The editorial Page: after BrICS, it’s time to navigate the realities of great power rivalries 10 WEDNESDAY, SEPtEMBER 16, 2026 JournaLISm of Courage kolkATA, lATe CiTy, 18 PAgeS ₹6.00 (₹12 in north east states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 lIran’s ForeIgn Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit China. This comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on September 24. As BJP fields mother of his murdered aide from Nandigram, CM says bypoll a ‘test’ for minorities Suvendu says ‘bhaipo gang’ behind murder of Chandranath atri Mitra Kolkata, September 15 Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com rBIfilescaveat inHighcourt overtatasons listingissue george Mathew Mumbai, September 15 the ReSeRve Bank of india (RBi) has filed a caveat petition in the Bombay high Court in connection with the mandatory listing of tata Sons, seeking to ensure that the central bank is heard before the court passes any order if a petition is filed in the matter. the caveat appears to be a pre-emptive move by the RBi to ensure that the court considers its explanation and positionregardingitsdecisiontorejecttataSons’pleatoderegister asaCoreinvestmentCompany, a move that requires tata Sons to list on the stock exchanges. Apersonawareofthedevelopment said the RBi may have expected tata Sons to pursue legal recourse against its decision. the RBi did not respond to an email from The Indian Express for a response. OnSeptember11,theRBirejected the application of tata Sons, seeking to remain an unregistered core investment company. instead, the central bank directed the company to “ensurefullcompliancewithall guidelines/instructions,”effectively requiring tata Sons to undertake an initial public offering (iPO) and list its shares on the stock exchanges. the listing of tata Sons has been one of the key issues dividing the trustees of tata trusts which collectively hold about 66 per cent of the company through various entities. the RBi’s decision comes at a critical juncture for the tata group which is searching for a new chairman to replace N Chandrasekaran. With the board not unanimous on his »contInueD on Page 2 West Bengal cm suvendu adhikari with BJP candidate hasirani rath before filing of nomination for nandigram bypoll, Tuesday. PTi express special in shadow of student deaths: du hostel projects stalled, crawling Only 1 of 24 Executive Council meetings in V-C Yogesh Singh’s tenure discussed student housing, show records; it takes time, he says sophiya Mathew With the BJP fielding his murdered aide’s mother from Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on tuesday called the October 6 bypollsintwoAssemblyseatsof thestatea"test"fortheminority voters and an opportunity for them to decide whether they wanttobewithhisgovernment. “An opportunity has come before the minorities of Nandigram and Rejinagar to decide whether you want to stay with the government or not,” AdhikarisaidinNandigramasheaccompanied Chandranath Rath’s mother, hasirani Rath, for the filing of nomination. Chandranath was killed by shooters on May 6, two days »contInueD on Page 2 Page 3 Cong SayS MaMata CaMP Sought byPoll PaCt, tMC denieS after the Assembly election results,inwhichtheBJPemerged victorious. “A historic opportunity has come to be with the government and join hands with the Chief Minister to get the work done in our area. if you want to bewiththegovernmentandsecure more opportunities, your test will be on October 6 in RejinagarandNandigram.ileaveit to you whether you want to pass or fail the test,” Adhikari said, who had vacated the Nandigram Assembly seat and retained Bhabanipur, necessitat- ing the bypoll there. the party, meanwhile, has fieldeditsformerMurshidabad districtpresidentSakharavSarkar from Rejinagar seat, which was vacated by AJUP leader humayun Kabir. Asserting that the BJP will win the bypolls by a “record” margin, Adhikari said, “i find that many minorities, those who don’t vote for me or the BJP, have come here.” hereiteratedthatalltheBJP workers, who had suffered atrocities during the previous tMC rule in Nandigram, would be provided with work, shelter andfood.“itismyresponsibility towithdrawfalsecriminalcases instituted against all BJP workers in Nandigram. it is my promisetoprovidework,shelter »contInueD on Page 2 In HC, Govt backs plea to let same-sex partner take medical call for the other sohini ghosh New Delhi, September 15 SUPPORtiNg A plea filed by a same-sex couple in the Delhi highCourt,theUnionMinistry of health and Family Welfare has said that those in a “nonheterosexual/ queer relationship” cannot be excluded from the existing legal framework of nominating their partners to take medical decisions on their behalf, “merely on account of sex, gender or sexual orientation”. the ministry filed its response on September 9, ahead ofthenexthearingonthursday. OnAugust20,thehChadquestioned the Centre for its failure to respond to the petition. the petition, filed in July 2025 by a same-sex couple who got married in New Zealand in December2023,saidthereis “no framework which grants or recognisestherightsofnon-hetero- sexual couples to act as a medical representative of their respective partners during medical treatment/ emergencies.” the ministry, in its response, has affirmed that courtsaswellaslegislation,like the Mental healthcare Act, 2017, have recognised that a medical representative “can be any person”, and not necessarily a blood relative or a “spouse” only. »contInueD on Page 2 business as usual By EP UNNY New Delhi, September 15 iN MAy 2022, seven months after he took charge as vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Prof yogesh Singh told a press conference that two 1,000-bed hostels—oneeachformenand women in postgraduate classes —wouldcomeupattheuniversity’s Dhaka complex near NorthCampuswithintwoyears. More than four years later, excavation is nearly all that has taken place at the site for one of these two projects. Work at the site began only in April this year, a project official said. inside Project: HoSTel CUM ReSiDenTiAl BloCk, DHAkA CoMPleX (~1456 SeATS) cost: ₹318 CR; status: BASeMenT woRk on the big PiCture onCe there Were 5 StudentS Page 9 Saudi , houthiS trade StrikeS aS ConfliCt groWS P 12 Odisha rejects Staines ED flags bankruptcy code killing convict Dara’s plea frauds, ‘disproportionate’ for premature release haircuts as thrust areas sujit Bisoyi Bhubaneswar, September 15 the ODiShA government has rejected the plea of convict Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh for premature release fromjail.heisservingalifesentenceforthe1999killingofAustralian missionary graham Staines and his two minor sons who were burnt alive while sleeping in a vehicle in Mano- harpur in Keonjhar district. the State Sentence Review Board,whichmetonAugust31, said it was “not inclined to recommendhis(DaraSingh’s)premature release at this stage”. On August 19, the Supreme Court had asked the Board to take a decision on his plea for premature release. On September8,thebenchofJusticeManoj MisraandJusticevijayBishnoi, »contInueD on Page 2 Deeptiman tiwary New Delhi, September 15 ReD-FlAggiNg frauds under theinsolvencyandBankruptcy Code (iBC), the enforcement Directorate (eD) has identified “re-examination of collusive resolutioncasesinvolvingdisproportionately large haircuts through which promoters re-acquire assets” as a key thrust area. this comes in the backdrop of the National Company law tribunal's (NClt) August 25 order which allowed essel group founder Subhash Chandra to settle his personal insolvency proceedings by paying Rs 6.25 crore, against admitted claimsofRs22,006.57crore.On September 1, a five-member special bench of the NClt stayed the settlement order. »contInueD on Page 2 l sePTemBer 22 maTch ParT of celeBraTions marking 75 years of BilaTeral Ties Japan prepares ground for T20 with India, Sri Lanka pitches in, and sponsors line up Venkata Krishna B & shuvaditya Bose Chennai, New Delhi, September 15 iNJANUARythisyear,external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart, toshimitsuMotegi,exchanged cricketing gifts. Motegi’s gift was the Japan cricket team's pink jersey, while Jaishankar handed him a bat autographed by indian cricketers. that proved to be a harbinger of sorts. the two countries are now set to play their first bilateral match at the Sano inter- The sano international cricket ground, 100 km from Tokyo. JCA nationalCricketground,about 100 kilometres from tokyo, on September 22. team india led by Shreyas iyer will face the Japan team captained by Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming in the t20 international. the match is part of the celebrationstomark75yearsofdiplomatic relations between the two countries. Following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae takaichiinJuly,thetwosideshad announced 2027 as the ‘indiaJapan year of Shared horizons' to mark the milestone. “Suddenly, this wasn’t just us wanting to attract a full member (of the international »contInueD on Page 2 Kolkata MDr exeMPts Person-to-Person Merchants to pay 0.4% fee on UPI payments over Rs 2,000 Flat Rs 5 fee on railway, insurance, credit card bill payments; charges to be reviewed every 6-12 months siddharth upasani New Delhi, September 15 UPi tRANSACtiONS over Rs 2,000 will attract a fee of 0.4 per cent from October 15, and this will be paid by merchants, the National Payments Corporationofindia(NPCi)saidtuesday. For instance, a merchant will pay Rs 40 when it receives Rs 10,000 via UPi. An e-commerce website, grocery shop or a shopkeeper, receiving more than Rs 1 lakh per month from customers paying through UPi are categorised as merchants. the 0.4 per cent fee on P2M (person-to-merchant) transactions, which is called the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), has been capped at Rs 300 per transaction. this means the MDR fee will not exceed Rs 300 forUPipaymentofRs75,000or more made to a merchant. Thenewmdrslabs amount paid to merchant applicable MDr Up to ₹ 2,000 0 ₹ 2,001-₹ 74,999 0.40% ₹ 75,000 and above E. Fixed ₹300 explained Will boost tech infra, innovation The 0.4% fee merchants must pay on UPI payments is expected to provide the money for continuous technological innovation and allow new fintech startups and tech companies to enter the digital payments space and compete with well-capitalised conglomerates. in a separate statement, the Union Ministry of Finance said banks have been “advised” to ensure merchants do not pass on the cost to customers. the NPCi framework also »contInueD on Page 2