The Ideas Page: Amid Macaulay row, let’s not forget, India increasingly speaks in English to itself 9 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2025 JOURNALISm of COURAGE AHMEDABAD, 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 INdIA-U.S. NEgOTIATORS bEgIN 2-dAY TRAdE TAlKS AS gREER flAgS RESISTANCE IN AgRICUlTURE Delhi’s offers best ever, but India hard nut to crack: US trade chief US Trade Representative: India viable alternative market... forward leaning Ravi dutta Mishra New Delhi, December 10 AS US negotiators began their two-day trade talks in New Delhi on Wednesday, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said in Washington DC that the US has received the “best ever” offer from India. Citing New Delhi’s resistance to importing American agricultural products, he also said India has been a “difficult nut to crack”. “I have a team over there right now, as we speak, in New Delhi. There’s resistance in India to certain row crops and other meats and products. Like you said, they’re very difficult nut to crack. I agree with that 100 per cent, but they’ve been quiteforwardleaning…thetype of offers they’ve been talking to us about have been the best we’ve ever received, as a country. I think that (India) is a viable alternative market,” Greer said responding to a question before the US Senate Appropriations Committee. While the US has been pushingfordiversificationofits agricultural exports, particularly row crops like corn and soybeans, away from China, India has remained firm on protecting India’s small farmers from foreign competition. Differences over the agriculture trade had resulted in US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at the White House. REUTERS Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri meets US Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer in New Delhi. PTI the breakdown of trade talks between the two countries in August earlier this year. Earlier,onMonday,USPresidentDonaldTrumpthreatened fresh tariffs on Indian rice over concerns of dumping in the US market.Washingtonhasalready imposed 50 per cent tariffs on New Delhi, the highest on any countryglobally.Trump’scomments came after a LouisianabasedUSfarmerrepresentative, ataWhiteHouse-hostedroundtable, said they are struggling duetothedumpingofriceinthe US by countries such as India, China, and Thailand. Trump subsequently responded by saying countries should not be dumping rice in the US and that tariffs will solve the problem. Picking just India among the three countries named by the farmer representative, Trump asked US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent: “Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 NON-ROTATINg SWASHPlATE bEARINg Key part to be fixed before Dhruvs with Navy, Coast Guard fly again ExPRESS exclusive Amrita Nayak dutta Happening today l INdIgO CEO has been directed to appear at the DGCA office and submit a full report, including on updated position of pilot and crew strength. l THREE PlAYERS from Punjab — Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh — are expected to be in the playing XI in the India-South Africa T20 match in Mohali. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INdIANEXPRESS.COM business as Usual By EP UNNY New Delhi, December 10 THE ADVANCED Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv fleet of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Indian Navy will soon receivemanufacturingmodifications to a key component, senior officials familiar with the developments have told The Indian Express. These modifications, officials said, will be implemented in batches before the helicoptersaredeliveredtotheICG andtheNavy,aboutsixmonths from now. ItislearntthattheDefectInvestigation Committee, probingthecrashofaCoastGuard- Ahmedabad, December 10 PAGE 12 dEEPAvALI Now oN UNESco HErITAGE LIST Dhruv, an indigenously developed ALH, is a twin-engine, multi-role helicopter in the 5.5 tonne weight class. INDIANCOASTGUARD.GOV.IN operated ALH Dhruv on January 5, recommended a manufacturing process improvement of the Non-Rotating Swashplate Bearing (NRSB) for thechopperswiththeNavyand Gujarat man held for raping minor with metal rod attacks cops, shot in both legs: Police Express News Service NATION Recommendation by panel which probed January crash in Porbandar A FARM LABOURER was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl with a metal rod in Gujarat’s Rajkot district after the child identified him as her attacker, police said on Wednesday. The police also claimed that the accusedwasinjuredinfiringafter he allegedly attempted to flee from custody. The police were granted five-dayremandoftheaccused on Wednesday. On Wednesday evening, a police team, including officers from the police station where the offence was registered, as well Local Crime Branch (LCB) personnel accompanied by the accused and government witnesses went to the site of the incident to recover the metal rod and conduct a discovery panchnama. The firing incident took place after the reconstructionofthecrimewascompleted, police said. Addressing mediapersons around 12:30 am on Thursday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Vijay Singh Gurjar said, “While »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 Coast Guard to improve its fatigue life. Thesehelicoptersoperatein corrosive saline environments andhavetodealwiththemechanical stress of deck landings. E. ExPlAINED The sea test Deck landing stress and exposure of mechanical components to the corrosive saline environment of the seas put naval helicopters through more gruelling tests, different from the choppers operated by landbased forces. The ALH naval variant awaits modification to a key component. An NRSB in a helicopter is a mechanical component that passesinputsviaflightcontrols into the movement of the main rotor blades. »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Piyush Goyal, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Pralhad Joshi, Ashwini Vaishnaw and other members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. PTI Shah links vote chori to Nehru, Indira, Sonia; says Cong loss because of leadership, not EVM Vikas Pathak MOUNTING A sharp attack on theCongressoverthespecialintensiverevisionofelectoralrolls during a Lok Sabha discussion on electoral reforms where he hadanexchangewithLeaderof Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday accused the Nehru-Gandhi family of “vote chori” since Independence. He saidthereasonfortheCongress loss of power was its leadership and not EVMs, and “one day Congress workers themselves will ask you questions”. ShahsaidtheSIRwasaimed at cleaning electoral rolls and ensuring that “infiltrators” are detected, deleted from voter lists, and deported. Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s“votechori”allegations,he recalled that before Jawaharlal Nehru became Prime Minister, the votes from the states favoured Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as the president of Congress. Yet, Nehru, he said, rose to the top through “vote chori”, eventually becoming the PM. And referring to the Allahabad High Court ruling that Indira Gandhi’s 1971 victory over Raj Narain in Rae Bareli was secured through unfair means, Shah said this was another instance of “vote chori”. “To cover it, a law was brought that there can be no case against the PM. You are asking about immunity to the EC, but what about the NATION RECORdS dISSENT AT MEETINg New Delhi, December 10 PAGE 13 GoA fIrE: owNErS bookEd fLIGHT LESS THAN 2 HrS AfTEr fIrST cALL MEA LookING AT rEqUEST of GoA GovT To rEvokE PASSPorTS Gujarat tribal held for ‘praising’ slain Maoist leader Hidma online Express News Service Vadodara, December 10 THE GUJARAT police have arrestedamanfromChhotaUdepur district for “endangering the sovereignty of India” by allegedly praising slain Naxal leader Madvi Hidma as a “freedomfighter”inareelpostedon social media. The alleged post came nearly a month after Hidma was killed in an operation by theAndhraPradeshPolice.The tribal youth, identified as Paresh Rathwa (31) from Kawant taluka, had allegedly made the reel earlier this week, and was arrested on Wednesday. PolicesaidthatRathwa'ssocial media account had been under the scanner of the Chhota Udepur Special Operations Group (SOG), which came across the alleged post. According to the FIR lodged at Kawant police station, Rathwa had posted the reel on November 25, which was noticed by the SOG on Tuesday while scanning through accounts of influencers on social media sites and online messaging platforms. On Wednesday, Chhota Udepur District Superintendent of Police, Imtiyaz Shaikh said, "Paresh Rathwa had posted a reel on Instagram where he was praising Hidma as a freedom fighter and speaking of tribal people being Naxals. The post challenged the sovereignty of the country and posed a threat to internal unity and security. It was also aimed atcreatingdiscordamongcommunities of the country. We have taken cognizance and the SOG Police Inspector has registered an FIR against the accused. He has been formally arrested and further process is on." Shaikh also warned tribal »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 immunity Mrs Gandhi gave to herself ?” he asked. He said there was a case pending against Sonia Gandhi in a Delhi court that she became a voter before becoming a citizen. He said it was for the court to decide and he was just stating facts. Shah said if the Opposition opposed the SIR exercise, it would lose even West Bengal and Tamil Nadu just like it lost Bihar. Countering the OppositionremarkthattheECwasnot theauthoritytodecidewhowas a citizen, he said the EC was charged with the conduct of elections, whose eligibility »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 MorE rEPorTS, PAGE 15 At CIC selection meet, Rahul flags lack of backward, minority names in shortlist Manoj C g New Delhi, December 10 AT A meeting Wednesday of the three-member panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to choose the next Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners and a Vigilance Commissioner, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi recorded his dissent while pointing out that the shortlists lacked names from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC, EBC and minority communities. The third member of the panel is Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources said Gandhi had asked the government several weeks ago to provide him with thecastecompositionoftheapplicants. The details were provided Wednesday and sources said only seven per cent of the applicants and one shortlisted candidate were from the backward communities. Gandhi flagged this at the meeting and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Parliament on Wednesday. PTI submitted a detailed dissent note. Gandhi, sources said, also said that the government was weakening the Right to Information Act, alleging that some of the shortlisted candidates had a record of not being transparent in their previous capacities. He claimed that there had »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 l FOUR REMOVED BY GOVERNOR, ONE RESIGNED AFTER PROTESTS; ABVP SAYS ‘NO VIEWPOINT’ ON GOVERNOR’S DECISION Behind ouster of five university Vice-Chancellors in Rajasthan, an ABVP nudge Hamza Khan regularities,includingfromthe ABVP. So far this year, the V-Cs of four state universities have IN THE second week of Oc- been removed by the Governor tober, students affiliated with inthismanner,whileafifthhas the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi resigned under pressure. Parishad(ABVP)burstcrackers In August, Dr Arun Kumar, after the Vice-Chancellor of a the V-C of Swami Keshwanand university in Jaipur's Jobner Rajasthan Agricultural Univerwas suspended by Governor sity, Bikaner, and the acting Haribhau Bagade following V-C of Agriculture University, “various serious Jodhpur, was rePAGE 1 complaints received moved. As per the againsthim”,includGovernor’s office, ing from the ABVP. “severalseriouscomThis was not the first time plaintswerereceivedagainstDr that a V-C, or a Kulguru as they Kumar”, and the Divisional are called in the state, was sus- Commissioner, Jodhpur, was pended or removed in Rajas- directed to investigate. The inthanfollowingcomplaintsofir- quiry report found Kumar Jaipur, December 10 anchor guiltyof“willfulomissiontoimplement the provisions” of the University Act, as well as “misuse of powers vested in him, causing financial loss to the University, etc.” “We met the Governor three-four times to highlight the irregularities; the first such meeting was in November 2024. Then we held press conferences and a protest that lasted 23 days,” said Naveen Choudhary, a student at the university who was an ABVP prant sanyojak at the time. Dr Kumar did not respond to requests for a statement. On October 7, Dr Balraj Singh, V-C of Sri Karan Nar- ABVP members at a protest in Udaipur. ABVP/ INSTAGRAM endraAgricultureUniversityin Jaipur’sJobner,wassuspended bytheGovernorfor“takingpolicy decisions in the last three months of his tenure and variousseriouscomplaintsreceived againsthim.”TheGovernor’soffice said that Singh was responsible for “dismissal and transfer of personnel by going beyond hisrightsandjurisdictionmentioned in the University Act...” Singh's tenure was supposed to end just seven days later, on October 14. Students affiliated with the ABVP, who had been protesting against him for a long time, burst crackers and burned an effigy to celebrate his suspension. Singh told The Indian Express,“Whatishappeningisthe highest form of conspiracy and goondagardi (hooliganism). V-Cs can’t do in ten years what I did in three years.” On ABVP, he said that “I won’t call them ABVP, but goondas, badmash and criminals … there is a nexus which is doing this.” He said that he has been with the Sangh since 1990 and is principled, unlike some of those associated with the university now. “V-Cs who came from ‘outside’ are being forced to leave, beitinBikanerorUdaipur.Iam from Haryana, but I have spent 20 years in Rajasthan and 16- and-a-half years in Delhi. But they are still counting me as an outsider and removing those appointedbythepreviousGovernor(KalrajMishra),”Singhalleged. Singh approached the High Court against his suspension, where Justice Ashok Kumar Jain set aside his suspension — on the day of his retirement — saying,“Itisapparentonrecord that the Chancellor acted in haste in drawing a conclusion to place the present petitioner under suspension, and there is nobasisonrecordtojustifysuspension of the present petitioner…” »CONTINUEd ON PAgE 2 Ahmedabad