The Editorial Page: India needs a clear, rules-based framework for petrol prices 12 TueSdAy, APRIl 28, 2026 Journalism of Courage NEw DElhI, lAtE cIty, 22 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 rAIPUr, ₹15 SrINAGAr) 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 , lU 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 lPrime minister narendra Modi is scheduled to virtually inaugurate indoor cricket infrastructure in six states of the Northeastern region. Central forCes Will remain in state for 60 days after Polls: shah As campaign ends, Modi, Mamata make last pitch for West Bengal lPresident of the 80th session of UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, will visit India and discuss key multilateral issues with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. examining seven key questions concerning the balance between religious freedom and fundamental rights, triggered by the Sabarimala review case, will continue its hearing. soumyarendra Barik Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com By eP uNNy New Delhi, April 27 atri mitra & tanusree Bose Kolkata, April 27 The CamPaIGn for the second and final phase of the West Bengalassemblyelectionsconcluded on monday after weeks offierceexchangesoverSpecial Intensive revision of electoral rolls, undocumented immigration, corruption, and unemployment. From Prime minister narendra modi and union home minister amit Shah to West Bengal Chief minister mamata Banerjee, top leaders ofthe BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TmC) made their last-minute pitchestovoters.amidacouple of incidents of pre-poll violence, Shah said at a roadshow inKolkatalateronmondaythat central forces would remain in the state for 60 days after the elections. For the BJP, the day started withPmmodiaddressingapublic meeting in Jagatdal in north 24 Parganas district’s Barrackporearea.“Thisismylastpublic meeting for this election. Given what I felt wherever I went in Bengal, I can say that after the may4results,Iwillreturnforthe (BJPgovernment’s)oath-taking ceremony,” the Pm said. »Continued on Page 2 SIR stokes fears, Bengali asmita divides, but on fractured ground fault-lines don’t run straight Vandita mishra & sweety Kumari Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, April 27 The SharPneSS of the big issue in this West Bengal electionisbluntedonthestate’suneven and fractured ground. at stake in the election Commission’s controversial Special Intensiverevision(SIr)ofelecto- Chennai, April 27 a G PerarIvalan, who was once sentenced to death in the assassination case of former Prime minister rajiv Gandhi and later freed after more than three decades in prison, enrolled monday as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil nadu and Puducherry. at 54, Perarivalan is expectedtopracticeatthemadras high Court, within the same legal system in which he spent 31 years as an accused, convict and appellant. On monday, dressed in a blacklawyer’scoat,Perarivalan said that his years of litigation inspired him to study law. “my ambition is not to become a famous criminal lawyer, but to become a voice for the thousands of prisoners behind bars who have no legal assistance.especiallyforpoorlife convicts waiting endlessly for premature release, denied »Continued on Page 2 2026 West B e n gal ral rolls is a non-negotiable right and a fundamental promise — the right to vote that lies at the heart of the democratic compact, the promise of a free »Continued on Page 10 gayathri mani & apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, April 27 In an unprecedented move, aaP national convener arvind Kejriwal wrote to Delhi high Court judge Justice Swarana KantaSharmaonmondaytosay “hewillneitherappearinperson northroughalawyerbeforeher” in the excise policy case. “I have lost hope of getting justice from Justice Swarana aaP national convener arvind kejriwal in a video posted on X Kanta. Therefore, I have decided to follow the path of Satyagraha as shown by mahatma Gandhi...,” he said. The letter comes days after Justice Sharma refused to recusefromhearingthecaseafter Kejriwalandfiveotheraccused raised apprehensions of bias and made allegations of a conflict of interest for the judge. Justice Sharma is hearing a criminal revision filed by the »Continued on Page 2 Ruchir Sharma, ace global investor and author, is guest at Adda today ens economic Bureau Mumbai, April 27 aCe GlOBal investor, fund manager and best-selling author ruchir Sharma will be the guest at express adda in mumbai on Tuesday — an interaction that comes at a time whentheWestasiaconflicthas changed the course of the global economy. »Continued on Page 2 ruchir sharma is chairman of rockefeller International and founder of Breakout capital j&Kseminary nation Pages 10, 11 gets‘unlawful’ ladakh talks will tagunderuaPa; Be decisiVe if shah at meet: wangchuk dangeroustrend, Vande Bharat coach derails sayleaders at Pune station Bashaarat masood maharaShTra’S environment and Climate Change Department, led by BJP minister Pankaja munde, has cancelled administrative approval to 14 lake conservation projects clearedunderpreviousgovernments, including 11 sanctioned whenformerChiefministereknath Shinde, an ally, held the The Jammu and Kashmir administrationhasdeclaredSirajul-uloom, one of south Kashmir’s biggest educational seminaries, an unlawful entity under the unlawful activities (Prevention) act (uaPa), accusing it of having “covert linkages” with the banned Jamaate-Islami (JeI), “serious legal, administrativeandfinancialirregularities”, and of fostering “an environment conducive to radicalisation”. Siraj-ul-uloom is the first seminarytobedeclaredunlawful in J&K. The move comes days after the administration took over 58 schools that officials claimed were affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami and itseducationtrust,theFalah-eaam Trust. “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 8(1) of theunlawfulactivities(Prevention) act, 1967, I, anshul Garg, IaS, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, hereby notify Darul uloom Jamia Siraj-ul-uloom, freight into Kashmir, and apples the largest commodity transported out. apart from On aPrIl 22, milk became the that, cars, foodgrains,and even latest commodity to be trans- military consignments have ported to anantnag over the been transported on rakes. railwaylinktothevalleyopened Freight operations began in July last year, arriving from modestly, with 13 rakes in aulinch railway Stagust 2025 and 20 in page 1 tion in ahmedabad September, but rose Division. sharplyto46rakes— Data shows that the highest — in Ocbetween august 2025 and tober, largely driven by conmarch 2026, during the time struction activity, with 41 rakes Kashmir has been part of the of cement entering the valley railway network, cement ac- that month. countedforthelargestinbound movement slowed in anchor longoodstrainsinValley Commodity cement Automobiles foodgrains (fcI) fertilisers Military consignment Apple basket Salt others no. of raKes 155 18 17 6 2 1 1 3 DAtA IS froM AUGUSt 9, 2025 to MArch 31, 2026 A StANDArD frEIGht trAIN rAkE IN INDIA tyPIcAlly coNSIStS of 42 wAGoNS, 21 wAGoNS IN MINI rAkE govt’s worries A BLOCK by a cloud system provider can log out a client company from accessing its own data, communication channels and other tools and products. This can critically endanger operations in sectors such as telecom, energy and financial services. This is the reason why the government seeks greater control over such digital infrastructure. tighter control over sensitive data and digital infrastructure, they said. The consideration was prompted last year, when microsoft suddenly blocked oil refiner nayara energy from its »Continued on Page 2 portfolio. The department has also ordered recovery of funds already released for these projects, along with interest. Of the 14 projects scrapped, 11 were approved during Shinde’s tenure, while three were cleared when the department was headed by Shiv Sena (uBT) mla aaditya Thackeray during the maharashtra vikas aghadi (mva) government. »Continued on Page 2 IIHMR University, Jaipur (#1 Healthcare Management University in India) Two-year full-time Programs 40+ Years MBA (Hospital and Health Management) MBA (Pharmaceutical Management) MBA (Healthcare Analytics) MBA (Development Management) Master of Public Health Master of Public Health Legacy in Health Management Research Offered by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA in cooperation with IIHMR University, Jaipur, India Rs. 35.6 LPA Highest Package Executive Programs Rs. 3.80 Cr. Executive MPH Executive MHA Executive MBA (CSR & ESG Management) »Continued on Page 2 #1 Healthcare Management University in India by Education World 2026 and 2025 Cement and cars coming in, apple baskets going out: Freight supplies hit high gear on Kashmir’s rail link New Delhi, April 27 explained Srinagar, April 27 l afTer sloWIng doWn In WInTer, cargo movemenT regaIns momenTum dheeraj mishra E. Maharashtra: BJP-led environment dept scraps lake projects cleared by Shinde Mumbai, April 27 Kejriwal withdraws from proceedings before HC judge, invokes satyagraha arun janardhanan deCision and fair election. But even on the SIr, the dividing lines lose their straightness in West Bengal. The possibilities of empathies and solidarities in the current moment are interrupted by fraught backstories. On the SIr, the dispiriting story so far: It has raised genuinefearsoflarge-scalevoterdisenfranchisement and targeted alok deshpande delhi exCise PoliCy Case Perarivalan, 54, enrolled with the Bar council of Tamil nadu and Puducherry, monday amID rISInG geopolitical and cybersecurity concerns, the government may require companiesincriticalsectorssuchas energy, telecom, and banking tousemade-in-Indiasovereign cloud systems, The Indian Express has learnt. according to government officials, the move under discussion is aimed at reducing dependence on foreign cloud providers and strengthening data security. The government may be comfortable with Prime minister narendra modi campaigns in Barrackpore, north 24 Parganas. ANI; West Bengal chief minister mamata Banerjee in south kolkata, monday. PArthA PAUl Will return for oath ceremony, says PM; CM leads 12-km padayatra in Kolkata freedinex-Pm rajivgandhi’s assassination case,Perarivalan nowalawyer Govt keen firms in critical sectors use ‘Made in India’ cloud systems Officials: Indian service providers are not globally competitive yet, need policy push la nine-judge sC BenCh Business as usual miCrosoft’s nyara BloCK trigger winter, dropping to 34 rakes in november, 22 in December, and 16 in January, before regaining momentum with 22 rakes in February and 30 in march 2026. One of the first rakes carrying cement travelled to Kashmir on august 9, with 21 wagons loaded in Punjab’s rupnagar. By march 2026, 203 rakes had travelled to anantnag, carrying 3,514 wagons in all, of which 76% or 155 rakes were loaded with cement. vehicles are the next »Continued on Page 2 New Delhi Scholarships #15 Top B Schools in India Times B School Ranking Survey 2026