The Editorial Page: US Court constrains unilateral tariffs. Can trade multilateralism be far behind? 8 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2026 Journalism of Courage MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 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 AHEAD OF AMIT SHAH’S MARCH 31 DEADLINE TO END MAOIST MOVEMENT 105 133 165 73 Happening today lFINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman will address RBI’s Central Board of Directors in the customary post-Budget meeting in Delhi. Sitharaman and RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra will later address the media. lTHE INDORE BENCH OF Mad- hya Pradesh HC is scheduled to hear a clutch of petitions related to the Bhojshala TempleKamal Maula Mosque complex. Highest-ranking Maoist leader Devuji surrenders Headed CPI (Maoist) Central Military Commission for last two decades Nikhila Henry Hyderabad, February 22 THE HIGHEST-ranking member of the Communist Party of India(Maoist),ThippiriTirupathi alias Devuji, has surrendered in Telangana along with 20 other Maoist cadres, two highly-placed sources said. The surrender has come aheadofaMarch31deadlineset by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to bring the Maoist movement to an end in the country. SecurityforcessteppedupantiMaoist operations in 2024, particularlyinChhattisgarh,where at least 520 Maoists have been For party out of leaders, territory, firepower, key moment of unravelling Nikhila Henry & Deeptiman Tiwary Hyderabad, New Delhi, February 22 Devuji, 62, carried a bounty of Rs 1 crore RELATED REPORT, P 2 killed since then, including CPI (Maoist)generalsecretaryNambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju. Several top leaders and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SURRENDER of Thippiri Tirupathi,aliasDevujior Devji, marks a decisive moment in the unravellingofthebannedCommunist Party of India (Maoist). With Devuji laying down arms, the party’s politburo has effectively been reduced to just one active member — Misir Besra, alias Sagar/Sunirmal — while the central committee is now estimated to have only five active members, down from its original strength of nearly 50. The attrition among cadres has been heavy too. Since 2024, more than 500 Maoists have been killed in security operations. In 2025 alone, around285Maoistswere killed, while around 22 have been neutralised so far in 2026. Security forces have also E. Ravi Dutta Mishra investigation PM-Kisan, state pension, crop loss schemes main target; 51 arrested Hamza Khan Jhalawar, February 22 l HAZARI LAL, 35, a resident of Rajpura in Rajasthan’s Manohar Thana, says he was approached by a 15-year-old abouttwoyearsago,askinghim for a photo of his Aadhaar card, in order to avail a government cash scheme, and promising him 50% of the amount in exchange.Eightdayslater,Lalgot the promised half: Rs 5,000. The man who allegedly gave him the money, Ram Babu, is now in police custody; Lal claims hestill has noidea of the PM:Congused AI Summitfor shameless politics,itsallies TMC,DMK,NC stoodfortruth New Delhi, February 22 THE THREE-DAY India-US trade talks, set to start Monday in Washington DC to finalise the legal text of the agreement struck earlier this month, have been rescheduled. This comes NATION PAGE 5 Ravi Sen (left) and other investigators probing into the cases at the cyber control room in Jhalawar. EXPRESS scheme under which he received the money. l Dinesh Kumar, 38, a mobile shop owner in Jhalawar’s Battukherivillage,recallsfilling up a form and sharing his Aadhaar details around three-four »CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 3 JeM tErrorIStS kILLEd IN J&k ENcoUNtEr LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI Devansh Mittal New Delhi, February 22 TWO DAYS after Youth Congressworkersprotestedshirtless at the India AI Impact Summit here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Oppositionpartyforturningthe international event into an arena for its “gandi aur nangi (dirty and shameless)” politics. “The whole country was filled with pride (during the summit). But what did the Congress and its ecosystem do? The Congress turned India’s global event into an arena for its dirty and shameless politics. At the venue,infrontofforeignguests, Congress leaders arrived, stripping off their clothes. I ask the Congresspeople—everyonealready knows you are politically naked, then what was the need to remove your clothes? What the Congress leaders did there shows how ideologically bankrupt and impoverished the country’s oldest party has become,” the PM said in Meerut, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE wORlD PAGE 12 BOONG WINS BAFtA For BESt chILdrEN’S ANd FAMILy FILM PAk BoMBS SItES IN AFGhANIStAN, kABUL voWS rESPoNSE 31st Foundation Day on Monday, 23 February, 2026 rd Lt Gen R S Raman PVSM, AVSM, YSM Chief Guest Shri Anil Shastri Former Union Minister & Chairman-BOG, LBSIM will preside SALIENT FEATURES » Top 15 Private B-Schools of India 2025 by Times of India, Business Today, Outlook, The Week, Fortune India, Business World, and India Today. » Highly Qualified Faculty Members with Ph.D. » Consistent Strong Placements. » 12 Terminal Bloomberg Lab & Analytics Lab with SPSS, SAS & EViews. » State of the Art Infrastructure & highly Resourceful Library. » Separate Hostel facility for boys and girls. AICTE APPROVED PROGRAMMES PGDM Two Year Full-time Programmes offered: PGDM - General PGDM - Financial Management PGDM - Research and Business Analytics PGDM - Artificial Intelligence & Data Science Fellow Program in Management (FPM) Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi Plot No. 11/7, Sector 11, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075 Tel.: 011-25307700 | Email: director@Lbsim.ac.in Website : www.Lbsim.ac.in Follow us: ‘Everybody wants to know what led to the tragic event’ Express News Service Mumbai, February 22 THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the airplane crash that killed then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Baramati on January 28, Maharashtra Chief Min- Business as Usual By EP UNNY »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Direct benefit transferred: How India trade deal talks rescheduled as US SC a network in Rajasthan diverted scraps Trump tariffs cash from govt schemes EXPRESS CBI will probe plane crash that killed Ajit Pawar: CM after the US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trumpoversteppedhispowers by imposing sweeping tariffs under International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), The Indian Express has learnt. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Sunday. Addressing the media at the Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai,Fadnavissaid,“TheCBIwill probe the aircraft crash that led tothetragicdeathofdeputyCM AjitPawar.Ihavealreadyspoken about this with Union Home MinisterAmitShah.”Therewas a proposal from the Nationalist CongressParty(NCP)requesting theinvestigationshouldbedone by CBI, the CM said. Responding to the conspiracy theories voiced earlier, in- cluding by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar who made presentations in Mumbai and Delhi, Fadnavis said, “What happened was unfortunateandshocking...everybody wants to know what exactly led to such a tragic incidentandfactsshouldcomeout... Immediately after the incident, an investigation was started by DCGAandCID.Butnowwehave agreed for a CBI probe as demanded by the NCP.” The DGCA and DG Safety has already issued two press »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Maharashtra intern drowns during beach visit in Chennai; one missing, one rescued Ankita Deshkar, Arun Janardhanan & Shubham Kurale Nagpur, Chennai, Pune, February 22 ‘We now have a triple-engine government, with the same party ruling at all three levels. Our focus is solely on delivery’ PARVESH SAHIB SINGH BJP LEADER AND DELHI PWD MINISTER PAGE 11 A BEACH outing turned tragic in Chennai on Saturday after three youngsters from Maharashtra, doing internship with IT services firm Cognizant, were swept away in the sea at GoldenBeachwhilereportedly taking selfies. One of them, 22, died;another,24,remainsmissing, and the third was rescued. The deceased has been identified as Mayuri Harishchandra Chaudhary, a resident Mayuri Harishchandra Chaudhary died, while Raj Kedari (right) was rescued of Varthi village in Mohadi taluka of Bhandara district. Jai Patil, a native of Jamner in Jalgaondistrict,ismissingandthe search is on, Disaster Management officials from Jalgaon told The Indian Express. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2