The Editorial Page: Congress decline is a story of centralisation, missed opportunities 8 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 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 happening today l PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi will meet economists ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2026-27. lIN INDIA’S fINAL CRICKET NOTICES TO CENTRE, DELHI, RAjASTHAN, GUjARAT AND HARYANA SC stays 100-m rule for Aravalli it had cleared, cites ‘public dissent’ match of 2025, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will bring the curtains down on a glorious year for women’s cricket, with the final T20I of the series against Sri Lanka where they lead 4-0. Match starts at 7 pm in Thiruvananthapuram. Ananthakrishnan G hold a one-day special session on the VB-G RAM G Act, which replaced the 20-year-old MGNREGA. The ruling AAP is set to pass a resolution against the new job guarantee law. lVICE-PRESIDENT C P Radhakrishnan, who is on a two-day visit to Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, will be the chief guest at the valedictory ceremony of the 4th Kashi-Tamil Sangamam in Rameswaram. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.cOM Indiatohost AImeet infeb, invitesChina Soumyarendra Barik New Delhi, December 29 INDIA HAS extended a formal invitationtoChinatojoinitsArtificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit in February, underscoring the increasing thaw in bilateral relations, as both countries look to build domestic capacity in AI. Respondingtoaquestionby The Indian Express during a press briefing on Monday, IT Secretary S Krishnan confirmed that New Delhi has sent a formal invite to Beijing. India ishostingthefourthiterationof the summit, which has so far been held in the United Kingdom, South Korea and France. The AI Summit, which started in the UK in 2023, is not a formal grouping of countries. Invitations to countries to join the forum are decided by the host country. When the UK hosted the first summit, there was pushback from some of Britain’s closest allies and its own lawmakers over its invitation to Beijing, but the country’s government eventually went ahead with the invitation. China was also part of the subsequent two summits. India will host the India–AI ImpactSummit2026fromFebruary 15 to 20 next year, with theforumcomingtotheGlobal South for the first time. The Summitisintendedtogenerate actionable recommendations that contribute to long-term AI governance objectives rather than framing immediate binding regulations. Krishnan said the expected participants include heads of government of nearly 15 to 20 countriesandkeyglobalfigures in AI and tech. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the expo, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, December 29 THE SUPREME Court Monday directed that its November 20, 2025 judgment, accepting the 100-metreheightdefinitionfor the Aravalli hills as recommendedbyagovernmentcommittee, “be kept in abeyance” until a high-powered panel of domain experts undertakes a comprehensive assessment of the committee’s report. Staying the earlier judgment,avacationbenchofChief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and AGMasihsaid,“Itseemsprima facie that both the committee’s report and the judgment of this Courthaveomittedtoexpressly clarify certain critical issues… This stay shall remain in effect until the present proceedings reach a state of logical finality, ensuringthatnoirreversibleadministrative or ecological actions are taken based on the current framework.” The top court, which initiated suo motu proceedings followingpublicoutcryoveritsNovember 20 order, said environmentalists have expressed profound concern aboutthepotentialformisinterpretation and improper implementation of the 100-metre norm. “This public dissent and criticism appear to stem from the perceived ambiguity and lack of clarity in certain terms and directives issued by this Court,”thebenchsaid,stressing the need to prevent any regulatory gaps that “might undermine the ecological integrity of »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SC stays HC order on suspension of Sengar’s life term Suomotu Some of the finest judges... But at review,same benchstrength: the same time, we are all prone to commit errors: CJI Surya Kant Whythisisa Ananthakrishnan G rarerecallorder New Delhi, December 29 Proposes to set up high-powered expert panel for roadmap ahead lTHE PUNjAB ASSEMBLY will 2017 UNNAO RAPE CASE Apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, December 29 The SC order — which noted that the Aravallis were the ‘green lungs’ and an ‘indispensable ecological backbone’ of North-Western India — came on a day Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further to an average AQI of 401 (severe) and visibility plummeted due to dense fog. TASHI TOBGYAL Panel of experts to study impact of leaving out smaller hills, wider gaps jay Mazoomdaar New Delhi, December 29 THE SUPREME Court’s order puttingonholdthereportofthe Environmentministry-ledcommittee that recommended the 100-metredefinitionforAravalli, and the apex court’s November20judgement that accepted it, is significant on multiplecounts. Itrecordsthreatsotherthan miningfacingtheAravallihills, acknowledges the alternative definition of Aravalli in continuing with the moratorium on renewing mining leases in areas defined under the Forest E. Two reports from The Indian Express series on how the Environment Ministry ignored a range of expert opinions to push the 100-metre definition for the Aravallis »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SUPREME Court’s decision Monday to effectively put its own November 20 ruling that redefined the Aravalli hills on hold pending fresh expert review is unprecedented for several reasons. The decision by a special bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant is a de facto review of the earlier decision initiated by the bench itself in a suo motu case rather than through a conventional review petition filed by an aggrieved party. The review also comes justdaysafterformerChiefJusticeofIndiaBRGavai,whoauthoredthecontentiousruling,defended the reasoning in a television interview. The November20rulingwasbyathreejudge bench, which is now stayed by a bench of the same strength, going against precedent. A later bench, on the issue of law, is bound to follow the decision of an earlier bench of equal or higher bench strength. The Court has, in the past, reviewed its rulings following widespreadpublicoutcry.Such self-correction by the SC, although extremely rare, has beenatthebehestoflitigantsor theexecutive.Thesuomotuinterventionfollowsdaysofdemonstrations against what was seenasadilutionofprotections forthecriticalecologicalbarrier. In February 2019, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had ordered states to evict or »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SUPREME Court on Monday stayed the Delhi High Court’s order suspending the lifesentenceofUnnaorapecase convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, noting that there are “various substantial questions of law which arise for consideration”. Hearing the CBI’s plea challenging the HC order, a threejudge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and A G Masih issuednoticetoSengar,seeking hisresponsewithinfourweeks. While suspending Sengar’s sentence on December 23, the HC had ruled that his former statusasanMLAdoesnotbring him under the ambit of a ‘public servant’ as defined under the IPC. TheSCsaidthatifitaccepted the HC’s interpretation, “a constableorapatwari...willbepublic servant for the purpose of committing this offence, but a Member of Parliament or elected member of State Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council... will be exempted”. The CJI said the HC judges who delivered the judgment “are some of the finest judges we have. They have made in- APR-NOV 2025 PRICE AT $67.6/ BARREL, WAS $80 IN APR-NOV 2024 With steep dip in crude price, India oil imports up 2.4%, but bill down 12% Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, December 29 RELATIVELYSUBDUEDprices of crude oil in the international market led to India’s oil import bill contracting by 12 per cent year-on-year in April-November despite higher oil import volumes and the country’s growing dependency on importedcrudeoil,asperthelatest data from the petroleum ministry. Thecountry’snetoilandgas imports—crudeoil,petroleum products,andnaturalgas—for the eight-month period were alsodownover12percentyearon-year in value terms. Lower prices led to a reduction in the l India’soilandgastrade April-November 2025 Volume Value 163.4 (2.4%) $80.9bn (-12.0%) 34 (-0.6%) $14.7bn (-7.5%) 42.3 (0.5%) $26.6bn (-8.0%) 23,102 (-8.9%) $9.2bn (-11.5%) Crude oil imports Petroleum product imports Petroleum product exports LNG imports (Y-o-Y change); Oil volume in million tonne, LNG in million standard cubic metres; Source: PPAC, MoPNG valueofpetroleumproductimports despite stable volumes, while in the case of natural gas, lower import volumes amid price volatility was the primary reasonforthelowerimportbill. India’s oil imports in value terms in the first eight months of the current financial year 2025-26 (FY26) were $80.9 billion, down from $91.9 billion, even as oil import volumes increased to 163.4 million tonnes from159.5milliontonnesayear ago, an increase of 2.4 per cent, according to provisional data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG). Indiaistheworld’sthird-largest consumer of crude oil and dependsonimportstomeetthe bulk of its requirement. The country’s oil import dependency in domestic petroleum product consumption in AprilNovember increased to 88.6 per centfrom88.1percentinthecorresponding period last year amiddecliningdomesticoilproductionandrisingconsumption of petroleum products, which are derived from crude oil. rUSSIA SAyS pUtIN homE AttAckEd by UkrAINE; It’S A LIE: ZELENSkyy bANgLAdESh: rAhmAN fILES hIS NomINAtIoN pApErS for poLLS POLITIcS pAgE 12 ShAh IN ASSAm: Not A SINgLE INfILtrAtor wILL bE SpArEd »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 business as Usual By EP UNNY depthanalysisofvariousprovisions. But at the same time, we are all prone to commit errors.” “We are conscious of the fact that ordinarily, when a convict/ undertrial has been »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Will continue fight... our life turned into a joke, says survivor Sakshi Chand New Delhi, December 29 ThE wORLD pAgE 15 Ex-MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar “PHANSI JABTAK nahi hogi, tabtakladailadungi(Iwillcontinue to fight until he is hanged),” said the survivor in the 2017 Unnao rape case on Monday, hours after the Supreme Court stayed the Delhi High Court’s order suspending the life sentence of Kuldeep Singh Sengar. “It’s a fight for justice, not just mine but for all the women and daughters in this country who are supporting me or have gonethroughthesameordeal,” she told The Indian Express. “I am very happy with this decision.Ihavegotjusticefrom theSupremeCourt.Ihavebeen raising my voice for justice from the very beginning... I do not make allegations against any court. I have faith in all courts, but the Supreme Court has given me justice and will continue to do so,” she said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court on Monday that the survivor was “a child aged 15 years, 10 months and 13 days at the time of the crime”. She is now married, and a mother of two. “I have two toddlers at home who my differently-abled mother is taking care of. After the High Court verdict, my husband was removed from his job. Only my familyknowshowwearetrying to manage our finances,” she said. “Mazaak bana ke rakh diya hain jeewan (Our life has been turned into a joke),” she said. “She is my ‘Lakshmi’ and I hope things will change in our lives one day. I lost my job, but I don’t feel bad about it, as worse things have happened to us. This is a long fight and we will keep going,” said her husband. WithSengar’sdaughterputting out a post on social media andspeakingtothemediaafter the Supreme Court's decision on Monday, the survivor said: “Was she there when it happened to me? Why did they not argue in the court? Sengar’s associates have circulated my husband’s photograph all across. What if anything happens to him or anyone in my family? Haven’t we already lost our loved ones or is there more left to see.” l TWO-MASTED SAILBOAT WITH SPECIALLY TRAINED CREW BEGINS MAIDEN VOYAGE FROM GUjARAT’S PORBANDAR; ‘BEST WISHES TO THE CREW,’ SAYS PM MODI Retracing ancient maritime routes, INSV Kaundinya sets sail for Oman Brendan Dabhi Indian Ocean world for millennia. Atthelaunchceremony,the ONMONDAYafternoon,apilot GuestofHonour,IssaSalehAbcraft slowly backed off the In- dullah Alshibani, the Omani dian Coast Guard (ICG) jetty in Ambassador to India, spoke of the Porbandar district of Guja- historical and cultural ties berat, towing the Indian Naval tween the two nations and Sailing Vessel (INSV) Kaundi- peoples. He was joined by Vice nya out to sea, to the tune of Admiral Krishna Swamina“JaiHo”fromSlumdogMillionthan, the Flag Officer Comaire played by the manding (FOC-INPAGE 1 Naval band. C) of the Western The two-masted Naval Command, as sailboat with a well as Rear Admiral specially trained SritanuGuru,FlagOfficerComcrew will make its maiden manding of the Gujarat Naval voyagetoMuscat,intheSultan- Area,amongotherseniornaval ate of Oman, retracing the his- officers. toric maritime routes that conHere is all you need to know nected India with the wider about INSV Kaundinya. Rajkot, December 29 anchor Inspiration and collaborators INSV Kaundinya is a stitched sail ship, based on a 5th-century CE ship depicted in the paintings of Ajanta Caves.Theprojectwasinitiated inJuly2023throughatripartite agreement signed by the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and Hodi Innovations, withfundingfromtheMinistry of Culture. The ship, which embodies India’s historic role as a maritime nation, is named after the renownedmarinerKaundinya, who is believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times. Itssailsdisplaymotifsofthe Gandabherunda and the Sun, thebowbearsasculptedSimha Yali,andasymbolicHarappanstyle stone anchor adorns its deck,eachelementevokingthe rich maritime traditions of ancient India. Facilities aboard Kaundinya Oman’s Ambassador to India Issa Saleh Abdullah Alshibani and Navy personnel at the flag-off ceremony in Porbandar Monday; (right ) the boat is named after renowned mariner Kaundinya. EXPRESS, @NARENDRAMODI/X Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, who first pitched the idea of a stitched ship, listed the day-today facilities, food, and other arrangements aboard the vessel in a thread on X. He also noted the few modern devices the vessel will carry on its maiden voyage. Under the deck is a hold for storing supplies, and the crew will sleep in sleeping bags on the deck or below, depending on weather conditions. The crew will relieve themselves in a basket slung over the side of the vessel. Regarding rations, Sanyal posted, “We are carrying some fresh vegetables that should last the first 5-6 days. Thereafter, it is dry rations and any fish we catch. Fresh water is rationed to 4.5 litres per person per day, including drinking, cooking, and washing. The cooking is on an outdoor stove (the wooded casing has been painted with a fire retardant to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad