eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE THE LAST SUPERSTAR NEWDELHI,LATECITY NOVEMBER2,2025 As Shah Rukh Khan turns 60 today, a look at the Delhi boy who dreamed big and became face of New India 16+4PAGES,`7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, ` 15 SRINAGAR) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA For World Cup final today, Team India’s families carry hope — home to Mumbai, dreams to prayer NITIN SHARMA CHANDIGARH, NOVEMBER 1 Jemimah Rodrigues with her dog Jade, and South Africa’s Annerie Dercksen during a training session on Saturday, a day ahead of the World Cup final in Navi Mumbai. Narendra Vaskar MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 1 JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU RAIPUR, NOVEMBER 1 STATING THAT India would “soon be rid of the Naxal menace”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday that the number of districts affected by Maoists has dwindled from 125 to just three in the past 11 years. In his speech at the Chhattisgarh Rajat Mahotsav in Nava Raipur to mark the 25th anniversary of the state’s formation, Modi also took a veiled dig at the Congress and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying those who “showed off a copy of the Constitution and shed crocodile tears in the name of social justice had, for decades, done injustice” by leaving the state to “suffer”. “Friends, I’m very glad our Chhattisgarh is now being freed from the chains of Naxalism and Maoism,” he said. “For 50-55 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK OPP HOLDS RALLY IN MUMBAI: ‘CLEAN UP VOTER LISTS, THEN HOLD CIVIC POLLS’ ARMED FORCES HOLD MEGA DRILLS ALONG WESTERN BORDER PAGES 7, 9 SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 1 TOWARDS THE end of the film Roi Roi Binale, the protagonist, Raul, a musician, stands by the sea, marvels at its vastness, and wonders aloud if he would be able to swim in it. His romantic interest responds that they can, “together”. It was a haunting scene for 45-year-oldRekhaBaruahtowit- 8 women, 1 child killed in stampede at Andhra temple; third this year BANKADVANCESsurgedbyover 100 per cent during the September–October2025period when compared with the same periodlastyearasacombination of lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates and the Diwali festival triggered a sharp rise in consumerspending.Banksreported a significant jump in retail loans, particularly for vehicle purchases, consumer durables and personal-use goods. Between September 5 and October 17, 2025, bank loans increased by Rs 4.1 lakh crore to Rs 192.192 lakh crore from Rs 188 lakh crore, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E ● Devotees at the privately-owned Venkateswara Temple in Kasibugga town of Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district on Saturday. PTI CM accuses temple of negligence, says failed to inform police; orders probe SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 1 Key question: Will demand sustain? THERE HAS been a sharp rise in consumption demand, from electronics to consumer goods, and bank credit has also doubled in the last two fortnights — all spurred by the festive season. The government hopes this will sustain and argues that the GST rate cuts are permanent, and together with the higher income tax ceiling announced in the Budget, leave more money in the hands of the consumer. A GIANT LAUNCH TODAY ISROisset tolaunch4,410-kgcommunicationsatelliteCMS-03, theheaviestto besentfromIndiansoil,onSunday,amilestone forthecountry’smostpowerfulrocket,LVM-3. ISRO PAGE5 ‘Maithili aa gayi hai’: PRO WRESTLING LEAGUE RESUMES 25-year-old strikes new In shadow of sexual abuse, Brij Bhushan notes where vote is tuned to caste, memory back: Guest of honour at launch of league DEEPTIMAN TIWARY ALINAGAR (DARBHANGA), NOVEMBER 1 ‘Invited by WFI…am a khel premi’ AFTER HOURS of relentless rain, the skies over Alinagar finally ease. The drizzle lingers as Maithili Thakur’s cavalcade halts near the Bramhasthan at Dath Chowk. The 25-year-old folk singer, now the BJP’s youngest candidateintheseBiharelections, steps out to offer prayers at the roadside shrine. Word spreads fast — Maithili aa gayi hai. Withinminutes,boysandgirls rush in, phones raised for selfies. Thakur, smiling, obliges them all. She switches easily between laughter and small talk, greeting women in fluent Maithili and sharing jokes as if she has always belonged here. For many, she is NIHAL KOSHIE CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1 BJP candidate Maithili Thakur campaigns in Alinagar. Deeptiman Tiwary ● In Tarapur, how PK’s party is mounting campaign against Dy CM PAGE 6 DECISION 2025 BIHAR FLANKED BY office-bearers of the Wrestling Federation of India, its former president and sexual-harassment accused Brij Bhushan SharanSingh took centrestage Saturday as the WFI announced the resumption of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL). Theleague,launchedin2015, was shut down in 2019 over a cash crunch and the pandemic. Theformersix-timeMember of Parliament is facing trial in a Delhi court after some of the country's top women wrestlers accused him of sexual harassment in 2023. The formal invite Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh addresses the media in New Delhi, Saturday. Praveen Khanna named him as the “guest of honour” for the evening. When the sports ministry suspended the newly elected CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In Zubeen’s film, glimpses of his life — and death PAGE 1 ANCHOR 31 INJURED; TEMPLE OWNER BOOKED CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bank credit doubles as demand for auto, white goods, housing jumps in Sept-Oct HITESH VYAS PM Narendra Modi with Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai in Nava Raipur. ANI Kranti’s brother, Mayank, is on his way to Mumbai, from their home in Ghuwara, in MadhyaPradesh, with17others, including the Ghuwara Nagar panchayat chairman, a former state-level cricketer and those who played tennis-ball cricket with her during her early years. “Wehavehiredatempotraveller. We will reach Mumbai on Sunday morning. Many more people wanted to come but there wasn’t enough space. The entire Ghuwara is praying that India wins the World Cup,” he says. Before setting out for Mumbai, he, too, went to the temple. “My mother will do a special puja at home," he says. In Parsa village, near Rohru FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT GST CUT, FESTIVAL DHAMAKA EXPLAINED Maoists now down to just 3 districts, India will soon be rid of menace: PM A TEMPO traveller is on a 21hour-long road journey from a town in Madhya Pradesh to Mumbai, carrying a group of 18, including the brother of fast bowler KrantiGaud. On anAgraMumbaitrainisspin-allrounder Deepti Sharma’s brother. In Haryana, opener ShafaliVerma’s father has just returned from a 300-km trip to a temple in Rajasthan. In a village in Himachal Pradesh, the brother of pacer Renuka Singh is hoping that there's no work emergency on Sunday. In Mumbai, the families of Richa Ghosh, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and others have been doing the rounds of temples, too. As the Indian women's cricket team prepares to take on South Africa in the ICC World Cup final on Sunday, their families, too, are doing their own preparations — travelling, praying, waiting in anticipation for Mumbai, the city of dreams, to fulfil a national and personal dream. “Aisa lag raha hai kahi saal ka sukhahai,uscheezkohumbharne jaa rahe hai bilkul hara bara... ki hum jeetenge. (It feels like we are going to watch the end of yearslongdroughtandmakeitgreen... with our win),” says Deepti’s brother, Sumit, who gave up his corporate job a decade back to support his sister’s dream. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ness in the movie theatre, an echoof alossthatishardtomiss. The protagonist is played by superstarZubeenGarg,whopassed away over a month-and-a-half ago while swimming in the sea inSingaporeattheageof 52.The film, posthumously released on October31,isthefinalonehehad written,producedandstarredin. In tears after the movie, Baruahsaid,“Ican’thelpwonder if Garima bou (Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg) could have been with him at that time, he might have still been alive with us today. It felt prophetic,” she said. After Zubeen’s death, Security personnel outside a movie hall in Guwahati as Roi Roi Binale opened to audiences on Friday. Sukrita Baruah Garima — also one of the film’s co-producers—publiclytookthe lead to complete the remaining post-production work and enable the film’s release on the scheduled date. Roi Roi Binale — a mega-production with a run-time of 147 minutes and with 11 songs — openedtoaudiencesonFriday.For a state still grieving the sudden loss of its most beloved cultural icon,avisittothetheatreisnowa pilgrimage, and the film itself a precious artefact of his memory. The screenings are emotionally charged. As the end credits CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EIGHT WOMEN and a 13-yearold boy were killed in a stampedeonSaturdaymorningatthe Venkateswara Temple in Kasibugga in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. Thirty-one people were injured. Saturdaysusuallyseeaheavy rushof devoteesattheprivatelyowned temple, which could have contributed to the stampede, officials said, adding that many had also lined up for the auspicious Ekadashi festival. The stampede is believed to have started when there was jostlingforspaceinthewomen’s queue. Temple authorities said they had put up railings and barricades to control movement. In his report to the state government, the Palasa Mandal Revenue Officer wrote: “Since the entry and exit routes were the same, and the steel railings ODISHA ANDHRA PRADESH Kasibugga SITEOFTHEINCIDENT After long wait at Tirupati, temple owner decided to build his own SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 1 VISAKHAPATNAM INSIDE THEVICTIMS: FROM VEGETABLE SELLERS TO FARM HANDS PAGE 8 that were set up collapsed, people rushed in all at once, leading to a stampede.” Soon after the incident, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused the temple of negligence, saying it failed to inform CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SRI Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Kasibugga recentlybecamefamousas“chinna” (small) Tirupati since it is modelled after the Tirumala Sri VenkateswaraTemple,severalofficials, including Palasa Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajeshwara Rao, told The Indian Express.Thetemplewasthesiteof a deadly stampede on Saturday. Sources said that a landlord named Hari Mukunda Panda, who resides in Kasibugga, had a bitter experience several years ago at the Tirumala temple, when he was unable to perform CONTINUED ON PAGE 2