FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW Israeli military investigating killings of Hind Rajab, paramedics BRIEFLY Three dead in CNG truck blast at Outer Delhi filling station: New Delhi: A powerful explosion at the CNG refuelling station in Outer Delhi’s Tikri Kalan resulted in three deaths and left three bystanders injured, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials said on Wednesday. Police identified the deceased as Manish (25), Brahmjeet (34) and Sunny (30), all employees of the CNG filling station. The injured, Surjeet, Sanjay and Vipin, were admitted to CD Global Hospital in Mundka. According to DFS, the explosion occurred around 3:20 p.m. while CNG was being transferred from a refilling truck to the filling station. A cylinder on the truck exploded with a loud blast, triggering panic in the area. Police said eyewitnesses reported that six people were injured in the blast, three later succumbed to their injuries. The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Real defeat of Naxalism Page 7 Page 9 US envoy visits Srinagar, says J&K important part of India STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Jammu, 19 August S ending a significant diplomatic message during his first Srinagar visit, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Wednesday called Jammu and Kashmir an “important part of India”, shortly after meeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. This was the maiden Kashmir visit of a serving Ambassador after the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre in 2019 and also after the Pahalgam terror attack. “As everybody knows, I’m the US Ambassador to India, and this is an important part of India. And so I’m here visiting for the first time. It is an incredibly beautiful place, and so I’m thrilled to be here,” he said with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by his side. Later in a post on X, Mr Gor said his discussions with Mr Abdullah focused on the chief minister’s priorities for Kashmir and ways to expand economic cooperation between India and the United States. Mr Gor is also scheduled to meet Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and will fly to Ladakh on Thursday. After meeting the US Ambassador, Omar Abdullah wrote on X; “It was a pleasure to receive @USAmbIndia Sergio Gor in Srinagar today. We had a very good conversation about the possibilities that exist to widen & deepen the engagement between J&K & the United Rijiju rejects Chinese intrusion claims, says Congress policy left India behind STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 19 August Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday dismissed the allegations made by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi regarding alleged Chinese intrusion into Indian territory, asserting that the concerns being raised in Arunachal Pradesh need to be viewed in the context of the long-standing lack of a formally demarcated India-China boundary. Mr Rijiju said the situation has been complicated by the absence of clearly marked borders and accused previous Congress-led governments of following a policy that discouraged infrastructure development on the Indian side of the frontier. His remarks came in response to Rahul Gandhi's repeated allegations that the Centre has concealed Chinese incursions and failed to adequately protect India's territory. Rejecting the claims, Mr Rijiju said such statements could create confusion and should not be made without understanding the ground situation. In an interview with the IANS news agency, Mr Rijiju said: “Such statements should not be made. There are issues in several places in Arunachal Pradesh; the root cause of these issues needs to be understood. India and China share a very long border in Arunachal Pradesh that has not been formally delineated. There are no border pillars, and the boundary is not clearly marked on the ground; there is no distinct border line. This is not a recent issue. Even when Tibet was a separate entity, the border between Tibet and India had not been delineated." The minister said that concerns among residents living in the border areas were genuine because of the absence of proper demarcation, but maintained that presenting the issue through unverified videos and claims could mislead the public. “There is indeed an issue regarding the border. Some villagers in Arunachal Pradesh have expressed concerns about the border, and rightly so, because the boundary has not been delineated there," he said. Mr Rijiju further explained that the rugged terrain of the region had historically limited permanent habitation, as several such areas were traditionally used for hunting and grazing rather than settlements. According to Mr Rijiju, the “core issue” is also connected to the pace of infrastructure development along the border. He alleged that China began building roads and other infrastructure much earlier, while the Congress-led governments at the Centre followed a different approach. Taking aim at the previous UPA governments, Mr Rijiju said: “At that time, the Congress was in power in India. A K Antony, the then Defence Minister under the Congress government, stated in Parliament that it was the government's policy not to build infrastructure on the Indian side. Meanwhile, China continued to develop infrastructure steadily." Paper leaks: SC seeks Centre’s response on strengthening NTA, implementing reforms THE COURT SOUGHT DETAILS CONCERNING THE CREATION OF PERMANENT INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY, SECURE OFFICE PREMISES AND CONFIDENTIAL OPERATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, CYBERSECURITY, TESTING CENTRES, CENTRAL NETWORK OPERATIONS, SECURE DATA STORAGE. PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 19 August The Supreme Court on Wednesday stressed the need to institutionalise the National Testing Agency (NTA) as a robust examination body with permanent expertise, adequate manpower, secure infrastructure and upgraded technology to prevent question paper leaks, and directed the Central government to spell out the progress made in implementing reforms recommended by the Radhakrishnan and Nandan Nilekani committees. A bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, hearing a batch of petitions arising from the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak, said its concern went beyond individual measures and was directed at creating a strong institutional framework capable of conducting entrance examinations to higher educational institutions securely. “Our duty is to ensure that there is a vibrant institution that the country can be proud | Thursday, 20 August 2026 Suthar’s ten-wicket haul seals victory in Galle Test PERSPECTIVE Pricing UPI Page 6 SILIGURI SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL | of,” the bench observed, pointing out that unless the NTA was institutionalised, expertise acquired by experienced officials would be lost upon their transfer. The Court also emphasised the need to keep pace with technological changes in examination systems. The bench directed the secretary concerned of the Central government to file an affidavit detailing steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee, as further nuanced by the Nandan Nilekani committee, including reforms relating to artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. The matter will be taken up again after three weeks. The court particularly sought details concerning the creation of permanent institutional capacity, secure office premises and confidential operational infrastructure, cybersecurity, testing centres, central network operations, research and development facilities, a sovereign database and secure data storage. States of America, particularly in areas like tourism, horticulture & the new economy. I look forward to continuing this engagement & taking our conversation forward”. Mr Gor’s visit marks the first meeting between a serving US ambassador and a sitting Jammu and Kashmir chief minister in more than 15 years. The last such meeting took place in 2011, when then US Ambassador Timothy Roemer met Omar Abdullah. The last standalone visit to Kashmir by a serving US ambassador was made by Kenneth Juster in 2018, shortly after the PDP-BJP coalition government collapsed in the erstwhile state. Earlier in the morning, Omar Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar that he will discuss the situation in the region with visiting US Ambassador Sergio Gor, but ruled out raising internal issues with Washington’s representative, saying only the central government can resolve those issues. Page 12 Jharkhand students suspend agitation, give state govt 60 days STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Ranchi, 19 August The JPSC-JSSC Reform Forum on Wednesday suspended its nearly month-long agitation over alleged irregularities in Jharkhand's recruitment examinations and deferred its proposed gherao of Chief Minister Hemant Soren's residence, giving the state government 60 days to act on its remaining demands. The announcement came at a press conference at the protest site at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium. The forum said it would resume the agitation if concrete action was not taken within the 60-day period. The students' decision effectively brings the ongoing protest to a temporary halt. The students welcomed the government's decision to cancel the JSSC- CGL examination and several other recruitment examinations. However, they maintained that their demand for a CBI probe into the irregularities remained unresolved. The agitation began on 25 July and continued for 26 days. The students had earlier announced a gherao of the Chief Minister's residence on 20 August if their demands were not addressed. The Jharkhand government, in its 18 August notification, cancelled the JSSC- CGL examination, along with several TDPL-linked examinations and ordered investigations into a number of earlier JPSC and JSSC examinations. The government has also decided to seek the Jharkhand High Court's intervention for a Fast Track Court for cases related to examination irregularities and to establish an internal vigilance mechanism. An examination reform committee headed by IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal is also to be constituted, with a two-month deadline for its report. The students said they would monitor the implementation of the government's decisions during the 60-day period and return to the streets if their remaining demands were not addressed.