The ideas Page: The anti-sir and anti-CeC agitation is now set to become a pro-democracy movement 11 TueSdAy, November 3, 2026 Journalism of Courage kolkATA, lATe CiTy, 18 PAgeS ₹6.00 (₹12 in north east states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 lAmericAns will vote in the midterm elections to decide which party will control the Congress, for the rest of President Donald Trump’s tenure. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com At inAUGUrAl FinAnciAl exPress leADershiP AwArDs FM open to investor concerns, weighs case for foreign capital Says Tata Group a ‘critical component of economy’, conflict a ‘delicate matter’, expect it not to spill in public domain Business as Usual by eP uNNy Prasanta sahu Mumbai, November 2 Union Finance minister nirmala sitharaman at the Financial express Leadership awards in mumbai, monday. AmiT ChAkrAvArTy OCIs don’t have right to protest, says HC; Imran Khan says sorry omkar Gokhale Mumbai, November 2 SAyInG ThAT overseas Citizen of India (oCI) cardholders don’t have “any right to criticise the country” and such actions “cannot be tolerated”, the Bombay high Court on monday asked actor Imran Khan,auScitizen,tosubmitan “unconditional apology” and “categorical undertaking” that he would not participate in future protests. »continUeD on PAGe 2 unIon FInAnCe minister nirmala Sitharaman on monday acknowledged growing anxiety among retail investors and equity market participants over stretched Indian stock valuationsandthecapitalgains tax regime, and said their concerns would be considered. She, however, cautioned against viewing tax concessions as the principal driver of capital market performance. her remarks come amid renewedcallsforareviewoflongterm capital gains (lTCG) tax on equities against the backdrop of sustained foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows and concerns over the relative attractiveness of Indian stocks. liz mathew & Alok Deshpande New Delhi, Mumbai, November 2 A GrouP of senior nationalist Congress Party (nCP) leaders met union home minister AmitShahindelhilateSunday night to discuss the possibility of a merger with the rival nCP led by Sharad Pawar. The nCP old guard that met Shah in delhi is in favour of the merger and wants the possibility to be explored even if maharashtra deputy Chief minister Sunetra Pawar and her son, Parth Pawar, a rajya Sabha mP, arenotonboard,TheIndianExpresshas learnt. At a meeting of the nCP core committee inmumbaionmonday, Sunetra Pawar was urged to convene a meetingoftheparty’slegislators Tuesday to discuss the matter. Sitharaman, who was the chief guest at the inaugural Financial express leadership »continUeD on PAGe 2 »continUeD on PAGe 2 weapon recovered: STF explained BJP cautious The BJP is guarded and treading cautiously on the NCP issue as it does not want to upset its own cadre and old-timers in Maharashtra. In the past, the BJP leadership has received complaints about the party’s ‘organic leaders’ being sidelined because of the power-sharing agreement in place in the state. Accused had gone hunting, no link to illegal wildlife trade network: Probe nikhil Ghanekar New Delhi, November 2 The 19-monTh-old male cheetahthatdiedlastweekwas shot by two brothers who had gone hunting in a forest in SheopurdistrictofmadhyaPradesh, the Special Task Force (STF) investigating the matter said on monday. Pay and play: SAI pulled fund support while Sindhu, Sen won badminton titles Shocked... not faced this before: Sindhu NCP explores merger option with Two brothers behind Sharad Pawar party, meets Shah cheetah shooting held, Convene meeting of legislators on Tuesday: NCP top body to Sunetra express special The two men, identified as Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Singh,havesincebeenarrested and a traditional bharmar, a double-barrel muzzle-loading firearm, has been recovered, the STF said in a press note. It said the investigation so far does not indicate the involvement of any illegal wildlife »continUeD on PAGe 2 PV sindhu in action at the hylo open in Germany. BWF mihir vasavda Mumbai, November 2 P V SIndhu and lakshya Sen gave Indian badminton two reasonstocelebrateonSunday, winning the singles titles at the hylo open in Saarbrucken, Germany.Butweeksearlier,the country's shuttlers had been left to finance their european campaign themselves after funding support was withdrawn at the last minute over an administrative tussle. The Indian Express has learnt that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) declined to fund the Indian contingent’s european swing, comprising four consecutive tournaments in Finland, denmark, France and Germany. Sources said the players were informed of the decision just days before the Arcticopenbeganonoctober6 in Vantaa, Finland. “When I got to know, I was a bitshockedandwonderedhow the funding hadn’t gone through. I hadn't faced something like that before,” Sindhu told The Indian Express from Saarbrucken. “But at that point, I couldn't really decide that if there was nofunding,Iwouldn'tplay.For me, the priority was to participate and focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to play my matches and keep on »continUeD on PAGe 2 ICA/D1671(19)/2026 Happening today Kolkata