FOUR PAGE P U L L O U T AHMEDABAD, LATECITY September7,2025 Squelch and the mulch of rain 14+4(EYE)PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM JAISHANKAR WILL ADDRESS UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON SEPTEMBER 27 Ice-breaker? Trump says ‘will always be friends’; Modi replies: Fully reciprocate PM flags ‘positive Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership’ THE WORLD ISRAELI MILITARY TELLS GAZA CITY RESIDENTS TO LEAVE NEARLY 500 HELD IN RAID AT HYUNDAI’S U.S. FACILITY PAGE 12 GOVT & POLITICS EMBLEM ROW: J&K CM SEEKS WAQF BOARD APOLOGY P 8 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 SINCE THE India-US bilateral chill set in on August 6, when US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25% tariff as a penalty for India’s purchase of Russian oil, the first tentative sign of a possible thaw came — exactly a month to date. In a turn that has, of late, come to characterise the policy see-saw in the White House, Trump said Friday in the Oval Office that India and the US have a “special relationship” and “thereisnothingtoworryabout.” Hours later on Saturday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he “deeply” appreciated and “fully” reciprocated “President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 I’ll always be friends with Modi, he’s a great Prime Minister. India and US have a special relationship … there’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP MODI HOLDS TALKS WITH MACRON PAGE 9 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 TO SORT OUT implementation issues across sectors, from auto to textiles and fertilisers, arising in the wake of the GST 2.0 rate rationalisation, the Cabinet Secretariat has called for an inter-ministerial meeting on Monday, according to senior government officials. Sourcessaidtheautosectoris grapplingwiththeproblemofadjusting the cess charged on vehicleswhichhavemovedoutofthe factory gates and have reached the dealerships, but will likely be sold only after September 22 whenthecessistechnicallydone awaywith.Themechanismtoadjustthecessalreadypaidisnowa festering issue. Representatives from the bi- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 why all fingers are crossed in Delhi ‘Ourresponseis youhitus,we won’thityou back,norwillwe doyourbidding’ NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 6 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi’s warm — and prompt — responsetoUSPresident Donald Trump’s remarks marks the first political effort at the highest level in New Delhi to try and reverse the downward spiral intowhichtheIndia-USrelation- President Droupadi Murmu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday. PTI PAGE8 ship has fallen since Trump slapped the 25% Russian penalty tariff a month ago on top of the 25% reciprocal tariff. Of course, all fingers remain crossed given the flip- flops and the very public outbursts that have come to mark the Trump White House. But the latestTrump-Modiexchangehas brought some relief to an establishmentthatwastryingtowork CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN A 790-page chargesheet filed on Saturday, the East Khasi Hills police in Meghalaya alleged that the honeymoon murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi took place in the presence of his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, following a criminal conspiracy hatched by her Sonam Raghuvanshi and her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, who was found dead in May and Raj Kushwaha, with whom she was in a relationship. The chargesheet, filed before IN A step towards conducting a nationwide Special Intensive Revision(SIR)ofelectoralrolls,the ElectionCommissionissettohold a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states and Union Territories on September 10 to review preparedness, The Indian Express has learnt. Significantly, the EC is learnt to have sought suggestions from CEOs on additional documents thatcanbesubmittedbyelectors to prove their eligibility, including citizenship. For the ongoing SIR in Bihar, the EC had given an indicative list of 11 documents which included passport, birth certificate and caste certificate, but left out Aadhaar, ration card and the EC's own Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC). The EC’s SIR order has been challenged through a batch of petitions in the Supreme Court, wherethenexthearingisscheduledforSeptember8.Apartfrom challenging the EC’s authority to conduct a check of citizenship, the petitioners have also questioned the rationale behind ex- CEC Gyanesh Kumar clusionof thesecommonly-held documents. According to sources, the EC is likely to order the SIR for the rest of the country with January 1, 2026 set as the qualifying date — those who are 18 years old by January 1 next year can apply. In its June 24 order, the EC had said it would conduct the SIR for the entire country, but rolled out the exercise for Bihar first as Assembly elections are due in the state. For the remaining states and UTs, it had said orders would be issued in due course. Now, all CEOs have been asked to make presentations on September10withdetailsonthe numberofelectorsintheirstates/ UTs, the last intensive revision, and suggestions on additional documentsthatelectorscansubmit, sources said. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Near Corbett, another tiger success story plays out: 29 more big cats since 2022 AN OFFICER , AND A MOTHER Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh with an officer cadet and her daughter during the Passing Out Parade at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, Saturday. Of the 155 officer cadets commissioned, 25 were women. PTI PAGE8 Four workers among six Meghalaya honeymoon murder: Cops dead after ropeway cable say wife present when victim killed wire snaps in Panchmahal BHOPAL, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 6 EC’s exclusion of Aadhaar, ration card, EPIC in Bihar has been challenged in SC DAMINI NATH 790-PAGE CHARGESHEET FILED ANAND MOHAN J & SUKRITA BARUAH MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 10 Pan-India SIR: EC to meet CEOs, seeks inputs on other Why the outstretched hand to DC, eligibility papers GST 2.0: CabSec calls meeting to resolve sectoral hurdles ahead of Sept 22 roll-out cycles, tractors, and fertilisers industry have also reached out to thegovernmenttoaddressproblemsofinverteddutystructure— where the duty on inputs is higher than that on finished goods.Thetextileandapparelindustry representatives, for instance,haveflaggedthedistortion resultingfromdifferentGSTrates onunstitchedfabrics(5percent) andstitchedapparelexceedingRs 2,500 per piece (18 per cent). The government had consciously worked towards correcting the inverted duty structure anomalies while working out GST 2.0, especially for agriculturalitemsandtractors.Inthe tractor industry, the rate for machinery and parts has been cut to 5 per cent, but some parts are still in the 18 per cent slab alongside all other auto parts. Similarly, in bicycles, the GST on When it rains, sounds of the world change. The rains force us to become something more than ourselves the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Sohra Sub-Division Court, details the alleged conspiracy behind,andtheexecutionof,the murder of 29-year-old Raja. Five people accused in the case, including Sonam and Raj, were arrested by Meghalaya Police from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on June 8 and 9, days after Raja’s body was recovered from a gorge below Wei Sawdong falls in Sohra. This came after widespread search CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ADITI RAJA VADODARA, SEPTEMBER 6 SIX PERSONS were killed on Saturday after the cable wire of a ropeway meant for material transport transport at the Kalika Mata temple snapped, causing the cable car to crash to the ground in Pavagadh area of Gujarat’sPanchmahal,thepolice said.The deceased included four employeesof acontractorwork- At the accident site in Gujarat on Saturday. Express ing on the ongoing renovations CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE Atigerseenononeof thecameratrapsinthearea.Thetiger populationhasjumpedfrom67in2022to96asof July2025 AISWARYA RAJ DEHRADUN, SEPTEMBER 6 UK OFFICIALS VISIT TIHAR AMID INDIA PUSH FOR MALLYA, NIRAV EXTRADITION WEST BENGAL: COUPLE LYNCHED AFTER BODY OF BOY FOUND IN POND PAGES 9, 7 A SPECIAL annual survey undertaken by the forest department of Uttarakhand to estimate the number of tigers in the Ramnagar division, adjoining CorbettTigerReserve,hasshown a sharp jump over three years, The Indian Express has learnt. According to a report based onthesurvey,undertakenbythe department’sRamnagardivision alongwiththeWorldWideFund for Nature, the number of tigers grewfrom67(aspertheAllIndia Tiger Estimation in 2022) to 96 (as of July 2025). The survey report has been submitted to the department, it is learnt. Uttarakhand JimCorbett National Park Nainital Ramnagar Haldwani The survey used 1,059 camera trap pictures to arrive at this number. The survey, as part of phase 4 ahead of the All India Tiger Estimate, which will start CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 At IIT Jodhpur, reaching out has a new language: Classes in Hindi in first year PAGE 1 ANCHOR ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND JODHPUR, SEPTEMBER 6 A LITTLE over a year ago, when a freshfirst-yearbatchofengineering students walked into IIT Jodhpur, they were presented withanoptionthatwas,tillthen, unchartedterritoryforanIIT—in their first year, they could attend classes in a new Hindi section. Bhuvnesh Rajpurohit, now a second-year student in the chemical engineering branch, didn’twantto.Atleastnotatfirst. “Attheorientation,whenthey tolduswecouldattendclassesin Hindi if we wanted to, I thought English-section students se peeche reh jaoonga (I would lag behind the students who were taughtinEnglish),”hesays.So,for a week, he sat in the classes that were taught in English. “Then I realised, agar yahan baitha toh peeche reh jaoonga (I realised that if I sat in the English section, I would lag behind),” says Bhuvnesh, who then switchedtotheclassesthatwere being taught in Hindi. Bhuvnesh,whoisfromBilara inJodhpurdistrict,didhisschooling in Hindi medium and wrote the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) — the gateway to his IIT admission — in Hindi. “IcameherethinkingIwould have to attend classes in English. I had heard from people from Hindi-medium backgrounds that their CGPA dropped becauseof thesuddenswitchinthe first year. There was a gap between the English I knew and what was taught in the classes. If I was distracted for two-three seconds in a class, I wouldn’t be abletoconnectagain,andwould Students attend a math class in one of the Hindi sections at IIT Jodhpur. Abhinaya Harigovind remain lost for the rest of the class. I was more comfortable withHindi,”saysBhuvnesh,who completed the rest of his first year in the Hindi section. He was among 116 students, out of a batch of over 500, who chosetheHindisectioninthefirst semesterlastyear.Aroundhalf of themswitchedtotheEnglishsection in the second semester. In the Hindi section, only the medium of classroom interaction is Hindi; everything else remains in English — what the teacher writes on the board, the material displayed on the projector, textbooks, assignments, exams. Students are allowed to switch between the Hindi and English sections at any point in the semester. Most of them take notes in English. To ensure an equal pace for both sections, the same faculty member teaches the same topics to the Hindi and English sections on the same day. “Jitnamujheaatahain,utnahi English-medium waalon ko bhi aata hain (the English-medium section knew just as much as I did).Ialsodidn’tfeeltheneedfor material or textbooks in Hindi,” says Bhuvnesh. At the IIT council meeting in August, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged IITs to introduce regional languages as the medium of instruction. Thisisinlinewiththepushinthe National Education Policy, 2020, for education in regional languages. The heads of some IITs had, in 2021, told an Education Ministry committee that engineering programmes in regional languages could lead to challenges in employment, and not meetindustryrequirements,besidesposinglogisticalissuesofarrangingforfacultyandtextbooks. IIT Jodhpur is the only CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad