The Editorial Page: In thinking of the good death, what are the lines we ought to draw? 10 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2025 JOuRnALISM of COuRAgE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹5.00 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 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 Happening today lA BREAKfAST MEETING is likely between Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar amid the leadership row. The CM said he invited Shivakumar after the Cong high command asked them to hold a meeting. lA DELHI COURT will take cognizance of the ED’s chargesheet in the National Herald case. The judge had reserved the order on November 7. lPOPE LEO will visit Istanbul’s prominent Blue Mosque, his first visit as pope to a Muslim place of worship. He will also attend a Catholic Mass as he continues his West Asia tour. business as Usual By EP UNNY REfLECTS HARD WORK AND ENTERPRISE Of OUR PEOPLE, SAYS PM GDP growth tops outlook again, records six-quarter high of 8.2% CEA Nageswaran now expects growth to be at least 7% in 2025-26 Siddharth Upasani & Aanchal Magazine New Delhi, November 28 THE ECONOMY continued to expand at a faster-than-anticipated rate in July-September, withGDPgrowthrisingtoasixquarter high of 8.2 per cent on the back of near double-digit growth in the services sector. The manufacturing sector, too, expanded at the fastest pace in six quarters. Economistshadbroadlyexpected that GDP growth would moderate to 7.3 per cent from 7.8percentinApril-June.How- ever, the growth rate unexpectedly rose for the fourth quarter in a row in July-September. “The 8.2% GDP growth in Q2 of 2025-26 is very encouraging. It reflects the impact of our pro-growth policies and reforms. It also reflects the hard work and enterprise of our people. Our government will continue to advance reforms and strengthen Ease of Living for every citizen,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in a post on X. In a briefing after the data was released, Chief Economic ● ■ DrIvENbYmANufAcTurING,fINANcIAlsErvIcEs Q2 FY25 ■ 7.8 8.2 Q1 FY26 ■ Q2 FY26 (All figures in %) 8.3 8.8 8.7 5.6 7.7 4.1 3.7 3.5 Nominal GDP Agriculture 9.5 7.6 7.2 10.2 7.2 -0.04 -3.10 Mining, quarrying NOTE: GROWTH RATES ARE ON YEAR-ON-YEAR BASIS FOR KEY SECTORS Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said GDP growth for 202526 as a whole will now be at least 7 per cent. This is an up- 8.4 2.2 -0.40 Real GDP 9.1 Manufacturing Construction SOURCE: MOSPI wardrevisionfromhisprevious forecast of 6.3-6.8 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) current growth forecast Financial, Real estate, services for 2025-26 stands at 6.8 per cent. But with second-quarter growthexceedingexpectations »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RED fORT BLAST TERROR MODULE wOrlD PAGE 16 48 staffers questioned at Al Falah, probe expands to Delhi hospitals Alok Singh New Delhi, November 28 TEN KILLED IN ISRAELI RAID IN SOUTHERN SYRIA KHALEDA ZIA ‘ExTREmELY CRITICAL’: AIDE 29/11/2025 100 128 158 ALMOST THREE weeks after theblastoutsidetheRedFortin the national capital, investigators have intensified their scrutiny of Faridabad’s Al Falah University, where three of the accused were employed. Officials familiar with the probe told TheIndianExpress that 48 staffmembers,includingabout 30 doctors, have been questioned as agencies attempt to reconstruct Red Fort bomber Umar Nabi’s movements and interactionsinthedaysleading up to the blast. Apart from Nabi, two other members of the now-busted Jaish-e-Mohammed terror module — Pahalgam resident Dr Muzammil Ganai and Lucknow resident Dr Shaheen Shahid Ansari — were working at AlFalah.Theothermembersof the module, who have also been arrested, are Dr Adeel Rather, who was employed at a private hospital in Saharampur, and Kashmir cleric Mufti Irfan Wagay. 91 Will be Russian President’s first visit since Ukraine war began in 2022 Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, November 28 IN HIS first visit since the Ukraine war began in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin will undertake a twodayvisittoIndiaonDecember45 for annual summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday: “At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin will pay a State visit to India from 04-05 December 2025 for the 23rd IndiaRussia Annual Summit”. The India-Russia bilateral summit at the leaders’ level takes place in each other’s countries every year. Last year, Modi had visited Moscow for the 22nd annual summit; he also went to Kazan, in Russia, for the BRICS leaders summit. Putin last visited India in December 2021. Probe agencies reconstruct bomber’s movements in days leading up to blast 12 people were killed in the blast near the Red Fort. FILE OnWednesday,theNational highly placed sources, security InvestigationAgencyarresteda agencieshaveinstructedprivate hospitals across ward boy emDelhi to provide ployed at Al Falah EXPrEss records identifyUniversity, identing doctors who ified as Soyab, for earned MBBS deallegedly providgrees in Banglaing logistical support to Umar before the attack. desh,theUnitedArabEmirates, Simultaneously,theinvesti- China or Pakistan and are curgation has expanded beyond rently practising in the city. the campus. According to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 exclusive FULL REPORT ON WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PM unveils Ram statue PM Narendra Modi with Goa CM Pramod Sawant after unveiling a 77-foot bronze statue of Lord Ram in South Goa district on Friday. The unveiling was part of the 550th year celebrations of the Shree Samsthan Gokarn Jeevottam Mutt. Earlier in the day, the PM also visited the Sri Krishna Mutt in Karnataka’s Udupi district. PTI PAGE 12 SC allows Maharashtra local body polls to proceed, says results subject to final verdict Express News Service New Delhi, November 28 THE SUPREME Court on Friday allowed the Maharashtra local body elections to proceed as scheduled with a rider that the results in seats where the total reservation breaches the 50 per cent cap will be subject to the outcome of the proceedings pending before it. On November 25, a bench of ChiefJusticeofIndia(CJI) Surya KantandJusticeJoymalyaBagchi asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to submit a list of constituencies where the reservationexceeds50percent. On Friday, senior advocate Balbir Singh, appearing for the Commission, informed the court that there are 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats where the election process has already commenced, nominations have been filed and voting is scheduled on December 2. The bench was also informed that of 246 municipal councils,totalquotaexceeds50 per cent in 40 of them and in 17 of 42 nagar panchayats. The SEC pointed out that in 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla Putin in India on Dec 4-5 for bilateral summit; defence ties, trade on table panchayats and 346 panchayat samitis, election process is yet to commence. The SC directed that “the electionsofmunicipalcouncils andnagarpanchayatsmaytake place as per the notified schedule. However, it is clarified that the result of the 40 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats where the reservation »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE BIG PICTURE The teen caught in Kenya doping scandal PAGE 13 NATION PAGE 9 CONTRACTS TO bE fORECLOSED If NO DELIvERY IN A YR: DEfENCE SECY Vladimir Putin last visited India in December 2021. AP E. EXPlAINED Concerns: US tariffs & Russia-China ties Amid the US tariff turmoil, India is in a difficult spot with long-time partner Russia. Energy imports are down but defence sales will likely continue. India and Russia will discuss the situation, at a time Moscow’s ties to Beijing are closer, much to India’s concern. AfTER AfGHAN HELD fOR DC ATTACK Trump vows freeze on migration from ‘3rd world’ nations US directs ‘negative factors’ for 19 high-risk countries; India not on list Yoshita Singh New York, Washington, November 28 US PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Friday said he will “permanentlypause”migrationfromall “third world” countries and deport foreign nationals who are a “securityrisk”,ashisadministration intensified crackdown on immigration in the wake of the killing of a National Guard memberbyanAfghannational. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow said that at Trump’s direction, he has “directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern”. The policy guidance is »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l 38 YEARS AFTER PUNE RESIDENT’S FALL ON HIS CHIN LEFT HIM WITH FUSED JAW AND SKULL BONES, UNABLE TO OPEN HIS MOUTH ‘Tiraskar bharpoor karta loka’: 47-year-old, who has become face of racist attacks Soham Shah that he hadn't seen before, says Panchal. “Tiraskar bharpoor karta loka (People disrespect RAJENDRA PANCHAL, 47, the disabled a lot).” knew news reports from 2018 He was around a year old aboutthesurgerythatcorrected when Panchal fell chin first on his fused jaw and skull bones the ground. The fall was so sewere available online. What he vere that it fused his jaw and didn’t know was that in recent skull bone on both sides and days,hisphotoswere left him unable to being shared on soopenhismouth.The PAGE 1 cial media to make family lived in racistattacksagainst Dhaba in rural OsIndians. manabad (now DhaHisfamilywassurprisedthe rashiv), and Panchal’s father photos had surfaced the way worked as a carpenter. They they had. But it was nothing neverhadthemeanstoconsult Pune, November 28 anchor a doctor, and for the next 38 years of his life, Panchal lived with the condition, called temporo-mandibular joint ankylosis, unable to eat solid food. In 2017, a team of maxillofacial surgeons at Pune’s M A Rangoonwala Dental College took on his case for free. A surgery changed his life, allowing him to open his mouth, eat solid food, and speak clearly. Hisweightgraduallyincreased, from 45 kg pre-surgery to over 60 kg now. The doctors at the time also shared his photos before and after surgery, which Rajendra Panchal (centre) with his son and wife at his home in Viman Nagar on Friday. SOHAM SHAH have now resurfaced online, in racist attacks seeking to represent “an archetypal Indian”. Dr J B Garde, the lead surgeon in the operation on Panchal,sayshewasshockedwhen he saw the context in which his photos were being shared online.Showingphotosofpatients with a similar condition from across the globe, he says: “Rajendra’s condition has nothing todowithbeingIndianorother nationality.Theetiology(cause) of this condition is not genetic but mostly physical trauma, birth injury or ear infection.” Panchal stumbled upon the cure by sheer luck. At the age of 17,havingdroppedoutofschool after Class 4, he ran away from home after an argument with his parents, and landed in Pune. By then, he had spent years seeing people shrink away from him. “If a disabled person comes and sits next to you, will you let him? People still don't talk respectfully to disabled people, so you can imagine what I went through that long back.” In Pune, not knowing anyone, Panchal went without al- mostanyfoodfordays,withhis first few jobs only giving something to eat and no money. “I dideverythingfrompullingout weeds to sweeping rooms to daily labour.” Then, in 2017, when he was 39, Panchal got a toothache. “The dentist referred me to the surgeons, who diagnosed my condition and performed the operation. If I did not have a toothache, I would have never even gone to a doctor.” Dr Gaurav Kuthwad, who was part of the operation team, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2