The Ideas Page: Caste census is dead. Don’t expect a formal announcement or funeral 13 WEDNESDAY, AUGUSt 12, 2026 JournaLIsm of CouraGe AhMeDAbAD, lATe CITy, 24 PAGeS ₹5.00 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 happening today lOver 400 delegates from India and abroad will gather in Chhattisgarh for the Green Steel and Mining Summit hosted by CII. The two-day event will focus on innovative tech and policy frameworks to support India's green transition in steel sector. chUrch, cIvIl sOcIetY grOUPs Fear Past Investments can Be PenalIsed Amid pushback from Opp, Govt ready to refer FCRA Bill to JPC lrachnatmak cOngress, a platform to connect the Congress with civil society groups, domain experts and social activists, will begin hosting a two-day convention in Delhi. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com the big picture counter-protests by mPs from the opposition parties (left) and the ruling nda at makar dwar of Parliament, Tuesday. ANI more rePorTs. PaGe 14 Govt bid to break deadlock in Parliament, allay concerns over asset-vesting rules the indus code page 20 nation page 16 nta subject expert held special class, gave 132 neet-ug questions:cbiprobe deeptiman tiwary New Delhi, August 11 THE GovERNMENT is ready to send the foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), sources told The Indian Express Tuesday. The opposition has been demanding the withdrawal of business as usual By EP UNNY Bills passed without debate; Opp and BJP face off outside asad rehman & Jatin anand the Bill and civil society and religious bodies, especially the Church, have expressed concern that asset-vesting rules in the Bill could be used to penalise past investments. Several Church bodies have voiced their fears in meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the last few days. A Union Minister said, New Delhi, August 11 AS THE impasse in Parliament continued on Tuesday, with Bills being passed without debate, the face-off between the ruling alliance and the opposition shifted to the steps outside the Makar Dwar, with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi vadra exchanging words with National »cOntInUed On Page 2 Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs who were protesting. While BJP-led NDA MPs protested against the violence on students in Jharkhand, the opposition held a demonstration nearby against the alleged theft of donation funds at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and demanded a statement from Union Home Minister »cOntInUed On Page 2 ‘He said he would question mark on rehab of families in adani handle it’: Gujarat PG medical student’s dharavi project, landfill cleanup faces delays father recalls last call Five of seven statutory clearances pending; NECL says was informed late about key approvals; BMC official says scrapping tender will create more delays Ahmedabad, August 11 RETIRED DoCToR Subhash Pandya is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of his son, Dr Harsh Pandya, a 30year-old first-year PG Microbiology student at the Government Medical College in Surat. The young doctor allegedly died by suicide on August 9, reignitingthedebateoverragging in medical institutions. “We would talk at least once a week over the phone. Since I also come from a similar background, I would ask him if he washavinganytroublefromhis seniors or in the department. We discussed this during our last conversation too. He said he would handle it (the ragging),” Subhash said, recalling the last conversation he had with his son around five days before his death. Harsh, who was found dead in his hostel room on the morning of August 9, was among at least 10 students who had complained of ragging by seniors. “I tried to make him comfortable and strong. I would tell him that we also faced torture from our seniors…but it looks like it was much more than that,” said Subhash, a retired superintendent from the CommunityHealthCentreinDhansura in Aravalli district. Pratip acharya Mumbai, August 11 retired doctor subhash Pandya, his son dr harsh Pandya (right) inside page 4 four resident doctors booked The 66-year-old says those responsible for Harsh’s death must face severe punishment. “Such incidents should not happen.Thoseguiltyshouldbe punishedtosuchanextentthat they would not even dream of torturing anyone in the way they did my son,” he told The Indian Express. Was to get married later this year Harsh completed his MBBS in the Philippines in 2022. After »cOntInUed On Page 18 A SHoWPIECE Maharashtra government project to relocate asectionofresidentsofDharavi in Deonar, the site of the largest andoldestlandfillinMumbai,is stuckinamazeofredtape.Work is yet to begin on clearing a portion of the 99-year-old landfill — marking a delay of over six months from the original deadline, Right to Information (RTI) records obtained to be obtained and and investigated work to begin, five your right by The Indian of the seven statuExpress show. tory clearances are AN eXPreSS rtI The records pending. show that while This delay raises APPlICATION the Brihanmumfreshquestionsover bai Municipal Corporation the timeline for housing thou(BMC)awardedaRs2,537-crore sands of families on the Dhacontract to clean up the landfill ravi site. All residents are to be to Hyderabad-based Navayuga handed over houses within EngineeringCompanyLimited seven years of the masterplan (NECL),markingJanuary2026 approval in May 2025. asthedeadlineforallapprovals »cOntInUed On Page 2 Welcome decision, committed to nation-building: Gautam Adani Press trust of India New York, August 11 express special ritu sharma Relief to Adani: US court permanently dismisses criminal case against him to know A US federal judge has permanently dismissed criminal charges against Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar, removing a major legal overhang that had doggedtheports-to-energycon- »cOntInUed On Page 2 rOW Over nasIrnagar demOlItIOn Surat civic chief shifted, Collector given charge kamal saiyed Surat, August 11 maharashtra govt earmarked 124 acres in deonar for rehabilitation housing under the project in october 2024. AMIT ChAkrAvArTy/ FIle glomerate for nearly two years. US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New york approved the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the charges. Adani welcomed the decision, saying he accepted it with “humility” and “deep respect” for the judicial process. In a 47-page order issued on August10,Garaufisgrantedthe Justice Department’s Rule 48 (a) motion to dismiss Counts Two, Three and four of the indictment against Gautam Adani,SagarAdani,andformer Adani Green Energy CEo JUST THREE days before the state government's actiontaken report on the controversial demolition drive in Surat's Nasirnagar slums is due to be submitted in the Gujarat High Court (HC), the state government on Tuesday transferred Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) Commissioner M Nagarajan and posted him as State Project Director in Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Gandhinagar. The charge of SMC commissioner has been given to Surat District Collector Tejas Parmar. IAS officer Ranjeeth Kumar, who was serving as Project Director of Samagra Shiksha »cOntInUed On Page 2 Deepening ties, NASA invites ISRO Pilot of Air India flight that dropped to join its Moon Base programme 300 feet tests positive for marijuana anjali marar & amitabh sinha E. New Delhi, August 11 MovING To strengthen their partnership, US space agency NASA has invited ISRo to join its Moon Base programme, the recently-launched effort to get humans back to the Moon with thelargerobjectiveofsettingup a permanent settlement there. The offer, disclosed Tuesday, was made at the ninth meeting of the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group in sukalp sharma explained the collaboration Us envoy sergio Gor spoke at the Bengaluru meeting last week. FIle Bengaluru on August 5 and 6 which US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor also addressed. »cOntInUed On Page 2 NASA’s invitation to ISRO for the Moon Base programme reflects the growing ties between the two space agencies. It comes in the wake of Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom flight to the ISS last year and the launch of the dualfrequency radar satellite NISAR. In 2023, India signed the US-led Artemis Accords. New Delhi, August 11 THE CoNfIRMAToRy drug test of the Air India pilot-incommand of a Phuket-Delhi flight that fell 300 feet, leaving 24 people injured, has come in as positive for marijuana, according to sources. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had said on Sunday that the preliminary drug screening gave a “nonnegative” result. The samples were sent for 24 people on the Phuket-delhi flight on august 4 were injured confirmatorytesting,andtheresult has come as positive with thesubstanceidentifiedasmari- juana, it is learnt. Confirmatory testsarerequiredinthecaseofa non-negative preliminary screening as certain foods and medications can throw up false positives in initial screenings. EmailssenttoMoCA,Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident InvestigationBureau(AAIB)regarding the confirmatory drug test did not elicit any response. Air India didn’t comment on the development. The Air India Airbus A320 »cOntInUed On Page 2 l on sTicky wickeT as mUmBai indians caPTain afTer Team losT 10 of 14 Games in laTesT season Hardik seeks return to Gujarat Titans, with captaincy rider; IPL franchise says no devendra Pandey moving back to Mumbai Indiansin2024,hadbeenopento bringing him back. They had MUMBAI INDIANS’ captain already discussed the prospect Hardik Pandya held talks with with current captain Shubman Gujarat Titans over a possible Gill, but Pandya's captaincy return to the franconditionwasadealchise but was rebreaker. page 1 jected after he made “The franchise it conditional on was fine with him being reinstated as making a return. captain,TheIndianExpresshas They had even discussed the learnt. samewithitscaptainShubman According to sources, Guja- Gill, and he, too, had agreed rat Titans, where Pandya won that the franchise could trade the Indian Premier League him back. But when his condi(IPL) as captain in their inaug- tion of captaincy was put up, ural campaign in 2022 before everyone said no to it,” said Mumbai, August 11 anchor a source. Gill is the India captain for both Tests and one-Day Internationals. When contacted, a Gujarat Titans representative refused to comment on the matter. “Hardik Pandya had no direct conversation with any franchise whatsoever regardingtransfertrade,orotherwise. If any approach has been made to him, that has been directed to the MI franchise,” Pandya's spokesperson said. The development follows weeks of uncertainty over Pandya's position at Mumbai In- hardik Pandya (left) was released by mumbai indians in 2022, joined Gujarat Titans and won the title as their captain, and then returned to mi in 2024 to replace rohit sharma. AMIT ChAkrAvArTy/ FIle dians. The Indian Express had reported earlier that MI’s team management was not keen to retain him as captain and was even evaluating his role in the squad, after a season in which the team lost 10 of their 14 games, finished ninth, and extended the franchise's title drought to six years. The unravelling was laid bare in a team talk by the coaching staff after MI’s final game of the season, against Rajasthan Royals. “The coaching staff was very clear in their message to the senior players that wherever they play, they Ahmedabad need to be coachable. There weremanyinstanceswherethe coaching staff recommended something which was backed by data but players didn’t follow it,” a source had told The Indian Express. Mumbai Indians, with amongthebiggestnamesinthe IPL, have looked out of step with the T20 format of late. None of their players featured intheracefortheorange(most runs) or Purple (most wickets) Caps; their best batsman, Ryan Rickelton,finished17thamong the season's run-getters, while leg-spinner Allah Ghazanfar was 14th among wicket-takers. Pandya’s relationship with the MI fanbase has also been complicated since he was released by the franchise in 2022, joined Gujarat Titans and won the title as their captain, then returned to MI in 2024 to replace Rohit Sharma, days after the latter had led India to the 2023 50-over World Cup final. fansbooedPandyathroughhis first season back, when MI finished bottom of the table. A partial recovery in 2025 had raised hopes of a reconciliation, but the 2026 season undid them.