www.INDIaNEXprESS.com The Worlds InsIde a song Jaipur, augusT 23, 2026 Irshad Kamil, one of Hindi cinema’s most prolific lyricists, on how his roots in Punjab have shaped his writing for over three decades laTE cITy 12+4 pagES ₹6.00 spotlIght Founders of The Table on building an empire, one brand at a time D a I l y f r o m : a h m E D a B a D , Happening today lIndIan domestIc first-class cricket season gets underway with the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru. The East Zone, which will take on North-East, will be led by Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as his deputy. lmembers of a high-level Japanese delegation, which is in Varanasi, will offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com secretaries toldtoupskill in-housestaff insteadofhiring consultants harikishan sharma New Delhi, August 22 The gOVeRnMenT has asked Central Secretaries to train their officers in “specialised skills”, including “preparing, tendering documents, drafting of legislation and managing dispute mechanisms”, instead of hiring consultants from private firms, The Indian Express has learnt. This is learnt to have been conveyed to Secretaries after their meeting with Prime MinisternarendraModionJuly22. a week after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan also sent out a missive to Secretaries, listing “action points” from their interaction with Modi. among the points on whichtheSecretarieshavebeen asked to initiate action, Somanathan has listed skilling of inhouse officers instead of hiring consultants. “Officers should be trained in preparing, tendering documents, drafting of legislation, managingdisputemechanisms and other specialised skills by ministries/ departments insteadofhiringconsultantsfrom various consulting agencies in Central government. Courses on igOT (integrated governmentOnlineTraining)platform also contain theoretical basic »contInued on page 2 nation Pages 3, 4 c h a N D I g a r h , 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 , Rajasthan cleaRs Rs 18 lakh foR ‘cowshed school’ building N a g p u r , keep calm, your angry face is their ‘content’: delhi Police dos and don’ts post-jantar Mantar Advisory framed by Central agencies shared with all 15 districts as well as the Railway and Metro units of Delhi Police mahender singh manral New Delhi, August 22 “YOUR angRY face is their content…Theyarenotfighting you. They are making a film in whichtheywantyoutoplaythe villain. Refuse that role.” “Protesters may cry loudly, fall at the feet of personnel, or askquestionsintendedtocreate sympathy or anger, such as referencestofamilybackgroundor salaryissues.insuchsituations, personnel have been advised not to engage in debate or show agreement, and to use only a brieflineifnecessary:‘Pleaseco- lnewmanualforthenewprotester l Do not engage in debate or show agreement, and use only a brief line if necessary: ‘please cooperate, we are doing our duty’ operate, we are doing our duty’. Then, maintain silence.” in the wake of the Jantar Mantar agitation where their rolecameinforbacklash,Delhi Police personnel have received guidelines not just on how to tackle the new-generation protester, but also how not to. and to remember, always, that they are on camera. earlierthismonth,anadvisory framed by Central agencies was shared with all 15 districts as well as the Railway and MetrounitsofDelhiPolice.The underlying message, like the l Do not push away phones, snatch items, throw objects or shout in anger l ‘If a protester faints, falls or is injured, they should be the first to step forward, lift the person carefully, call an ambulance and clear the path’ l language and body language should be ‘respectful’ l ‘let them (their cameras) see only two things — your calm face and a helping hand’ »contInued on page 2 ‘No compromise’: BJP slams Cong’s 2-stanza Vande Mataram stand Passes resolution condemning CWC decision Jatin anand & asad rehman New Delhi, August 22 Proud parents ramesh prasad baranwal and babita, the parents of shrutika, 25, who was among those killed in a fire at a bed-and-breakfast facility in new delhi in June, receive her master’s degree from Tiss Vice chancellor prof badri narayan Tiwari at the institute’s annual convocation in mumbai, saturday. TISS shrutIka secured a firstclass result in water policy and governance she had gone to delhI on June 3 to complete the joining formalities for a job she had secured via campus placement when a fire engulfed the facility where she was staying, killing 21 The BJP on Saturday passed a resolution to uphold the “honour, dignity, legacy and national status of the complete VandeMataram”,condemning the Congress’s decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the national song. in the resolution passed at the first meeting of its new nationaloffice-bearersappointed recentlybyBJPpresidentnitin nabin, the ruling party said the Congress working Committee (CwC) could not override constitutional institutions or laws of the country. The BJP announced that it prime minister narendra modi at the bJp headquarters in new delhi, saturday. aNI will launch a campaign to take the historic legacy and significanceofVandeMataramacross the country. at the start of the meeting, the party officebearers recited all six stanzas of the national song. “TheBJPregardsVandeMataram as the national song of Bharat, an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, a mantra »contInued on page 2 AFT upholds action At centre of NEET leak, Maharashtra against Brigadier over drafts tough law to regulate coaching J&K custodial killings Draft Bill bans ‘dummy school’ model, arun sharma Jammu, August 22 The ChanDigaRh Bench of the armed forces Tribunal (afT) has upheld the indian army’s decision awarding “severedispleasure”toBrigadierP acharyainconnectionwiththe 2023 killing of three civilians duringallegedcustodialtorture by Rashtriya Rifles troops he was commanding in Jammu and Kashmir’s Topa Pir area in the border district of Poonch. The Bench asserted that “emotions cannot override military discipline and the legal obligation to treat the civilians humanely” for troops involved in follow-up operations after »contInued on page 2 Mumbai, August 22 MahaRaShTRa,whiChwas at the centre of the neeT-Ug 2026 paper leak that put its coaching industry under the spotlight, has released a draft Bill to regulate the sector. among its provisions are an explicit ban on school-coaching“integration”,betterknown as the dummy-school model, p a T N a , p u N E , V a D o D a r a one natIon one electIon express special 3 civilians were ‘tortured to death’ in 2023 covers centres with 25-plus students after killing of 4 soldiers in a terror attack pallavi smart Rahul taRgets PM in Pune: ‘boys can abuse, cultuRal shock if giRls do’ m u m B a I , maharashtra cm devendra fadnavis at an event in navi mumbai, saturday. pTI withaprovisiontorecommend derecognitionofaschoolfound actively involved in such violations; prohibition of coaching classes operating from basements; and a bar on hiring anyoneagainstwhomacognizable offence has been registered. The rules would apply to any coaching centre with more than 25 students, The Indian Express has learnt. ifenactedinitscurrentform, the law would be among the strictest and widest-reaching of the state coaching laws, a comparison by The Indian Express »contInued on page 2 On NDA table: Joint polls for 22 states/UTs with LS 2029 Current Bills’ timeline 2034; House panel chief says: It is for NDA CMs to decide damini nath New Delhi, August 22 eVen aS the Joint Committee of Parliament on the One nation One election Bills is engaged in consultations, including interacting with Chief Ministersacrossstates,thenDa islearnttobeexploringadvancing the first simultaneous elections from the present timeline of 2034 to 2029 in the 22 states/UTswhereithasamajority. To that effect, it is considering the dissolution of assembliesbeforetheirtermsend, The Indian Express has learnt. a source familiar with the discussions said that of the 22 nDa-ruled states/UTs, 11 are due for elections over the coming two years, before the 2029 lok Sabha elections. four states have simultaneous elections with that of the lok Sabha. These are andhra Pradesh, arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, which are today all ruled by the nDa. The committee, formed in December 2024 to consider the Bills that would pave the way for simultaneous elections to the lok Sabha and all assemblies in 2034, has been visiting states to interact with stakeholders, including the l pollsin2028,2029 nda-ruled states with polls due in 2028: chhattisgarh, madhya pradesh, meghalaya, Nagaland, rajasthan and Tripura E. states wIth elections along with lok sabha in 2029: odisha, andhra pradesh, Sikkim and arunachal pradesh nda-ruled states with polls due in second half of 2029: haryana, Jharkhand, maharashtra opp-ruled states where elections due in 2028: hima- chal pradesh, Karnataka, mizoram and Telangana opp-ruled states/uts where elections due in 2029: Jharkhand, J&K state government, legislature, academia, legal fraternity and industry. it is expected to submit its report in the winter session this year. assuming the nDa retains its state governments over the next two years, the source said, the assemblies of the 22 states/UTscouldbedissolvedby January2029bytheirrespective »contInued on page 2 Behind denial of nod for Revanth’s US trip, his tentative meetings with Vance, Mamdani nikhila henry & shubhajit roy Hyderabad, New Delhi, August 22 Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s visit to the UnitedStatesincludedpossible meetings with Vice President J D Vance and new York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on august 26, The Indian Express has learnt. The Chief Minister’s Office, whencontacted,saidthemeeting with the nYC Mayor was “tentative”. “There are a lot of events which are added to the schedule.noofficialcommunicationwasexchangedbetween the Mayor of new York and the CM's office,” the CMO said. governmentsourcesinnew Delhi confirmed to The Indian Express that the Chief Minister was planning to meet Vance Telangana cm revanth reddy at a meeting with a cambridge university team in uk, saturday. X/@rEVaNTh_aNumula and Mamdani during his visit. explaining the reasons for the indian government denying clearance to Reddy’s US visit, sourcessaidthattheMinistryof externalaffairs—whileissuing political clearance — looked at two basic aspects: the “level” of meetings and the “purpose”. »contInued on page 2 l 48 from across sTaTes To be conferred The naTional Teachers’ award on sepTember 5 asteroid hunts to school breakfasts: The teachers changing how India learns express news service highest national award for schooleducators.Thisyear’slist has 48 names — 3 from Uttar Pradesh; 2 each from Bihar, MadhyaPradesh,Maharashtra, fROMaRajasthangovernment RajasthanandwestBengal;and teacher who helped students 1eachfromandhraPradesh,arhunt asteroids and a Chhattis- unachalPradesh,assam,Changarh educator who introduced digarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & nutritional intervention to pre- nagarhaveliandDaman&Diu, ventschoolabsences Delhi, goa, gujarat, page 1 to a Jharkhand eduharyana, himachal catorwhopushedfor Pradesh, Jammu & an image makeover Kashmir,Jharkhand, for government schools, this Karnataka,Kerala,ladakh,Mayear’snationalTeachers’award nipur, Mizoram, nagaland, list is replete with unsung he- Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, roeswhohavestriventochange Sikkim,Tamilnadu,Telangana, the face of education in india. Tripura, Uttarakhand and aninstituted in 1958, the na- daman & nicobar islands. tionalTeachers’awardisindia’s Theseeducatorswillreceive Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Ranchi, August 22 anchor their awards from President Droupadi Murmu on September 5. Divyendu Sen, Rajasthan ifthere’sonethingDivyendu Senlivedbyinhislongteaching career, it is that curiosity mattered more than school scores. This belief helped him drill his passion for learning into students for 14 years, ultimately helping students of rural Rajasthan identify asteroids through anaSa-supportedcitizenspace campaign. “People often think advanced science can only happen in big cities or elite schools,” the 40-year-old DivyenduSen,whoteachesbiology among wInners: (clockwise from left) k p sunil kumar, santanu patra, divyendu sen, palash chowdhury and munmun bhattacherjee at the Mahatma gandhi government School in Jhalawar district’s Pachpahar, tells The Indian Express. “Our experiencehasshownthatchildrenin villagesareequallycuriousand capableifgivenanopportunity. all they needed was some guidance and i pushed them.” Since COViD-19, students from his school have identified 12 asteroid candidates, four of which have been recognised as provisional discoveries. Beyond astronomy, Sen has introducedseveraltechnologydriveninitiativesinhisschools. Overthepastthreeyears,hehas converted educational content intoaudioformatusingstudent voices. he also serves as a district coordinator for the national Children’s Science Congress and has encouraged students to participate in science competitions and talent-search programmes. Jaipur But it wasn’t without challenges—thebiggestbeingmaking people understand the importance of these initiatives. “People used to ask me what was the point of it and whether it makes students employable. i have to make them understand that children will be able to learn computer skills. These programmes develop a scientific temperament in children, which might not have an immediate impact but can help in the long run,” he tells The Indian Express. K P Sunil Kumar, Kerala for three decades, K P Sunil Kumar has been more than a teacher. he has developed a range of student programmes to address learning gaps while making education engaging. The 51-year-old, currently headmaster of a government upperprimaryschoolatPuzhathi in Kannur, has developed innovative initiatives that made classrooms more engaging and improved students’ language,literary,communication and creative skills. “after the COViD pandemic, a learning gap has been visibleamongstudents.hence, ihaveconceivedtheseschemes to improve their language efficiency and communication skills,” he said. among his most notable »contInued on page 2