and Women in early India: 1500 BCe to 1000 Ce”, “Political Processes and structure of Polities in ancient India” and “religion and society in ancient Indian Literature”. official records show these courses were cleared at various stages of the syllabus approval processbutdidnotfigureinthe final notification issued on august 7. of the 38 Discipline »continUED on PAGE 18 Ahmedabad akali dal chief sukhbir singh Badal in nanded district, Thursday. PTI SAD chief sustains hand injury after he is attacked by man dressed as a Nihang Express news Service Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, August 13 sHIromaNI aKaLI Dal presidentandformerPunjabDeputy Chief minister sukhbir singh Badalwasinjuredthursdayina kirpan attack by a man dressed as a Nihang at a gurdwara in Nanded in maharashtra. sixty-four-year-old Badal sustained a hand injury and was taken to a local hospital for treatment — he was seen step- ping out of a car with a cloth wrapped around his right hand.HewasattackedatGurdwara mata sahib Devan Ji, mugat in Nanded. His alleged assailant, identified by police as 62-year-old JaspalsinghfromPune,wasarrested. maharashtraChiefminister Devendra fadnavis, who orderedaprobeintotheincident, spoke to Badal and enquired about his well-being, Cmo »continUED on PAGE 2