The editorial Page: gor in srinagar: A one-man mission to strengthen a sputtering relationship 10 TUESDaY, aUGUST 25, 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 happening today lFinance Minister nirMala Sitharaman will embark on a visit to Canada and the US to hold talks on economic cooperation and investment opportunities. business as Usual By EP UNNY pM MODi DevOtinG persOnal attentiOn tO DevelOpinG rUssian-inDian relatiOns, saYs pUtin Jaishankar meets Putin, focus on trade, energy, fertilisers, high-tech Govt on Gor’s remarks: Trump unpredictable, so took cautious approach Modi and Putin to meet twice in next few weeks for SCO, BRICS shubhajit roy express news service New Delhi, August 24 uttar pradesh P3 ‘inSUlting heritage’: yogi on rahUl’S manUSmriti remark New Delhi, August 24 AheAD oF two scheduled meetings between Prime Minister narendra Modi and russianPresidentVladimirPutinin the next three weeks, external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar calledonthelatterinMoscowon Monday. Putin told Jaishankar thatamongtheareasofbilateral cooperation with india, russia isgivingprioritytoenergy,fertilisers, nuclear energy and high technology sectors. ciTing US President Donald Trump’s“unpredictablebehaviour” when meeting foreign leaders, government sources on Monday said india, therefore, adopted a “cautious approach” when Prime Minister narendra Modi met him in France in June this year. Theclarificationcameinresponse to US Ambassador Sergio gor’s public remarks that the indian side had asked the external Affairs minister s Jaishankar with russian president vladimir putin in moscow on monday. AP Modi and Putin are expected to meet at the Sco (Shanghai cooperation organisation) summit in Kyrgyzstan on August 31-September 1, and again at the BricS summit in new Delhi on September 12-13. Underlining the increase in bilateral trade between the two »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 the world Page 12 trUmP moveS to hike h-1b viSa fee to over $100,000 new U.S. SanctionS ‘aim to block iran revenUe SoUrceS’ US administration to “not do a full press conference, no questions” after the meeting »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 express special shyamlal Yadav New Delhi, August 24 FOrM WitH WOrsHippers’ aaDHaar Or pan tough conversion law kicks in this week, mumbai pastors ask churchgoers to sign form they are praying of their ‘free will’ ‘Self-declaration’ more as assurance, say pastors in Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, Thane, Mumbai, Palghar after incidents of disrupted Sunday prayers and FIRs purnima sah Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Palghar, Thane, August 24 The MAhArAShTrA anticonversion law that toughens legal provisions against forced conversion comes into effect August 28. its shadow has already fallen on christian congregations across the Mumbai Metropolitanregion.Atprayer hallsinVasai-Virar,Mira-Bhayandar and beyond, local pastors are asking worshippers to dosomethingtheyneverhadto before — fill a form. This “self-declaration” states that they are attending theprayermeetingoftheirown “choice” and face “no pressure, inducement, temptation, lure, or threat of any kind”. it further says their decision to attend church “is completely personal, voluntary, and independent.” The form asks for a passport-size photograph and an Aadhaar or PAn number. Until this year, anyone could walk in. over the past month, The Indian Express found these forms being circulated — in english,Marathiandhindi–to congregations in Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Palghar and Thane. This follows a run of Sunday disruptions at prayer meetings overthepastfivemonths:there OBC creamy layer candidates in ’25 civil services exam: Govt seeks SC directions Gurgaon, Monday school buses stranded on a waterlogged road at subhash Chowk in Gurgaon after heavy rainfall lashed the nCr on monday, causing massive traffic jams and leading to cancellation of several flights. PTI GUrGaOn received 52 mm rainfall from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm, affecting movement on the delhi-gurgaon expressway and other roads tHe District administration advised corporate offices to work from home on Tuesday and told schools to hold classes online in DelHi, several areas, including Connaught Place, were inundated. janakpuri recorded the highest rainfall at 72.5 mm The cenTre on Monday sought “clarifications and appropriate directions” from the Supreme court on the applicability of its March 11 judgment ordering the consideration of claims by nearly 100 oBc candidates who were selected in civil Services examinations (cSe)since2016butrejectedby the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on the basis of creamy layer criteria. The centre’s clarification plea comes just ahead of the start of the Foundation course for the cSe-2025 batch, tentatively scheduled to begin at the lal Bahadur Shastri national Academy of Administration in Mussoorie this week. The appeal, the centre emphasised,wasconcernedsolely withcSe-2025,whoseselection process “stood substantially concluded prior to the pronouncement of the judgment and is presently at the terminal stage of service allocation”. in its appeal, the DoPT, however, doesnotmentionthe applicability of the Supreme court judgment from next batches. E. explained govt says will have cascading effect The Centre has argued that SC’s March 11 judgment came five days after the final result of CSE-2025 was declared. Delay in finalisation of the category-wise merit and allocation list would have a cascading effect — from training to seniority and pay fixation of the incoming batch. The centre said that the March 11 judgment “altering settled position (on creamy layer) was rendered five days afterthefinalresultofcSe-2025 already stood declared”. Any delay in finalisation of the category-wisemeritandallocation list would have a cascading effect on the training schedule, batchstrength,logisticsarrangements, the training calendar fixed by the respective academies, cadre allocation for iAS and iPS officers, and the seniority and pay fixation of the »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 Worshippers sign the form at new Hope Church in virar. PUrNIMA SAh l the‘declaration’ l They attend church voluntarily. l They participate in prayers of their own free will. l Their participation is part of their religious freedom and a right guaranteed under Constitution of India. l In case anyone makes a false allegation against them or the church, the voluntary application/self-declaration may be produced as legal evidence. have been nine Firs linked to five such disruptions between April and July. Pattern of prayer, protest Typically, a prayer meeting is held on a Sunday, often in a rentedhall,school,banquethall or home. People identifying themselves as Bajrang Dal or VhPworkersobject,oftenalleging that hindus are being converted. Police are called, both sides are taken to the station, »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 J&K reopens probe into 1998 massacre of 23 Kashmiri Pandits Lessons from Jantar Mantar: Delhi Police chief orders intel revamp New Delhi, August 24 l 10specificpiecesofintelligence Bashaarat Masood Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar has asked the intelligence wing of the force to expanditsinformation-gatheringefforts,andtocollectatleast 10specificpiecesofintelligence aheadofeveryplannedprotest. Sources said the directive was issued earlier this month aftertheprotestsatJantarMantarandconnaughtPlaceinJuly sawamuchbiggerturnoutthan anticipated, “exposing gaps” in intelligence-collection. Policewerecaughtflatfooted The intelligence wing has been directed to collect and analyse: Srinagar, August 24 JAMMU AnD Kashmir’s State investigation Agency (SiA) has reopened the Wandhama massacre case, 28 years after militants gunned down 23 Kashmiri Pandits in ganderbal district in the Valley. Sources in the SiA said the casewasreopenedaspartofthe agency’seffortstoreinvestigate thekillingsofKashmiriPandits and gather fresh evidence to identify those responsible. “SiA Kashmir has already launched a focused investigation into these decades-old casesasamissionofutmostimportance. All-out efforts are underway to unravel the underlying conspiracies, unearth and establish credible evidence, and identify the perpetrators strictly on the basis of evidence and witness testimony,” said a senior SiA official. “The objective is clear: to bringthesecasestotheirlogical conclusiononmerits,ensuring »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 sakshi chand l Profile of participants l State-wise participation l Modes of mobilisation l Names of leaders and key functionaries At least 50,000 protesters hit the streets in Delhi on July 20 l Agenda or demands of the protesters l Organisational affiliations l Places of stay and movement l Sources of funding l Local contacts and linkages l Logistical arrangements »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 l HeAlTH Commissioner To leAD probe; preliminAry informATion poinTs To explosion in venTilATor, sAys offiCiAl ‘Hadn’t even seen son’s face’: Three newborns killed in fire at Amravati hospital ankita Deshkar ment-run Amravati District Women’s hospital. officials saidthefire,whichbrokeoutin AShesatoutsidethemortuary the early hours of Monday, on Monday, Swapnil Borge was could have been caused by a shell-shocked.hissonwasborn faultinaventilatorinthenicU. “The incident took place only a day before, and though around 4 am at the he’d not even seen page 1 nicUofthehospital,” his face yet, Borge Amravati collector hadgonearounddisAshish Yerekar told tributing sweets to anyone he came across — staff TheIndianExpress.“Therewere ofthegovernmenthospital,fel- 39babies,ofwhomwewereable to rescue 36, while three died. low patients and passers-by. “i hadn’t even seen his face When the fire broke out, there yet,” he said. “i don’t know how were nine babies — one on a ventilatorandeightonwarmers. to tell my wife about this.” Borge’s son was one of three The baby on the ventilator and newborns who died in a fire at twobabieswhowerenexttohim the neonatal intensive care died in the incident.” Thirty-two of the rescued Unit (nicU) of the governAmravati, August 24 anchor babies have been referred to other hospitals, while four babies have been kept with their mothers. Dr Vinod Pawar, District Surgeon, Amravati, said: “According to the preliminary information, it appears that there was an explosion in the ventilator.” Police have registered three cases of accidental deaths. Minister for Public health and Family Welfare Prakash Abitkar,whovisitedthehospital and met the affected families, toldthemediathatacommittee headed by health commissionerSanjayKatkarwouldlook into the incident and submit a report in seven days. chief Minister Devendra Grieving family members of the victims, in Amravati, monday. PTI Fadnavis expressed his condolences and promised action. he announced an ex gratia of rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased. “orders have been issued to the health administra- tion to conduct a high-level inquiry into this incident. The strictest possible action will be taken against those responsible forthisincident.Boththehealth MinisterandtheSecretaryhave beeninstructedtovisitAmravati today itself,” he said on X. At the hospital, staff and witnesses recounted the chaos. “We had no idea what was happening. There was a lot of smoke, so we immediately started rescuing the babies and used fire extinguishers. We could barely see anything. The entire ward was engulfed in flames immediately after the explosion,” one staffer said. MuraBhai,whosegrandson was in the nicU, was among those who helped rescue the babies. “We were sleeping on the veranda in the hospital whenwereceivedthecall.itwas completely dark inside the ward,andwerushedtherewith the torches in our mobile phonestohelpthenurses.Some babieswerealreadytrappedand could not be saved.” officials said the Maharashtra government had provided theventilators.“Asimilarminor blast occurred in one of the ventilators at the same hospital in 2022, although there were no casualties then. The ventilators were subsequently replaced. oneofthosereplacedventilators caught fire,” one official said. Sources at the hospital said the building’s fire audit had lapsed on August 21 and that the hospital had alerted the PWD. They also mentioned that the fire alarm at the ward, too, did not function. Families, meanwhile, are stillstrugglingtocometoterms. gayatri chopade’s family has moved her to her hometown of Anjangaonandensuredthereis no television to relay news of the fire that killed her baby. “her baby had swallowed stool in the womb and was shiftedfromWarudtoAmravati. Thebabyhadalmostrecovered, and gayatri was discharged from the Warud hospital this week.Welearntaboutthebaby’s »cOntinUeD On paGe 2 Lucknow