the editorial Page: to combat pollution, we need to cast a wider net, go beyond the city 10 FRiDAY, OCtOBER 9, 2026 JourNalism of Courage NeW Delhi, late City, 20 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 Happening Central forces called, today entry points under Modi will attend the valedictory session of the Departmental Summit on Women and Child Development in Delhi. watch: Delhi braces for protests over weekend Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com New Delhi, October 8 lPrime minister Narendra govttoput30% capontrade marginof110 non-scheduled cancerdrugs anonna Dutt New Delhi, October 8 in A move to address excessive markupsoncancerdrugprices, the Centre has decided to cap the trade margin at 30 per cent for 110 non-scheduled cancer drugs, including 35 patented medicines. While the list is still being finalised, it will cover branded and generic, domestic and imported, patented and non-patented medicines. trade margin is the difference between the price at which a distributor procures a drug from a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and the final Maximum Retail Price (MRP) paid by the patient. Sources in the Department of Pharmaceuticals said the move, which is likely to come into effect in about 10 days, is expectedtoseeafallinpricesby up to 70 per cent in some cases. Officials said an analysis of market data by the national Pharmaceutical Pricing »ContinUeD on Page 2 sakshi Chand & Pragynesh With the Opposition declaring thursday that its protests will continue until Chief election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns, and the CockroachJantaPartyaskingpeople to gather for another sit-in Saturday, Delhi braced for the weekend as authorities and police took a string of security measures — 23,000 Central forces personnel have been called to assist the city police, five all-women paramilitary companies will be on duty, liquor vends will be closed for two days and Central Delhi ho- inside page 5 daY 3: opposition goes to rajgHat tels have been asked to restrict room bookings. the CJP and All india Students’ Association have jointly »ContinUeD on Page 2 related reports, p 4 { NaNa Patekar • 1951-2026 } neeD gst ProCesses where BUsinesses are ‘trUsteD’: Fm Taxman’s pre-prosecution arrest powers takenaway Conditions tightened to intercept goods moving across states aanchal magazine & siddharth Upasani New Delhi, October 8 inAbidtoboostbusinesssentiment, the Goods and Services tax(GSt)Councilonthursday approved sweeping process reforms, ranging from the removalofarrestpowersfromtax officers at the pre-prosecution stage to a minimum threshold of Rs 10,000 being put in place for issuance of show-cause notices effective retrospectively. UnionFinanceMinisternirmala Sitharaman said the processes must be such that businesses are “trusted”, and that these are not “too intrusive”. inside pages 8, 12 He redefined the tough cop, psychotic villain — and Hindi cinema “ApNe kO sochne ka allowed nahin hai, apne ko sirf ungli hai, ghoda kheechne ka”. that single dialogue, in a 2004 film filled with snappy one-liners, cemented the image of the “encounter cop” in hindi cinema. Scenery-chewing toughtalking cops had always been a Suvajit Dey Bollywood staple, with Amitabh Bachchan giving his vijay »ContinUeD on Page 2 ‘99% issues’ resolved, door still open Union Finance minister nirmala sitharaman at the GsT council meeting in delhi Thursday. aNi in another big move, the Council has ruled that vehicles carrying goods can only be stopped by tax officers from either the state of the supplier »ContinUeD on Page 2 Thursday’s GST process reforms follow September 2025’s sweeping cuts in indirect tax rates on goods and services. And while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that they address “99% of issues” related to GST, the “door” for further changes “isn’t closed”. starlink vs govt pak jets used in strikes against HoutHis in Yemen: report soumyarendra Barik New Delhi, October 8 even AStheCentrecountered US billionaire elon Musk’s allegation on the launch of his satellite communications company, Starlink, being delayed in india due to “certain oligarchs...tomaintaintheirmonopolistic chokehold”, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Ussuspends indianitmajors fromgreencard programme Business as usual By EP UNNY soumyarendra Barik Rahul to Musk after ‘boss Ambani’ remark: ‘Wait till you discover other guy’ india condemns saudi airport attacks, issues advisorY shubhra gupta New Delhi, October 8 explained Rahul Gandhi waded into the row on thursday. in a statement, the Centre said the country’s regulatory framework for satcom services is fair and non-discriminatory. “Licenseesarerequiredtodemonstratecompliancewithsecurity conditions,” it said, without namingMusk.“Securityassessment as part of this process is »ContinUeD on Page 2 New Delhi, October 8 theUSgovernmentonthursdaysuspendedseverallargeindian it firms from a key programme that allows skilled foreign workers to gain permanent residency. the administration cited alleged fraud, and claimed that foreign workers got jobs in the US at the cost of American workers. “i am hereby suspending fromthePermanentLaborCertification Program some of the largest it outsourcing firms in the world — Cognizant, infosys, tata, Wipro, hCL and Capgemini,” US Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said. »ContinUeD on Page 2 2026 nobel prize literature a provocateur who blurs boundaries between genres page 9 Ratan N. Tata December 28, 1937 - October 9, 2024 A LIFE THAT INSPIRED MILLIONS New Delhi anne Carson