DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES A TRIBUTE TO BHUPEN DA PM NARENDRA MODI PAGE 5 TARGET IS TO SEAL DEAL BEFORE SUMMIT EARLY 2026 European Union negotiators coming to Delhi this week to step up FTA talks Dairy, sugar, rice kept out of farm trade talks; India to seek CBAM concessions SHUBHAJIT ROY & RAVI DUTTA MISHRA Census 2027: Enumerators to use own smartphones to collect data HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 NEARLY 34 LAKH enumerators conducting the upcoming Census, the country’s first fully digitalCensus,willusetheirown smartphonesanddedicatedmobileapplicationsfortheexercise, The Indian Express has learned. According to sources, the enumerators and supervisors deployed by the Registrar General of India (RGI) will use their own devices to collect the data and transfer it to the central serverthroughthemobileapplications, which will be available in English as well as in regional languages for both Android and iOS operating systems. Theappsweredevelopedinitiallyforthe2021Censusbutare now being redeveloped and recalibrated to match the technological enhancements in mobile phones and operating systems, said a source. Accordingtothesource,if,for somereason,anenumeratorcollects data on paper, they will have to then enter it on a dedicated web portal so that no subsequent scanning or data entry is required. This means that the Census data will, for the first time,bedigitisedattheenumerator level itself, ensuring timely availability of the information, the source added. Sources said the mobile applications will be used in both phases of Census 2027 — the houselisting operation that will be conducted from April to September 2026, and the population enumeration that is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DAYS AFTER Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Union leaders discussed an “early conclusion” of the IndiaEU FTA, two top negotiators of the EU, in-charge of trade and agriculture, are coming to India thisweektoholdtalksonresolving knotty issues of the deal. European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen will be in Delhithisweektoleadthenegotiations, their first visit since February this year when the College of Commissioners travelled to India. These two Commissioners, who are equivalent to Cabinet Ministers, will be leading a 30member negotiating team from Brussels and will meet their counterparts in Delhi, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 out for in run-up to deal, summit SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 ChristopheHansenand MarosSefcovic BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY AMID THE strain in ties between Delhi and Washington over the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, India and the EU are embarking on an “intensive” roadmap over the next five months — with 10 meetings in the next 5-6 months, leading to the India-EU leaders’ summit early next year —thatwillsignalstrategicstability in bilateral ties. The dates for the India-EU leaders’ summitareyettobedecided, and can take place in January or February, 2026, depending on the negotiations for the trade deal. If all goes to plan, there is a possibilityof DelhiinvitingEUleaders as chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations. On September 17, the EU Commissionwillunveila strategicagendaroadmap document on what it has to“offer”toIndia.Itwillbe apoliticalandpolicydoc● ument, which will be circulated among 27 member countries of the EU. Thisambitiousagendawillcut across political, security, defence, E CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Navarro slams Musk as X fact-checks post attacking India over Russian oil SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 JAPAN PM RESIGNS, LINKS IT TO TRADE DEAL WITH U.S. P 12 POST HOSTILITIES WITH PAKISTAN Advanced radars along northern and western borders to 10 meetings, 5 months: What to look boost drone shield EXPLAINED GOVT & POLITICS `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 THE FAULT lines in the new Washington under President DonaldTrumpbecamevisibleas WhiteHousetradeadvisorPeter Navarro lashed out at Elon Musk afterthebillionaire’sXsocialmedia platform fact-checked White House trade advisor Peter Navarro; X owner Elon Musk Navarro’s latest diatribe against India for buying Russian oil as “hypocritical”. Navarro and Musk have had an acrimonious relationship in the past, with Musk having called him a “moron” in the past. Musk is no longer with the Trump administration — he quit as head of Department of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UTTAR PRADESH YOGI MEETS ABVP OFFICE-BEARERS, STIR CALLED OFF PAGE 4 AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 WITH PAKISTAN managing to breach Indian airspace with swarms of drones, including camouflaged surveillance and attack UAVs, during the hostilities that followed Operation Sindoor, the Indian Army is preparing to plug gaps in its air surveillance network along the northern and western borders withadvancedradars,TheIndian Express has learned. The new radar systems that theArmyplanstoprocurearedesignedtodetect,trackandengage aerial objects with a low radar cross-section(RCS),whichmakes themhardertospot.Accordingto sources,thesesystemswillbeintegrated into the Army’s Akashteer air defence network, giving battlefield commanders sharpereyesintheskyandfaster responses against hostile drones and other aerial threats. In two separate Request for Information (RFI) — the formal process for gathering inputs from potential suppliers — the Army has sought to procure up to 45 Low Level Light Weight Radars (Enhanced) (LLLR-E) and up to 48 Air Defence Fire Control Radar-Drone Detectors (ADFCRDD). In a separate Request for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PASSENGERS TARGETED AT LUGGAGE CHECK Railway cops extorting passengers in Mumbai, 13 suspended in 5 months MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 7 OVER THE past five months, 13 Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel, including a Senior Inspector, have been suspended on charges of extorting money from passengers at railway stations across Mumbai in what officers say is an “unprecedented” crackdown against an “organised racket”. Sources told The Indian Expressthattheracketwasfound to be operating at railway stations in and around Mumbai,especially those that cater to longdistance trains, such as Mumbai Central, Dadar, Kurla, Bandra Terminus, Borivali, Thane, Kalyan and Panvel. “The targets are mostly long-distance passengers carrying valuables who prefertoavoidregisteringacomplaint,” an officer said. Detailing the modus operandi,sourcessaidthevictims CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INDIA LIFTS ASIA CUP The Indian hockey team celebrates after defeating defending champions South Korea 4-1 to lift the Asia Cup trophy after eight years and qualify for next year’s World Cup. PTI REPORT,P16 Women lead in Punjab flood relief: Embankments to camps & supplies KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR SRIHARGOBINDPUR (GURDASPUR), SEPTEMBER 7 ‘In Lok Sabha, did we say they stole the votes? They got more seats, didn’t they? EKNATH SHINDE MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER PAGE 13 ON THE bridge over the Beas connecting Hoshiarpur and Tanda, 32-year-old Harmel Kaur has been living in a makeshift camp for 20 days, turning a trolley into a cramped room and kitchenforherthreechildren,after floodwaters submerged her home and fields. “The morning and evening meals come from the gurdwara. I still make tea, wash clothes and do all the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Women prepare food for those affected at a village near Ajnala in Amritsar on Sunday. Rana Simranjit Singh Steve Waugh takes guard for ties between India and Australia: ‘Foundation is cricket’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHUBHAJIT ROY SYDNEY, NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7 FORMER AUSTRALIA captain SteveWaughbookendedhisTest career with Team India, making his debut at Melbourne in December 1985 and winding up at Sydney in January 2004. Having played against several greats, from Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, he has been to Obviously, you’d love to see India and Pakistan play cricket regularly but that doesn’t happen, which is a huge shame because the cricket world wants to see that. I’m sure cricket supporters in both countries want to see that STEVE WAUGH, EX-AUSTRALIA CRICKET CAPTAIN India “about 40-50 times” in the last 40 years. So,itwasnaturalthatWaugh signed up when the Australian Foreignministryaskedhimafew months ago to join the board of theirgovernment-backedCentre for Australia India Relations (CAIR),establishedin2023.Now, he is planning to come to India nextmonthinhisnewrole—and for his philanthropic and business engagements. SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress in Sydney recently, not very far from the ground where he played some of his most memorable matches, the legendary CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow