DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES BY UNNY DEFENCE LOOKS AT POLICY CHANGES Emergency arms contract to be cancelled if no delivery within a year AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 DEFENCE PROCUREMENTS via theemergencyroutewillhaveto be compulsorily delivered within a year of signing the contract, failing which the contract would be cancelled. This is among the policy changes being made by the Ministry of Defence to expedite and streamline critical military acquisitionfortheIndianArmed Forces to boost their operational readinessforfutureconflicts,The Indian Express has learnt. The decision has been taken following concerns that many of theprocurementsmadethrough theemergencyrouteearlier,particularly during the months of the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, were not delivered on time,defeatingtheverypurpose of emergency procurement. Officials privy to the latest discussionssaidthatonlyreadily available weapons and ammunition in the market will be PHONE CALL AS THE ‘COALITION OF WILLING’ MEETS IN PARIS ON UKRAINE PM and EU leaders discuss early FTA conclusion, end to the war in Ukraine Trump’s tariff blow to weigh on India, but will be shortlived: CEA Jaishankarspeaks to counterpartin Ukraine:India supportsearly endtoconflict HITESHVYAS SHUBHAJIT ROY MUMBAI,SEPTEMBER4 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi and European Union’s top leaders, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the EuropeanCouncilAntonioCosta, Thursday discussed “early conclusion of the India-EU FTA and implementation of the IMEEC corridor”andeffortsfor“anearly end to the conflict in Ukraine”. Separately, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Ukraine counterpart Andrii Sybiha and, in a post on X later, said,“Indiasupportsanearlyend to this conflict and the establishment of an enduring peace.” Sybiha said he spoke to Jaishankar“about strengthening the Ukraine-India partnership and the further implementation of agreements reached by our leaders” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Modi. “I informed my Indian colleague about the current battlefield situation and Ukraine’s efforts to achieve a just peace. We relyonIndia’sauthoritativevoice and active role in supporting the full cessation of hostilities and broader international peace efforts,” he said. “We agreed to meet during the UNGA high-level week in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa during their call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday. X@eucopresident In US Supreme Court, Trump links penalty on India to war in Ukraine YOSHITA SINGH NEW YORK, WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 4 THE DONALD Trump administration has told the US Supreme Court that it imposed tariffs against India for purchasing Russianenergyproducts“todeal with a pre-existing national emergency regarding Russia's Has said ‘stakes in this case could not be higher’ CHIEF ECONOMIC Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran has warnedthattheadditional25per cent tariff — taking the total to 50 per cent — imposed by US President Donald Trump on Indianexportswillmakebusiness conditionsextremelychallenging and that the ripple effects of this move are expected to be felt in economic growth, particularly in the second and third quarters of the current financial year. Atthesametime,Nageswaran expressedconfidencethatthetariff measure would be shortlived and that there would be “certain recalibrationhappeningfromthe other side” on it, as the “current approachisnotgoingtobealongtermpositivethingintermsofthe overall relationship”. “Idofeelthatit(hightariff)will be more short-lived than Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Wednesday. Narendra Vaskar Kuki Zo Council ‘clarifies’ its appeal on NH doesn’t cover guarded buffer zones DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & SUKRITA BARUAH NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DIS/AGREE THEBESTOFBOTHSIDES INDIA-U.S. TIES THEIDEASPAGE 15 THE WORLD 26 COUNTRIES SAY THEY WILL SECURE POST-WAR UKRAINE war in Ukraine” and as a “crucial aspect” of the President's push for peace in the country. PAGE 20 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 More compensation, In GST 2.0 calculus, behavioural insurance needed for nudges — packaged foods to ACs THE EDITORIAL PAGE cadets disabled in WELCOMEGST2.0 training: SC to Centre AANCHAL MAGAZINE & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 Bench welcomes Govt decision to include cadets in health scheme EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 THE SUPREME Court Thursday asked the Centre to consider enhancing monetary compensation and insurance cover for cadets discharged from military training institutions due to disabilitiessufferedduringtraining, and devise a scheme to resettle those who have recovered. Thiswasrecordedinanorder issued by a bench headed by Justice B V Nagarathna, which took suo motu cognizance of reports in The Indian Express on August 11 about how these officer cadets have been battling severe disability with mounting medical bills and poor benefits. Thisnewspaperhadreported that these cadets get an ex gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month, depending on the extent of disability — an amount, they had said, fell far short of basic CATALYSING A behavioural change. That’s a key objective underpinning the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, alongside the much-needed simplification of the rate structureandanimplicithopeof abelated consumption push, one of the top officials behind the rate rationalisation exercise told The Indian Express. Rate rationalisation will ease taxpayer burden. It will also have revenue implications for Centre and States PAGE14 From exempting ultra-high temperaturemilk,rotiorparotta oranyIndianbreadforthatmatter, and paneer to “promote Indiancottagecheese”,toreducing GST rate for air conditioners, television, washing machines, small cars, motorcycles to nudgingpeoplemoretowardsindividuallifeandhealthinsurancepolicies by exempting them while retaining institutional group insurance policies at 18 per cent — the prod towards consumption of higher quality or upgraded products is unmissable. There was a feeling that the earlier majorraterationalisation exercises — carried out in November 2017, July 2018, June 2022 — had resulted in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Reforms in GST double dose of support and growth, says Modi The Indian Express report published on August 11 on the plight of the cadets JATIN ANAND needs, with medical expenses alone costing, on an average, nearly Rs 50,000 per month or more. It had also reported that around 500 officer cadets have been medically discharged from top institutes, such as National PRIME MINISTER Narendra ModionThursdayhailedGST2.0 as a “double dose of support and growth”, saying it offers the dual benefit of “increased savings for common families and strengtheningof economicmomentum”. He said the reforms were dedicated to the goal of an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses winners of the National Teachers’ Awards on Thursday. PTI In an interaction with the winners of the National Teachers' Awards, on the eve of Teachers' Day, Modi said that in his Independence Day speech, he had promised a “double dhamaka” before Diwali and Chhath Puja, and the new tax rates would come into effect from September 22, the first day of Navratri. Describingitasahistoricstep forward in India’s economic CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Battling unstable Wi-Fi, esports star rises in Manipur PAGE 1 ANCHOR MAYANK NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 4 HIGH-SPEED Wi-Fi access may have reached Kalinagar, a village in Manipur’s border town of Jiribam, just last year, but lack of good connectivity did not stop Sanaujam Tirisha Chanu, 25, from becoming one of the top women esports gamers in the country. Chanu represented the EMP Hotshots, an all-women’s team, atthe BattlegroundMobileIndia ChallengersSeries(BGCS),oneof the biggest offline esports tournaments in the country, in New Delhi.TheBGCS—oneof thetwo most popular mobile games, the other being ‘Call of Duty’ — startedonAugust19andendson September 7. CompetitionattheBGCSisas cut-throat as any mainstream sport. Before the Delhi event, thousands of teams and lakhs of players participated in open-forallonlineeventsforashotatqualifyingfortheofficialtournament. Despitethescreenfreezeand timed-outgamesessions,Chanu has managed to put football- Sanaujam Tirisha Chanu (right) with a teammate crazyManipur—alreadyfamous for its women Olympic medallists in weightlifting and boxing — on the esports map. A good broadband connection is the lifeline for esports, more so for in-game leaders (IGLs) like Chanu, who function like team captains. For Chanu, the chance to participate in a competition where all the gamerswereunderoneroof,ina gaming arena with a local area network(LAN)boostingconnectivity, was “surreal”. “This is the first time I played in a LAN event. It was a surreal feeling,” Chanu, who goes by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kukis have agreed on free movement, says Govt ahead of PM’s Manipur visit EXPRESS NETWORK ED QUESTIONS SHIKHAR DHAWAN IN BETTING APP CASE PAGE 9 DAYS AHEAD of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Manipur, the Centre on Thursday claimed that Kuki civil society groups had agreed to allow free movement in Manipur. The Centre also announced the signing of a new Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement withKukimilitantgroups,under which they would relocate their camps from near Meitei areas and agree to “the territorial integrity of Manipur”. The start of free movement between the Kuki and Meitei areaswouldbethemostsignificant step towards normalcy in the state that has been in the grip of ethnic violence since May 2023. It would be perfectly timed too for the PM’s visit, likely on September 13 — his first to the state since the violence began. If the Kuki side agrees to free E E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 New SoO ● terms ON SIGNING of a new Suspension of Operations agreement with Kuki militant groups, new terms have been reached, including relocation of camps from near Meitei areas and honouring “the territorial integrity of Manipur”. GOVT & POLITICS NAGA THREAT OF A ‘TRADEEMBARGO’ POSES NEWHURDLE PAGE 11 movement,Delhicouldthenpush the Meiteis to replicate the gesture. Currently, the communities CONTINUED ON PAGE 2