The ideas Page: The election umpire’s independence begins with its appointment 9 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026 JournaLiSm of Courage JAIPUr, lATe cITy, 20 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 PosTal reGn. no. JaIPur cITy/001/2024-26 lThe second ediTion of India's premier multinational air exercise 'Tarang Shakti' begins in Jodhpur. The exercise will bring global air forces together for ‘high-octane joint tactical manoeuvres’, the IAF has said. lTwo jewel-embedded ivory pen cases, claimed to have been commissioned by Mughal emperor Jahangir, will be displayed in the US for the first time. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By EP UNNY the big PiCture a mother’s battle to bring her son home from ukraine Page 13 the world Page 16 NDA partners to EC: Clarify, Iran proposes 7-day plan problematic if people begin to end war, reopen Strait to doubt electoral process of Hormuz, revive n-talks Offer being looked at by US, Qatar plays mediator on UNGA margins CEC must dispel misgivings: Chirag; transparency will help boost public confidence: TDP Farnaz Fassihi & Pranav baskar New York, September 25 santosh singh, nikhila henry & jatin Anand Patna, Hyderabad, New Delhi, September 25 MeMBerS oF the ruling BJp-led nDa on Friday said Chief election Commissioner (CeC) Gyanesh Kumar must “dispelmisgivingsintheminds of the people” and the election Commission (eC) must issue a clarification on internal differences over Special Intensive revision (SIr) of electoral rolls. ThestatementsfromtheLok Janshaktiparty(ramvilas),the Telugu Desam party, and the rashtriya Lok Morcha (rLM) came as the opposition sought answersontheriftintheeC.The IndianExpressonSeptember23 reportedthatelectionCommissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu andvivekJoshihadobjectedon record at least 14 times in 10 monthstoSIr-relateddecisions taken without their knowledge andtoglaringgapsinprocesses. »conTinUed on PAGe 2 FoR homeless, FiGhT To sTAy on The Rolls: residents of a night shelter run by the delhi government at sarai kale khan fill Form-6 to register as electors during a special sIr camp. AMIT MehrA Divide within Election Commission unites bitter Bengal rivals TMC, CPM Mamata speaks to M A Baby, urges Rahul to call INDIA bloc meeting next week manoj c G New Delhi, September 25 BITTer rIvaLS in West Bengalfordecades,theMamataBanerjee-ledTrinamoolCongress (TMC) and the CpI(M) have opened communication channelsamidtheopposition'sconcerns over revelations in The IndianExpressaboutthedivide in the election Commission Form probe team, move against CEC: Petitioner to Supreme Court express news service New Delhi, September 25 trumP, Xi wraP uP summit with tea — minus any breakthrough ARAGhchi meeTs TRUmP envoys wiTKoFF, KUshneR As oPP diAls UP heAT on elecTion commission a peTITIon has been filed in the Supreme Court, urging it to declare as illegal “all decisions, guidelines, directives and softwaremodificationsinitiated,approved,orimplemented”under Chief election Commissioner cec Gyanesh kumar »conTinUed on PAGe 2 Union Minister to join key trade pacts in mind, Naga peace negotiations; delhi looks at Pm’s encouraging: NSCN (IM) multi-nation visit in dec deeptiman Tiwary inside divya A New Delhi, September 25 KeepInGThefocusonsealing key trade agreements, Delhi is lookingtoscheduleamulti-nationvisitofprimeMinisternarendra Modi in December, The Indian Express has learnt. Destinations may include the US, Canada and at least two europeancountries,accordingtodiplomatic sources. While the India-Canada Comprehensive economic partnershipagreement(Cepa) is likely to be finalised and signed in December, it is learnt that the India-eU Free Trade agreement will also be signed in Brussels the same month. Delhi and Washington, meanwhile, remain engaged on the BilateralTradeagreement,and hopetofinaliseitbyDecember. although there is no official announcement yet from the Ministry of external affairs on the prime Minister’s likely visit to north america and europe, it is expected that he will travel to Miami for the summit of the G20leadersonDecember14-15. »conTinUed on PAGe 2 In a significantstepforwardin the naga peace process, the Centre has agreed to include “a Union Minister or a group of Union-level Ministers” in the talks, meeting a longstanding demand of the nSCn-IM for political representation in the negotiations. This development comes seven months after former Joint Intelligence Committee chief ajit Lal was appointed as the Centre’s pointsman for the talks. In a statement Thursday, Page 12 armed men kill 4 nagas in maniPur border village the nSCn-IM welcomed the move: “We particularly welcome the GoI’s decision to include a Union Minister, or a groupofUnion-levelMinisters, in the negotiation framework. Weexpectthiswill‘expeditethe politicalprocess’andcreatethe necessary momentum for reaching an honourable and enduring political settlement.” »conTinUed on PAGe 2 l FIrsT Gold In shooTInG and The counTry’s second aT The asIan Games In JaPan Lock, load, gold: Suruchi and Kamaljeet make most of second chance, set record express at AsiAn GAmes mihir vasavda Nagoya, September 25 aFTer She returned to her hotel Wednesday, Suruchi phogat slept for 13 hours straight. The next day, Kamaljeet Singh, too, would lay awake, tossing and turning. he went to bed around 1am and awoke at 5am, managing just four hours of sleep. The two shooters dealt with disappointment differently, but shared the same feeling after their individual events at the asian Games: The sinking realisation that a competition they had worked towards for years had slipped away. on Friday, they found a way to turn that feeling around. paired at the last minute in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, the haryana shooters combined for 484.6 points in the final to win gold and set an asian Games record. South »conTinUed on PAGe 2 »conTinUed on PAGe 2 RAS 2024 RESULTS 36 in Top 50 Ranks 72 in Top 100 Ranks The strait of hormuz has been largely shut since the war broke out in February. AP FIle nation E. explained off-ramp window Page 12 at unga, Jaishankar flags rising attaCks on shiPs, seafarers US midterm elections. an american official familiar with the talks said that the administration was having positive and constructive discussions through mediators, but that the United States was not going to rush into a deal. The Iranian proposal came even as president Trump and Iran’s president, Masoud pezeshkian, delivered mutually hostile speeches at the United nations.TrumpthreatenedIran with “annihilation” if it did not strikeadeal,whileadefiant pe- The new proposal, which shrinks the 60-day timeline to 7 days, offers an off-ramp to both sides at a time when the US is headed to midterm elections and Iran has been severely impacted by the crisis in West Asia. The near closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent global energy and food prices soaring and pressure has been mounting for a quick end to the war. zeshkian told world leaders his country would not be bullied. ThoughIran’sproposalcontains many of the same conditions of the deal that fell apart, the behind-the-scenes diplomacysuggestedthatbothsides »conTinUed on PAGe 2 lQyrk dk lezkV fLçaxcksMZ !! tgk¡ Js"Brk la;ksx ugha] ijaijk gSA Gyanesh Kumar “without full Commission concurrence”. The petition filed by Delhibased lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi has sought a probe by anindependent,high-powered judicial inquiry commission or a special investigation team headed by a retired judge of the express special New Delhi, September 25 (eC) over the Special Intensive revision (SIr) of electoral rolls. The two parties are founding members of the opposition InDIa bloc but had eschewed any formal communication or contact until now. Sources said Mamata Banerjee and CpI(M) general secretary M a Baby spoke over the Iran’S ForeIGn Minister abbas araghchi said Thursday that Tehran had proposed to Washingtonaseven-dayplanto cease hostilities, reopen the Straitofhormuzandthenbegin comprehensive talks on his country’s nuclear programme. araghchi told reporters at a press briefing at the United nationsGeneralassemblythatthe proposal closely mirrored the commitments laid out in a socalled memorandum of understanding that was struck betweentheUnitedStatesandIran in June but quickly unravelled. he said Iran was ready to begin putting the plan into effect as soon as Washington agreed to it. “We have introduced a plan totheUnitedStatesthroughthe intermediators that if certain conditionsaremet,theStraitof hormuz would be open on the endoftheseventhdayandtalks would restart,” araghchi said. he said “it would be better” if a deal was reached before the I happening today RAS Foundation Batch 15 flrEcj ls u;k cSp izkjEHk Pre + PSI lsfeukj IAS/ RAS esa p;fur vf/kdkfj;ksa ,oa fo’ks”kK QSdYVh }kjk ekxZn’kZu 27 flrEcj 2026, jfookj @ 10:15 AM Online & Offline 29 flrEcj ls u;k cSp izkjEHk Live Interactive Classes I Regular Test Series I Personal Mentorship Contact usSpringboard Academy Online Springboard Academy Jaipur www.springboardindia.org Springboards Spur Pvt. Ltd. Riddhi - Siddhi, Gopalpura Bypass, Jaipur suruchi Phogat and kamaljeet singh celebrate after winning gold in the 10 m air pistol mixed team final in Japan, Friday. PTI ,si MkmuyksM djus ds fy, QR Code LdSu djsa 9636977490, 0141-3555948 fLizaxcksMZ ,dMeh d IAS, RAS grq izkekf.kd Dykl ukV~l miyC/k The Notes Hub 7610010054, 7300134518 s s s s Jaipur