DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES BY UNNY ON DOVAL-WANG TABLE: LAC SITUATION, NEXT STEPS TO REPAIR TIES Jaishankar heading to Moscow, Wang to Delhi amid strain in India ties with US Visits taking place in run-up to SCO meet in China, possible visit by Putin to India SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 EXPLAINED GLOBAL THEIMPORTANCE OFASIM MUNIR P21 AT A time when US-imposed tariffs have strained Delhi’s ties withWashingtonDC,Indiaisengaging with Russia and China over the next two weeks. External Affairs Minister SJaishankarwilltraveltoMoscow next week for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on August 21, the Russian government said Wednesday. Sourcessaidthevisitismeant to prepare the ground for a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to India and it could happen as early as mid-September. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, sources said, is expectedtovisitIndiaonAugust18 for the Special RepresentativeleveltalkswithNationalSecurity AdvisorAjitDoval.Thisisthefirst high-level visit from China after theIndia-Pakistanhostilitiesfollowing Operation Sindoor. Delhi said Chinese weapons and (Clockwise from top) Jaishankar; Lavrov; and Wang Yi drones were used by Pakistan and Beijing helped Rawalpindi with live intelligence during the military confrontation. The visits are taking place in the run-up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin in China, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel on August 31-September 1. He will also hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Delhi treads ● carefully DELHI IS following its multi-alignment foreign policy, and will be careful not to become part of an anti-Western grouping. Delhi likes to portray itself as a non-Western, and not an anti-Western country, keeping intact its strategic autonomy. SC on revision of rolls: ‘Voter-friendly, not exclusionary... more documents accepted’ ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 HEARING PETITIONS challengingtheSpecialIntensiveRevision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, the Supreme Court said WednesdaythattheElectionCommission (EC) expanding the list of documents acceptedfor proof of identity to 11, compared to only seven for the summary revision inJharkhandearlier,showedthat theprocessis“voter-friendlyand not voter exclusionary”. AbenchofJusticesSuryaKant and Joymalya Bagchi also said that according to Section 21 of TheRepresentationOfThePeople Act, 1950, “it is totally within the subjective domain” of the EC on “how, when” it would “go for a special (intensive) revision”. “The documents for the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Two days after 2-judge bench ordered relocation of all stray dogs to shelters EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 EC GIVES BENGAL 7-DAY DEADLINE THE EC has given West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant seven days to act on its order to suspend four officials, remove a data entry operator, and file FIRs for allegedly registering fake voters. Pant is learnt to have said that he would consult the state government. EARLIER, CM Mamata Banerjee had vowed to protect state govt employees, setting the stage for a standoff with the EC. REPORT,PAGE8 THE WORLD ISRAELI STRIKES KILL 123 IN GAZA CITY TRUMP WANTS TO MEET ZELENSKYY, PUTIN AFTER ALASKA PAGE 16 THE I-DAY MESSAGE During the full dress rehearsal for Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort complex on Wednesday. Praveen Khanna Post-Op Sindoor performance, talks on in Armed Forces to up retention of Agniveers AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 THE ARMED Forces are discussing a reassessment of the Agnipath scheme, keeping in mind the requirement for an ideal ratio between technically proficient and trained manpower and a reduced age profile of soldiers in the military, The 15 ventilators at neurosurgery dept of Delhi’s Lok Nayak, but only 1 working Indian Express has learnt. The services have been periodicallyreviewingthescheme— for recruitment of soldiers, airmen and sailors for a limited period of four years — ever since it was introduced in 2022. While there have been discussions between the services and the Department of Military Affairs on possible tweaks, no major changeshavebeenclearedsofar. EXPRESS NETWORK ANKITA UPADHYAY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 ONLY ONE out of 15 ventilators is currently functional in the neurosurgerydepartmentof the Delhi government’s 2,153-bed Lok Nayak Hospital, the largest such facility in the National Capital,officialrecordsreviewed by The Indian Express show. Weekly status reports maintained by the hospital show there were 14 ventilators in the department till Tuesday — none of them was functional. One functional ventilator was added on Wednesday. According to records, ten of theseventilatorshavebeennon- 10 VENTILATORS not working for 8 months, 2 for about a year, 2 for over two years. In 12 ventilators, “multiple spares defective”. functional for eight months, two for about a year and two more for over two years. In 12 of these New three-judge bench of SC to hear Delhi-NCR stray dogs matter today 10 EMERGENCY surgeries a month currently due to lack of ventilators, down from average of 20-25 previously. ventilators, “multiple spares are defective” and need to be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘SURRENDER’: SC SETS ASIDE BAIL TO SUSHIL KUMAR SCREEN BANGLA FILMS DAILY: BENGAL TO THEATRES P 10 GOVT & POLITICS AFTER AJIT REMARK ON COW VIGILANTES, ORDER OUT: ‘ONLY POLICE CAN ACT’ P 7 However, according to sources, following Operation Sindoor in May, there have been discussionsonincreasingtheretention of Agniveers, based on factors such as training, experience and expertise acquired by them in their four years. Sources said the performance of Agniveers in Op Sindoor was found to be “excellent”. The first batch of Agniveers will complete their four years by 2026-end, and a decision on makingchangestotheschemeis likely to take place around that time. According to current rules, attheendof thefour-yeartenure, up to 25% of the Agniveers can jointheservices,subjecttomerit andorganisationalrequirements. According to sources, discussions are underway in the Army CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In many states, govts push small reforms to give business a boost AGGAM WALIA & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 OVER THE LAST few months, Rajasthan eased restrictions on night shifts for women, Odisha spruced up building bye-laws so that small enterprises can use spacemoreefficiently,andTamil Nadu increased the number of industries for which entrepreneurs need not knock at the pollution control boards. Across India, states are advancing small, targeted reforms to cut red tape. While sweeping national reforms inch forward despite renewed calls for bold reforms amid tariff tensions, states are increasingly leading the way, recalibrating business rules on the ground, pointed out government officials. The Centre is helping nudge them towards deregulation, but states seem to be on board with the perceived benefits of these steps.Thetrendreflectsagrowing view at the highest levels of the Centralgovernmentthatprogressive,state-leveltweaks—fasterto CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TWO DAYS after a two-judge bench ordered authorities in Delhi and other parts of the NationalCapital Region (NCR) to relocate all stray dogs from the streets to dedicated shelters, the matter was referred to a threejudge bench on Monday. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria will now hear the suo motu proceedings initiated over the issue of stray dogs Thursday. A bench of Justices J B PardiwalaandRMahadevanhad on July 28 taken suo motu cognizance of the issue of stray dogs followinganewsreport.Hearing the matter on August 11, the two-judge bench directed the Delhi Government, civic bodies, and authorities in Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad to relocate all stray dogs to dedicated shelters while INSIDE WHAT THE 2-JUDGE BENCH OF SC SAID IN ITS AUG 11 ORDER WHY RETURNING STERILISED DOGS TO STREETS IS KEY TO ABC SUCCESS P 4, 21 noting that the situation is “grim” and “immediate steps need to be taken” to address it. The bench said that “there should not be any compromise inundertakinganyexercise”and warned that “if any individual or organisation comes in the way CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EIGHT MEN ARRESTED 21-year-old paraded, beaten to death in Maharashtra village Police aspirant was attacked while with a girl from different faith: Cops MANISH KUMAR PATHAK JALGAON, AUGUST 13 A 21-YEAR-OLD, who policesaid was close to a 17-year-old girl fromadifferentcommunity,was paraded and beaten to death by a group of men in a village in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district. Hisfamilymemberstoowereassaulted when they tried to come to his rescue. Police said Wednesday that the incident took place Monday and eight persons had been arrested so far. Accordingtopolice,Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan, 21, set out fromhishomeinChhotaBetawat village for Jamner, 15 km away, Mondaymorningtofillanonline form for police recruitment. Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan, 21 Around 3.30 pm, when Khan was sitting in a cafe with a girl, 8-10 people showed up and began checking his mobile phone aftersnatchingitfromhim,apolice officer said. They began assaulting him after they saw a photograph on the phone and dragged him out of the cafe. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sangli to Surat, UAE, Turkey: How Mumbai police got to drug lord PAGE 1 ANCHOR MOHAMEDTHAVER &MANISHKUMARPATHAK MUMBAI, AUGUST 13 IT BEGAN as a routine drug bust. Last year, the Mumbai Crime Brancharrestedfourpeoplewith 4kgof mephedrone.Fromthere, as the trail kept getting bigger, the police cast their net wider — startingwithamephedronesynthesising factory in Sangli to a fake pharma company in Surat and, finally, the UAE, where they uncovered aninternational drug network allegedly masterminded by Salim Dola, a wanted name in the narcotics trade. Thoughthemanhimself isin Turkey, police believe they may have almost landed at his door by arresting his son Taher and nephew Mustafa Mohammad Kubbawala from the UAE and, in a space of four weeks, getting them deported from the UAE — an alacrity unusual for non-terror cases. Over theyears, mephedrone, a syntheticdrug, hasemergedas a key challenge for enforcement agencies, with the matter even findingamentionintherecently concluded monsoon session of the statelegislature.Responding to BJP legislator Parinay Phuke, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavissaidinvestigatingagencies had seized 5,158 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 9,522 crorefromMaharashtraoverthe past five years. Dola, believed to have links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, isknowntobethekingpinof this mephedronenetwork.Policesay his multi-state drug cartel is allegedly involved in the production and supply of mephedrone. The drug is usually synthesised at clandestine factories, three of which have been busted by the (From left) Salim Dola, his son Taher and nephew Kubbawala. Taher and Kubbawala were recently deported from the UAE police in recent times. “When it comes to mephedrone, it is the Dola network that provides funds and chemicals to various gangs, es- pecially in Maharashtra and Gujarat to produce the drug. They also arrange for a place where the contraband can be cooked,” an official said. While Dola has managed to remainelusive,policebelievethe arrests and deportations of his son and nephew may have servedto“breakhisback”andhis network. While son Taher was deported from the UAE on June 13, nephew Kubbawala was broughttoIndiaonJuly11—both of them under a mutual legal assistance treaty between the two countriesandtheInterpolframework. Officials say that while it couldbedifficulttogetDolaback to India for now, they have set theirsightsonShakilShaikhalias Lavish, Dola’s second-in-command who is based in the UAE. From the Mumbai neigh- bourhoodof CottonGreen,Salim Ismail Dola has over the last few years grown to become one of the most wanted names in the narcotics circuit, allegedly with links to drug cartels in South Africa and Mexico. He was first arrested at the Mumbai airport in 1998 with 40 kg of mandrax. Police suspect Dola to be linked to the Dawood Ibrahim gang and that he has allegedly taken on the role of Iqbal Mirchi, whoearlierhandledthenarcotics business for the D-Company. In the 1980s, Dola moved to Mumbai’sDongri,thebaseof the D-company in the ’80s, and wouldsoonkeepthepolicebusy. In 2018, his name cropped up in a case related to the seizure of fentanyl, an opioid, worth Rs 1,000 crore near the Mumbai airport — the biggest seizure of the drug until then. A year earlier, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had arrested Dola over the smuggling of a consignmentof gutkaworthRs5.5 crore from Pipavav port in Gujarat. An official said, “Every time he was caught, he would managetosecurebail—heisawareof the loopholes in the NDPS Act. Some years ago, in Mumbai, he underwent a heart bypass surgery and had a visible scar on his CONTINUED ON PAGE 2