www.IndIAnEXPrESS.CoM What the Rain Became Kerala was raised on the romance of the monsoon. Somewhere along the line, the rains stopped being the backdrop to its life and became a thing to fear ahmedabad, JulY 19, 2026 screen Raghav Juyal on his non-linear journey lAtE CIty 16+4 PAGES ₹6.00 d A I l y f r o M : A h M E d A B A d , C h A n d I G A r h , ahmedabad: 3 children amonG dead d E l h I , J A I P u r , k o l k A t A , l u C k n o w , M u M B A I , n A G P u r , P A t n A , P u n E , v A d o d A r A he is sTable... declined medical inTervenTion: saFdarjUnG hosPiTal Nine killed Hunger strike Day 21: Police in blast and shift Wangchuk to hospital fire at illegal cracker unit Acted on HC order, expert’s advice due to his deteriorating health: Delhi Police Three owners of ‘New Gujarat Fireworks’ booked; 6 injured; PM, CM condole deaths officials at the illegal firecracker unit near mehmoodpura in ramol area of ahmedabad on saturday following the fire. BhuPEndrA rAnA express news service Ahmedabad, July 18 NiNe persoNs were killed and six others injured in a blast and fire at an illegal firecracker unit in ramol area of Ahmedabad on saturday afternoon, officials said. Charred bodies of at least five persons were extracted by rapid Action Force personnel who were the first to reach the blastsitegiventheproximityof the rpF camp to the area. The factory has been identifiedas‘NewGujaratFireworks’ owned by Mehul Bhailal Dodiya in partnership with sadiq saiyyed and Dodiya's mother ramila, residents of shahpur. They were booked on charge of culpable homicide not amountingtomurderinanFir lodged at ramol police station. ramila is undergoing treat- ment at LG hospital for burns and is said to be in a stable condition. sourcestoldTheIndianExpress that the application for licence filed by the factory had been rejected and it was operating from a shed in an open area. The explosion, whose cause is yet to be determined, was heard several kilometres away. sources at the Talent international school, located a few kilometres away, told The Indian Express, “We heard the sound of the blast in the afternoon”. The bodies of the deceased and the injured persons were dispatched to two hospitals by ambulance. Dr rakesh Joshi, superintendentofAhmedabad Civil Hospital, said that one woman was brought dead and five injured, including four »conTinUed on PaGe 4 sakshi chand, mahender singh manral, Pragynesh & Tabshir shams New Delhi, July 18 sooN AFTer dawn on saturdaymorning,policeswoopedon sonam Wangchuk’s protest at Jantar Mantar, breaking up the hunger strike that had entered its21stdayandbeguntogainvisible political traction this week. The action came the day after a new Commissioner took charge of the Delhi police and two days before the Monsoon session beginning on Monday, when Wangchuk and the activist platform Cockroach Janta party (CJp) had planned a march to parliament. Wangchuk had been on a hungerstrikesinceJune28,demanding the resignation of education Minister Dharmendra pradhan over the alleged NeeT-UG paper leak. Dipke later announced that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike. “They thought the andolan (movement) would lose steam without sonamsir.Now,insteadofhim, iwillsitonanindefinitehunger strike,” he said. »conTinUed on PaGe 2 monsoon session beGins Tomorrow activist sonam wangchuk being removed from the protest site at Jantar mantar, saturday. PtI inside page 7 Opp slams Govt, signals Sonam issue for House; BJP cites HC directions manoj c G & jatin anand New Delhi, July 18 dipke takes charge: ‘now, i will sit on indefinite fast’ wangchuk’s wife: want him at medical centre of our choice oN THe eve of parliament’s Monsoon session, the beleaguered opposition, reeling under splits and floor-crossings, rallied together saturday to attack the BJp government over moving activist sonam Wangchuk from his Jantar Mantar protest site to safdarjung Hospital. The signal was clear:theissuewillfindanecho in the House when it reopens Monday. Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike since June 28 as part of a protest organised by the Cockroach Janta party, demanding broader reforms to »conTinUed on PaGe 2 72nd national Film awards nation, page 10 besT FeaTUre Film besT acTress arTicle 370 yami GaUTam, ArtIClE 370 besT acTor besT direcTor karTik aaryan, mammooTTy ChAndu BrAMAyuGAM ChAMPIon rajkUmar Periasamy AMArAn Happening Maharashtra panel to examine if STs today who convert can still receive benefits lThe GovernmenT will convene an all-party meeting ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting Monday. lPanama’s ForeiGn Minister will arrive on a five-day visit, during which he will meet Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Zeeshan shaikh Mumbai, July 18 THeMAHArAsHTrAgovernment has constituted a 27member committee to examine whether scheduled Tribe (sT) members who convert to another religion should continuetoreceivereservationand other government benefits, reopening a politically and constitutionallysensitiveissuethat »conTinUed on PaGe 2 ● maharashtra’sstpopulation 1.05 cr According to 2011 Census E. 9.35% religious proFile Share of Sts in state population hindu 97.22% Muslim 1.07% Buddhist 0.20% Christian 0.19% other religions & persuasions 0.89% religion not stated 0.38% Sikh 0.02% Jain 0.02% l argenTina and spain vie for world fooTball crown aT meTlife sTadium Night before final, every line in New York cuts across divides, leads to No. 10 Messi express at World Cup sandip G New York, July 18 iN THe basement of Javits Hall, supporters of Argentina and spain fidgeted in the sinuous queue to the Fanatics Festival in the heart of New york, twodaysbeforethefinalinMetLifestadium.Thegruffsecurity guard, stifling his yawn, quizzically verified the loyalties of every new entrant, “spain in the line over there and Argentina down here. No fights, no punches please. i know you guys are sweet.” Both groups of fans were separated by barricades nearly 50 m ahead but he had read about the skirmishes between england and Argentina fans in Times square on Thursday. The two lines, as if in a procession outside a temple, are unified in their singular wish. »conTinUed on PaGe 2 Tennis star novak djokovic with lionel messi, argentina coach lionel scaloni and goalkeeper emiliano martinez in new York, friday. AP Ahmedabad Speaker clears merger of 6 Sena UBT MPs with Shinde Sena, separate seating for TMC rebels Kiren Rijiju invites TMC rebel leader to all-party meet liz mathew, jatin anand & Zeeshan shaikh New Delhi, Mumbai, July 18 TWo DAys before the start of parliament’s Monsoon session, Lok sabha speaker om Birla on saturday approved the merger ofsixrebelshivsena(UBT)Mps withtheeknathshinde-ledshiv sena,raisingthelatter’sstrength in the Lower House to 13. Birla’sdecisionwasreflected in a circular issued by the Lok sabha secretariat on the “revisedpartyposition”inthe18th Lok sabha “consequent upon change in party affiliation of 6 Members of shiv sena (UBT)”. The move assumes significanceastheBJphassteppedup itseffortstomusteratwo-thirds majority required to pass the 131stConstitutionAmendment »conTinUed on PaGe 2