DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY THE WORLD JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MEETING ON SIDELINES OF UNGA SESSION Inshadowoftariff,H-1B,Jaishankarand Rubiodiscussissuesof‘currentconcern’ EAM: Agreed on importance of sustained engagement on priority areas SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22 PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTERS BLOCK PORTS IN ITALY, CLASHES IN MILAN NEPAL PM EXPANDS INTERIM CABINET, 4 NEW MINISTERS SWORN IN PAGE 14 `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed a “range of bilateral and international issues of current concern” as they met in New York on Monday—theirfirstmeetingafter theDonaldTrumpadministration doubled the tariff on Indian imports to 50 per cent as “penalty” for purchase of Russian oil, and days after the US increased the H-1B visa fee to $100,000. Sources said the hour-long meeting, on the sidelines of the high-level80thsessionof theUN External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Monday. Reuters General Assembly (UNGA), was “positive”, as they discussed all issues in a candid manner. They also agreed to continue to engage so that they can make progress on “priority areas”. “Good to meet @SecRubio this morning in New York. Our conversation covered a range of bilateralandinternationalissues of current concern. Agreed on the importance of sustained engagement to progress on priority areas. We will remain in touch,” Jaishankar posted on X afterthemeeting,indicatingthat the hot-button issues were part of conversation. Considering that this was their first face-to-face meeting since July — when they met in Washington DC for the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting — Jaishankar and Rubio had a lot of ground to cover, as many issues have cropped up in the last couple of months, sources said. The India-US trade deal, which was almost agreed upon by the two sides, fell apart at the last minute, and the conversation at the political level seeks to give a push to the negotiations. The technical-level negotiations will be carried forward by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who is also in the US this CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Delhi’s biggest ‘digital STARTS WITH 5 LOK SABHA SEATS, TO TRAIN PARTY WORKERS TO REVIEW VOTER ROLLS arrest’ fraud: `22.92 cr To raise awareness on ‘vote chori’, Cong stolen, split in 7 layers rolls out plan to appoint ‘booth rakshaks’ GOVT & POLITICS via 4,236 transactions KARNATAKAMAY ASAD REHMAN NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22 IN LINE with Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” campaign, the Congress has rolled out a “pilot project” to appoint “booth rakshaks”, with the aim to train party workers on the ground to detect and report “irregularities in electoral rolls”. The party has picked five Lok Sabha constituencies — Jaipur Rural and Alwar in Rajasthan, Janjgir–ChampainChhattisgarh, RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22 DAILY GET-TOGETHERSinSouth Delhi’s upmarket Gulmohar Park, strolls in the colony park, adda with close friends and visits to the club — none of these over the past six weeks felt unusual for family, friends and neighbours of 78-year old retired banker Naresh Malhotra. Butitwasinthisperiodwhenhe visited a branch of three banks where he held an account to transfer a total of Rs 22.92 crore in 21 transactions to 16 different bank accounts. The managers of the bank branches from where he transferredsuchlargefundstoodidn’t suspect any foul play — in one bank branch, he would have a cup of tea while money was being moved out. But Malhotra was under “digital arrest”, taking permission from the scammers who claimed to be officers from the Enforcement Directorate and Mumbai Police, for withdrawing small amounts to make monthly salary payments to his staff. EXPRESS NETWORK The scammers issued such ‘RBI certificates’ to Naresh Malhotra, 78. “It is as if I was possessed and hadlostallmy senses;my thinking process was completely taken over by the scammers,” Malhotratold The Indian Express. It took six weeks for the retired banker to muster enough courage to report the disappearance of Rs 22.92 crore. He filed a complaint onSeptember19,and an FIR was registered the same day, and the task of unravelling CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22 PAGE 8 Rahul Gandhi has accused the Election Commission of protecting ‘vote thieves’. File Morena in Madhya Pradesh, and Bansgaon in Uttar Pradesh — where its candidates lost by rel- atively narrow margins in the 2024 elections, for the “pilot project”.Eachboothrakshakwill be in charge of 10 booths, and has been assigned a team of 10 Booth Level Agents (BLA). The party has formed a fivememberteamtooverseetheex- 2020 riots: SC notice to Delhi Police on bail pleas of Umar Khalid, 4 others EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 22 THESUPREMECourtonMonday sought the response of the Delhi Police on the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima,MeeranHaiderandShifa Ur Rehman, all charged as conspirators in the 2020 Delhi riots. The notice was issued by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar Khalid and the others were booked under UAPA and N V Anjaria. The matter was last listed before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Manmohan on September 19, but it was not taken up. On Monday, Justice Kumar explainedthatitcouldnotbetaken up that day “because my bench partner (Justice Manmohan) was disabled”. As a lawyer, Justice Manmohan had practised in the office of Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who is one of the lawyers representing the accused in the case. On September 2, the Delhi High Court had rejected the bail CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A 13-YEAR-OLD boy from Kunduz, in Afghanistan, wanted to travel to Iran. So, early on Sundaymorning,hesneakedinto the Kabul airport, trailed a group of passengers, and stowed away in an aircraft’s rear wheel well — theinternalcompartmentwhich houses the landing gear — carryingjusta“smallred-colouredaudio speaker”. But, it was a flight bound for Delhi, not Tehran. For over 90 minutes, the boy flew in the wheel well, miraculously landing unscathed at the IndiraGandhiInternational(IGI) Airport in the Capital, where he was seen wandering around by someairportstaff.Byevening,he wassentbackonaflighttoKabul, ending his day's adventure. According to an official of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the boy had stowed away on a KAM Air Kabul-Delhi flight (RQ4401), which landed at IGI Airport at 10.20 am. Dressed in a white kurta-pyjama, he was INSIDE THE LANDING GEAR COMPARTMENT ■ Commercial aircraft typically cruise at 30,000-40,000 feet, where temperatures dip to around -50°C ■ Wheel wells are unpressurised, unheated — meaning the lack of oxygen makes survival inside difficult UP govt ‘prohibits’ caste-based rallies: ‘Contrary to public order, national unity’ It is BJP that has taken lead in playing caste politics, say Opposition parties MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 22 FOLLOWING THE Allahabad High Court directive seeking removal of caste displays in public, the Uttar Pradesh government issued a government order late Sundaynightprohibiting“castebased political rallies”, calling them a threat to “public order” and “national unity”. Themoveisexpectedtohave political implications ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with all UP-based parties drawing their strength from specific caste groups. The UP government order also coincides with the first ever caste count to be held in the country since 1933, in the coming Census, which followed a long agitation led by the Opposition, especially the Congress, seeking the same. As news spread of the governmentorder,partiesstruggled to frame a response, including BJP allies NISHAD Party, Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which are alsocaste-specificorganisations. The order, issued by officiating Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to all districtmagistrates, secretaries and senior police officers across the state, cited the September 16 Allahabad High GOVT & POLITICS REDUCED GST RATES WILL BOOST GDP, EMPLOYMENT: BJP RJD STRATEGIST, SOURCE OF LALU FAMILY RIFT: MEET SANJAY YADAV PAGE 6 spotted by some airport staff, who informed the CISF personnel at the airport. “Upon inquiry, it turned out that he hid in the rear central landing gear compartment (rear wheel well) of the aircraft. He is from Kunduz city, Afghanistan. Subsequently,anaircraftsecurity check was conducted by the airline's security and engineering staff, during which a small redcoloured audio speaker was found in the rear landing gear area,”theCISFsaidinastatement. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E ● Caste and UP parties ALL UP-BASED parties draw their strength from specific caste groups, including those which are BJP allies. The order also coincides with the first ever caste count to be held in the country since 1933, in the coming Census, following a long agitation led by the Opposition. THE EDITORIAL PAGE DISCOUNTINGCASTE UP govt order against ‘castebased signs’ at rallies collapses voices of marginalised and privileged. It needs to go. P10 Court order, and said: “Castebased rallies organised for politicalpurposespromotecasteconflict in society, are contrary to public order and national unity. Theyarestrictlyprohibitedinthe state of Uttar Pradesh.” While NDA partner NISHAD Party’s name signifies the caste CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kanpur FIR over Prophet slogan sparks protests in state; many held, booked MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 22 13-yr-old Afghan stowaway lands at Delhi airport, sent back EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE SC SLAMS REPORTS SUGGESTING ‘PILOT ERROR’ IN AI CRASH NUJS STUDENTS ESCALATE PROTEST AGAINST V-C TAKE LEGAL ROUTE TO GET ALAND SEAT DATA FROMEC PAGE 7 ercise. The team is learnt to have startedthe groundwork, visiting all five constituencies and holding training workshops for the local leadership at the booth levelonreviewingelectoralrolls. They have also been gathering data on irregularities in voter lists, which will be submitted to the Congress high command for further scrutiny, said sources. “Theteamistrainingthelocal leadership on how to catch vote chori;itisgoingthroughtheelectoral rolls of each booth in the constituencies it is visiting,” CITES ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT ORDER E X P L A I NE D TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES SEVERAL PEOPLE have been booked and arrested after they took out protests across Uttar Pradesh, days after an FIR was lodged by Kanpur police over a board displaying the message, “I love Mohammad”, which was put up as part of decorations for theannualBarawafatprocession to commemorate the birth of Prophet Mohammad. Protests against the Kanpur FIR were witnessed over the weekend at several districts, including Kaushambi, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Bhadohi, Lucknow, Unnao, and Kanpur. Police said most of the protests were organised without taking permission. Asof Monday,atleastfivepeople havebeenarrestedinUnnaoand threeinKaushambi.Severalmore havebeenbookedacrossdistricts. On Sunday evening, tensions escalated in Unnao district’s Gangaghat area after a group of people staged a march in support of the signboard. Accordingtopolice,protesters marched through the locality shouting slogans, which prompted security personnel to rush to the spot. When officers tried to stop the march, a heated argument broke out, and additionalforcesweredeployed.Police said the situation was eventually brought under control with the intervention of local residents. Later that night, police registered a case against eight identifiedpersonsandseveralunidentified persons for their alleged involvementintheincident,said AjayKumarSingh,StationHouse CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM IN ARUNACHAL, TARGETS CONG P6 ‘Crashing planes’, gunshots with bat: India-Pak game was all except cricket EXPRESS ATASIACUP SANDIP G DUBAI, SEPTEMBER 22 ARGUABLY THE most acrimonious India-Pakistan cricket match ever, Sunday’s Asia Cup Super 4 league game at Dubai wasn’t quite ‘war minus the shooting’ as the late American writer Mike Marqusee famously described such contests between the arch rivals. The match witnessed an unending war of words, along with some imaginary shooting. The tense T20 game, which India won by six wickets and an over to spare, saw several altercations but the most talked about were the ones involving the rampaging Indian openers Abhishek SharmaandShubman Gill and Pakistan’s senior pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf. During the powerplay of the Indianinnings,Haris,afteranexpensive over and a seemingly abusive face-off with Sharma and Gill, moved to his fielding positionontheboundary,where an army of Indian fans seemed tobejeeringhim.Thiswaswhen Haris, after turning towards the stands, used his hands to mimic gun-firing and crashing aircraft. Earlier in the game, upon reaching his half-century, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhanhadheldhisbatlikeamachine gun and cosplayed firing a round in the air. With memories of the recent military strikes by both nations still fresh, the mercury rose in the stands and keyboard warriors on social media got into cross-border battles. Farhan, at the press conference, justified his action and also the tiff he had with India’s new ball bowler Hardik Pandya. “It Pakistanopener SahibzadaFarhanholdshisbatlikeagun;pacerHarisRauf mimicsacrashing aircraft,ostensiblyreferringtohiscountry’sairstrikesduringtherecenthostilities. AP was just a moment of the match. Generally I don’t celebrate a 50 buttodaysomethingcametomy mind and I did what I did. I don't care what people would think about it,” he said. About his confrontation with Pandya in the game’s first over, he added: “We needtoplayaggressivecricket,be it India or anybody ... we should playaggressivecricketagainstany team, like we did today …” VoicesfromtheIndiandressing room told The Indian Express that Pakistan, hurting from the massivedefeattheysufferedearlier in the tournament, were unusually chirpy from the start of this game. “After the ‘no hand- shake’ stand by both teams, we thought they would go about their business without much fuss but they started needling us from the start. And in the heat of the moment our players too answered back,” said a member of the Indian team. Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has maintained that itwasIndiancaptainSuryakumar Yadav, by mentioning the Pahalgam terror attack and his dedication of the September 14 win to India’s armed forces, who started it. Rameez Raja had said, “Whatever emotions you have felt, show it on the field, show CONTINUED ON PAGE 2