The Ideas Page: SIr’s exclusion of citizens is made possible by complicity of institutions 9 SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2026 JournAlISm of CourAge AHMedABAd, LATe ciTy, 18 PAGes ₹6.00 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 REd FACES AFTER CEREMoNiAl wElCoME REhEARSAl ANNoUNCEMENT Rashtrapati Bhavan announces, retracts Rahman visit statement Nothing to say right now: MEA; Dhaka too says no decision made on visit yet Happening today lBJP will hold a meeting to finalise the roadmap for programmes to be held across the country as part of the celebrations marking PM Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public life. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com divya A & Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, August 21 TherewereredfacesinNew Delhi Friday after rashtrapati Bhavan announced the cancellation of saturday’s Change of Guard ceremony “due to the full rehearsal for the ceremonial welcome” of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique rahman, and then withdrew the communique an hour later. TheMinistryofexternalaf- fairs, which usually announces the visits of heads of state and dignitaries in coordination with the governments concerned, said it had “nothing to say right now” on rahman’s visit.Dhakatoodidnotconfirm a date for the start of the visit. The announcement and its retraction by rashtrapati Bhavan added to the uncertainty over rahman’s visit. New Delhi has invited the Bangladesh Prime Minister and the two delhi wants to host the Bangladesh Pm for a stand-alone bilateral visit and has also invited him to the Brics summit next month sides have been in touch to work out suitable dates. Ties between the two coun- tries, severely strained following the august 2024 ouster of Prime Minister sheikh hasina whosoughtrefugeinindia,had been looking up after rahman took charge of Bangladesh in Februarythisyear.Buthasina’s publicinteractioninNewDelhi via an audio link on august 5 — it marked two years of her ouster—angeredDhakawhich has been seeking her extradition to Bangladesh where she faces a death sentence. it also cast a shadow over rahman’s visit to india. around 2 pm Friday, rashtrapati Bhavan, in a press release titled ‘No change of guard ceremony this saturday’, stated: “The Change of Guard »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2 After Rahul’s dharna, police lodge FIR over pellet firing at 19-year-old Asad Rehman & Pragynesh New Delhi, August 21 Gayatri-Treesa ensure a World medal Gayatri Gopichand Pullela and Treesa Jolly with their coach Pullela Gopichand, who is Gayatri’s father, after winning the doubles quarterfinal at the Badminton World championships in new delhi, Friday. The victory guarantees a medal for the duo in the championships. PTi rePorT, PaGe 18 Delhi POliCe registered a case Friday evening over pellet injuries suffered by a 19-yearold youth during the July 20 protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) after leader of OppositionrahulGandhistageda seven-hourdharnademanding an Fir. The Fir was registered against unknown persons under sections of the Bharatiya »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2 congress leaders rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with sahil Lochab, who was hit by pellets during the July 20 protests, and his mother at Parliament street police station, Friday. ANiL sHARMA Business as Usual By EP UNNY Most retail traders in F&O earn less than Rs 5 lakh a year, are under 30 Akash Mandal & Siddharth Upasani l 88%retailtraderslostrs91,685crin2025-26 Mumbai, New Delhi, August 21 2024-25 as MarKeT regulator securities and exchange Board of india tightened norms to discourage speculation in equity derivatives, 2025-26 has for the first time witnessed an annual decline in the number ofretailtradersparticipatingin this segment. »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2 2025-26 Retail investors in F&O 98.1 lakh 78.6 lakh How many made losses 91% 88% Rs 1.12 lakh crore Rs 91,685 crore 44.1 lakh 32.83 lakh No. of GenZ* who lost money NA 29.07 lakh Losses made by GenZ* NA Rs 19,287 crore Total net losses GenZ* trading in F&O NOTe: GeNZ ARe ReTAiL iNvesTORs uNdeR 30; sOuRce: seBi THE BIG PICTURE THE sIlvER BUllET: wHy EvERyonE lovEs a mETRo PaGE 12 express special Dip in production, stocks at 9-year low: soaring sugar prices leave bitter taste Retail prices surge by Rs 20/ kg in a month harish damodaran New Delhi, August 21 Dussehra is on October 20 andDiwalionNovember8.But sugar is already tasting bitter, well before the festival season. accordingtothedepartment ofconsumeraffairs,theall-india modal retail price, the rate at which most purchases are reported, was rs 65 per kg on Friday. it was onlyrs45onJuly21and rose to rs 50 by July 31. simply put, retail prices of the sweetener — the most vital ingredient in every DiwalimithaiandCadburyCelebrations, Nestlé KitKat or Ferrero rocher chocolates — have soared by rs 20/kg in just a month. No less significant are ex-factory prices. These rates, which mills realisefromsellingsugar net of goods and sales tax, were at rs 57-60 per kg in E. »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2 Govt has allowed import of raw sugar up to 10 lakh tonnes at zero duty until october 31 l 25-year-oLd Was amonG 21 PeoPLe Who died in Fire aT a BnB in hauz rani in June Degree for Shrutika: At TISS convocation, remembering student killed in Delhi fire Pallavi Smart engulfedabedandbreakfastfacility in south Delhi’s hauz rani in June. a DeGree will be waiting for herparents,rameshPrasad shrutika Baranwal at the 86th Baranwal and Babita, have convocation of the Tata insti- travelled from their home in tute of social sciences satur- Jaina More in Jharkhand’s Boday. a testimonial will also karo district to Mumbai to resummarise her ceivetheMaster’sdepage 1 achievements and gree in water Policy life on campus. But, andGovernancethat unlike the testimotheir daughter had nials for her batchmates, hers earned. Tiss authorities told will be issued posthumously. The Indian Express that shrutika, 25, was among 21 shrutika secured a people who died in a fire that »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2 Mumbai, August 21 anchor shrutika with her parents, ramesh Prasad Baranwal and Babita, during their mumbai trip in april 2025 Ahmedabad Gujarat minister says 8 dead after consuming spurious liquor; Surat man who fell ill ‘brain dead’ Express News Service Surat, Ahmedabad, Aug 21 iN The first official statement by the Gujarat government on the issue, senior minister Jitu Vaghani confirmed on Friday that eight people had died after allegedly consuming methanol-laced liquor and that the police located 29 affected persons and placed them under medical care. The Bhavnagar Police on Friday confirmed the eighth death in the methanol-laced liquor tragedy and identified the deceased as sudhir rawal. Meanwhile, in a surat hos- pital, doctors declared 35-yearoldsanjayDodiya,fatheroftwo young children, “brain dead” after battling for life following suspected consumption of the same liquor. Dodiya, who is originally from Bhavnagar, is employed with an institution in surat. he returned to surat from Bhavnagar on august 17 after purportedly attending a gathering where the suspected spurious liquor was consumed. he was first admitted at a private hospital in Varachha and later shifted to iNs hospital in »CoNTiNUEd oN PAGE 2