DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES BY UNNY Soldier killed in anti-terror operation in Kishtwar ‘OUR ENEMIES SAW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SINDOOR TURNS INTO BAAROOD’ Modi’smindstayscool,butbloodruns hot,sindoorinmyveins:PMinBikaner Sanctioned SC says probe agency violating federal terrorists on structure, seeks reply in two weeks Pak soil, its govt Why TN ANANTHAKRISHNAN G cannot say no NEW DELHI, MAY 22 came idea: Jaishankar WARNING THE Enforcement ● to SC Befitting reply for each terror attack, will view Pak’s state, non-state actors as one: PM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE JAMMU, MAY 22 AN ARMY soldier was killed on Thursday in an exchange of fire after security forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police intercepted a group of terrorists in theChatrooareaof Kishtwardistrict. Policesourcessaidthree-four terrorists from the Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) are believed to be trapped in the area, following the joint cordon-and-search operation by police, Army, and paramilitary personnel. The operation was launched after what authorities described as “precise intelligence input” provided by the local police. The trapped terrorists are thought to be part of the same group that recently escaped an earlier encounter in the same region. In a social media post, the Army’s Nagrota-based White Knight Corps said, “One of our bravehearts sustained grievous injuries in the exchange of fire and has succumbed despitebest medical efforts.” The statement saidtheoperationisongoingand that a fierce gunfight is underway. The encounter broke out early Thursday morning in the Singhpora area of Chatroo. Earlier in the month, six terrorists, includingthreeowingallegiance to JeM, were killed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Army and the CRPF in two major anti-terror operations in the Kashmir Valley. The encounters come weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack, in which26 civilianswere killed. The incident prompted India to launch strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and led to heightened tensions between the two countries until a pause on military operations was announced. EXPRESS NETWORK PTI PM Narendra Modi in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on Thursday. PTI REPORT,P6 HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, MAY 22 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi said on Thursday that the Indian Armed Forces made Pakistan kneel during Operation Sindoor and that the world and enemies of the country have now seen what happens when “sindoor (vermilion)turnstogunpowder”, adding that garam sindoor runs through his veins now. He said India’s response is a “new form of justice” and emphasised that there will be no trade ortalkswith Pakistannow. Significantly, the PM said that the recent developments have made three things clear: that there will be a befitting reply for eachterrorattack;thatIndiawill not be scared by threats of an atom bomb; and that India will view Pakistan’s “state and nonstate actors” as one. Addressing a rally in Bikaner, parts of which were attacked by Pakistan recently, the PM said, “This brave land of Rajasthan CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGES 6, 11 Be sensitive to our concerns, basis for ties: India to Turkey & China SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MAY 22 ALMOSTTWOweeksafternaming Turkey and China for their equipment and weapons being used by Pakistan against India during the military confrontationbetweenMay7and10,India on Thursday asked both the countries to be sensitive to its concerns. “WeexpectTurkeytostrongly urge Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism and take credible and verifiable actionsagainsttheterrorecosystem it has harboured for decades. Relations are built on the basis of sensitivities to each other’s concerns,” the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. An Indian multi-party delegation in Abu Dhabi, Thursday. PTI On China, Jaiswal said: “Our NSA and the Chinese FM and Special Representative on Boundary Issue Mr Wang Yi had spoken to each other on May 10, 2025, when the NSA conveyed India’s resolute stance against cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. The Chinese side is aware that mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivityremainthebasisof IndiaChina relations.” On May 9, a preliminary probe into the debris after Pakistan’s attempt to breach the northernandwesternfrontshad SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MAY 22 UNDERLINING THE role of Pakistan'sgovernmentandarmy in their country's terror infrastructure, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar warned of further consequences if terrorist attacks continue from acrossthe border. India wants a “definitive end” to terrorism, he said. In interviews with the Dutch media during his visit to the Netherlands on May 19-20, whichwerepublishedThursday, he also ruled out third-party involvement, including by US President Donald Trump, in the ceasefirethatended themilitary confrontation with Pakistan followingOperationSindoornearly two weeks ago. The “cessation" of hostilities was "negotiated directly” between the two countries, he said. Jaishankar made these comments in The Hague during his three-nation tour that also included Denmark and Germany. Hisremarks comein thewakeof President Trump repeatedly THE MINISTRY of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has grantedin-principleforestclearanceforLloydMetalsandEnergy Limited’s iron ore beneficiation plant,afacilitythatimprovesthe quality of raw ore by removing impurities, in Maharashtra’s GadchirolidistrictwhereMaoists have been active for years. This in-principle approval paves the way for the diversion of 937hectaresof forestlandand the felling of 1.23 lakh trees, according to Ministry documents. The forest clearance for the proposed plant comes amid the Maharashtragovernment’spush to expand mining and industrial activity in thedistrictaffected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE). Last month,theMaharashtra cabinet approved the establishment of a Gadchiroli District Mining Authority, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis,forthemanagementof major and minor minerals. The districtholdsdepositsof ironore, limestone and diamonds. The beneficiation plant and allied facilities have been proposed to process low-grade iron ore (hematite quartzite) extracted from the company’s existing mining operations in Surjagarh, which faced operational hurdles for many years due to opposition from Maoists to any activity in the area. Themininglease,spreadover 348 hectares, was initially granted to the company for 20 years in 2007 and was later extendeduntilMay2057,according CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Directorate that it was “crossing all limits” and “violating the federal structure”, the Supreme Court Thursday stayed proceedings in the agency’s moneylaundering investigation into government-run liquor retailer Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). The bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih, which was hearing the Tamil Nadu government’s plea challenging the ED searches at the TASMAC headquarters, sought a reply from the probe agency within two weeks. Appearing for the state, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said the corporation had found that some people who had been allotted liquor outlets were taking cash. “So the state itself filed 41 FIRs from 2014 to 2021. Against individuals, not against the corporation. The ED comes into the picturein2025andraidsthecorporation,theheadoffice,”hesaid. Issuing notice, CJI Gavai asked Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who appeared for the ED: “How can (there be) an offence against the corpora- E THE ED’S PMLA case stemmed from allegations of corruption and irregularities in TN’s liquor sales. In March this year, the ED conducted searches at multiple locations including the TASMAC headquarters. The state and the corporation came to the Supreme Court after being denied relief by the Madras HC. EXPLAINED THEALLEGATIONS AGAINSTTNLIQUOR RETAILER PAGE 18 tion?... You may register (an offence) against individuals, how (against the) corporation in a criminal matter?” “Your ED is crossing all limits, Mr Raju,” CJI Gavai said, and askedtheEDtofileareplyintwo weeks. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD TWO ISRAEL MISSION STAFFERS SHOT DEAD IN U.S. TRUMP BLOCKS FOREIGN STUDENTS FROM HARVARD P 16 Former J&K Governor Malik, 6 others named Basavaraju dead, focus on hunt in CBI chargesheet on Kiru hydel project case CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, MAY 22 SOCIAL MEDIA FACE BUT STRANGER AT HOME, WHO IS JYOTI MALHOTRA? AIRSPACE OVER ANDAMAN SEA TO BE CLOSED MAY 23-24 WAQF: PETITIONERS COUNTER GOVT, SC RESERVES ORDER President Droupadi Murmu with the mother and wife of Naik Dilwar Khan, who was conferred the Kirti Chakra posthumously. Khan died battling terrorists in J&K’s Lolab Valley on July 23, 2024. Six Kirti Chakras and 33 Shaurya Chakras were conferred Thursday. PTI P 11 S Jaishankar with his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Copenhagen Forest clearance nod for iron ore plant in for elusive Maoist commander Maoist-hit Gadchiroli NIKHIL GHANEKAR ED is crossing all limits, says CJI-led bench, stays probe against TASMAC E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NEW DELHI, MAY 22 THE DEATH of CPI (Maoist) general secretary Namabala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju in an encounter Wednesday with security personnel in Chhattisgarh hasdealtabigblowtotheMaoist rank and file. Officersinthesecurityestablishment are, however, cautioning against lowering the guard, sayinguntilMadviHidma,thede facto military chief of the CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh, is nabbed, the threat remains potent. TheelusiveHidma,whohails from Puvarti village in Bastar, is suspected to have played key roles in all major Maoist attacks on security forces including the 2010 killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Chintalnar and the 2013 Jhiram Ghati ambush in which the state Congress leadership Security personnel keep vigil as the bodies of Maoists killed on Wednesday are brought to Narayanpur. PTI REPORTS,P8 was wiped out. He currently commands Battalion 1 of the People’s LiberationGuerrillaArmywhich operates in the districts of South Bastar, Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada.Heisalsoamember of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. “In an organisation dominated by Telugu-speaking Maoists, Hidma is the only local tribal in a senior position. His presenceduringattacks,military tactics, local connect and guile CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 22 THE CBI Thursday filed a chargesheet against seven persons, including Satya Pal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, in connection with alleged corruption in the award of civil works for the Kiru hydro powerprojectinKishtwardistrict. Malik is admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for the last three days. He is suffering from urine infection, sepsis and is on dialysis as well, a senior doctor at RML said. Apart from Malik, the other sixpersonschargesheetedare:M S Babu, MD of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Ltd (CVPPPL), M K Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, directors on the boardof CVPPPL;Malik’sprivate secretaries Virendra Rana and KanwarSinghRana,andaprivate person Kanwaljit Singh Duggal. CVPPPL is a 51:49 joint ven- Satya Pal Malik is ill, in hospital ture between NHPC and JK State Power Development Corporation,andisexecutingthe Kiru hydel project. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs hadapprovedtheprojectwithan estimated cost of Rs 4,287.59 crore in March 2019. The agency, CBI officials said, had registered two separate casesinApril2022onallegations of malpractices following a request by the Jammu & Kashmir government. These were: i) an award of contract of J&K Employees’ Health Care Insurance Scheme to a private company and release of about Rs 60 crore in 2017-18, and ii) award of a Rs 2,200-crore civil CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 First visually impaired woman atop Everest hails from a village in Himachal PAGE 1 ANCHOR NITIN SHARMA CHANDIGARH, MAY 22 AMAR CHAND began his week as he has for decades — overseeing the green peas and apple plantations at his one-acre farm in a village deep inside the Hangrang Valley in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. But a video clip he received turned the mundane Monday morning memorable. It was of his daughter, Chhonzin Angmo, 29, hoisting the Tricolour atop Mt Everest. She was flanked by her sherpas, Dandu Sherpa and Om Gurung, and Army veteran Lt Col Romil Barthwal (retired), the expedition team leader. What made Angmo’s feat even more special was that she becamethefirstvisuallyimpaired personfromIndia—andonlythe fifth such mountaineer in the world — to conquer Everest. Before her, there was Erik Weihenmayer from the United States — the first visually impaired person who scaled Everest in2001— AustrianAndy Holzer (from North Col route in Tibet) in 2017, Chinese Zhang Hong in 2021 and American Lonnie Bedwell (2023). Angmo, however, is the first visually impaired woman summiteer. “Stepping on the summit of Mt Everest, my first thought was howeachstepcountsinourjourney,whetheroneisabledorspecially-abled. This is only a step in my dream to instill willpower in every specially-abled person. If we have the willpower, nothing can stop us and my next target will be the highest peaks in each continent,” Angmo told The IndianExpress fromKathmandu. “My role model is Helen Keller, whose books and biographyIreadasastudent.Myfather, Special Arrangement Chhonzin Angmo at the summit of Mount Everest too, is a role model... There were times when people would taunt me for being visually impaired. Butmyfatherandmyfamilysupported me in this journey. If I, or they, would have been disheartened, we could not have taken a step forward in life,” she said. “Our village, Chango, is like an oasis in the cold desert; the only green patch amidst yellow mountains of the Valley, fed by twoglacierstreamsandtheSpiti river. Our daughter is like the oasis in our world, and to see her climbing Mt Everest was a special moment for the whole village,” Chand, 76, said. Angmo’s younger sister Kesang Yangchen, who lives in Mohali, was quick to add: “The yellow hills above our village are called Moonland by the tourists and locals, too. To see Angmo atop Mt Everest is like her reaching the moon for all of us.” The second youngest among fivesiblings,Angmo was in Class 3 when her vision got severely impaired following a “medicine allergy”, according to her family. Angmo’s brother, Gopal, said the family only got to know whenherschoolteacherbrought ittotheirattentionafternoticing that Angmo was struggling to write. “The next day, we rushed toahospital210kilometresaway, at Rampur Bushahr, which referred us to another hospital in Shimla,” Gopal recalled. Buttherewasnorelief.Asthe years passed, Angmo lost vision in both her eyes completely. “We visited Chandigarh, Dehradunandothercitiestofind acurebutAngmo slowlylosther vision. There were financial struggles, too, but the family did whatever it could to support Angmo,” Gopal said. In 2005-06, Chand and his wifeSonamChhomogotAngmo enrolled at Leh’s Mahabodhi School and Hostel for VisuallyImpaired Children, run by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2