DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CBC 15502/13/0014/2526 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES DEFEAT PAKISTAN BY 7 WICKETS IN ASIA CUP CLASH ‘Nitish should continue to be CM but should consider his party’s leadership issue’ UPENDRA KUSHWAHA RASHTRIYA LOK MORCHA LEADER PAGE 17 UNVEILS PROJECTS WORTH `18,530 CRORE twin pitch IndiawinhandsdownoverPak, PM makeselections inahead of Assembly Assam: skipthehandshake:‘Forkinof Development, anti-infiltration Pahalgamvictims,ArmedForces’ Targets Cong: ‘It wants India’s Express solidarity... dedicate win to Armed Forces: Captain Suryakumar Yadav future to be decided by infiltrators’ SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 14 INAUGURATING AND laying the foundation for a slew of projects worth Rs 18,530 crore in Assam on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on two issues — development and “infiltration” — in his address to the people of the state, which goes to the polls next year. ThePrimeMinisterarrivedin Assam on Saturday after he visitedManipurandparticipatedin the birth centenary celebrations of legendary singer, composer andfilmmakerBhupenHazarika. At Mangaldoi in Assam's Darrang district on Sunday, he laidthefoundationstonesof var- Navjot Singh was Deputy Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 14 A SENIOR Finance Ministry official was killed and his wife injuredwhenaBMWhittheirmotorcycleintheDelhiCantonment area on Sunday, police said. The victim has been identifiedasNavjotSingh,57,whowas posted as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry. His wife is reported to have suffered serious injuries. The BMW was being driven by a woman, identified as Gaganpreet, who was accompanied by her husband and two young children, police said. An FIR has been registered, but police did not disclose the sections. According to a police officer, Singh and his wife had gone to the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in the morning and then stopped for lunch at Karnataka Bhavan. ThecoupleleftKarnatakaBhavan atabout1:15pmandwereheading to their home in Hari Nagar when the accident occurred. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NATIONAL ENGINEERS’ DAY A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of The In dian Express. This page is an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contain content paid for by advertisers. This page should be read as an advertisement Captain Suryakumar Yadav (right) with Shivam Dube after India defeated Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. AP EXPRESS ATASIACUP SANDIP G DUBAI, SEPTEMBER 14 THEMATCHended asitbegan— with no handshake. India captain Suryakumar Yadav slogswept spinner Sufiyan Muqeem to complete an utterly onesided, seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in Dubai at theAsia Cup on Sunday. He remained unconquered on 47 off 37 balls, before walking away, without shaking hands,withPakistan'splayersor their captain. The match had begun thus, with both Yadav and hisPakistan counterpartSalman Aghatakingnoinitiativetoshake hands or even greet each other at the toss. And, driving the point home, Yadav later brought up the Pahalgam terror attack and dedicated the victory to the Armed Forces. “We stand with the families of the victims of the INSIDE OPP SLAMS GOVT, SAYS MATCH INSULT TO PAHALGAM VICTIMS PAGE 8 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Pahalgamattack.Weexpressour solidarity and we want to dedicate today’s win to the Armed Forces,” he said, speaking to the broadcaster after the win. This was the first IndiaPakistan cricket match since the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Darrang, Assam. PTI ious projects, including the Darrang Medical College and Hospital, the Guwahati Ring Road Project, and the Kuruwa–NarengiBridgeoverthe Brahmaputra. Speaking at the event, he echoedastatementhehadmade the previous day in strife-torn Manipur — the 21st century is NortheastIndia’stimeforgrowth and development. He also said that the BJP government is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 14 AS THE Finance Ministry gets ready to soon leave North Block and occupy its new offices in the Common Central Secretariat (CCS)-1 building, the Budget press, the secure facility where the annual Union Budget is printed, is set to get a makeover with modern and lighter machinery to fit within the space and structural constraints of the new complex, according to offi- cial documents and sources. The Finance Ministry has been allotted space on the ground, fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the CCS-1 building, which is a part of a three-building complex constructed under theCentralVistaredevelopment plan, according to officials of the UnionHousingandUrbanAffairs Ministry. While the Finance Ministry offices will be located on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, the Budget press is likely to be on the ground floor. In preparation for the move, the Finance Ministry floated a tender on September 2 for digital production printers with an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. In a file noting attached with the tender document, a Finance Ministry official said that due to relocation of the Budget press, there was a need to upgrade the printing infrastructure to “meet thetime-boundandconfidential requirements” of printing Budget documents. The official noted that a decision was taken to go for a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 14 AS A step towards preventing “massagitationsbyvestedinterests” in the future, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is learnt to have asked the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) after studying all post-Independence A MAJOR part of BJP’s development plank that the PM flagged was connectivity in Northeast. He promised focus on “road, rail, air, 5G internet, broadband” to make life and business smoother. DHEERAJ MISHRA AIZAWL, SEPTEMBER 14 SAIRANG IN Mizoram, a green mountainous town with meandering streams, has always been quiet — until Saturday, when a crimson red train chugged through. The Sairang-Anand Vihar Rajdhani Express was the first to run in the state as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ambitious 51.38-km BairabiSairang rail line, linking the state capital Aizawl to the Indian CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL Emphasis on ● connectivity ‘Delhi much closer now’: Aizawl on Railways’ map, some hopes & fears Class 11 student Lalhmangaihsangi and her friend aboard the Sairang-Anand Vihar Rajdhani Express. Dheeraj Mishra Constraints in new Finance office, AIM TO ‘PREVENT MASS AGITATIONS BY VESTED INTERESTS’ Budget press to go modern, lighter For SOP, Shah asks police research dept to study past protests, funding DAMINI NATH E EXPLAINED Senior Finance Ministry official killed, wife injured as BMW hits his bike protests, especially those after 1974, to analyse the reasons, “financial aspects”, final outcomes and “behind-the-scene players” of those protests. Shah is learnt to have issued these directions at the two-day ‘National Security Strategies Conference-2025’ organised by the Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi in the last week of July. “The BPR&D has been specifically asked to analyse reasons, patterns and outcomes of those protests, including behind-thescene players,” a senior governmentofficialsaid.“Ithasbeendirected that an SOP should be formulated based on the outcome of the study to prevent mass agitations by vested interestsinthefuture,”theofficialsaid. Following Shah’s directions, the BPR&D, under the Union Ministryof Home Affairs(MHA), is in the process of setting up a teamwhichwillcoordinatewith CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD ANTI-MIGRANT RALLY IN LONDON, POLICE SCUFFLE WITH PROTESTERS U.S. AND CHINA HAIL NEPAL TRANSITION AS KEY PARTIES PROTEST PAGE 14 Two world boxing golds, two Haryana districts celebrate their daughters PAGE 1 ANCHOR NITIN SHARMA BHIWANI, SEPTEMBER 14 A STAR-STUDDED WhatsApp group of Bhiwani’s boxing stalwarts has been buzzing since early Sunday morning with congratulatory messages for threetime national champion Parminder Lamboriya, whose niece, Jaismine Lamboriya, upheld the region’s proud boxing legacy by winning the gold medal in the 57-kg weight category at the 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, early on Sunday morning (India time). Amongthefirsttosendatext applauding the tall 24-year-old, who stunned Paris Olympic silver medalist Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a commanding 4-1 verdict, was Bhiwani’s most famous son — the 2008 Beijing GamesbronzemedalistVijender Singh. Olympians Akhil Kumar (2006 Commonwealth Games champion)andJaiBhagwanalso welcomed the latest entrant to Bhiwani’s Hall of Fame with happy emojis. Not too far from Bhiwani, another Haryana district was readyingforfestivities.Minakshi Hooda, another lanky 24-yearold from Rurkee Kiloi village in Rohtak district, climbed to the topof thepodiumat Liverpool in the 48-kg category, out-punching Paris Olympics bronze medallist Nazym Kyzaibay from Kazakhstan, later in the day. For Minakshi, whose father ferries passengers in his secondhandauto-rickshawinRohtakto make ends meet, it was a fairytale ending. “Meri chhori duniya jeetegi (My daughter will conquer the world),” her father, Srikrishan, said after her win in the quarter-finals earlier. And Minakshi, a constable with the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), did exactly that. Jaismine Lamboriya from Bhiwani district won gold in the 57-kg category; (right) Minakshi Hooda from Rohtak district won gold in the 48-kg category in Liverpool. World Boxing Back in Bhiwani, Parminder washappythatJaismineachieved what he couldn’t. He is excited that his famous friends reached out to him. “Vijender and others are like family. When Jaismine wonthetitleintheWorldBoxing Championships,theywereallcelebrating as if it was their own medal.Withthismedal,myniece has once again stamped Bhiwani’s name on world boxing,” he told The Indian Express. Jaismine’s mother, Joginder Kaur, overwhelmed by the crowd that descended at her place, said she’s been busy all morning. Every guest has been taking pains to explain to her what Jaismine has achieved. “People tell me that she is one of the strongest in the ring and is a world champion in her weight category. But I tell them, for me, she will always remain Chinu... it’s what everyone calls her at home.Shehasbeenaluckychild for me. She was born after I lost an infant son; after her birth, I lost two daughters because of some ailments,” she recalled. “Apart from her medals, the proudest day for us was when she joined the Indian Army’s Corps of Military Police,” she said. Like her mother said, Jaismine was lucky to be born in Haryana’s boxing hub and to have an uncle who was a re- New Delhi puted pugilist. It was in the late 1990s that Parminder, along with Vijender, joined the Bhiwani Boxing Club, which would later become a nursery for world-class pugilists. With the success of boxers from the region, the sport caught the fancy of youths — first boys, and then girls, who, by 2002, could be seen sparring in the ring. It was around this time that a reputed woman boxer, Meena Kumari, shifted base to Bhiwani totrainwiththearea'sillustrious coach, Jagdish Singh of the Bhiwani Boxing Club, who had spotted the early spark in Vijender. CONTINUEDONPAGE2