The Ideas Page: A new compact to reshape India’s cities 11 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026 JOuRNALIsM of COuRAGE kOlkATA, lATE CITY, 18 PAgES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 cbc 01101/13/0022/2526 ENSURING THE WELFARE OF FARMERSincome support underBENGAL IN WEST PM-KISAN, Nearly ₹13,000 crore empowering 54 lakh farmers ₹2,800+ crore through Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, boosting farm storage & market linkages ‘INDIA’S SECURITY INTERESTS DIRECTLY LINKED TO WEST ASIA’ ‘Extraordinarily productive’: India and Israel elevate ties 17 pacts signed as Modi, Netanyahu hold talks; tech key to partnership Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, February 26 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem, Thursday. @MEAINDIA INDIA AND Israel elevated their ties to a “Special Strategic Partnership for Peace, InnovationandProsperity”andsigned 17pactsaftertalksThursdaybetween Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu, wrapping up what the Israeli Prime Minister called an “extraordinarily productive” and “extraordinarily moving” visit by the Indian Prime Minister. Beforeheadinghome,Modi said, “Our relations are founded on a strong foundation of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensibilities. Our relationship »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 COMPANY DENIES ILLEGAL OCCUPATION, ENCROACHMENT Ramdev aide’s firm got land from Uttarakhand, UP claims ownership EXPrESS investigation Aiswarya Raj Dehradun, February 26 THE UTTARAKHAND Tourism Development Board (UTDB), which allocated land in June 2023 for a one-year pilot project in adventure tourism to a firm owned by Patan- Happening today lCANADIAN PM MARK Carney starts a four-day visit to India. business as Usual By EP UNNY Uttarakhand awaits return of land by Rajas 20 months after pilot project jali co-founder Acharya Balkrishna, has been unable to get it vacated despite it being overdue for almost 20 months, documentsaccessedbyTheIndianExpressundertheRightto Information Act reveal. EvenasUTDBsentmultiple reminders and even warnings of taking a legal recourse to the firm Rajas Aerosports and AdventurePvtLtd,itcametolight in September 2025 that the land allocated didn’t belong to the Uttarakhand government »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bengal courts begin SIR work, cases pile up, hearings deferred Atri Mitra & Tanusree Bose Kolkata, February 26 THE BUSTLING corridors of Alipore court in Kolkata wore a desertedlookonThursdayas 10 out of 12 judges were deployed for adjudication of claims and objections in the ongoing SpecialIntensiveRevision(SIR) exercise in West Bengal. “Threecourtroomsarehearingbailpetitions,andonlythey arecrowded,”saidSupriyaSamanta, a lawyer at Alipore court. The Calcutta High Court on Thursday. PARTHA PAUl Another advocate Anirban Guhathakurda said, “Except urgent bail applications and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E. BA GLA BIKOSHITO BHNRAT BIKOSHITO A PM MODI’S VISION SC BANS BOOK, ISSUES NOTICE TO NCERT DIRECTOR, SCHOOL EDUCATION SECY Heads must roll: CJI on NCERT book; PM steps in, wants accountability fixed SC: Calculated move to undermine and demean judiciary, needs deeper probe Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, February 26 EXPlAINED focus on critical minerals and AI One of the key outcomes, Modi said, was the decision to establish a Critical and Emerging Technologies Partnership. This will boost cooperation in AI, quantum, and critical minerals. EDITOrIAl PAGE PARTNERShIP SERvES NATIONAL INTEREST, gLObAL STAbILITy: PM TO ISRAEL PAgE 10 COMINGDOWNheavilyonthe National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for introducing a section on “Corruption in the Judiciary” in its Class 8 social science textbook, the Supreme Court Thursday called it a “calculated move to undermine and demean dignity of judiciary”. It imposed a “complete blanket ban” on further publication, reprinting or digital dissemination of the book. Taking up a suo motu case in the matter after The Indian Express first reported the content of the new section in the textbook, the bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Deeply saddened’: Pradhan says will take action against those involved If allowed to go unchecked, will erode sanctity of the judicial office in the estimation of the public... ” CJI SURYA KANT EDITOrIAl PAGE A NEEDED TExTbOOk LESSON fOR NCERT PAgE 10 Maharashtra beginsworkon anti-conversion law,firstdraft sentforvetting Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, February 26 THEMAHARASHTRAgovernment is learnt to have prepared the first draft of a proposed anti-conversion law aimed at addressing cases of alleged forcedreligiousconversions,an issue that leaders of the ruling Mahayuti coalition have often described as “love jihad”. Sources said the “preliminary” draft has been referred to the LawandJudiciaryDepartment for feedback as part of the procedural process. A source told The Indian Express that drafting is still underwayandthattherewillbe further discussions between the Home and Law and Judiciary departments before the Bill is finalised. “As is the case with any law, there will be several rounds before it is finalised,” the source said. The government,thesourcesaid,isaiming tobringtheBilltotheHousefor passage this year. The development comes daysafterGujarat,anotherBJPruledstate,tabledamendments to its marriage registration law making parental consent mandatory.IntheGujaratAssembly lastweek,DeputyChiefMinister HarshSanghavisaidthat“under »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l JUDOKA FROM GIR IS FIRST SIDDI ATHLETE TO qUALIFY FOR CWG, ASIAD ‘There will be a day when people will want to take a photograph with me’ Mihir Vasavda says his cousin and former judoka Afarudin Chovat, “a few people started calling him AfriINDIA’S TRAILBLAzER ju- can” and other racist slurs. doka, Rohit Majgul, has a grievItwasn’tthefirsttimeMajgul ance. “People think I am Afri- was subjected to such comcan,” he says. ments. “I have been PAGE 1 One episode called names — from his teenage sometimes as abuse, years still lingers. At sometimes teasingly a national-level U-17 cham- — all my life because of my pionship in Gujarat’s Nadiad in looks,thecurlyhair,”hesays.But 2019, Majgul had reached the thatday,hegotoverwhelmed.“I final.“Whilehewaspreparing,” was disturbed and felt very bad. Mumbai, February 26 anchor All my life I have been called names because of my looks, the curly hair: Rohit Majgul At Cabinet meeting, Modi inquired who is monitoring textbooks However, I have surrounded myself with good people, good friends. They told me to ignore the noise and focus on my game.” Majgulwentontobenamed thechampionship’sbestjudoka. Hemadehimselfapromise.“He told us, ‘There will be a day when people will want to take a photo with me’,” says Chovat. Seven years later, the 21year-oldbecamethefirstathlete »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata Liz Mathew & Abhinaya Harigovind New Delhi, February 26 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi has taken strong exceptiontotheinclusionofasection on “Corruption in the Judiciary” in the NCERT Social Science textbook for Class 8, sources said Thursday. Expressing his anguish, Modi, at a Cabinet meeting held Tuesday, was said to have asked Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to find out who was responsible forthisandwhoshouldbeheld accountable. Modi took up the issue at theCabinetmeeting,thefirstto be held at Seva Teerth, the newly-constructed PMO. According to sources, the PrimeMinisteraskedwhyClass 8 students were being taught such chapters and who was monitoring the content in textbooks. Sources in the government said the Prime Minister was »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2