The editorial Page: Two wounded strongmen and the trouble with being invincible 10 FRIDAY, AUgUST 28, 2026 JouRnalism of CouRaGe New delhI, late CIty, 20 PaGeS ₹7.00 (₹8 RaIPUR, ₹15 SRINaGaR) 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 india airliFts More aid, looKs at Bailey Bridges to help relieF eFForts Nepal races against time to look for survivors, 290 Indians still missing Hydel plant in Nepal feeding power to India among several units hit Death toll now 392, hundreds missing; China alerts Nepal about threat from new barrier lake pratyush deep New Delhi, August 27 yubaraj ghimire, divya a & shubhajit roy A hydrOpOWer plant that supplieselectricitytoindiawas among the power plants hit by Wednesday’s flash flood in Nepal. Authorities were assessing the extent of damage to scores of power plants which catertothebulkofNepal’selectricity needs. Aseniorindiangovernment official told TheIndianExpress Kathmandu, New Delhi, August 27 WiTh hUNdreds still missing in Nepal a day after a flash flood ravaged several districts inthecountry’snorth,rescuers searched mud-filled valleys and hills for survivors as the official death count climbed to 392 Thursday night. in New delhi, the ministry of external Affairs said at least 290 indians were still missing and around 200 others were stranded on the Chinese side of the sino-Nepal border. it said india was in contact with authorities in Nepal and China to coordinate their rescue. As the Nepal Army and security personnel stepped up search and rescue operations, thefloodforecastingdivisionof the meteorology department, quoting Chinese officials, warned about the formation of “a significant barrier lake” on »continUed on page 2 inside nepal disaster ‘two buses ahead swept away’: man reCounts esCape p 6 explained eChoes of the past and warning for future p 12 the world ‘Can’t explain how big waves were’ p 14 Lucknow,NewDelhi,August27 UNiON miNisTer J p Nadda on Thursday met members of the “reservation hatao Andolan(rhA)”,daysafterhundreds gathered at Jantar mantar demanding that affirmative ac- nikhil ghanekar & amitabh sinha New Delhi, August 27 schoolchildren at an army rescue camp in nepal’s nuwakot district, Thursday. PtI Relief for some, anxious wait for many: ‘Tell us how they are, where they are…’ arun Janardhanan & sujit Bisoyi Chennai, Bhubaneswar, August 27 Three pilgrims from Tamil Nadu’s hosur, an Australiabased couple from Odisha, and the wife of a former mlA from Bengal were among scores of tourists from india who are still missing in the aftermath of the devastating flash flood that missing: sandeep mohapatra, wife siddharthi kumari sahu tion be based on economic criteria rather than caste. in a post on X, Nadda said “cordialdiscussions”tookplace with the rhA’s harsh dubey, ran Bahadur singh Chauhan, and mrityunjay pathak. The meeting came days after a delegation led by dubey met Uttar pradesh deputy Chief minister struck Nepal on Wednesday. Anxious family members, dealing with unreachable networks and mobile phones switched off, are knocking at every possible door to get word on the whereabouts of their loved ones. Accordingtotheministryof external Affairs (meA), 290 indian nationals are still out of contact in Nepal. »continUed on page 2 business as usual By EP UNNY Brajesh pathak, who assured them he would take up their demands with the BJp brass andarrangetheirmeetingwith a Union minister. pathak and the delegation also addressed a press conference. “Following the movement thattookplaceatJantarmantar »continUed on page 2 6-month plot, 3 states, iCloud use: CBI happening today joins the dots on Adhikari aide killing ravik Bhattacharya Kolkata, August 27 The KilliNg in may of Chandranath rath, personal assistant to suvendu Adhikari, days before he took charge as West Bengal Chief minister, was the culmination of an alleged conspiracy hatched over six months. The CBi uncovered chandranath rath was shot dead in his car on may 6. FIle the plot using digital evidence, including a photo on iCloud, and by joining the dots between CCTV footage, road tolls and multiple phones, including one at the bottom of the hooghly river, The Indian Express has learnt. The CBi filed a chargesheet before the Additional Chief »continUed on page 2 lUnion Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit the US where she will lead an Indian delegation at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meet under the US Presidency of the G20 and participate in an Investor Roundtable. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com l ‘have To make IndIa an aTTracTIve case on ITs own merIT and noT JusT Because IT’s chIna pLus one’ Goyal: Ready to act on feedback, expect Japanese investments to pick up pace page 1 anchor sandeep singh Osaka, August 27 New delhi is not only seeking higherinvestmentsfromJapan but is keen to deepen its economic partnership with Tokyo. in an interview to The Indian Express,Commerceandindus- himalaya needs shared system for early warning p 10 ThursdaythatNepalslashedits power supply to india by half, from around 800 megawatts (mW) to at least 400 mW. The 14-mW devighat hydropower plant that supplies power to »continUed on page 2 Hanging glacier collapse in focus, NDMA for hard look to reduce future risks Nadda meets anti-quota protesters: ‘Talks cordial, will meet again soon’ lalmani Verma, liz Mathew & Jatin anand the editorial page try minister piyush goyal said afterhisfour-dayvisittoTokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, he hoped thatthepaceofinvestmentwill pick up further. To increase its presenceinJapan,hesaidindia muststrivetobecomeitsglobal sourcingpartner,andthatbusinesses need to be more outward-looking. edited excerpts: How far do you think review of trade deals express interview piyUsh goyal UNIoN CoMMeRCe aNd INdUStRy MINISteR signed with Japan will yield benefits for India? it took us so many years to get them to the table to talk. As of now, even terms of reference have not been discussed. We have just done a macro level opening. But we will enter the Japanese market for our goods and bring them more and more to india so that they naturally »continUed on page 2 WiTh The spotlight now on thecollapseofahangingglacier as the likely trigger for the devastatingflashfloodinNepal,the incident is being closely monitored by the disaster management establishment in india where similar disasters have E. happened in the recent past. The National disaster managementAuthority (NdmA) said Thursday it was planning to initiate a comprehensive study on the Nepal event. “many areas in india are vulnerable to the kind of »continUed on page 2 Penguin India won’t publish Sonia’s book, had asked for ‘changes’ which author rejected ritu sarin manuscript” which was turned down by the author. With penguin indpeNgUiN rANdOm ia out, several indian house india (prhi), publishers are now in expected to publish the fray and harper ‘Belonging:AJourney Collins is reported to oflove,’themuch-anbe close to finalising ticipated memoirs of theagreementtopubthe agreement to pubCongressleadersonia lish and distribute the gandhi, in india, will book in india. not do so, The Indian The release, Expresshas learnt. ‘Belonging: a scheduledforNovemsources said this Journey of Love’ ber 10, was first anwas precipitated by by sonia Gandhi. nounced by Us-based certain “editorial ch- alFRed a. KNoPF Alfred A Knopf, a divianges and deletions” sion of penguin ranthat penguin random house dom house. Knopf had added india wanted in “a part of the »continUed on page 2 New Delhi, August 27