The editorial Page: restoration of J&K statehood calls for a phased and negotiated roadmap 8 FRIDAY, JUlY 24, 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 ‘NOThING mOre ImPOrTaNT ThaN welFare aND FUTUre OF OUr yOUTh’ PM steps in: Fast-track courts to punish exam leak guilty, tough new law on way Govtsaysdoors alwaysopenfor talks;CJP,Opp firmonPradhan resignation Draft Bill ready, will take it to Cabinet today… paper leaks have caused immense distress to students, their parents: Modi harikishan Sharma, Jatin anand & Damini Nath express interview New Delhi, July 23 hoURs aFtER he announced fast-track courts to punish thosebehindexampaperleaks, Prime Minister narendra Modi posted a video on social media thursday night that a tough new law was on its way. he said he had received its draft and it would be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet Friday. in the video, Modi said, “Friends, i am well aware that the issue of paper leaks is not a small matter. it causes immense distress to lakhs of studentsandtheirparents.Consequently, numerous measures have been taken over the past two-and-a-half months followingtheseincidents,andtheculprits have been apprehended asad rehman, Jatin anand, liz mathew & Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, July 23 ‘PM’s decision shows Govt very sensitive to issues of the youth ’ arJUN ram meGhwal LAW & jusTice MinisTer Page 11 and are currently in jail.” “ourprimaryresponsibility was to ensure that the students did not lose an academic year; conducting the examinations »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 What new fast-track courts can address: Never-ending trials and loopholes in law express News Service New Delhi, July 23 thE Fast-track courts, announced by Prime Minister narendra Modi thursday, to address the issue of exam paper leaks, have their task cut out. in a system where accountability for exam leaks has been dismal with most cases stuck in legal quicksand. an investigation by The Indian Express, published on June 5, found that of 45 major exam leaks between 2002 and 2025, each involving at least one lakh candidates or applicants, only two led to convictions. the biggest challenge, this newspaper found, is poor quality of investigation and the relatively lenient treatment of paper leaks as ordinary offences with no stringent bail conditions. on multiple occasions, the courts rejected “closure reports” filed by probe agencies mainly citinglackofevidence,orreprimanded them for lapses in investigation. in the 2016 Karnataka PUC Chemistry paper leak, for E. »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 activist sonam Wangchuk with Union ministers J P nadda and Jitendra singh at medanta hospital in Gurgaon, Thursday, as he ended his hunger strike after 26 days. @WAngchuk66/X Wangchuk ends 26-day fast, cites ‘long negotiation, possible violence’ Jatin anand New Delhi, July 23 aCtivist sonaM Wangchuk, whose indefinite hunger strike in support of the Cockroach Janta Party demands had strengthened the student protestatJantarMantar,endedhis fast late thursday night at the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. Wangchuk, in a post on X, said, “Just now in the presence of Union Ministers JP nadda & Dr. Jitendra singh and the sen- ior leaders of apex Body of Leh Ladakh, i finally broke my fast after 26 days. Earlier, 65 Members of Parliament from different political parties had visited or signed letters urging me to break the fast. this was doneafteralongnegotiationon various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country. i will explain the conditions in detail in a separate video very soon. Meanwhile, urgeyoualltostayveryvigilant about not allowing violence of any kind anywhere.” Earlierintheday,inanother post, he urged protesters to remain peaceful, saying he was painedbyreportsthat“anti-social elements” were trying to provoke violence. “Peaceandonlypeaceismy way.WhileatJantarMantarthe protests remain peaceful, i’m pained to learn that elsewhere some antisocial elements are taking advantage of the peaceful protests to provoke violence,” he said. 3 treated for pellet injuries, CRPF probes chain of events, role of RAF mahender Singh manral, Pragynesh, Tabshir Shams & Drishti Jain New Delhi, July 23 With at least three persons being treated in hospitals for pellet gun injuries sustained during the July 20 crackdown onprotestersmarchingtowards Parliament, the CRPF has initiated an inquiry to ascertain the exact sequence of events and determine whether pellet guns were used by personnel of its rapid action Force personnel at connaught Place in new delhi, Thursday. TAshi ToBgyAL Rapid action Force. the RaF is a specialised unit of the CRPF, raised in 1992 to deal with riots and other public disturbances. The Indian Express has also learntthattheCentrehasasked the CRPF to avoid using pellet guns while on duty at Jantar Mantar, the site of the ongoing protest by the Cockroach Janta Party and its supporters. FollowingtheJuly20crackdown on protesters, at least Muslim side stating that the alternative site identified for namaz was too far from the disputed Bhojshala complex. lJ&K aSSembly privileges panel will hear a motion against PDP MLA Waheed Para. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com inside Page 11 no evidence to link key accused to neet-2024 PaPer theft, says cbi harikishan Sharma New Delhi, July 23 in a major bureaucratic reshuffle,theCentreonthursday shifted higher Education secretary vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and appointed two new secretaries in the Ministry of Education. the Ministry of Education has been at the centre of a controversy due to the nEEt-UG questionpaperleakandirregularitiesintheCBsE’sevaluation of board exams. While naresh Pal Gangwar has been appointed as the new higher education secretary naresh Pal Gangwar higher Education secretary, t KanilKumarhasbeenbrought in as secretary, Department of schoolEducationandLiteracy. Gangwar, a 1994-batch Rajasthan-cadre ias officer, is currently the animal husbandry secretary. anil Kumar, a 1995batch Karnataka-cadre ias officer, is posted as additional secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development. Joshi was also holding the chargeofschoolEducationsecretary,andwastheactingchairpersonoftheUniversityGrants Commission (UGC) too. he has alsoservedastheDirectorGeneral of the national testing agency (nta) and chairman of theCentralBoardofsecondary Education (CBsE). »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 business as usual By EP UNNY Doping jolt for India at CWG: Judoka suspended, sanction on weightlifting team Pritish raj New Delhi, July 23 EvEn BEFoRE the Glasgow Commonwealth Games were declaredopenonthursday,the indian contingent suffered a setbackastwoofitsmedalprospects — one each in judo and weightlifting — were withdrawn following anti-doping rule violations. arun Kumar, a judoka competinginthe78kgcategory,was dropped from the squad after being provisionally suspended by the national anti-Doping agency (naDa). though the judoteamisyettoleaveforGlasgow, india cannot name a replacement since competition rules do not allow it. hours after Kumar’s suspension, it emerged that weightlifter Dilbagh singh would return from Glasgow — though for no fault of his own. indian weightlifting has reported five positive cases in the period June 1, 2025 to July 22, 2026. as a result, india’s athlete quota was cut from 16 to 11. Clause 2.4 of the qualification system reads: “During the period of 01 June 2025-22 July 2026 the maximum number of athlete qualification slots allocated to a CGa will be reduced by one (1) if any weightlifting athlete and/or athlete support personnel from that CGa commits an anti-doping rule violation (‘aDRv’). if there »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 Detentions, demolitions in J&K after policeman killed in terror attack; Omar raises concern »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 happening Govt shifts higher education secy to panchayati today raj; education ministry gets two new secretaries lThe SC will hear a plea of the EvEn as the Centre renewed attempts to reach out to both the protesters and the opposition,thedeadlock—insideand outside Parliament — continued on thursday. Both the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is leading the protests at Jantar Mantar, and the opposition remained firmontheirdemandforUnion Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the nEEt-UG paper leak. appealing to protesters to come forward for talks, Union MinisterJitendrasinghsaidthe government’s“doorsarealways open for talks with the students”. he said that in the last 24 hours, the government had invitedtheCJPfortalks“atleast four times”. he added that the protesters could come to either health Minister J P nadda’s residence or his office for talks. CJP spokesperson saurav Das, however, said the according to the order issued by the Department of Personnel and training (DoPt), Joshi will succeed current Panchayati Raj secretary vivek Bhardwaj,whoissuperannuating at the end of the month. in other changes, the appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which is headed by Prime Minister narendra Modi and has home Minister amit shah as the other member, has appointed D thara, a 1995batchGujarat-cadreiasofficer, as the secretary of the newly created Department of Capital »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 the world P 12 security personnel intensify checking following the anantnag terror attack, on Thursday. PTi Naveed Iqbal trumP vows to Punish iran for houthi attacks in red sea eu imPoses $1 bn fine on google over antitrust breaches Srinagar, July 23 a Day after a police head Constable was killed in a terror attack in anantnag, the homes of two local terrorists, who are believedtobeactive,weredemolished in the early hours of thursday. similardemolitionshadfollowed the Pahalgam terror attack in april 2025, when the homesofatleastninesuspected terrorists were demolished in different parts of the valley. on thursday,thehomesofharoon Ganie and adil ahmad thokar werepulleddowninthehasanpora and Bijbehara areas of south Kashmir. head Constable ashiq hussain Qureshi, a resident of Budgam in central Kashmir, who was posted with the indian »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 l anTiqUe cannon sTolen From mP’s narWar ForT, hUnT zeroes in on a villaGe in raJasThan, rUns inTo PeoPle aGiTaTed over all The diGGinG Down a fort, now under the ground? Police of 2 states search for 3,500-kg cannon Parul Kulshrestha & anand mohan J hauling a 3.5-tonne cannon. since the Madhya Pradesh Police arrived Wednesday, JCB Jaipur, Bhopal, July 23 machines have been deployed Can a 3,500-kg cannon just for excavation at several locadisappear? Police of two states tions in the village, with no are hoping not, as they search luck. a team equipped fortheantiqueitemstolenfrom with specialised metal detecthe historic narwar Fort in torsthatcanscanunderground shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, on hasbeensummonedfromBhaJuly 15, digging up, so far, only ratpur to help. Giriraj Prasad, moundsofearthand page 1 the sho of the hinno clues. daun sadar Police For the past two station, says the days,thesearchofthe RajasthanandMadhyaPradesh shivpuri police told them they Policehasbeenconcentratedon hadreceivedleadsthatthecanGavda Meena village in Karauli non, dating back 400 years, district which, at 250 km from had been brought to Gavda the narwar Fort, is a good six- Meena. “Police and administrative seven hours drive for anyone anchor teams are excavating several locations.Morethan50policepersonnelareinvolvedinthis,with others deployed across the village for security,” says Prasad, adding that every heap where thesoillooksfreshlydisturbedis beinginvestigated.“Wearelooking at places where fresh soil is visible, or any other suspicious location.onWednesday,theoperation continued until night.” on thursday, when the search went on from 9 am to 2 pm,atleastfivetosixsuspected locations were searched. the race is against time, as authorities hope to find the heritage cannon before it makes its way to the organised antiquitiestraffickingnetwork. excavation at one of the locations in Gavda meena village in karauli district of rajasthan. eXPress Meanwhile, the red-faced Madhya Pradesh authorities are trying to put the dots to- gether on how the heist was pulledofffromthenarwarFort which, to top it, is located on a 3,000-ft-high steep hill. Dated 16thCenturyandbelievedtobe a rare artillery piece belonging, the cannon was displayed in the ‘open Kachahari’ complex of the fort. on paper, six guards are deployed for security of the fort – four during the day and two at night. however, the night guards were reportedly missing. During questioning, one of themindicatedtoinvestigators that even if he had been around, he could have done little.theylackevenbasicfacilitiessuchaslighting,torchesor security equipment, he said. a joint inspection by the Madhya Pradesh state archaeology Department and police recovered mattresses, quilts, iron pipes, drag marks and tyre impressions from the crime scene and along the difficult rear approach to the fort. Basedonthat,theinvestigatorsbelievethethieveswrapped the cannon in mattresses and quiltstoprotectitfromdamage and reduce the noise as it was handled, then used a bearingfitted iron trolley to lower the cannon down the hill, and put it onto a transport vehicle waiting below. there is a bustling town in the lower ranges of the hill, but no one appears to have noticed a cannon. MP’s poor record the narwar Fort theft is the latestinalongseriesofheritage crimes in Madhya Pradesh, a state known for its rich collection of medieval temples, forts, sculptures and archaeological monuments. archaeological survey of india (asi) records show the state has topped the country in antiquity thefts from protected monuments over several decades now, besides vandalism. While some have been recovered, many continue to remain missing, and are suspected to have been trafficked to domestic and international markets. Most of the thefts have been reported from northern »CONTINUeD ON PaGe 2 Lucknow