The editorial Page: seven years after august 5 — delaying J&K statehood undermines gains 10 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 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 , 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 Lop hELD OvEr rEmArks DirECtED At ACtOr LinkED tO Cm vijAy Udhayanidhi arrest sparks row, TN House meets today Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin after being questioned by police in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, Tuesday. PtI HC orders release; DMK leader says row a bid to divert attention from Cauvery dispute Arun janardhanan Chennai, August 4 ThE arrEST of dMK leader UdhayanidhiStalin,theLeader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Tamil nadu assembly, on Tuesday over his alleged sexually coloured remarks at a public meeting on the ties between chief Minister c Joseph Vijay and a Tamil actor escalatedintoashowdownbetween the TVK-led government and the dMK in the state. The row triggered a war of words between the Vijay-led TVKandthe dMK on the eve of theassembly’sBudgetSession, setting off statewide protests and a legal battle in the Madras high court. hours after the police took Udhayanidhi to Thanjavur, he was questioned at the Sengipattipolicestationbeforebeing released on bail as per the high court’s order. »COntinUED On pAGE 2 exPRess special Gen Z loud and clear on the street but invisible in Parliament, assemblies Only 6 MPs & 20 MLAs from GenZ, given eligibility age is 25 for candidates, but population share is nearly 26% Anjishnu Das New Delhi, August 4 On ThE streets, Gen Z’s voice rings loud and clear, but in Parliament and the state legislatures, it remains a faint echo. The reason: Gen Z accounts for over a quarter of the country's population, yet its Happening today lOppOsitiOn pDp will hold protests in J&K to mark the seventh anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. representation in politics is restricted to just 26 legislators across the country — six Lok Sabha MPs and 20 MLas, a low number even though the minimum age to contest electionsis 25, which rules out a chunk of this demographic. defined as those born »COntinUED On pAGE 2 l Party-wiseGenZMPsandMLAs AIADMK: 1 inC BJP Total Gen Z legislators 7 5 DMK: 1 HSPDP: 1 Independent: 1 JanaSena Party: 1 TVK 3 26 SP: 2 NPP: 1 NCP(SP): 1 LJP(RV): 1 JD(U): 1 SoURCE: LoK SAbHA, StAtE ASSEMbLIES, ADR ‘India can reach AI frontier in one year with $10-billion push’ business as usual By EP UNNY Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, August 4 inside Co-presented by Sarvam AI’s Pratyush Kumar and tech investor Rajan Anandan Phuket-delhI flIGht hIts turbulence, 17 Injured PaGe 4 IndIan vessel hIt, sInks off yemen, all crew safe PaGe 9 Celebration Partner Experience Partner Ens Economic Bureau Mumbai, August 4 IndIacancatchupwithfrontier artificial intelligence models developed in the West withinayear,withthecountry’s aI ecosystem currently only a $10-billion investment away from competing with global players, according to Pratyush Kumar, co-founder and cEO of »COntinUED On pAGE 2 Govt to SC: 2-stage JEE format for NEET-UG under consideration the bIG PIcture IndIa to jaPan, vIa north east PaGe 15 ThE cEnTrE has informed the Supreme court that the authorities concerned are considering whether the nEET (UG) examination for medical courses should be held in a single-stage or in two stages on the pattern of the JEE for engineering courses. Thegovernmentsaidthisin an affidavit filed Monday beforethetopcourtwhichishearing petitions on the need for reforms in the national Testing agency (nTa) framework to prevent question paper leaks. The affidavit, which outlined the security protocol associated with the conduct of New Delhi E. exPLAined exam reforms, tougher laws The task force on exam reforms, headed by Nandan Nilekani, was announced by the PM a day after students called off their protest over paper leaks. The government has also established fasttrack courts and brought in a tougher law to deal with those behind the leaks. the nEET (UG) exam, said “in respect of nEET (UG), the »COntinUED On pAGE 2