eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Nation-Building at Your Fingertips NEWDELHI,LATECITY AUGUST10,2025 A reimagining of the accession of princely states in times of social media FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 18+4PAGES,`7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, ` 15 SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA THE CITY 7 KILLED AS WALL COLLAPSES IN DELHI AMID HEAVY RAIN P 4 For Class 9, CBSE clears open-book exam from 2026-2027 DISCLOSURE THREE MONTHS AFTER OPERATION SINDOOR Crediting Russia S-400, IAF chief says 5 Pak fighter jets, 1 ‘large aircraft’ downed Aircraft taken out from about 300 kms, largest surface-to-air kill: IAF chief ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 THE CENTRAL Board of SecondaryEducation(CBSE)has approved a proposal tointegrate open-book assessments in Class 9 from the 2026-27 academic session, after a pilot study showed “teacher support” for such assessments. The CBSE’s Governing Body, theboard’shighestdecision-making authority, approved the proposal at a meeting held in June. According to the minutes of the meeting, the proposal involvesintegratingopen-bookassessments in Class 9 “as part of three pen-paper assessments perterm”,coveringcoresubjects such as language, mathematics, science and social science. ThisisinlinewiththeNational CurriculumFrameworkforSchool Education(NCFSE)2023,whichis based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. NCFSE mentions open-book tests as a possible form of assessment. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DSPL-198 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh in Bengaluru on Saturday. PTI AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 AIR CHIEF Marshal A P Singh on Saturday said the Indian Air Force (IAF) took down “at least” five Pakistani fighter jets and “one large aircraft” during Operation Sindoor in May. Inthethreemonthssincethe operation,whileIndiahastalked about the damage inflicted on Pakistan,thisisthefirsttimethat a senior officer has specified the number of Pakistani aircraft and jets downed. “We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft, which could be an CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHAT AIR CHIEF SAID ON DAMAGE INFLICTED BY INDIA ■ At least two command and control centres, six radars taken out in Murid and Chaklala ■ F-16 hangar at Jacobabad airfield hit; aircraft inside also likely damaged ■ Runways at Sargodha and Rahim Yar Khan airbases hit ■ UAV hangar at Sukkur damaged ■ Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system hangar at Bholari also hit NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 AIRCHIEFMarshalAPSingh’sappraisal of India’s air defence system during Operation Sindoor in May, emphasisingtheeffectivenessof the Russian-supplied S400 surface-to-air missile system, comes at a time when India-US ties are facing the biggest diplomatic test since Washington imposed sanctions on New Delhi in 1998 afterthePokhran-IInucleartests. India welcomes Some see it as ‘de facto embargo’, Trump-Putin others anxious, seek credit guarantee, meeting on correction of inverted duty structure Aug 15: ‘Ready to support’ THE PINCH SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 Satellite images displayed during the Air Chief’s address show damage to the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur. PTI Delhi underlines message amid US tilt to Pak and 25% Russian penalty SHUBHAJIT ROY Knitwear to apparel, Tamil Nadu’s textile belt starts feeling heat of US tariff Amid the tension in ties with the USafterPresidentDonaldTrump doubledthetariffonIndiaoverits purchase of Russian oil, it underlines the reliability of the IndiaRussia strategic partnership in times of adversity. The IAF chief’s remarks came a day after Trump reiterated his claim of brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May. India has maintained that the two countries halted their military actions following direct CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE MEANWHILE, TRUMP AGAIN: SETTLED THINGS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN 300-KM KILL: HOW IAF MAY HAVE SET A RECORD BJP TARGETS RAHUL, CONG ASKS WHY OP WAS STOPPED PAGE 8 INDIA ON Saturday welcomed the understanding between the United States and Russia for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. Hours after Trump announced the meeting, the MinistryofExternalAffairs(MEA) said it was ready to support the “efforts” as the meeting “holds the promise” of ending the conflictbetweenRussiaandUkraine. “India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in AlaskaonAugust15,2025,”MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine andopeninguptheprospectsfor CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AHEAD OF MEETING, UKRAINE PRESIDENT REFUSES TO CEDE TERRITORY PAGE 14 TRUMP’S 50% TARIFF TENSION ON THE GROUND PART-1: TEXTILES 30% ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, AUGUST 9 IN TIRUPPUR, India’s knitwear capital,exportersarealreadyfeelingtheheatofthe50percenttariff US President Donald Trump announcedWednesday.Theysay orders are being paused, redirected,orlostentirelytocompetitorssuchasBangladesh,Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia, all of whomfacelowerUStariffsranging between 19% and 36%. One Tiruppur exporter told The Indian Express that his regular US shipment had already been diverted to Pakistan. AnothersaidhisAmericanbuyer asked him to “hold on” before confirming their summer order. A third revealed that buyers werepreviouslydemandingthat CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Share of Tiruppur’s total exports that go to the US, covering a full range of knitwear: infants’ clothing, men’s and women’s formal wear, and casual wear 55% Tiruppur’s contribution to India’s total knitwear exports, supplying major global brands including Walmart, GAP and Costco 3 HUBS HIT: The tariff shock affects Tiruppur (knitwear), Coimbatore (cotton towels, kitchen linen) and Karur (home textiles and bed linen), together exporting Rs 45,000 crore annually. OIPR-29001/13/0101/2526