The Ideas Page: To teach or to research, we must be honest about what we want from our teachers 13 tHURSdAy, MAy 7, 2026 JouRnalism of CouRage NEW DElhI, lATE CITy, 22 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) 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 happening today lThe Bihar Cabinet is set to be expanded, weeks after BJP's Samrat Choudhary was sworn in as the Chief Minister. JD(U) president and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's son, Nishant Kumar, is tipped to be among the new ministers. lBriTish voTers will cast ballots in local elections that could hasten the end of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's troubled term. Rival parties are framing it as a referendum on his twoyear-old government. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com verDiCT 2026 look for vision, not administrative exPerience: kerala cm frontrunner P 8 business as usual By eP Unny BJP, TMC iN BlaMe GaMe over violeNCe, PoliCe say More ThaN 400 arresTeD Suvendu’s key aide shot dead as post-poll violence rocks Bengal Assailants on motorcycle intercepted Rath’s car in Madhyamgram Tanusree Bose, atri Mitra & sweety Kumari Mumbai, May 6 AyeARafterthePahalgamterror attacks and Operation sindoor, india has formally opened the door for Pakistani athletes and teams to compete on its soil in international eventsinaclearpolicythatseparates bilateral ties from global sporting commitments. An Office Memorandum issued tuesday by the union sports Ministry stated that “Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in multilateral events hosted by india”, and signalled a more supportive visa regime for athletes,officialsandinternational federation representatives. the policy draws a firm line betweenbilateralandmultilateral sport. “in so far as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in india,” the memorandum said. however,itsaid,forinternational competitions, “we are guidedbythepracticesofinternationalsportsbodiesandinterest of our own sportspersons”. »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 Vijay still short of majority, arch rivals dMK & AiAdMK weigh tn alliance Kolkata, May 6 the situAtiOn in West Bengal, rocked by post-poll violence following the BJP’s landslidevictorythatended15years oftMcrule,tooka seriousturn Wednesday night when chandranath Rath, executive assistant to BJP leader suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in the DohariaareaofMadhyamgram in north 24 Parganas district. Rath, a close aide of Adhikari who defeated Mamata Banerjee and is the frontrunner for the post of chief Minister, was shot point blank after his car was intercepted by motorcycle-borne assailants around 10.20 pm. he died on the spot. his driver sustained serious injuries and was taken to the ssKM hospital in Kolkata. PolicesourcessaidRathwas returning to his home in Barasatwhenhiscarwasstoppedby menononeortwomotorcycles in the Doharia area. A man came close to the car window and fired three rounds at him, the sources said. Rath was seated next to the driver. india’s new sports policy for Pakistan: no to bilateral ties, yes to global events Mihir vasavda TVk chief Vijay met Tamil nadu Governor rajendra arlekar in chennai on Wednesday to stake claim to form the government. ANI E. explained Pak still grey zone The government’s new sports policy removes much of the ambiguity over engagement with Pakistan in India. But India’s participation in multilateral events in Pakistan remains uncertain, and will depend on the prevailing geopolitical and security climate. l Upcomingglobal eventsinindia 2026 Asian Weightlifting Cham- pionships, Ahmedabad 2026 World Badminton Championships, Delhi 2027 Shooting World Cup, Delhi 2027 Asian Rifle/Pistol Cham- pionships, Delhi 2028 World Indoor Athletics Championships, Bhubaneswar 2029 ICC Champions Trophy 2030 Commonwealth Games, Ahmedabad 2031 ODI World Cup suvendu adhikari's aide chandranath rath. PTI A senior police officer said, “it’saplannedmurder.Because after he shot Rath, the killer waited for him to die.” Rath was rushed to a private hospital where he was declared dead. One of the doctors said that two persons were brought to the emergency section of the hospital.Whileonewasbrought dead, the other had sustained gunshotinjuries,thedoctorsaid. Adhikariand Rath’swife set out for the hospital as soon as they learnt of the attack. West Bengal BJP president samik Bhattacharya told »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 The vehicle in which chandranath rath was shot, in north 24 Parganas on Wednesday night. ExPRESS tMC to move court, Mamata digs in heels; Assembly stands dissolved ravik Bhattacharya & atri Mitra Kolkata, May 6 Accusing the BJP and the election commission of india of “stealing” the mandate in WestBengalthrough“manipulation of eVMs” and violence, tMc chief Mamata Banerjee Wednesdayrefusedtoresignas chief Minister and her party announced that it would be moving court against the Assembly election results. As Banerjee dug in her heels, state chief electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal met governor R n Ravi and submitted the gazette notification of the election results, clearing the decks for the governor to invite the BJP, the party voted to power in a landslide, to form the next government. »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 learNiNG froM CoNfliCTs aT hoMe, aBroaD Underground infra to air defence, armed forces fast-track priorities the editorial page A yEAR lATER benchmark set, institutionalise lessons from oP sindoor amrita Nayak Dutta Syed AtA HASnAin P12 theeARlyhoursofMay7will markoneyearofOperationsindoor, a strike by the indian armed forces on terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan followed by hostilities between the two countries over four days. A year since, the indian militaryhasfocusedontwosignificant aspects: large-scale construction of underground infrastructure and the establishmentofastrongairdefence system. learning from Operation sindoor and ongoing global conflicts, several changes are being considered, covering deployment of troops and equipment, acquisition of new technology and weapons, among them a range of drones and counter-drone systems, and newer ways of fighting wars. Multiple officials across the defenceestablishmenttoldThe Indian Express that the construction of large-scale undergroundinfrastructurehasbeen a major focus of the military, alongside the implementation of other passive measures such asdispersalofassetsandformations, increased concealment andcamouflage,andforcepreservation efforts. According to officials, work on the construction of underground command and control centres, starting with the Army’s command and corps headquarters level and later at divisional and lower levels, has been underway. New Delhi, May 6 »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 arun Janardhanan Chennai, May 6 the RAce for numbers in tamil nadu threw up a new possibilitylateWednesdaythat wouldhavesoundedpolitically improbable just a day ago: leaders of Dravidian arch rivals DMK and AiADMK are exploring a joint fallback scenario if Vijay's tVK falls short of the majority mark, The Indian Express has learnt. sources from both parties saidoneoptionbeingdiscussed was for the AiADMK to form a government with outside support from the DMK and backing from smaller parties. “nothing has formally happened yet. But conversations among inside cong ends ties with dmk, to go with tvk in future Polls Page 6 leaders and internal meetings across camps suggest that this possibility is no longer just theoretical,” sources said. thelatest twistinthestate's post-election churn came after Vijay's path to becoming the next chief Minister hit an unexpectedpause,with governor Rajendra Arlekar insisting that thetVKproducedocumentary »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 US, iran close in on memo to end war, Hormuz ship escorts paused; oil prices fall dual-use infra like airfields, roads connecting strategic areas closer to borders also a key focus area operation tVK stakes claim with Cong support, Governor says show me the numbers trump claims ‘great progress’, holds out bombing threat if iran backs out rameez khan, wife Urusa offer prayers at their children’s graves. In Poonch, 14 people were killed in border shelling last may. ARUN ShARMA twins dead, father says: ‘i often wonder why we moved to Poonch…’ arun sharma Poonch, May 6 the eMPtiness that assails Rameez and urusa Khan as they walk through the iron gates of their single-storey home in Poonch’s chaktroo town is pervasive. it slips into their evening tea, haunts their favourite corners, and follows them as they visit the graves of their11-year-oldtwinsZoyaand Zain — both killed in last year’s cross-bordershellinginPoonch during Operation sindoor. “theywouldopenthegates for us when we came home from work,” says Rameez, a government teacher, like his wife urusa. “We’re now simply passing through life.” Zoya and Zain, who were born 5 minutes apart and died within minutes of each other onMay7,2025,wereamongthe 14 people killed in shelling in »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 ariba shahid, steve holland & alexander Cornwell Islamabad, Washington, Tel Aviv, May 6 the us and iran are closing in onanagreementonaone-page memorandum to end the war inthegulf,asourcefrommediator Pakistan and another source briefed on the mediation said Wednesday. in an early morning social media post, us President Donald trump gave no details of any specific proposal but said the war could end if “iran agrees to give what has been agreed to”. the sources confirmed information initially reported by the us media outlet Axios. the proposed 14-point, one-page memorandum would formally end the war, followed by discussions to unblock shipping Iranian Foreign minister abbas araghchi with his chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday. AP through the strait of hormuz, lift us sanctions on iran and agreeoncurbsoniran’snuclear programme. »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2 l classIFIed as ‘near ThreaTened’, ProTecTed sPecIes FoUnd To Be alIVe and BreedInG In araVallI scrUBlands Rusty-spotted, among tiniest wildcat species, sighted close to Delhi sophiya Mathew reported last week in the peerreviewed journal Zoo’s Print. the female adult and her they WeRe sighted for no dependent kitten were photomore than 10-15 seconds — a graphed in July 2025 in Kot vilmother, followed a few steps lage of Faridabad district durbehind, by her tiny offspring. ingfieldsurveysbyresearchers But it was enough to establish affiliated with the Department that an elusive of Zoology at indira page 1 species of the cat gandhiuniversityin family was alive and Meerpur, haryana. breeding in the Arathe finding, revalli scrublandsat the doorstep ported by Amit Kumar, tejveer of Delhi. Mavi,yatinVerma,RamKumar Photographic evidence for Rawat,andsohailMadan,indithe presence of the rusty- cates the presence of a resident spotted cat (Prionailurus rupopulation of the species in the biginosus), one of the world’s AravallilandscapeinFaridabad smallestspeciesof wildcat,was and gurgaon. New Delhi, May 6 anchor therusty-spottedcatisclassified as ‘near threatened’ on the iucn Red list, and is protected under schedule i of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. the international union for conservationofnature(iucn)isan organisation of 160 member countriesand hundredsofcivil society groups that work together for the protection of biodiversity, and to examine the health of species and their extinction risk. the rusty-spotted cat measures no more than 35-48 cm in length, about half of which is bushy tail. it has short, reddish grey fur, with rusty The female cat, her kitten were photographed in July 2025 in kot village of Faridabad district. yATIN VERMA spots on the back and sides. the cat is native to india, nepal and sri lanka, where al- most 75% of its habitat is believed to be under threat from land-use change, including agriculture and urban expansion.theanimalisrarelydocumented due to its secretive na- ture and low density. “the rusty-spotted cat is one of the world’s smallest cat species.it is found in virgin forest, where there is no disturbance. But here we have recorded it very close to the city inAravallis.thisisthefirsttime anybody has recorded the breeding.itisproofthatAravallis is still home to very sensitive wildlife,” yatin Verma, one of the researchers, told The Indian Express. until now, the species had only been recorded sporadicallyinDelhi-ncR.“inseptember 2023, from Manger Bani…, before that from haryana, only New Delhi three-four instances were recorded in the past few years. it was all through a camera trap and there was no live sighting. But wewere ableto recentlyget live sightings as well,” he said. Vermasaidhehadrecorded three live sightings of the cat so far, including one made as recently as this week. the first live sighting was reported in Bhondsi in gurgaon in 2023, followed by the mother-andkitten sighting in Kot village in 2025, and a third in tikri just days ago, he said. the researchers said the presence of the species across »CoNTiNUeD oN PaGe 2