The editorial Page: Behind israel’s West Bank push, an october story 6 THURSDAY, AUgUST 27, 2026 JoUrNaliSM of CoUraGe AhMeDABAD, lATe CITy, 16 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 wrOTe Three leTTerS TO CJI wITh COPIeS TO COlleGIUM FlOOd alerT IN UTTar PradeSh aNd BIhar, addITIONal NdrF TeaMS dePlOyed Over 100 Indians among hundreds missing in Nepal flash flood fury SC judge accuses Rajasthan HC Acting Chief Justice of ‘misuse of powers’, demands his transfer Justice Sandeep Mehta says he got ‘several complaints’ which ‘raise doubts’ on judge’s ‘integrity’ Most Indians were headed to Kailash Mansarovar; death toll crosses 150, likely to climb ananthakrishnan G & hamza Khan yubaraj Ghimire Kathmandu, August 26 New Delhi, Jaipur, August 26 New Delhi, August 26 THe DAMAGe caused by Ukrainian strikes to its oil refining infrastructure has forced Russia — one of the biggest crude producersandrefinersglobally — to import gasoline, or petrol, including from faraway India. while a bulk of Russian imports of petrol are from neighbouring Belarus and Kazakhstan, India is estimated to have dispatched over 1 million barrels over June and July, ship tracking data indicates. According to experts, this is the first instance of Russia impor- ting petrol from India. Tradesourcessaidthetrend has likely continued in August as well, although data is not yet available. nayara energy’s Vadinar refinery — which has significant Russian shareholding — is the main Indian supplier, they said. Meanwhile, largevolumesofRussiancrude continue to arrive in India to feed Indian refineries, including the nayara energy facility, which means that some of the gasoline being supplied to Russia is being derived from its own oil refined in India. This marks a change in the »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 Kathmandu dhading india gandak river brothers in nepal at this difficult time. India is ready to »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 Business as usual By EP UNNY E. »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 express special anjishnu das New Delhi, August 26 JAnTAR MAnTAR, Ranchi, and now Patna. youth in different parts of the country have been on the streets since last month, making themselves heard and compelling political parties — from the BJP to the Congress—toreachouttothem. However, when it comes to political representation for the youth, the road ahead remains arduous,andananalysisbyThe Indian Express shows that even when you are young, it helps to be a political dynast. The key findings: lGen Z — defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, or in the 14-29 age band — have only26legislatorsinParliament and state Assemblies, showed an analysis by The Indian Express published on August 5. lHalf of them, or 13, are political dynasts. while five of the six Gen Z Lok Sabha MPs are dynasts, 8 of the 20 MLAs from this age group come from a political background, the latest analysis shows. lSincetheminimumageto contest elections is 25, a big »CONTINUed ON PaGe 11 l Police haVe PresenTed before The high courT ccTV fooTage of 21 alleged ‘sighTings’ 145 out of 384 legislators aged 40 and under are dynasts dynasT mps, 40 & Below: parTy-wise percenTage dynasTmps,40andUnder TDP SP INC BJP Total mps in mps in the age lok sabha bracket 16 37 98 240 4 (25%) 7 (18.9%) 7 (7.1%) 9 (3.8%) Tdp sp inc BJp AMoNg DyNASTS AgeD 40 & Below, BJP hAS loweST ShAre IN PerCeNTAge TerMS dynasTmlasinassemBlies party SP JD(U) BJD INC BJP Total mlas in mlas who are assemblies 40 and under 104 87 50 662 1,811 CHIef JUSTICe of India Surya Kant has sought comments from “both sides” in the matter involvingSupremeCourtjudge JusticeSandeepMehtaandRajasthan High Court Acting Chief Justice S P Sharma. Justice Mehta had written to the CJI, seeking the transfer of Justice Sharma and the appointment of a permanent Chief Justice from another High Court. In his letters, Justice Mehta alleged “gross maladministration”, misuse of ad- ministrative powers and favouritism in the functioning of the Rajasthan High Court. It is learnt that the CJI soughtcommentsbecauseallegations were being made by both sides. Sources familiar withthedevelopmentssaidthe Collegium was already deliberating on the appointment of Chief Justices to the remaining High Courts. The CJI’s office issued a statement, underlining that he had“takennoteoftheconcerns raised in the letters” written by Justice Mehta while “stressing »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 India, China to advance boundary talks for ‘early harvest’, set up new LAC meeting points, hotlines New Delhi, August 26 lTheyoUngheirs party apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, August 26 Shubhajit roy For Gen Z and under-40, to be MP or MLA, it helps to be Gen D — dynast Youth may be finding their voice on streets, but in politics, representation remains limited, often runs in the family CJI seeks comments from ‘both sides’ while Collegium considers appointments to HCs Delhi, Beijing list eight outcomes of meeting between Doval and Wang 55.6% (5) Sukalp Sharma Trishuli river SCIenTISTS fRoM the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMoD),alongwithpartnerinstitutions in nepal and China, are investigating whether an ice-rock avalanche from a high-altitude area could be the trigger for the flash floods and mudslide on the nepalTibet border on wednesday. ICIMoDisanepal-basedintergovernmental institution leading the global effort to protect the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. 12 (11.5%) 10 (11.5%) 5 (10%) 52 (7.9%) 121 (6.7%) dynasTmlas,40&Below: parTy-wisepercenTage 33.9% (41) Imports 1 million barrels in two months rasuwa Bhote Koshi river Nuwakot »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 “Preliminary assessment based on video footage and information from affected areas suggest that a large volume of ice and rock debris may have entered the Lhende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river.Researcherssaytheevent could have generated a sudden surge that carried water, sediment and large boulders downstream,” ICIMoD saidinapressreleaseon wednesday evening. early analysis of seismic records has also identified unusual signals recorded during the period of the disaster, but 57.1% (4) Russia turns to India to meet petrol demand after oil infra takes a hit in Ukraine strikes china (Tibet) n e pa l New Delhi, August 26 44.2% (23) Soon AfTeR Prime Minister narendra Modi called up nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah and conveyed India’s readiness to provide “all possible humanitarian assistance”, Indiaonwednesdaysentabout 10 tonnes of relief material, including medicines, in an Indian Air force (IAf) aircraft. “Spoke to Prime Minister Balendra Shah and conveyed condolences on the loss of lives due to the floods in nepal. The peopleofIndiastandinsolidarity with their sisters and Nikhil Ghanekar 85.7% (6) New Delhi, August 26 l affecTedareas 75% (9) Shubhajit roy & Mahender Singh Manral 80%(8) reLAteD rePorts, P 11, 14 Modi speaks to Balen, Ice-rock avalanche may offers all assistance, India have triggered surge in airlifts relief material border river, say experts 100% (4) »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 a videograb of the devastating flash floods in nepal on wednesday; at least five districts have been affected. PTI In A highly unusual development, Justice Sandeep Mehta of the Supreme Court wrote three letters to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant earlier this month, seeking the transfer of Justice S P Sharma, Acting ChiefJusticeofRajasthanHigh Court, to another High Court and the appointment of a new Chief Justice. In his letters to the CJI — these were written on August 2, August 10 and August 17 and also copied to other members of the Supreme Court Collegium — Justice Mehta accused Justice Sharma of “misuse of powers” and said he had received “several complaints” which “raise doubts” on the Acting CJ’s “integrity”. Justice Mehta, who also hails from Rajasthan, requestedthatJusticeSharmabe “forthwith transferred out of 100% (5) oVeR 150 people were killed whileatleast484,including105 Indians and 37 non-Resident Indians (nRIs), were reported missing after massive flash floods in nepal’s districts bordering Tibet on wednesday. Accordingtoofficialfigures, 391 foreign nationals and 93 from nepal had been reportedmissinguntil7pm(local time). These included at least 60 working in hydel projects in the area. Sources said most of the Indians reported missing were headed to Kailash Mansarovar. The remaining tourists are from the United States, Malaysia,UnitedKingdom,SouthAfrica, Australia and the netherlands. Among the dead were 44 from nepal’s Army, 28 from the police and 13 from the Armed Police force. The authorities fearhighercasualtiesandwidespread destruction. Initial reports from the affected areas and the national Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the border river flood, which began a little after 9 am local time, swept away many settlements across the 60-km road from Gyirong in Tibet, down to Rasuwa and Dhading districts in nepal, both bordering Tibet, and nuwakot district. with these areas being part of nepal’s old trade route with Tibet, they are thickly supreme court judge Justice sandeep mehta; (right) acting chief Justice of rajasthan high court Justice s P sharma BJd JdU sp inc BJp InDIA AnD China have decidedtoadvancediscussionson “an early and substantial harvest” of boundary delimitation and border management, and agreed on two new border military hotlines in the eastern and middle sectors, two new meeting points for military commander-levelmeetings,andon holding the trans-border river meeting next month. Theseformpartofeightoutcomes and consensus after the Special Representative-level talks between national Secur- happening today lPM NareNdra Modi will interact with youth at the ‘Khelo India Dialogue’. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com nsa ajit doval and chinese foreign minister wang yi in beijing, Tuesday. PTI fIle ity Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign Minister wang yi in Beijing Tuesday. A statement released wednesday by both the Ministry of external Affairs and the Chinese foreign Ministry spoke of eight outcomes and consensus reached after the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives where there was a candid and in-depth exchange »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 inside PAGes 3, 9 surAtBJPLeADer’s DAuGhter-in-LAw FounDDeAD,son BookeDForABetMent MAMDAni oPPoses rss chieF’s event At MADison squAre GArDen of raJkumar JaaT, buT quesTions linger oVer The 23-year-old’s cloThes & walking Pace Nakedwalk,a51kmquestion:MysteryoverGujaratUPSCaspirant’sdeathdeepens aditi raja the deceased man was originally wearing? And could the 23-year-old TwenTy-one sightings on havewalkedadistanceof51km CCTV, a purported video of the alone in 11 hours and 29 minyoung UPSC aspirant stripping utes to reach the point where naked before setting off on his his body was eventually found alleged 51-kilometre after he was allegpage 1 walk, and a missing edly crushed by a set of clothes — the heavy vehicle? Gujarat governThese questions ment’slatestreportinthedeath appeared in sharp focus before of Rajkumar Jaat has added the Gujarat High Court on new twist to a case the central Tuesday(August25)asthestate mysteries of which remain un- placed on record a fresh report resolved. ontheinvestigationinthecase. where are the clothes that on July 28 this year, the Vadodara, August 26 anchor rajkumar Jaat's purported long walk, caught on ccTV camera. Police have claimed he took off his clothes at one point in the journey. rajkumar's father has alleged foul play, and named members of a political family as suspects in his son's death. High Court had directed a closer examination of the circumstances in which Jaat was foundwalkingnakedonahighway in the hours before his death. Justice M R Mengdey recordedinanoralorderonTuesday that Public Prosecutor Hardik Dave had produced the further report in the case. Jaat, a UPSC aspirant from Gondal in Rajkot district, had gone missing on March 2, 2025. His body was recovered on March 9 near an overbridge at Targadhia on the Rajkot- Ahmedabad highway — around 51 km from the spot he was last seen. ItwasbelievedthatJaathad been run over and killed by a bus on the highway, and police registered a case treating the death as a road accident. Jaat’s father, Ratanlal Jaat, however, approached the High Court asking for an investigation by the CBI into his son’s death. Ratanlal Jaat alleged that Rajkumar Jaat had been murdered, and that police had failed to properly investigate Ahmedabad the role of the suspects that the family had named – including Jayrajsinh Jadeja, a two-time BJP MLA from Gondal, and his son Ganesh Gondal. He took off his clothes. Was he under the influence of a drug? In its submissions on Tuesday, the state sought to reconstruct Jaat’s movements after the court asked how he came to be walking naked. Dave played a purported video recovered during the in- vestigation that allegedly showed Jaat removing his inner clothes before beginning his purported walk. The state submitted that investigators had found “several videos of thedeceasedonhisownmobile phone in which he was seen in a similar condition and exhibiting similar behaviour”. These videos, the state told the court, were “referred to an expert [in psychoanalysis] for an opinion on whether Jaat’s behaviouralpatterncouldindicate that he was under the »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2