DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, PATNA, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FESTIVAL OF SAVINGS, SEASON OF JOY Utsav TRACTORS ARE NOW CHEAPER CBC 15502/13/0038/2526 Bachat My farming now comes with savings BY NEARLY ₹40,000 MOVE AMID TRUMP ACTION ON U.S. VARSITIES overseas to return Delhi air turns ‘very poor’ post Diwali, New scheme with ‘set-up grant’ to get BJP and AAP set off political fireworks top Indian faculty Talent from 12-14 priority areas in STEM identified to attract talent 22/10/2025 100 RITIKA CHOPRA 128 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 158 78 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY The India Gate on Tuesday as dense smog engulfed Delhi and affected visibility a day after Diwali. Praveen Khanna DEVANSH MITTAL & SOPHIYA MATHEW NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 INDIA UPGRADES MISSION IN KABUL Will strengthen ties with India: Taliban Defence Minister Yaqoob Yaqoobisthe sonof Taliban founderlate MullahOmar SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 DISMISSING ISLAMABAD’S allegations of Indian involvement in theclashesbetweenAfghanistan and Pakistan, Taliban leader and DefenceMinisterMullahYaqoob has said Kabul will “strengthen” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2025 BIHAR ● RJDandCongress firefight:Callsgoout, leadersdashasallies inrescuemode PAGE8 AS AIR pollution levels rose the dayafterDiwali,theDelhigovernment led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had “forced” farmersinPunjabtoburnstubble to foul the capital’s air. The24-houraverageairquality index (AQI) at 4 pm on Tuesday was 351 (very poor), up from 345 on Monday. At a press conference, Delhi EnvironmentMinisterManjinder Singh Sirsa showed pictures and videos of people with their faces covered, burning paddy stubble. “I want to show you how the Aam Aadmi Party [which rules Punjab] is deliberately forcing farmers to burn stubble in THE EDITORIAL PAGE LIGHT, NOT HEAT Diwali needs to be cleaner but framing 48-hr fireworks as fount of all toxins is wrong — in science and strategy PAGE6 Punjab by covering their faces... Farmers have been forced to burn stubble by covering their faces, so that this can impact Delhi,” Sirsa said. “Diwali is not a BJP festival; it’saSanatanHindufestival.They (AAP)areouropposition,sothey canabuseus,butwhyinsultasacred tradition? The same party thatfailedfor10years[whilerulingDelhi]isnowblamingDiwali for pollution, a false narrative to appease a section of voters…,” Sirsa said. The minister said AAP was speaking the language of “those who admire Aurangzeb and Akbar, who even put up the picture of Tipu Sultan in the Vidhan Sabha… Arvind Khan, Arvind Kejriwal, is trying to hide his failures by defaming a festival sacred to millions,” Sirsa said. Responding to Sirsa, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said: “When asked about missing pollution data in apressconference,aBJPminister remained evasive. As for Punjab Sikh farmers, I can say they will neverconspiretodefameDiwali. Accusing them is shameful. “Sikh Gurus gave lives for Hindus, accusing them is a sin. Running the government is a responsibility; by lying about air pollutionandYamunapollution, you are playing with the lives of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAIN BRINGS RELIEF TO MUMBAI AS AIR QUALITY DIPS Amit Chakravarty THE AQI IN Mumbai plummeted to 212 — “poor” — Tuesday morning as the city woke up to a blanket of thick haze and smog. It was the worst air quality in the city since the withdrawal of the monsoon on October 10 ON TUESDAY EVENING, however, rain brought relief as heavy downpour accompanied by thunderstorms lashed Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai FULL COVERAGE PAGE 4 THEGOVERNMENTisworkingon a new scheme to attract Indianorigin “star faculty” and researcherssettledabroadtoreturn and work in Indian institutions. The discussions have gained momentum amid concerns over the Trump administration’s policies towards higher education in the United States, seen by critics as challenginguniversityautonomy and academic freedom. The Principal Scientific Adviser’s office has also convened meetings with the Departmentof HigherEducation in the Ministry of Education, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to shape the contours of the initiative, The Indian Express E EXPLAINED Our coverage and news updates 24x7 will be available on indianexpress.com DELHI MINISTER SAYS AAP ‘FORCED’ PUNJAB FARMERS TO BURN STUBBLE SC’s firecracker guidelines flouted across NCR; Minister Sirsa attacks Kejriwal for ‘defaming’ festival We are closed today. There will be no print edition of this newspaper dated OCTOBER 23, 2025 What gets talent ● back? WHAT IS on offer in India to accomplished Indian scientists and researchers working overseas holds the key to any programme to get them back. Anchoring them with key institutions, an enabling ecosystem with access to resources such as ‘set-up grants’ are some of the aspects the government has recognised now. haslearnt.Theproposedscheme aims to bring back “established” Indian-origin scientists and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hindi scholar at SOAS denied entry into India, sent back from Delhi ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 FRANCESCA ORSINI, a leading scholar of Hindi and professor emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, was late Monday stopped from entering the country, and sent back from the Delhi airport, senior government officials said. An official in the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed “violation ofvisaconditions”duringherprevious visits as grounds for denying her entry into the country. Francesca Orsini is professor emerita at SOAS While Orsini, who was on a flight back to London, was unavailable for comment, The Wire had earlier quoted her as saying that she was provided no reason for being stopped at the Delhi airport. “I am being deported. That is all I know,” she said. Orsini’s husband Peter Undertrial’s death: Keep Fire in Navi Mumbai highrise snuffs CCTV footage, health out 4 of a family, including 6-yr-old records intact, says SC PRATIP ACHARYA & NARESH S Pan-India SIR on table, on mother’s petition poll panel to meet Chief SADAF MODAK Electoral Officers today CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, OCTOBER 21 MUMBAI, OCTOBER 21 APPROACHED BY a woman seeking an investigation into the custodial death of her 22-yearoldson,anaccusedinachildsexual harassment case, the SupremeCourthasdirectedthat CCTVfootageandmedicaldocuments relating to the youth should not be tampered with or destroyed. On September 24, 2024, the familywastoldthatthe22-yearold, an undertrial lodged in CONTINUEDONPAGE2 The youth was lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail. On Sept 24, 2024, his family was told he had died after getting seizures. File FOUR MEMBERS of a family, including a six-year-old girl, died and 10 others were injured after a fire broke out in Navi Mumbai’s Raheja Residency Society on Monday night. Officials from the Navi Mumbai Fire Brigade (NMFB) said the blaze was reported around 12.40 am and it was put out by around 4.30 am. According to officials, the blaze erupted on the 10th floor of the building and soon spread to the 11th and 12th floors, engulfing the building’s corridors with thick black smoke. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 Charred furniture inside an apartment at Raheja Residency in Navi Mumbai. Narendra Vaskar MOREPHOTOSPAGE5 THE ELECTION Commission is set to meet the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of States and UnionTerritoriesonWednesday to discuss preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, after which the Commission could take a call on the rollout of the exercise, it is learnt. Apartfromthepreparedness for the SIR, other administrative issues are also likely to be discussed, it is learnt. The meeting, to be held at the EC’s India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) at Dwarka on Wednesday afternoon, is the second such meeting in just over a month. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 As American chess star’s death sparks intrigue, Indian GM blames Russian hand PAGE 1 ANCHOR MAYANK NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 THE DEATH on Monday of New YorkTimescolumnistandeducator Daniel Naroditsky, who was once hailed as a chess prodigy while becoming a Grandmaster at 18, has sparked a buzz online. There is a growing refrain that the American GM, who was 29, was under severe stress after al- legations of cheating were levelled against him by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Now, a prominent Indian voice has joined the chorus. Indian GM Nihal Sarin, who was the last player Naroditsky faced on the popular online forumchess.com,squarelyblames Kramnikwhohadrepeatedlyaccused the American player of cheating while playing online — an allegation that Naroditsky had firmly denied. “He(Kramnik)haskindof literally taken a life,” Nihal told The Indian Express. The 21-year-old Indian is an expert at blitz chess, like Naroditsky, with both having played each other in over 2,000 games online. Recalling their final face-off on chess.com, Nihal said, “His lastgameswereagainstme.That day, we played a bit in the morning and then there were our last games at night. We were also talking about a few things. He said he was under immense stress due to a lot of baseless accusations—headedbyKramnik, of course. Apparently, unfortunately, quite a few others also Daniel Naroditsky was accused of cheating by Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik. AP seem to have joined in... I can totallyimaginethepainhewasgoing through and it has been going on for a very long time. I had thought he’s a very strong guy. I didn't think he would get affected so easily.” The Indian GM acknowledged Russian GM Kramnik's greatness as a chess player. “He’s a great player, a world champion... He gave a lot to chess. He's one of the greatest players of all time, without any doubt. But these days, the harm he's causing...,” he said. Nihal, too, was targeted with allegations of cheating in online games but was able to tide over the crisis. “Fortunately for me, myfriends,coaches,theyimmediately defended me. I had quite a bit of a support system. Unfortunately, Naroditsky was not having that... I was aware that I had some really good results. I was kind of waiting for it. I knew Kramnik would come after me someday,” he said. Nihal also said there should be zero tolerance when it comes to “cheating” but there was a wayof dealingwiththeproblem. “Cheating in chess is a huge problem. But what Kramnik doesiscompletelyunacceptable. He just blurts out accusations every day... He was a world champion, a very influential figure after all. And I don't know if herealisestheimpactitcanhave on innocent people. Kramnik's methods, it seems like, you burn down a city to catch some cheaters, basically. You kill some thousand other completely innocent guys to get one or two guys,” he said. The Charlotte Chess Center in North Carolina, where CONTINUED ON PAGE 2