eye MCS/204/2020-22RNINO.MAHENG2002/21899 THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Nation-Building at Your Fingertips MUMBAI,LATECITY AUGUST10,2025 A reimagining of the accession of princely states in times of social media FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 14+4PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DISCLOSURE THREE MONTHS AFTER OPERATION SINDOOR Crediting Russian S-400, IAF chief says India took down 5 Pak fighter jets, 1 ‘large aircraft’ Aircraft taken out from about 300 km, largest surface-to-air kill: IAF chief Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh in Bengaluru. PTI NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 AIR CHIEF Marshal A P Singh on Saturday said the Indian Air Force (IAF) took down “at least” five Pakistani fighter jets and “one large aircraft” during Operation Sindoor in May. Inthethreemonthssincethe operation,whileIndiahastalked about the damage inflicted on Pakistan,thisisthefirsttimethat a senior officer has specified the number of Pakistani aircraft and jets downed. “We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft, which could be an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, which was taken out from a distance of about 300 kilometres, which is the largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” the IAF Chief 10/08/2025 78 106 129 64 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUNMAN, COP DEAD IN SHOOTING NEAR U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH BODY HQ AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA SIGN PEACE AGREEMENT AT WHITE HOUSE PAGE 10 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 Satellite images displayed during the Air Chief’s address show damage to the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur. PTI Delhi underlines message amid US tilt to Pak and 25% Russian penalty SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 AIRCHIEFMarshalAPSingh’sappraisal of India’s air defence system during Operation Sindoor in May, emphasising the effectiveness of the Russian-supplied S-400 surface-toairmissilesystem,comes at a time when India-US tiesarefacingthebiggest diplomatic test since Washington imposed sanctions on New Delhi in 1998 afterthePokhran-IInucleartests. Amid the tension in ties with the USafterPresidentDonaldTrump doubledthetariffonIndiaoverits India welcomes Some see it as ‘de facto embargo’, Trump-Putin others anxious, seek credit guarantee, meeting on correction of inverted duty structure Aug 15: ‘Ready THE PINCH to support’ purchase of Russian oil, it underlines the reliability of the IndiaRussia strategic partnership in times of adversity. TheIAFchief’sremarkscame a day after Trump reiterated his claim of brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May. India has maintained that the two countries halted their military actions followingdirecttalksbetween their DGMOs (Director General of Military Operations). “I got things settled withIndia,Pakistan.Ithinkitwas trade more than any other reason. That’s how I got involved... CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE MEANWHILE, TRUMP AGAIN: SETTLED THINGS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN 300-KM KILL: HOW IAF MAY HAVE SET A RECORD BJP TARGETS RAHUL, CONG ASKS WHY OP WAS STOPPED BRAHMOS WAS PRIMARY WEAPON: DRDO CHIEF PAGES 8, 4 INDIA ON Saturday welcomed the understanding between the United States and Russia for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. Hours after Trump announced the meeting, the MinistryofExternalAffairs(MEA) said it was ready to support the “efforts” as the meeting “holds the promise” of ending the conflictbetweenRussiaandUkraine. “India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in AlaskaonAugust15,2025,”MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “This meeting holds the promiseof bringingtoanendthe ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on severaloccasions,'thisisnotaneraof CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AHEAD OF MEETING, UKRAINE PRESIDENT REFUSES TO CEDE TERRITORY PAGE 10 For Class 9, CBSE clears open-book exam from 2026-27 NEW DELHI, AUGUST 9 THE CENTRAL Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has approved a proposal to integrate open-book assessments in Class 9 from the 2026-27 academic session, after a pilot study showed “teacher support” for such assessments. The CBSE’s Governing Body, theboard’shighestdecision-making authority, approved the proposal at a meeting held in June. According to the minutes of the meeting, the proposal involvesintegratingopen-bookassessments in Class 9 “as part of three pen-paper assessments perterm”,coveringcoresubjects like language, mathematics, science and social science. ThisisinlinewiththeNational CurriculumFrameworkforSchool Education(NCFSE)2023,whichis based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. NCFSE mentions open-book E ● The shift, challenge OPEN-BOOK assessments are not necessarily easier than traditional pen-andpaper exams; they are designed to test understanding beyond facts and definitions. For teachers, the challenge lies in framing questions that go beyond direct recall. testsasapossibleformof assessment. “An open-book test is one where the students have access to resources and references (e.g., textbooks, class notes, library books) while answering questions. These tests assess the ability to process or use available informationandapplythesamein various contexts. These tests shift the focus from recall to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TRUMP’S 50% TARIFF TENSION ON THE GROUND PART-1: TEXTILES ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, AUGUST 9 IN TIRUPPUR, India’s knitwear capital,exportersarealreadyfeelingtheheatofthe50percenttariff US President Donald Trump announcedWednesday.Theysay orders are being paused, redirected,orlostentirelytocompetitors like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia, all of whomfacelowerUStariffsranging between 19% and 36%. One Tiruppur exporter told TheIndianExpressthathisregular US shipment had already been divertedtoPakistan.Anothersaid hisAmericanbuyeraskedhimto “holdon”beforeconfirmingtheir summer order. A third revealed that buyers were previously demanding that exporters absorb the 25% tariff hike — a burden thathasnowdoubledovernight. The revised duties, including baselineandremedy-linkedtariffs, now push effective rates for someknittedgarmentstoashigh as64%,renderingproductsupto 35% more expensive than those fromregionalcompetitors.What 30% Share of Tiruppur’s total exports that go to the US, covering a full range of knitwear: infants’ clothing, men’s and women’s formal wear, and casual wear 55% Tiruppur’s contribution to India’s total knitwear exports, supplying major global brands including Walmart, GAP and Costco 3 HUBS HIT: The tariff shock affects Tiruppur (knitwear), Coimbatore (cotton towels, kitchen linen) and Karur (home textiles and bed linen), together exporting Rs 45,000 crore annually. was initially seen as a major setbackisnowviewedbyexporters as “a de facto trade embargo”. The blow comes at a particularly cruel time when Tamil Nadu’stextilebeltwaspreparing CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BACKS RAHUL’S ‘VOTE-THEFT’ CHARGE Pawar claims 160-seat offer in Maharashtra Assembly polls; says he, Rahul declined it Move after pilot study shows teacher support, aims at ending rote learning ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND THE WORLD ■ At least two command and control centres, six radars taken out in Murid and Chaklala ■ F-16 hangar at Jacobabad airfield hit; aircraft inside also likely damaged ■ Runways at Sargodha and Rahim Yar Khan airbases hit ■ UAV hangar at Sukkur damaged ■ Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system hangar at Bholari also hit EXPLAINED AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA said during a keynote address at the 16th Air Chief Marshal L M Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru. He said a key reason for the success of the operation was political will, adding that there were “very clear directions” given to the defence forces and no restrictions were imposed. He did not specify which Pakistani fighter jets were downed. Initial assessments showed that no Pakistani F-16 fighter was shot in the air. Giving details of Pakistan’s losses, the IAF chief said the Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield suffered major damage. “Here, there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m surethereweresomeaircraftinside that got damaged there. We were able to get at least two command and control centres, WHAT AIR CHIEF SAID ON DAMAGE INFLICTED BY INDIA Knitwear to apparel, Tamil Nadu’s textile belt starts feeling heat of US tariff 1 YR OF R G KAR: PROTEST IN KOLKATA ZEESHAN SHAIKH A protest in Kolkata to mark the completion of one year of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Partha Paul REPORT,PAGE8 NCP(SP) CHIEF Sharad Pawar Saturday said two persons had approached him ahead of the MaharashtraAssemblyelections claiming they could “guarantee” the Opposition 160 of the state’s 288 seats. Pawar said he introducedthemtoRahulGandhibut the two INDIA bloc leaders finally declined their “offer” holding that “this is not our way”. “We did not give it the attentionitperhapsrequired.ButIstill remember — before the Assembly elections were announced, two people came to meet me in Delhi. They told me that Maharashtra has 288 Assemblyseats,andoutof those, they would guarantee us 160 seats.Iwassurprised.Tobeclear, eventhoughtheyclaimedsucha guarantee,Ihadnodoubtsabout Two soldiers killed as anti-terror operation in Kulgam enters Day 9 BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, AUGUST 9 TWO SOLDIERS were killed and two injured overnight in south Kashmir’s Kulgam during an encounter between terrorists and security forces that entered its ninth day on Saturday. The encounter broke out after security forces launched an anti-terror operation on August During the ninth day of anti-terror operations in Kulgam on Saturday. PTI 1. It has now become one of the longest such operations in the Valley in recent years. The Army said Lance Naik Pritpal Singh and Sepoy HarminderSinghwerekilledinan intensegunfightontheintervening night of Friday and Saturday. “Theircourageanddedication willforeverinspireus.TheIndian Army expresses deepest condolences and stands in solidarity CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUMBAI, AUGUST 9 NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar at a press conference in Nagpur on Saturday. PTI the Election Commission (EC). But such people do show up, so I ignored them,” Pawar told reporters in Nagpur. “I arranged their meeting with Rahul Gandhi. They told him whatever they wanted to. However, both Rahul Gandhi and I felt that we should not pay CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For Uttarkashi survivors, physical wounds are healing, mental scars not so much PAGE 1 ANCHOR AISWARYA RAJ UTTARKASHI, AUGUST 9 SOHANPAL SINGH Panwar is among the fortunate ones who lived to tell the tale. On August 5, when he was carrying out the maintenance work at his hotel in Uttarkashi’s Dharali village, in anticipation of the September tourist rush, he heard screams and whistles, an omen from the villagers uphill. “Ithoughtitwasaprayertothe devta(deity),butthencamedebris, mercilesslywashingeverythingin its way. It was just a few metres away,andIranandranasmuchas my feet could take me, but the muck caught up with me and my legs sank into it,” said Panwar, recalling the moment flash floods wreakedhavocinthearea. Lodged at District Hospital, Uttarkashi,theonlytertiary-care institute in a 100-km radius of Dharali, the 42-year-old is in the ICU, with his file mentioning the possibility of PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. The hospital currently has 11 patients, most of them Army personnel who were caught in the way of a mudslideattheircampinHarsil. TheywereontheirwaytoDharai for rescue when it struck them. The hospital offers treatments ranging from psychiatry to orthopaedic surgery. “We have set aside 50 beds for the disaster victims,” said PS Pokhriyal, the medical superintendent at the hospital. As the rescue operations continued for the fifth day, and around 60 people remained missing, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami Saturday announced assistance of Rs 5 lakh Operations at Dharali in Uttarkashi district on Saturday. PTI for people whose houses were completely damaged in the disaster. In addition, those who lost loved ones will also receive Rs 5 lakh. The government has announced the formation of a three-member committee for the rehabilitation, restoration, and sustainable livelihood strengthening of disaster-affected villagers. At the hospital, the orthopaedic ward is silent despite its nine occupants, who are being nursed back, with families more concerned about their mental health. An Army man, with his face bruised and a few bandages wrapping his arms and legs, sat outside, speaking to his mother back home in Haryana.Hedidnotsmileforthe entirety of the conversation. As Dr Priya Tyagi, the psychiatrist at the hospital, checked in on Panwar, he narrated the ordeal. “I was near the 40-room hotel that flowed away, and we did not get enough time to comprehend what was happening. The muck had filled the area, and I walked and crawled for a kilometre. Then I heard from a villager in Dharali that Harsil was also struck. I spent the night at the village where a few strangers took me in, clothed and fed me,” he said. Dr Tyagi checked for signs of anxiety: “Do you sleep well? Are you restless? Do these images come back to you?” Panwar said he has been experiencing sleepless nights. Prescribing Benzodiazepines to treat anxiety, Tyagi said this was an adjustment disorder, and he would get well in a few days. Speaking to The Indian Express, Tyagi said: “I have been checking in on those who are physically affected, and they say CONTINUED ON PAGE 2