DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BY UNNY ON DOVAL-WANG TABLE: LAC SITUATION, NEXT STEPS TO REPAIR TIES Jaishankar heading to Moscow, Wang to Delhi amid strain in India ties with US Visits taking place in run-up to SCO meet in China, possible visit by Putin to India SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 EXPLAINED GLOBAL THE IMPORTANCE OF ASIM MUNIR P9 AT A time when US-imposed tariffs have strained Delhi’s ties withWashingtonDC,Indiaisengaging with Russia and China over the next two weeks. External Affairs Minister SJaishankarwilltraveltoMoscow next week for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on August 21, the Russian government said Wednesday. Sourcessaidthevisitismeant to prepare the ground for a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to India and it could happen as early as mid-September. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, sources said, is expectedtovisitIndiaonAugust18 for the Special RepresentativeleveltalkswithNationalSecurity AdvisorAjitDoval.Thisisthefirst high-level visit from China after theIndia-Pakistanhostilitiesfollowing Operation Sindoor. Delhi said Chinese weapons and (Clockwise from top) Jaishankar; Lavrov; and Wang Yi drones were used by Pakistan and Beijing helped Rawalpindi with live intelligence during the military confrontation. The visits are taking place in the run-up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin in China, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel on August 31-September 1. He will also hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Delhi treads ● carefully DELHI IS following its multi-alignment foreign policy, and will be careful not to become part of an anti-Western grouping. Delhi likes to portray itself as a non-Western, and not an anti-Western country, keeping intact its strategic autonomy. New three-judge bench of SC to hear Delhi-NCR stray dogs matter today NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 TWO DAYS after a two-judge bench ordered authorities in Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) to relocate all stray dogs from the streets to dedicated shelters, the matter was referred to a threejudge bench on Monday. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria will now hear the suo motu proceedings initiated over the issue of stray dogs Thursday. A bench of Justices J B PardiwalaandRMahadevanhad on July 28 taken suo motu CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGES 8, 9 THE WORLD ISRAELI STRIKES KILL 123 IN GAZA CITY TRUMP WANTS TO MEET ZELENSKYY, PUTIN AFTER ALASKA PAGE 12 THE I-DAY MESSAGE During the full dress rehearsal for Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort complex on Wednesday. Praveen Khanna Post-Op Sindoor performance, talks on in Armed Forces to up retention of Agniveers AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 THE ARMED Forces are discussing a reassessment of the Agnipath scheme, keeping in mind the requirement for an ideal ratio between technically proficient and trained manpower and a reduced age profile of soldiers in the military, The 21-yr-old paraded, beaten to death in Maharashtra village, 8 arrested Indian Express has learnt. The services have been periodicallyreviewingthescheme— for recruitment of soldiers, airmen and sailors for a limited period of four years — ever since it was introduced in 2022. While there have been discussions between the services and the Department of Military Affairs on possible tweaks, no major changeshavebeenclearedsofar. EXPRESS NETWORK Youth attacked while with a girl from different faith: Cops MANISH KUMAR PATHAK JALGAON, AUGUST 13 A 21-YEAR-OLD, who police said was close to a 17-year-old girl fromadifferentcommunity,was paradedandbeatentodeathbya group of men in a village in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district. Hisfamilymemberstoowereassaulted when they tried to come to his rescue. Police said Wednesday that the incident took place Monday and eight persons had been arrested so far. Accordingtopolice,Suleman Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan, 21 Rahim Khan Pathan, 21, set out fromhishomeinChhotaBetawat village for Jamner, 15 km away, Mondaymorningtofillanonline Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant met CEC in Delhi NEW DELHI, KOLKATA, AUG 13 INSIDE WHAT THE 2-JUDGE BENCH OF SC SAID IN ITS AUG 11 ORDER WHY RETURNING STERILISED DOGS TO STREETS IS KEY TO ABC SUCCESS EC gives Bengal govt 7 days to act against officials, Chief Secy cites state’s approval DAMINI NATH & ATRI MITRA Two days after 2-judge bench ordered relocation of all stray dogs to shelters EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE ‘FAKE’ VOTERS ROW form for police recruitment. Around 3.30 pm, when Khan was sitting in a cafe with a girl, 8-10 people showed up and began checking his mobile phone aftersnatchingitfromhim,apolice officer said. They began assaulting him after they saw a photograph on the phone and dragged him out of the cafe. Khan was taken to his village where he was paraded and assaultedrepeatedly,finallywitha stick near his residence, the officer said. “When Khan’s parents and sister tried to rescue him, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘SURRENDER’: SC SETS ASIDE BAIL TO SUSHIL KUMAR SANGLI TO TURKEY: HOW MUMBAI POLICE GOT DRUG LORD P 8,6 GOVT & POLITICS AFTER AJIT REMARK ON COW VIGILANTES, ORDER OUT: ‘ONLY POLICE CAN ACT’ P 4 However, according to sources, following Operation Sindoor in May, there have been discussionsonincreasingtheretention of Agniveers, based on factors such as training, experience and expertise acquired by them in their four years. Sources said the performance of Agniveers in Op Sindoor was found to be “excellent”. The first batch of Agniveers will complete their four years by 2026-end, and a decision on makingchangestotheschemeis likely to take place around that time. According to current rules, attheendof thefour-yeartenure, up to 25% of the Agniveers can jointheservices,subjecttomerit andorganisationalrequirements. According to sources, discussions are underway in the Army CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In many states, govts push small reforms to give business a boost AGGAM WALIA & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 OVER THE LAST few months, Rajasthan eased restrictions on night shifts for women, Odisha spruced up building bye-laws so that small enterprises can use spacemoreefficiently,andTamil Nadu increased the number of industries for which entrepreneurs need not knock at the pollution control boards. Across India, states are advancing small, targeted reforms to cut red tape. While sweeping national reforms inch forward despite renewed calls for bold reforms amid tariff tensions, states are increasingly leading the way, recalibrating business rules on the ground, pointed out government officials. The Centre is helping nudge them towards deregulation, but states seem to be on board with the perceived benefits of these steps.Thetrendreflectsagrowing view at the highest levels of the Centralgovernmentthatprogressive,state-leveltweaks—fasterto CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE STANDOFF between the Election Commission (EC) and the West Bengal government showed no signs of relenting Tuesday, as the poll watchdog, after a meeting in Delhi, gave Chief Secretary Manoj Pant seven days to act on its order to suspend four officers, remove a data entry operator and file FIRs —stepsPantislearnttohavesaid hewouldtakeonlyafterconsulting the state government. ThefiveBengalofficialsareaccused of registering fake voters. Pant, who was summoned to the Capitalfornotcomplyingwiththe EC’sorderlastweektoactagainst them, is learnt to have met all three Election Commissioners — panel chief Gyanesh Kumar, and membersVivekJoshiandSukhbir Singh Sandhu. Attheoverhour-longmeeting at the poll panel’s headquarters, he is learnt to have said that inquirieshadbeeninitiatedagainst theofficersandthatactionwould follow based on the findings. When the EC pressed for compliance, Pant is learnt to havecitedforthcomingholidays, prompting the commission to give him a seven-day deadline. He is also learnt to have told the EC that he could not take the decision alone and would first consult the state government. The meeting came days after Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee publicly vowed to protect state government employees. “The stategovernmentemployeesare being intimidated. The officers were served suspension notices yesterday. Have the elections CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC on revision of rolls: ‘Voter-friendly, not exclusionary... more documents accepted’ ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 HEARING PETITIONS challengingtheSpecialIntensiveRevision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, the Supreme Court said WednesdaythattheElectionCommission (EC) expanding the list of documentsacceptedforproof of identity to 11, compared to only seven for the summary revision inJharkhandearlier,showedthat theprocessis“voter-friendlyand not voter exclusionary”. AbenchofJusticesSuryaKant and Joymalya Bagchi also said that according to Section 21 of TheRepresentationOfThePeople Act, 1950, “it is totally within the subjective domain” of the EC on “how, when” it would “go for a special (intensive) revision”. “Thedocumentsforthe summary exercise compared to the enumeration form as of now, more or less overlap with something more...They are expanding the number of documents of identity...Weunderstandyourexclusionaryargumentmaybewith regardtoAadhaar,buttheexpansionofthenumberofdocuments fromwhatwasfollowedinasummary revision to an intensive revisionis,infact,voter-friendlyand notvoter-exclusionary.Itgivesyou moreoptions,”JusticeBagchisaid. “See, it is seven items (in 2003). And now there are 11 items from which you can identify yourself as a citizen,” the judge said. “If somebody says all 11 documents are required, then it would be an anti-voter approach. But if it gives a long list of documents and says give any document which is reliable...?” remarked Justice Kant. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mamata’s asmita push: Cinema halls to screen one Bangla film daily PAGE 1 ANCHOR SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, AUGUST 13 AMID “BENGALI Asmita” push by the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, all cinema halls and multiplexes in the state have been ordered to screen at least one Bangla film every day in the prime time slot — 3 pm to 9 pm — with immediate effect. “...ineverycinemahallandall screensof multiplexes,amanda- tory show of at least one Bengali filmmustbeheldthroughoutthe year for 365 days,” read the notificationissuedonWednesdayby the Principal Secretary of the state Information & Cultural Affairs Department. The order further stated that necessary amendments to the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulationof PublicExhibition) Rules, 1956, will be made to formalise this directive. The move comes after Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee launched a statewide“BhashaAndolan(language movement)” from July 17 to protest the alleged harass- ment of Bengali-speaking people in the BJP-ruled states. Welcoming the order of mandatoryBanglafilmscreening, Minister of Public Works and YouthAffairsAroopBiswassaidit wasa“historicstep”andaimedat ensuring screening of Bangla movies throughout the year and promotingthelocalfilmindustry. “Our chief minister, who loves culture, has come up with this directive to promote the Bangla language and the film industry. Previously, the prime timewasfrom12pmto9pm.So, most screens used to show Bangla movies at noon. Now, we have changed the prime time The government has directed cinema halls, multiplexes to screen Bangla films between 3 pm and 9 pm. Partha Paul slot--3pmto9pm,”Biswassaid at a press conference here. He said as per the previous notification of September 14, 2018,thefilmhallswererequired toshow120Banglamoviesayear. “Now, each screen will have to screen one Bangla movie daily — 365 films annually. For a twoscreen multiplex, 730 Bangla films have to be screened annually,forathree-screenmultiplex, it will be 1,095 screenings a year, and for four-screen multiplexes, it is 1,460,” Biswas added. Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs Indranil Sen said itwasahistoricday,“notonlyfor cinema but for the revival of Bengali asmita and culture”. According to him, the decision would help provide a “vast platform” for small producers whopreviouslystruggledtofind venues to exhibit their films. Actor Rituparna Sengupta, who also addressed the TMC press conference, welcomed the move, saying, “It is a muchneeded step. I have been fighting for this. I am happy that this has been done today.” “As directors, producers, it is our responsibility to bring good cinema to the audience. I think thisdecisionhascomealittlelate. However, it is always better late than never. I work with inde- pendentdirectorsandproducers. So,thisisreallyanimportantdecisionforapersonlikeme.Bangla cinema has a lot of constraints. One of which is that a lot of filmmakers are always in fear whether they will get distributorstoshowcasetheirfilms.This directive is going to end this problem,” Sengupta added. Onpossiblefinanciallossesto the cinema hall owners, due to low viewership of Bangla films, Minister Biswas said: “We have reviewed the viewership. Today, Banglacinemasaremorepopular than Hindi. The word-of-mouth publicityalsoresultsinhugehits.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata