DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA CM tells officials to be on alert 108 132 68 SPORT BY UNNY NAMES OF 14 LAWYERS RECOMMENDED AS BOMBAY HC JUDGES P 7 8DEADINNANDED, 80% of village inundated TRAIN,FLIGHTOPS HIT 700strandedasmonorailsstuck RainbringsMumbaitoitsknees;several areasreceive300mmrainin24hours 21rain-related deathsin4daysin state,cropsin12L hectaresdamaged GILL IN T20I TEAM AS VICE-CAPTAIN, SURYAKUMAR LEADS PAK WON’T TRAVEL TO INDIA FOR HOCKEY NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, AUGUST 19 ASIA CUP PAGES 17, 18 BUSINESS AS USUAL `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ‘NEXT2DAYSCRUCIAL’: 80 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES 20/08/2025 ● AMID A red alert in the region, life was thrown out of gear in MumbaionTuesdayasincessant rain continued for the fourth consecutive day with the city receiving over 800 millimetres of rainfall in four days till Tuesday evening. According to the state government, 21 people died in rain-related incidents between August 15 and 19, while crops in around 12 lakh hectares of land were damaged in the past two days across the state. Several pockets in Mumbai received over 300 mm rain between Monday and Tuesday morning,andasshowerscontinued unabated, roads were inundated, at least 100 local train services were suspended, flights Rescued amid rain woes: Youth trapped in Mithi river, 93-year-old man without oxygen support were delayed and traffic came to a standstill. Over 350 residents in Kurla’s low-lying areas were evacuated after water level in Mithiriverswelledupto3.9metres, near danger-level. On Tuesday, Mumbai was under a sheet of water with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recording over 200 mm rainfall between Monday and Tuesday morning. In24hourstillTuesdaymorning, its Santacruz station logged 223 mmrainwhileColabastationreceived 110 mm rain. However, records from BMC’s automatic weather stations showed that several pockets received over 300 mm rain during the same period. Between Monday and Tuesday morning, Chincholi in the western suburbs received over 369 mm rainfall, followed by337mmraininKandivali,305 mm rain in Dindoshi, while Dadar in the island city received MANISH KUMAR PATHAK MUMBAI, AUGUST 19 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MONSOON MAYHEM PAGES 3, 4 & 5 People walk on inundated tracks as trains stopped between Kurla and Tilaknagar stations on Harbour line. Amit Chakravarty A 30-YEAR-OLD man was rescued by local residents from Mithi river where he had gone for swimming on Tuesday amid heavy rain battering Mumbai. In another rain-related incident, a 93 -year-old man, who wasonoxygensupportaspartof his treatment, and his 85-yearold wife were rescued from the Teachers Colony in Kurla (West) after flooding and disruption of power supply at their society. According to police, Aman ImtiyazSayyad,whowasrescued from Mithi river, is a teacher who lives in Filterpada area in Powai. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 SEPTEMBER 1 DEADLINE FOR SIR PHASE 2 No objections filed by political parties: EC; on ground, workers say raised red flags DAMINI NATH, SANTOSH SINGH & ASAD REHMAN Madan Prasad (right) has been struck off the draft rolls as ‘dead’. Rahul Sharma EUROPE AT TRUMP TABLE WHAT WILL NOT COUNTINBIHAR ICSSR to issue notice to CSDS over ‘manipulation’ of Maharashtra poll data EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 THE INDIAN Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on Tuesday said it will issue a show causenoticetotheCentreforthe Study of Developing Societies over an erroneous claim made by Sanjay Kumar — professor and co-director of Lokniti, a re- SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 UNDERLINING THAT “stable, predictable,constructivetiesbetween India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity”,PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi said Tuesday he was looking forward to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders’ summit on August 31September 1. His remarks came as Delhi and Beijing agreed on resumption of direct flights, border trade, facilitating trade and investments, and at least three border-related new mechanisms,signallingheadwaymade in rebuilding ties after five years of a tense border standoff. AftervisitingChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi called on him in New Delhi, Modi, in a post on X, said, “Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazanlastyear,India-Chinarelationshavemadesteadyprogress guidedbyrespectforeachother’s interests and sensitivities. I look Jaishankar said Taiwan part of China: Beijing; Delhi says Taipei ties unchanged SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 BEIJING SAID Tuesday External AffairsMinisterSJaishankartold visitingChineseForeignMinister Wang Yi that “Taiwan is part of China” and National Security AdvisorAjitDovalconveyedthat India “consistently adhered to the one-China policy”. Respondingtotheseremarks intheChinesereadoutof Wang’s meetings in New Delhi, official sources said there has been “no change” in India’s position on Taiwan and its ties with Taipei are focused on economy, technology and culture. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in an English version of the readout on Jaishankar’s meeting with Wang Monday, quoted the External Affairs Minister as having said: “Stable, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL search programme at the CSDS — in a social media post that two constituencies in Maharashtra had shown a significant fall in the numbers of voters between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls last year. The ICSSR, which operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, is the government’s apex body for research in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finland President Alexander Stubb, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secy General Mark Rutte during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office on Monday. x/@WhiteHouse I N S I D E RUSSIA MAY NOT WANT TO MAKE DEAL: TRUMP P 14 THE GREAT TRUMP RESET BY C RAJA MOHAN P9 Central govt set to ban online real money gaming, Bill likely in Parliament today SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 THEMINISTRYof Electronicsand InformationTechnology(MeitY) has drafted a legislation which could place a blanket ban on all online real money gaming services — where users can play gamesafterdepositingmoneyin the form of a stake or a wager — owing to growing concerns aboutallegedmoneylaundering through these services and their harmful societal impact, The Indian Express has learnt. The proposed law, learnt to be titled ‘The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025’, has been cleared by Cabinet and is likely to be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. TheBillhasbeendraftedover nationalsecurityconcernsrelated to online gaming platforms, including the use of digital wallets and cryptocurrencies for money laundering and illicit fund transfers, these platforms serving as potential messaging and communicationgroundsforterrororganisations,andoffshoreentities circumventing Indian tax and le- gal obligations, among others. AccordingtotheBill,thegovernment will prohibit any person from offering online real money games, with a prison term of up to three years and a penalty of Rs 1 crore for failure to comply. Those promoting such platforms, such as social media influencers, may also face prison term of two years and a penalty of Rs 50 lakh. The government may also prohibit banks and financial institutions from facilitating financial transactions on such platforms. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 E EXPLAINED CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DARBHANGA, ARA, AURANGABAD, AUGUST 19 IN ITS daily statements since August 1, the Election Commission of India has been maintaining that none of the 1.6 lakhbooth-levelagents(BLAs)appointed by political parties has filedanyclaimsandobjectionsto therecentlypublisheddraftelectoralrollaspartofBihar’songoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Yet, on the ground, the BLAs — political workers meant to be theeyesandearsof partiesatthe levelof Assemblyconstituencies andbooths—saytheyhavebeen actively raising objections: from alleged duplication of voters to the presence of ‘fake voters’ and Look forward to meeting Xi, says PM as India, China move on border, trade ● Gaming vs e-sports THE PROPOSAL to ban real money gaming has been made due to growing concerns around socio-economic and national security risks that the platforms could pose. The government, meanwhile, is keen to promote e-sports as a legitimate competitive sport. Govt to bring Bill to remove ministers detained for 30 days on serious charges LIZ MATHEW & APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 UNION HOME Minister Amit Shah is expected to move in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to remove a Central or State Minister who is facing allegations of corruption or serious offencesandhasbeendetainedfor at least 30 days. TheBillwillamendArticle75 of the Constitution, which primarily deals with the appointment and responsibilities of the Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister. “A Minister, who for any period of 30 consecutive days during holding the office as such, is arrestedanddetainedincustody, on allegation of committing an offence under any law for the time being in force, which is punishable with imprisonment IN PARLIAMENT BILL TO BOOST EXPLORATION OF CRITICAL MINERALS CLEARS RS PAGE 10 for a term which may extend to five years or more, shall be removed from his office by the President on the advice of the PrimeMinistertobetenderedby the 31st day after being taken in such custody,” the Bill states. The move comes against the backdropof thecontroversythat surrounded the arrest in 2023 of V Senthil Balaji, a minister in Tamil Nadu’s DMK government. Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi had dismissed Balaji following his arrest in an alleged money laundering case. Chief Minister M K Stalin had then reinstated Balaji after the Supreme Court granted him bail. But after the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Centre lists ‘ineligible’ ration card holders, asks states to remove them PAGE 1 ANCHOR HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 19 THE CENTRAL government has for the first time prepared a list of ration card holders who may not qualify for benefits such as freefoodgrainssincetheyareeither taxpayers, owners of fourwheelers or even directors in companies. The Centre’s Department of Food and Public Distribution has arrived at such a list by match- ing the details of ration card holders with databases of government entities such as the Income-Tax department (taxpayers), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (directors) and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (four-wheeler owners). In this exercise of cross-verification, the department found that 94.71 lakh ration card holders are taxpayers, 17.51 lakh are ownersof four-wheelersandanother 5.31 lakh ration card holders are directors in companies. The officials said these ration card holders — about 1.17 crore — may not qualify for free food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Having arrived at this list, it has now directed states to undertake necessary field verification and removetheineligiblerationcard holders by September 30. Responding to a query from The Indian Express, an official from the Department of Food and Public Distribution said the Centre“hashelpedstatesbyprovidingthisdatatoidentifyandremove ineligible beneficiaries so that genuine people in the waitinglistcanavailthescheme”.The review of ration cards/ beneficiarieslist,identificationof ineligible/duplicaterationcardsandinclusion of eligible beneficiaries/ FOUND HAVING RATION CARDS 5.31 lakh Director Identification Number holders 17.51 lakh four-wheeler owners 94.71 lakh Income Tax payers households is the responsibility of states, he said. The NFSA dashboard shows that 19.17 crore ration cards have beenissuedasonAugust19,with totalbeneficiariesacross36states and Union Territories totalling 76.10 crore. As per rules, all governmentemployees,households with annual income of Rs 1 lakh or more, four-wheeler owners, andtaxpayersareineligibletoget free foodgrains. In a letter to Chief Secretaries of all states and Advisors to the UT Administrators, Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra reiteratedthegovernment’searlierinstructions about discrepancies identified in the Ration Card Management System (RCMS) database. “Thesediscrepancieswererelated to beneficiaries who were eitherduplicate,deceased,orinactive (silent beneficiaires) and State/UTs were accordingly advisedtoundertakeidentification andfieldverificationof suchbeneficiaries,” he wrote in the letter sent to states on July 8, 2025. “In continuation of this initiative, the Department has undertaken a comprehensive exercise to further strengthen rightful targeting by matching RCMS data with databases of variousGovernmentof IndiaentitiesincludingtheCentralBoard of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), and PMKisan,” Chopra wrote. “Based on this inter-ministerial data convergence, the Department has identified a set of beneficiaries who appear in one or more of the above databases and may not qualify as per eligibility norms prescribed by respective States/UTs.Theselists willbesharedwithallStates/UTs via API-based integration and will be visible to State officials through the Rightful Targeting Dashboard developed by the Department,” he wrote. “Asyouareaware,theresponsibilityforidentificationof beneficiaries rests with the State Government. You are, therefore, requested to kindly undertake necessary field verification of suchflaggedcasesandinitiateappropriate action for data cleansing, wherever ineligibility is established. This exercise is critical to ensure that the resources under TPDS are directed only towards the eligible households,” said Food Secretary Chopra. “I am sure that you will appreciate that cleansing the database of ineligible beneficiaries willenableanyleft-outdeserving CONTINUED ON PAGE 2