DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, PATNA, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ‘SHALL BE TREATED AS THE 12TH DOCUMENT’ 85 113 139 75 THE WORLD GUNMEN OPEN FIRE AT JERUSALEM BUS STOP, KILL 6 FRENCH GOVT ON BRINK OF COLLAPSE PAGE 12 IN NAGPUR, OBCs TO HIT THE STREETS FROM OCTOBER PAGE 4 Accept Aadhaar as identity proof in Bihar SIR, Supreme Court tells EC Authorities shall be entitled to verify authenticity of Aadhaar... by seeking further proof/documents: Bench ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 THESUPREMECourtMondaydirected the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as a 12th document,inadditiontothe11ithas permittedforidentificationinorder to be included in the final electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar ahead of Assembly elections. The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, however, made it clear that Aadhaar “is not proof of citizenship”, and statedthattheECwillbeentitled to assess its authenticity. “There is no quarrel that as perthestatutorystatusassigned to Aadhaar Card under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, itisnotaproof of citizenshipand therefore shall not be accepted as proof of citizenship. However, keeping in view Section 23(4) of theRepresentationof PeopleAct, 1950, Aadhaar Card is one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person,” the court ordered. The court directed the EC “and its authorities to accept Aadhaar Card as a proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar". "Aadhaar card, for this purpose, shall be treated as the 12th document by the authorities. It is, however,madeclearthattheauthorities shall be entitled to verify the authenticity and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 No citizenship proof but top court raises the bar for exclusion by EC APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 tively raises the bar for the Election Commission (EC) to exclude an individual from the voter rolls if they have a valid Aadhaar card. For, the inclusion of Aadhaar as the 12th doc● umentmakesroomforan individual excluded from the draft list to cite Aadhaar to file claims for inclusion and E HOW HAS the Supreme Court's intervention on Monday moved the needle on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision exercise? In terming Aadhaar as the “12th document” to establish proof of identity, the SC effecEXPLAINED 09/09/2025 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ADDRESS AT ONLINE MEET EAM S Jaishankar and other BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia President Vladimir Putin and Brazil President Lula da Silva during the virtual summit. PTI At BRICS, Jaishankar red-flags ‘linking of trade measures to non-trade matters’ SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 Personal space, light, storage in jail: India assures Belgium on Choksi, if extradited MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 FOUR MONTHS after Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond trader wanted in India for the alleged Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, wasarrestedinBelgium,Indiahas sent a letter of assurance to the country’s government, saying it willkeephiminMumbai’sArthur Roadjailcomplex,“ifextradited”. Choksi was arrested in Belgium in April based on an extradition request by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Last month, his bail plea was turned down by a court of appeal in Belgium, just ahead of his extradition hearing before a court in that country. InalettersentonSeptember4 to the authorities in Belgium, Rakesh Kumar Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs,saidthattheIndiangovernment has sought extradition of Choksi from Belgium to face trial in India. Pandey said it has been Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium in April BY UNNY NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 8 PRIME MINISTER Narendra ModiislikelytomeetpeopledisplacedbytheconflictinManipur and announce a rehabilitation package during his visit to the state, which is expected to take place later this week. However, efforts to convince Nagas in the state not to go ahead with their scheduled“tradeembargo”from Tuesday have not succeeded, presenting the administration with a challenge. SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 Riot police disperse protesters outside Nepal’s Parliament in Kathmandu on Monday. AP learnttheextraditionproceedings for the surrender of Choksi have advanced before Chambers of Indictment,Antwerp. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Scheduled to visit the state on Sept 13 A tentative itinerary of the PM’svisitonSeptember13—his first since ethnic conflict began in Manipur in May 2023 — was discussed at a meeting between Governor Ajay Bhalla and legislatorsof therulingallianceatthe Raj Bhavan on Sunday. Former Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Zelenskyy: Tariffs on countries making deals with Russia right idea BUSINESS AS USUAL Rehabilitation package, meet with displaced on PM’s Manipur itinerary DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & SUKRITA BARUAH INANobliquereferencetotheUS administration’s decision to imposeanadditional25percenttariff on India as penalty for purchase of Russian oil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Mondayexpressedconcernatthe “linking of trade measures to non-trade matters”. Calling for a “stable and predictable environment for trade and investment”, he underlined that economic practicesshouldbe“fair,transparent and to everyone's benefit”. “The state of the world today is a cause for genuine concern. The last few years have witnessedthedevastatingimpactof HOME MINISTER QUITS; REPORT AFTER MIDNIGHT SAYS BAN LIFTED the Covid pandemic, major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East/WestAsia,volatilityintrade and investment flows, extreme climate events and a discernible slowing down of the SDG Agenda.Inthefaceof thesechallenges, the multilateral system appears to be failing the world. Thatsomanyseriousstressesare beingleftunaddressedis,understandably, having consequences for the global order itself,” he said, addressing the BRICS leaders’ summit online. “Trade patterns and market access are today prominent issues in the global economic discourse. The world requires constructive and cooperative approaches to promote trade 19 killed in ‘Gen Z protests’ against Nepal govt ban on social media sites, corruption YUBARAJ GHIMIRE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 AT LEAST 19 protesters, including16inKathmandu,werekilled andover200injuredonMonday as police opened fire on youths demonstratingagainsttheNepal government’s recent decision to ban over two dozen social media platforms. The Army was de- ployed in the capital as the situation deteriorated. The protesters, under the banner of “Gen Z”, also targeted the “rampant corruption” in the government and sought accountability. The protests were held in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Itahari and Chitwan. Police are learnt to have opened fire in at least two places — INSIDE GRAFT & GAG: WHY BAN TRIGGERED NEPAL’S GEN Z PAGE 11 Kathmandu and Itahari in east Nepal. While 16 were killed in Kathmandu, the remaining three were killed in Itahari. A PTI report after midnight said the Nepal government had liftedthebanonsocialmediaplatforms. No further details were available. Earlier in the evening, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, who represented the Nepali Congress partyinthecoalitiongovernment ledbyPrimeMinisterKPSharma Oli,resignedonmoralgrounds.Oli CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SUPPORTING US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on India as penalty for purchase of Russian oil — taking the total tariff to 50 per cent —Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that such action on countries who “make deals” with Russia was the “right idea”. His remarks come nine days after his phone call with Prime MinisterNarendraModiaheadof theShanghaiCooperationOrganisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. Asked if he thought the plan to impose tariffs backfired when he saw photographs of Modi Zelenskyy, who met Trump last month, also called for sanctions against Russia. File with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent SCO summit, Zelenskyy, in an interview airedonABCNews’‘ThisWeek’on Sunday,said:“No.Ithinktheidea to put tariffs on the countries who continue (to) make deals CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Personalised software doubled learning In first, J&K AAP MLA held under rates in Andhra govt schools: Study PSA for ‘disturbing public order’ ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 8 AN EVALUATION study by researchers, including Nobel laureate and economist Michael Kremer,hasfoundthatapersonalised learning software used in Andhra Pradesh's government schools led to a doubling of learning rates among those who used it. The Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) software — now used on tablets across over 1,200 schoolsinthestate—determines astudent’slearninglevel,andprovides learning material and assessments like questions accordingly. By tailoring instruction to each student’s learning level, it is meant to address differences in learninglevelsandabilitieswithin a class. The Andhra Pradesh government had partnered with ConveGenius.AI, an AI-powered adaptive learning solution platform,tointroducetheirCGPALin 2019forstudentsinClasses6to9. The evaluation study — by theDevelopmentInnovationLab (University of Chicago) — examined 60 schools where the PAL software was used, and 60 schools where it wasn’t, for a 17month period from 2023 to 2025. At the end of this period, the 14,000 students who were studied were given a tabletbased math assessment with questionsfromGrade2uptothe student’s current grade. In 2023, the Development CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ARUN SHARMA JAMMU. SEPTEMBER 8 JAMMU AND Kashmir’s lone Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Doda, Mehraj Malik, was apprehendedbythepoliceonMonday on charges of disturbing public order and detained under the stringent Public Safety Act for one year. He is the first sitting legislator in Jammu and Kashmir to Mehraj Malik named in 18 FIRs, 16 Daily Diary reports have been detained under the PSA, which allows the administration to keep a person under preventive detention without trial, if it is satisfied that his remaining free might disturb pub- lic order and peace, or threaten security of the state. SenttoKathuajail,Malikwas namedin18FIRsand16dailydiaryreportsatdifferentpolicestations in Doda district, officials said.Theyallegedhewasincreasinglycausingdisturbancetopublic order, especially at a time whenthedistrictadministration was busy initiating relief measures for people hit by recent heavy rains and flash floods in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Final nail in coffin’: US tariff threat looms at Bhiwandi powerloom hub PAGE 1 ANCHOR NAYONIKA BOSE MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 8 UNDETERREDBYtheloudclanging of powerlooms that drowns the entire ‘karkhaana’, Ramesh Sahani examines, with a hawkeye, an assembly of looms as theychurngreyclothoutof yarn. “Ihavebecomesousedtothe clamour now that I can even sleepthroughit.Rather,mysleep gets disrupted if the machine stops working. It means something is wrong,” says Sahani, a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria, who has been working as a labourer in Bhiwandi’s powerlooms for the past 20 years. Over the past decade, many powerlooms in Bhiwandi have fallen silent as the industry has been struggling to keep up amid cheapimportsandtheblowdealt sincedemonetisationandtheintroduction of GST shortly after. Andnow,USPresidentDonald Trump’s decision to impose a steep 50 per cent tariff on merchandise from India has only threatenedtowipeoffwhatisleft of the industry in Bhiwandi, includingthethousandsofmigrants whoworkinitsloomsin12-hour shifts, say business owners. “The industry is already dying and many looms have shut shop in recent years. Amid all this, the decision to levy such hightariffsbytheUSgovernment could be the final nail in the coffin for us,” says Akram Ayub Ansari, a powerloom owner whose family has been working in the industry since 1942. Amid Trump’s decision to impose a tariff of 25 per cent on several Indian goods and a penaltyof 25percentontopof it by August 27, the textile industry, which accounts for the highest share of Indian exports to the US — at $10.9 billion in the year 2024-25 — is projected to take the biggest hit not just in value terms but also in terms of the people it employs. Theimpactof thetariff isalso expected to trickle down to the powerlooms, which produce nearly 60 per cent of India’s ex- port fabrics. Bhiwandi, the powerloom hub After the closure of Mumbai’s mills in the early 1980s Bhiwandi’s powerlooms boomed in what gained the town the moniker of “Manchester of India”. Deepak Joshi According to a state government-appointed committee in 2024, nearly 12.7 lakh powerlooms provide livelihood to nearly 30 lakh people in Maharashtra, making it home to one of the largest number of powerlooms in India. Ofthese,thehighestnumbers were concentrated in Bhiwandi. Here, the powerlooms — having transitioned from traditional handlooms—spinyarninrawmaterial, known as grey cloth in industryparlance,whichislatersent for production across merchants andcentresforfinishingwork. The history of Bhiwandi’s traditional powerlooms goes back over 160 years when a large populationofJulahaandBunkarcommunities — traditional weaver communities — from Uttar Pradesh escaped after the failed mutiny of 1857 and travelled along the Mumbai-Agra route. In Maharashtra, they settled along pockets like Bhiwandi, besides Malegaon, which grew as textilehubsovertheyears.Itwas following the closure of Mumbai’smillsintheearly1980s thatBhiwandi’spowerloomsfurther boomed — in what gained the town the moniker of “Manchester of India”. A report from the National Institute for Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises(NI-MSME) showed that prior to demonetisation and GST implementation, Bhiwandi was home to as many as 12 lakh powerlooms alone with turnover estimated at Rs 10,000 crore annually. However, demonetisation,GSTimplementation and high power tariffs dealt a significant jolt to the largely unorganised industry and the number of powerlooms have since dwindled to less than 6 lakh at present. The fear For many traditional mill owners,whoechothattheymake a marginal profit of 50 paisa per metre of cloth sold, the US’ steep tariff could pose an existential threat to the powerlooms. CONTINUEDONPAGE6