eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE AUGUST31,2025 ‘Once you’ve had an unsafe childhood, you can’t trust safety’ (`8 RAIPUR, ` 15 SRINAGAR) ARUNDHATI ROY NEWDELHI,LATECITY 18+4PAGES,`7.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS HOUTHI REBEL PRIME MINISTER IN SANAA THREE DEAD DURING ANTI-GOVT PROTESTS IN INDONESIA; TEST OF SUBIANTO RULE PAGE 14 Dhankhar to move to pvt house, applies for pension as former MLA Was MLA in Rajasthan between 1993 & 1998 ANKITA UPADHYAY & PARUL KULSHRESTHA NEW DELHI, JAIPUR, AUGUST 30 FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT JagdeepDhankharissettomove to a private accommodation in South Delhi’s Chattarpur Enclave, The Indian Express has learnt. He has also re-applied for pension as a former MLA of the Rajasthan Assembly. The vice-presidential elections are scheduled for September9,andDhankhar(74) has to vacate the V-P’s official residence on Church Road, near the Parliament House Complex, before that. He had stepped down from his post on July 21, citing health reasons. Dhankhar had moved into the V-P’s official residence in April last year. According to sources, until he gets government accommodation, he will remain at Chattarpur Enclave. As per the rules, former Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Prime Ministers are allotted a Type-8 bungalow. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Directorateof Estates)isresponsible for arranging the accommodation. Accordingtosources,officials from the ministry had visited Dhankhar, but the topic of his next accommodation was not discussed. Dhankhar’s office has submitted a formal requisition for housing in line with the rules. “Oncetherequisitionisreceived, available options are presented to the former Vice-President. Following the selection, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GOVT & POLITICS AKHILESH JOINS OPP CHORUS IN BIHAR, BOTH EC & TARIFFS IN HIS CROSSHAIRS PAGE 8 FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 40-MINUTE SLOT FOR TALKS ON SCO SUMMIT SIDELINES ABSOLUTE PANIC: OFFICIALS Hopefulof fruitful meeting,says Chinesediplomat; DelhiviewsChina militaryremarks asapositivesignal In Murshidabad and Malda, people fear NRC, deportation will follow ModiandXimeettodayasIndia,China movetorestoreties,onestepatatime In Bengal border districts, rush for birth certificates ahead of SIR EXPRESSATSCO SHUBHAJIT ROY TIANJIN, AUGUST 30 AS THEIR countries move to repair ties after a five-yearmilitary standoff along the Line of Actual ControlineasternLadakh,Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping around noon local time Sunday, before the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin, 120 km away from Beijing. The meeting of the two leaders within 10 months — Modi and Xi last met in the Russian city of Kazan in October 2024 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit — is a signal that the two sides are going to give a special thrust to bilateral ties, and Delhi will be keen to push for a “stepby-step” stabilisation of the relationship. A time slot of about 40 minutes has been scheduled for the talks. A senior Chinese diplomat toldTheIndianExpressthathewas “hopeful of a fruitful meeting”. Thetwoleadersareexpected to give their stamp of approval on a calendar of activities to be organised to mark the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations — last-minute diplomatic talks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BEHIND INVESTMENT BY JAPAN, MESSAGE TO TRUMP PAGE 6 People line up at the Berhampore Municipality in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. Express Legal challenges cloud Zelenskyy speaks to Trump’s powers as PM, says India ready to India faces 50% tariff deliver signal to Russia RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 DIVYA A NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 AS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi reached Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit where he will be meeting, among other leaders, RussianPresidentVladimirPutin, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Modi and said “the end of this (Ukraine) war must begin with an immediate ceasefire” and “India is ready to make the necessary effortsandtodelivertheappropriate signal to Russia and other leaders” at the summit. Modi, in a post on X, thanked Informed (Modi) about talks with President Trump in Washington: Zelenskyy Zelenskyy for the phone call. “Weexchangedviewsontheongoing conflict, its humanitarian aspect, and efforts to restore CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DAYS AFTER the steep 50 per centUStariffsonIndiacameinto effect, a US appeals court on Fridayruledthatamajorityof US President Donald Trump’stariffs derived from powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is illegal. The tariffs will, however, continue to remain in place untilOctober14,thecourtsaid,giving the Trump administration a window to appeal in the US Supreme Court. Reacting to the court order, Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social all tariffs CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 8 months after Carlsen row, FIDE breaks with tradition, allows players to wear jeans MUMBAI, AUGUST 30 IN A change from tradition, FIDE, the 101-year-old global governing body for chess, has eased its dress code and allowed players to wear “appropriate jeans” at the upcoming Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss tournaments. FIDE’s move comes eight months after Magnus Carlsen’s ‘jeans wear’ controversy, which saw the world’s greatest chess player of the current generation MURSHIDABAD, MALDA, AUGUST 30 AHEAD OF MODI’S TALKS WITH PUTIN PLAYERS CONSULTED: FIDE DEPUTY PRESIDENT VISWANATHAN ANAND AMIT KAMATH RAVIK BHATTACHARYA Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Tianjin, China, for the SCO summit on Saturday. PMOIndia quit the FIDE World Rapid Championship mid-way after being fined for wearing jeans. Carlsen, who said he quit the event as a “matter of principle”, latersoldthatparticularjeansfor Rs 31 lakh ($36,100) in an online auction on eBay. Carlsen is unlikely to play in theGrandSwissevent,tobeheld from September 3 to 16 in Samarkand,Uzbekistan,evenafter the change in dress code, but therevisedFIDErulesmeanother players will be allowed to wear “non-distressed jeans” in three colours: blue, black, and grey. X/@MagnusCarlsen Last year, Carlsen was fined for wearing jeans at the FIDE World Rapid Championship “Appropriate jeans are now permitted as part of the official dress code. This change offers players more comfort and freedom of choice, while ensuring that the overall appearance of the event remains professional andrespectful,”aFIDEstatement issued Friday said. FIDE deputy president and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand told The Indian Express on Saturday that the chess body took the decision toallowjeansafterconsultations with multiple players. He said CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED THE WORLD WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Imperative totalk, ● negotiate FOR INDIA, the ruling offers a sliver of hope, but it is crucial to remain engaged with the Trump administration to wrap up a trade deal. Given that it’s not just a trade deal, but a larger strategic relationship that needs to be protected, New Delhi will likely pick the gauntlet and aim to get Washington back on table. NYT: TRUMP MAY NOT VISIT INDIA PAGE 6 EXPRESS NETWORK IN A letter to the West Bengal Chief Secretary and District Election Officers, the Election Commission set the ball rolling on Wednesday for the revision of electoral rolls in the state that is bound for polls next year. In Bengal’s Murshidabad and Malda districts bordering Bangladesh, dominated by the Muslim community, the preparations have been on — for a while. At municipalities, in gram panchayats and in courts, people have been lining up with stamp papers — paying double their usual cost of Rs 10 each — to have birth certificates corrected, digitised or “delayed new ones” issued. Owning a birth certificate is not common in these parts — like in other rural areas of the country.However,thefearisthat a Bihar-like Special Intensive Officials of Birth and Death Records Department go through files. Chayan Majumdar Revision may be followed by a drive to compile a National Register of Citizens (NRC), and a birth certificate could decide whether one is certified as an Indian or is deported. In a notification on July 29, the Trinamool Congress government, which has questioned the SIR, issued a notification laying down clear guidelines regarding birth records. Now, people are lining up on the ground to ensure that they CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 65 LAKH NAMES DELETED UNDER SIR Nearly 30,000 deleted electors in Bihar seek inclusion: Poll panel 13.3 lakh first-time voters have also submitted enrolment forms, says EC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE JAMMU: 7 OF FAMILY AMONG 12 KILLED IN CLOUDBURST; SEASON’S TOLL 130 IAF VICE-CHIEF: LESS THAN 50 WEAPONS ENDED PAK CONFLICT UTTARAKHAND HC ALLOWS SACRIFICE OF ANIMALS FOR FESTIVAL PAGES 10, 7, 12 NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 WITH TWO days to go for the deadlineof September1,Election Commission data released Saturday showed that 29,872 electors out of the 65 lakh electors whose names were deleted in the draft stage of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoralrollsinBiharhadappliedfor inclusion in the final roll. And 13.33 lakh new electors who have turned 18 years and above have also submitted enrolment forms. According to the EC’s SIR order issued on June 24, all registered electors (7.89 crore) of Bihar were required to fill enumeration forms by July 25 to make it to the draft roll published on August 1. Based on the forms, the draft roll with 7.24 crore electors was published. The EC said that the 65 lakh names removed at the draft stage had been marked as either deceased, permanently shifted, untraceableorregisteredatmultiple places. For anyone left out incorrectly or any ineligible elector CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Study shows how fireflies mark a forest’s health, why darkness matters PAGE 1 ANCHOR ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, AUGUST 30 ON HUMID summer nights in Tamil Nadu’s Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), the forest canopy begins to pulse. First one flicker, then hundreds, then thousands — until entire trees appear to breathe with light. To stand in thatdarknessistowatchtheforest write its own rhythm: a synchronous dance of fireflies, signalling across the night sky in bursts of yellow and green. Fordecades,villagersandvis- itors have been surprised at thesecongregations.Butonlyrecently have scientists begun to systematically catalogue the species that compose this living constellation, and to understand what their presence means for a forest under pressure from human activity. A study by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, with a year-long survey documentedinastate-sanctionedreport,revealsboththediversityof fireflies in the reserve and the fragilityof theconditionsthatallow them to thrive. The Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), based in Vandalur, carried out a meticuloussurveybetweenApril 2024 and March 2025. Researchers K Ragavendran and and his team scoured 10 locations — from the forest hamlets ofKozhikamuthiandVaragalayar to the agro-ecosystems of Saralapathi — collecting larvae and adult flies under the guidance of scientists M Gabriel Paulraj, S Siva Ranjani, and S Selvakumar. In the end, eight distinct species were identified: Absconditaperplexa,Abscondita terminalis, Asymmetricata humeralis, three species of Curtos, Lamprigera sp., and Pyrocoelia sp. DNA barcoding confirmed the taxonomy, and accession numbers were depositedinglobaldatabases.Each site yielded its own ecological Sriram Murali The survey was originally inspired by photographic work by Coimbatore-based Sriram Murali fingerprint. Saralapathi, with its calmnightsandcultivatedfields, produced the highest count, dominated by A. terminalis. Manthirimattam and Varagalayar were strongholds of A. perplexa, their males and females carefully tallied along transect lines. The study also measured environmental variables — temperature, humidity, light intensity, wind speed — capturing the atmospheric stage on which these beetles play out their nocturnal drama. When asked about the study methods used in a dangerous forest region, especially in the dark, A Udhayan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Director of AIWC, told The Indian Express that their team spent evenings and nights across different parts of the reserve, looking not only at the flashing displays but also at the forest floor, where larvae develop before emerging as adults. “Fireflies are not active throughout the year — during and after the rains they perform, while the rest of the time they remain in the soil, growing until they become full-fledged insects. We carried out extensive DNA studies and larval collections to understand these life stages,” he said. The Anamalai Tiger Reserve is best known for its elephants, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2