The Editorial Page: Lower tariff is good news, but with the US, beware of backsliding 10 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCkNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹6.00 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 SHIA MOSqUE TARGETED Islamabad suicide attack leaves31dead, 169 injured INDIA WIN SIxTH U19 WORlD CUP TITlE, DEfEAT ENGlAND BY 100 RUNS Future perfect New Delhi condoles loss of life, denies Pak charge of involvement in blast Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, February 6 ATLEAST31peoplewerekilled and 169 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s capital, officials said, in one of the worst terror attacks targeting thecommunityinrecentyears. The powerful explosion, which was heard from a far distance, took place at Khadijah alKubra mosque-cum-imambargah in the Tarlai area of Islamabad, police said. The suicide bomber was stopped at the gate of the imambargah,buthedetonated himself, police and eyewitnesses said. IslamabadDeputyCommissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon confirmedthatatleast31people have been killed and 169 others injured,someofthemcritically. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Relatives of those killed at the mosque in Islamabad. PTI E. India Under-19 players celebrate after defeating England in the World Cup final at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe on Friday. X/@BCCI ExPlAINED Sectarian target Friday’s attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in recent years. The Shias, who are in minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation, have been targeted in sectarian violence in the past, including by Islamic State and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. 43 years after Kapil Dev’s, another 175: Sooryavanshi’s 15 sixes, 15 fours power India to record total of 411 runs Sandip G New Delhi, February 6 VAIBHAV SOORYAVANSHI’S name loomed large on the 2026 U19 World Cup, and there was littleuntilthefinaltojustifythat topbilling.Theninaspaceof80 ballshefacedinthefinalagainst England,andinsideof25overs, the teen wonder stamped a defining seal on the event, hitting 15 sixes and 15 fours for an aweinspiring 175 that nobody who watched or heard of, will be allowed to forget. The 14-yearoldprovedthathewaseverybit the hype at Harare. His flying start took India to 411, a U19 knock-out game record.Englandwouldmakeavaliant attempt, their No.5 batsman Caleb Falconer would score a 67-ball 115 but that was too little, too late. England would fall 100 runs short as »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ThE BIg PICTURE The Batch of 2026 PAGE 15 Digital fraud cases: RBI plans compensation up to Rs 25,000 even if victim shares OTP George Mathew & Hitesh Vyas Mumbai, February 6 THE RESERVE Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to compensateuptoRs25,000percasefor losses arising from small-value fraudulent transactions. Closeto65percentoffrauds involve amounts less than Rs50,000,andcustomerswillbe eligible to get pay-outs in fraud cases even if they have shared a one-time password (OTP). “It is proposed to introduce a framework to compensate customers up to Rs 25,000 for loss incurred in small-value fraudulent transactions,” RBI GovernorSanjayMalhotrasaid. “As long as they are defrauded, whetherontheirownaccordor anyone’s accord, no questions asked, and Rs 25,000 or 85 per cent (of the loss amount)…we will compensate them as long asitisunintendedandtheylost that money,” he said. A customer will be able to avail this benefit once in a »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 happening ‘Will leave permanent scar’: HC sets today aside placard punishment by single lPM NARENDRA Modi will begin a two-day visit to Malaysia. He is scheduled to hold discussions with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim and also interact with diaspora, industry and business representatives. UTTAr PrADEsh bench to Noida university student Student accused of harassing girls was asked to stand with apology message Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, February 6 TERMING IT “unjustified and uncalled for”, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court has set aside the order of a single-judgebenchtoastudent to stand outside a university in U.P. GETS FOURTH SIR ExTENSION, FINAL ROLL ON APRIL 10 PAGE 3 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Noida for 30 minutes over 30 days, with a message on a placard that he will never misbehave with any girl. “It is not only humiliating but would cast a permanent scar on the character of the appellant,” said the division bench of Chief Justice Arun Scan to watch the magic unfold! Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra,initsorderonWednesday. The appellant, who is pursuing a BSc in Medical Laboratory Technology (BSc MLT) degree at Noida International University,hadbeenrusticated on March 30 last year for allegedly misbehaving with women students of another university. Thevarsityhadclaimedtohave video recordings to justify its »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2020-24: MoD cleared 35 books, Gen Naravane’s only one pending Ritu Sarin New Delhi, February 6 FORMER ARMY chief General M M Naravane’s memoir, Four StarsofDestiny,citedbyLeader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in his criticism of the Government, stands out as an outlier intheMinistryofDefence’srecord of clearing books by retired military personnel. Overafive-yearperiodfrom 2020 to 2024, Gen Naravane’s book is the only manuscript YOUr rIGhT to know AN EXPRESS RTI APPLICATION still pending clearance by the Ministry, despite dozens having moved through the process and been approved. InaresponsedatedSeptember 17, 2024, to a Right to Information application filed by The Indian Express in January that year, the Ministry of Defence’s Army unit said that 35 book titles had come before it for approval since 2020. Of these, only three were listed as not yet cleared — one of them being General Naravane’s memoir. TheIndianExpress had first reported on the review of Gen Naravane’s book on January 5, 2024. Neither the Ministry of Defence nor the publisher, Penguin Random House, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l 8 ARRESTED, FIVE GYMS SEALED, FITNESS CENTRES ACROSS DISTRICT EMPTYING OUT Few complainants, but ‘conversion net’ probe deals Mirzapur gyms a body blow Manish Sahu temples, and far removed from the gritty Amazon Prime web seriesinitsname,thesmalltown HE WON the title of ‘Mr Mirza- of Mirzapur located along the pur’ in 2019, and ‘Mr Purvan- Ganga only recently saw the fitchal’ in 2022, his impressive ness wave wash up to its corner, bodybuilding skills making a leading to opening up of seven fitness centres in the gym trainer’s job a PAGE 1 past two years alone, natural fit for him. taking the total to 17, Now, Faizal as per one estimate. Khan, 34, has Inthewakeofthe another tag: an accused in an alleged conversion charges against owners and racket which, police claim, was trainersofthefivegyms,fitness being run from five gyms centres across Mirzapur are emptying out, especially of across the town. Known for its carpets and its women, say the owners. Mirzapur, February 6 anchor The five gyms sealed include three of KGN, considered the biggest fitness centre chain in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district. EXPRESS Police have arrested eight members of the “gang” allegedly involved in harassing, blackmailing and pressuring women gym trainees into BISCUITS »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow