www.IndIAneXPreSS.COm A DiwAli of Different lAmps Is it about Ram returning? Or about Krishna killing Narakasura? Diwali can be all of these, depending on which part of India you are from kolkata, November 8, 2026 lAte CIty 16+4 PAGeS ₹7.00 screen Vinod Kapri on putting a love story at the centre of his film Pyre (₹12 In nOrth eASt StAteS, ₹20 In AndAmAn) F r O m : A h m e d A b A d , THe IndIan exPress wIsHes ITs readers a very happy Diwali we are closed today. there will be no edition of the newspaper on monday, november 9, 2026. Our coverage and news updates 24x7 will be available on indianexpress.com Happening today lIndIa face Pakistan at the U-19 one-day Asia Cup Group A match in Oman. For India, much of the batting interest will centre around Aaryavir Sehwag, son of ex-opener Virender Sehwag. traCk theSe aND more oN www.indianexpress.com C h A n d I G A r h , d e l h I , j A I P U r , k O l k A t A , new U.s. sTrIKes On Iran Trump, Qatar emir in talks over west asia de-escalation associated Press Washington, November 7 USPreSIdeNTdonaldTrump discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle east in a telephone call with Qatar’s emir, the gulf state leader’s office said, as the US military launched new targeted strikes on Iran and the region remained on edge. Iran is reviewing proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the US about Tehran’s nuclear programme, two Middle east government officials said. The development is raising hopesthatthetwosidescouldbe inchingtowardindirecttalkson one of the thorniest issues that Trumpsaysmustberesolvedas partofanydealmeanttoendthe more than 8-month-old war. But one of the officials stressed that the Iranians, at leastatthemoment,remainunwilling to engage in negotiations with the Trump administration over its atomic activities until the US agrees to severalcoreconditionsthatIran has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement. The telephone call between Trump and Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani centered on interna- tional efforts to end tensions, according to a statement from the Qatari ruler’s media office. Thetwodiscussedinparticular Qatar’s mediation efforts aimed at reaching “a comprehensive agreement that ends the crisis and achieves security and stability in the region.” Qatar has been mediating between the US and Iran to end the war. Qatar and other US-allied gulf Arab countries came under heavy fire by Iran earlier in the US-Iran war and have been anxious to avoid a new escalation that could leave them vulnerable to attacks. during the call, Sheik Tamim “stressed the impor- express special exACTly A year after the SpecialIntensiverevision(SIr) of electoral rolls started in West Bengal, on November 4, 2025, and with the fate of more than 35 lakh voters still pending before them, the 19 judicial tribunals headed by retired judges are hoping the promised changes in their functioning will finally kick in post-diwali. on Saturday, news came of a third retired judge, Justice Biswajit Basu, resigning as Singapore-based tech executive shot dead in Faridabad tribunal head, citing personal reasons. earlier, former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court T S Sivagananam and Justice Indrajit Chatterjee (retired) had submitted their resignations, with Justice Chatterjee agreeing to stay on after he was promised that his grievances would be addressed. Justice Basu, who has sent his resignation to the Calcutta HighCourtChiefJustice,isalso thechairpersonoftheCommission on Institutional Corruption, appointed to the post Faridabad, November 7 A 42-yeAr-old Singaporebased corporate executive was shot dead, allegedly by his neighbour following a parking disputeataresidentialbuilding inFaridabad’sSector21CFriday night. The prime accused was arrested near dlF Chowk in Ballabgarh Saturday evening by the police Crime Branch. The man killed in the incident was identified as Paramjith dhankhar who worked as senior vice-president of a Vietnam-based IT firm in Singapore. Hailing from Hisar, he worked earlier as the Asia Pacific regional business head forTechMahindrainAustralia. HehadarrivedinFaridabad on November 5 to attend his nephew’s wedding scheduled for later this month. According to investigators, the incident took place around 8.30 pm Friday outside house number 641 in Sector 21C. »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 nation Page 7 UttarakHand minister’s HUsband Held for assaUlt Heavy-lift aircraft lands at nyoma airbase celebrating l k advani’s 100tH birtHday ‘a mentor wHose ideals endUre’ BY M VeNKaIah NaIDu m U m b A I , n A G P U r , P A t n A , P U n e , V A d O d A r A JantarMantar offthemap, capital’sother protestshave nowheretogo the Naga Students’ Union held a press conference at the Press Club of India on october 22 instead of a protest Pragynesh New Delhi, November 7 ProTeSTS AgAINST the violence in Manipur, demands for reservation for Jaats in central government jobs and opposition to piped natural gas were among at least 15 demonstrations planned at delhi’s Jantar Mantar between october and december. But on october 9, the site was taken off the list of designated protest spaces, with the delhi Police naming three alternatives — Burari ground, ramlila ground and CBd ground. For several groups, however, moving their demonstrations to these venues proved far from straightforward.Someprotestsnevertook place. The Naga Students’ Union was among them; it had planned a demonstration againsttheviolenceinManipur »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 Lawrence aide Harry Boxer who ran gang’s India ops held in US Mahender singh Manral & Parul Kulshrestha NewDelhi,Jaipur,November7 dAyS AFTer they nabbed absconding gangster Himanshu Bhau, law enforcement agencies (leAs) in the United StateshavearrestedHariChand Jaat,aliasHarryBoxer—aclose aideofjailedgangsterlawrence Bishnoi — after India’s central agencies alerted them to his location in California. Boxer, described by police as a “main mastermind” of the gang who ran its India operations while abroad, was detained by the US Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICe) agency on Friday. hari Chand Jaat, aka harry boxer This followed a joint operation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the rajasthan police's Anti-gangster Task Force (AgTF), and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Boxer allegedly issued threats to Bollywood actor ranveer Singh and director »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 bengal tribunals were set up in march this year following an order by the Supreme Court. eXPreSS in May 2026. Sources close to the retired judge said he was unhappy over the infrastructure provided for the tribunal, with the move to make Aad- haar identification mandatory for logging into the election Commission of India (eCI) portal coming as the last straw. »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 InTerns Use wHaTsaPP TO bUy, sell HOsPITal sHIfTs: GOvT Who’soncallatyourhospital emergencyRoom?InBengal, internmaybeapaidstand-in Kolkata, November 7 abhimanyu Hazarika Pages 9, 12 ‘He gave Party a foUndation rooted in nation first’ sweety Kumari Paramjith Dhankhar, 42 »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 PM NaReNDRa MODI another former judge heading a tribunal resigns, cites personal reasons Kolkata, November 7 tance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomatic means to resolve disputes, sparingtheregionfurtherescalation,andensuringfreedomof maritime navigation and the securityofenergysupplies,”according to the statement. Meanwhile, Trump said that the US military carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting its air defence systems. In an exchange with reporters, hedescribedthemilitaryaction as “minor.” Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the inside ayearsincebengalsirbegan,tribunals nowcountonpick-upafterdiwali atri Mitra l U C k n O w , WHATSAPP MeSSAgeS all hours of night and day come with the job at medical colleges. In West Bengal, there is a difference. Many such chats across medical colleges in the state involve monetary transactions over hospital shifts and emergency room duties, which are bought and sold for fixed rates per hour. officials said that what started as informal peer adjustments among medical interns has turned into a cash-for-duty network that operates across medicalcollegesinKolkataand other parts of the state, allowing interns to trade mandatory rotatory shifts for amounts rangingbetweenrs200andrs 600 per hour. one such group, named ‘Internship replacement’, contains more than 255 members who regularly broadcast shift availability and the money expected in return. The state Health department has rolled out a biometric attendance system now to checkthepractice.HealthMinister Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay, who says he came across adentalcollegeinternperformingdutiesonbehalfofanMBBS internduringasurpriseinspection at Murshidabad Medical College, held a meeting this monthwithprincipalsandvicepresidents of medical colleges where this issue was discussed. Sources said principals of three medical colleges – one based in Kolkata and two in North Bengal — said they had no idea about this “network” under their roofs. l casH-for-duty network ₹200-600/hr mandatory rotatory shifts bought and sold, with some paying rs 30,000 monthly 255 members inawhatsAppgroupwhereinterns postavailabilityandthemoney offeredinreturn giving the example of one suchWhatsApptransaction,an official said a message could be put up on the group asking if anyone was willing to take up an emergency room (er) shift, with timings specified, such as an “er evening from 3 pm today” and a “Night er from 10 pm to 8 am today”, followed by the money on offer. Minister Mukhopadhyay toldTheIndianExpressthatthe practice has been found to be widespread, across “almost all” government hospitals. “We have identified many interns involved, warned them and now we are making biometric attendance mandatory.” officials said that, on an average, a medical college and hospital in Bengal has around 250 interns, who must put in minimum hours for an MBBS degree,performingdutiessuch astakingdowncasehistoriesof patients for a monthly stipend of rs 40,000 to rs 50,000. only onhealthgroundsoranemergency is an intern allowed exemption from duty, which can stretch from 6 hours to 24, with the requirement that the missed hours be completed Some use the arrangement to carve out time for higher studies. Others simply point to long working hours later. “There is no attendance systemassuch...Noonechecks, honestly,” a Medical officer at one of the medical colleges and hospitals in Kolkata said. Informally, interns are known to swap duties or ask someoneelsetocoverforthem, but that this was being done for money was something officials saytheywerenotawareof.“Itis extremely unethical to see interns bargaining over rates to swap duties as if they are groceryshopping,”aresidentdoctor at a government hospital said, on the condition of anonymity. on the ethical aspect, Tapas Pramanick, Medical officer in the emergency department at r g Kar Medical College and Hospital, told The Indian Express:“Thereare10Medicalofficers at r g Kar, so everyone knows us by face. If someone wants to swap, it is always with one of the other nine Medical officers. But interns have been known to get Ayurveda students and even non-medical friends to step in for them.” Healthdepartmentofficials said that in districts, they have found situations where junior ICA-D1727 (23)/2026 d A I l y »cOnTInUed On PaGe 2 Kolkata