The editorial Page: In democracy’s journey to future, Gandhi is the wise guide and co-traveller 8 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026 JournalIsm of CouraGe nEw dElhI, latE CIty, 18 PaGES ₹7.00 (₹8 raIPur, ₹15 SrInaGar) l www.indianexpress.com da I ly f r o m : a h m E da B a d , C h a n d I Ga r h , d E l h I , j a I P u r , Ko l K ata , l u C K n o w , m u m B a I , n aG P u r , Pat n a , P u n E , va d o da r a FLYDUBai’S injUReD inDian PiLOt RecOVeRinG in aBU DhaBi hOSPitaL ‘Told myself door right there, do it,’ pilot tells PM; UAE calls attack an act of terror Not just lives, you saved reputation of Indian pilots: Modi praises Machchhar Pilot averted potential catastrophe: UAE official as Trump warns Tehran jatin anand New Delhi, October 2 a day after he was airlifted to theuaEfromsaudiarabia,flydubai’s indian pilot Captain smit Machchhar, attacked by a co-pilot who allegedly attempted to crash the plane flying to Tel aviv from dubai, told Prime Minister narendra Modi friday that as he lay injured in the cockpit, he told himself “thiswillbethelastpush,smit” so“doit,thedoorisrightthere”. That single act of opening the cockpit door allowed pas- Praisingflydubai’sindian pilot Captain smit Machchhar for his “courage and responsibility” in averting “a potential catastrophe”, the uaE friday called the attack in the cockpit of the passenger aircraft headed to Tel aviv from dubai a “serious terrorist incident”. Machchhar was airlifted to the uaE from saudi arabia where the plane had landed Wednesday. seriously injured in the attack by the co-pilot, he is being treated in a hospital in express news Service New Delhi, October 2 Prime minister narendra modi speaks to flydubai pilot captain smit machchhar on a video call, friday. PtI sengers and reserve pilots to comeinandsavetheplanewith 174 on board from going down. speaking to Modi over a video call from an abu dhabi hospital where he is being treated for serious injuries, Machchhar said, “in that mo- ment, yes, i was fighting for my life, but there came a moment when i realised that if i did »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 the world PaGE 12 IsRaElI offICIals To joIn UaE-lEd PRoBE, qUEsTIon omanI Co-PIloT abu dhabi. anwar gargash, diplomatic advisor to the uaE President,saidMachchhar“deserves the highest praise”. “in confronting a serious terrorist incident and a potential catastrophe, he embodied courage and responsibility,” gargash said in a post in arabic on X, »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 Gold rush at the end Ukraine: India sent proposal to end war, most comprehensive cJP national convener abhijeet dipke during a protest in mumbai, friday. SanKhadEEP BanErjEE CJP targets CEC, says ready for 3-month stir; AAP, Left lead protest in Delhi, over 500 detained Putin: Modi has very good ideas aimed at finding mutually acceptable solution Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, October 2 for ThE first time since the start of the war between russia and ukraine in february 2022, india has put forward a “comprehensive” and “broad” proposal to end the war, ukraine’s foreign Minister andrii sybiha said friday. This was disclosed by sybiha after russian President VladimirPutinsaidPrimeMinister narendra Modi “constantly raises the question aboutputtinganendtotheconflict”andhas“verygoodideas”. speaking to reporters in Kyiv,sybihasaid,“Wehavefour proposals. The most comprehensive is india’s proposal. for thefirsttime,indiahassignalled its willingness to play a role.” he said ukraine is prepared to agree to an energy and agri- cultural truce in the black sea, and is also considering an unconditional ceasefire along the line of contact. besides india, ukraine has received proposals for a possible ceasefire from Turkey, Egypt and the united states. according to sybiha, ukraine will agree to a ceasefire on the condition that it covers notonlycombatoperations,but alsoanendtoattacksonenergy and port infrastructure, as well asthesituationintheblacksea. “Wehavefourproposals.The broadestoneisindia’sproposal. We are ready for an energy and black sea ceasefire, but only in this combination,” he said. he said similar initiatives have been proposed by Turkey and Egypt. Their proposals call for a ceasefire in the black sea, which would create the apoorva agashe, ishika Gupta, Pragynesh & nirbhay thakur Mumbai, New Delhi, October 2 lovlina Borgohain after winning women’s 75kg boxing gold at the asian Games in nishio, Japan, friday. PtI Boxing to wrestling, archery to hockey: 6 gold medals power Trade deal with India not imminent, sticking India to table top 5 »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 points identified: USTR Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, October 2 uniTEd sTaTEs Trade representative (usTr) jamieson greer has said that india and us trade deal talks are in their final phase, but the signing of the deal is not “imminent” as both countries have identified a “universe of items that are sticking points”. greer made these remarks Thursday after he met Commerce and industry Minister Piyush goyal during the explained PaGE 13 TRadE dEal dElay: U.s. lEvERaGE, IndIa’s lImITEd oPTIons g20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting amid talks on a bilateral trade deal between negotiators in Washington. The us is expected to come out with the results of its second section 301 trade investigation on “overcapacity”. »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 express at AsiAn GAmes Mihir Vasavda Nagoya, October 2 for ninE days, india waited forthegoldrush.onfriday,itfinally arrived — six in all — to mark the country’s best day at thisasiangames,poweringitto the top five in the medals tally. it started with the archers making history and finished with the women’s hockey team winning a rare gold. Each gold was won against the odds. at the archery competition, the emcee introduced south Korea as a 10-time olympic champion. Kumkum Mohod, the 17-year-old prodigy from Maharashtra, heard that introduction and thought: “but today,theasiangamestitlewill be ours.” Minutes later, she joined hands with Kirti sharma and ankita bhakat to bring the Koreandynastycrashingdown. Three years ago in China’s hangzhou, boxer Parveen hooda stood on the asian »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 relaTed rePorTs, P 17, 18 Sexual misconduct complaint: Hockey umpire from India sent back, he rejects charge Pritish Raj & nitin Sharma New Delhi, Chandigarh, October 2 an inTErnaTional hockey umpire from india, gurinder singh sangha, has been sent back from the asian games in japan following allegations of sexual misconduct. he has rejected the allegations and denied any wrongdoing. sources said sangha was asked to leave nagoya Wednesdayafterawomanumpirefrom Malaysia accused him of inappropriate touch and non-consensual physical contact “on the pretext of mentoring her”. sangha, the sources said, also faces allegations of misbehaviour with a woman staff member at the hotel where he stayedfortheasiangamesafter allegedlycallinghertohisroom. hockeyindiasecretarygeneral bholanath singh, who is in nagoya, was not available for comment. The asian hockey federation did not respond to an email seeking comment. a senior official from hockey india said, “he (sangha) was sent back two days ago after the Malaysian umpire complained. We will take action if the asian hockey hundrEds joinEd protests in Mumbai and delhi friday to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) gyanesh Kumar amid questions over the special intensiverevision(sir)ofelectoral rolls. While the Cockroach janta Party (CjP) led the demonstration in Mumbai’s shivaji Park, which went off peacefully, over 500 people were detained in the Capital as aaP leaders, left student outfits, andcivilsocietymemberstried to make their way to jantar Mantar. in Mumbai, CjP national convener abhijeet dipke was joined by hindi film industry happening today ltheFinanceministryandInstitute of Economic Growth’s Kautilya Economic Conclave begins. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Business as Usual By EP UNNY personalitiessuchasactorsnaseeruddin shah and shabana azmi, singer Vishal dadlani, and director Vishal bhardwaj. »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 politics PaGE 5 foRmER IndIa HoCkEy CaPTaIn Is PUnjaB ConG CHIEf, U.P. UnIT GETs aRadHana mIsRa THE BIG PICTURE To fETCH a PaIl of waTER PaGE 14 »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2 l Two male chIcks, aGed four To sIx monThs old, lIkely To Be released In exIsTInG enclosures In deserT naTIonal Park, JaIsalmer For the first time, captive-bred Great Indian Bustard will set foot in the wild nikhil Ghanekar New Delhi, October 2 ConsErVaTion of the critically endangered great indian bustard (gib) birds, which number about 140 in the wild, will enter a critical phase this weekend with at least two captive-bred gib chicks slated for a pilot wild release in enclosures within the desert national Park (dnP) in jaisalmer, The Indian Express has learnt. The pilot release will see the official commencement of the ‘rewilding’phaseofProjectgib, which is under implementa- for the rewilding process. tion since 2013 for the long“Twomalechicks,agedfour term recovery of the flagship to six months old, are likely to species of the Thar landscape. be released in existing encloaccording to those aware of sures within the desert nadevelopments,unionEnviron- tional Park. These birds will be ment Minister, bhupender radio-tagged to monitor their yadav, and rajasmovement and bepage 1 than Chief Minister, haviour,” said K C a bhajan lal sharma, arun Prasad, Chief are likely to preside WildlifeWarden,raover the pilot release event, jasthan forest department. which is expected to be held on The gib, a keystone species october4.already,afewchicks of arid and semi-arid open have been released at an aviary natural ecosystems, has been in sam for soft release, away on the brink of extinction with from humans, to prepare them its wild population hovering in E. explained Insect feed anchor newly hatched GIB chicks at the national Bustard conservation Breeding centre in Jaisalmer. ProjECt GIB annual rEPort 2024-25 The timing of the pilot release in Desert National Park (DNP) in Jaisalmer has been scheduled with the end of monsoon as the insect load in the grasslands will aid feeding of the Great Indian Bustard chicks. The GIB has a slow reproduction rate, laying eggs once every one-two years. the range of 120-150 for many years.accordingtolatestpopulation estimates, the largest population, 130 (+/-20) is in rajasthan with about 5-6 individuals across gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. They have faced threats ranging from habitat loss, poaching, and depredation of individuals and gib eggs by predators. More recently, mortality due to collisions with powerlineserectedtoevacuate power from renewable energy projects have posed a threat. The supreme Court has or- dered that renewable energy project power lines situated in areas outside the dnP have to be buried underground by december 2027. Thegibchickstobereleased inthewildwerebredandraised incaptivityunderthe‘conservation breeding’ phase of Project gib. To insure against their low wildpopulation,atleast98bustardshavebeenbredincaptivity attheWildlifeinstituteofindia’s (Wii) conservation breeding centres at sam and ramdevra, in jaisalmer. »cOntinUeD On PaGe 2