MCS/204/2020-22 RNI NO. MAHENG 2002/21899 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM The Worlds InsIde A song mumBai, augusT 23, 2026 Irshad Kamil, one of Hindi cinema’s most prolific lyricists, on how his roots in Punjab have shaped his writing for over three decades LATE CITy 12 + 4 PAGES ₹6.00 sPotlIGht Founders of The Table on building an empire, one brand at a time D A I L y f R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P u R , K O L K A T A , L u C K N O W , M u M B A I , N A G P u R , 113 139 70 Happening today lIndIan domestIc first-class cricket season gets underway with the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru. The East Zone, which will take on North-East, will be led by Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as his deputy. lmembers of a high-level Japanese delegation, which is in Varanasi, will offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Keep calm, your angry face is their ‘content’: Delhi Police dos and don’ts post-Jantar Mantar Advisory framed by Central agencies shared with all 15 districts as well as the Railway and Metro units of Delhi Police mahender singh manral New Delhi, August 22 “YOUr aNGrY face is their content… they are not fighting you. they are making a film in whichtheywantyoutoplaythe villain. refuse that role.” “Protesters may cry loudly, fall at the feet of personnel, or askquestionsintendedtocreate sympathy or anger, such as referencestofamilybackgroundor salaryissues.insuchsituations, personnel have been advised not to engage in debate or show agreement, and to use only a brieflineifnecessary:‘Pleaseco- lnewmanualforthenewprotester l Do not engage in debate or show agreement, and use only a brief line if necessary: ‘Please cooperate, we are doing our duty’ operate, we are doing our duty’. then, maintain silence.” in the wake of the Jantar Mantar agitation where their rolecameinforbacklash,Delhi Police personnel have received guidelines not just on how to tackle the new-generation protester, but also how not to. and to remember, always, that they are on camera. Earlierthismonth,anadvisory framed by central agencies was shared with all 15 districts as well as the railway and MetrounitsofDelhiPolice.the underlying message, like the l Do not push away phones, snatch items, throw objects or shout in anger l ‘If a protester faints, falls or is injured, they should be the first to step forward, lift the person carefully, call an ambulance and clear the path’ l Language and body language should be ‘respectful’ l ‘Let them (their cameras) see only two things — your calm face and a helping hand’ »contInUed on PaGe 2 Boys can abuse but PM gets cultural shock if girls do it: Rahul in Pune bJPslams congress’s 2-stanzaVande mataramstand soham shah & manoj more Pune, August 22 cONGrEssMPandLoP rahul Gandhi on saturday urged girl studentsto“smashpatriarchy”, while targeting PM Narendra Modi over his remark that he »contInUed on PaGe 2 Prime minister narendra modi at the BJP headquarters in new delhi, saturday. ANI Jatin anand & asad rehman New Delhi, August 22 thE BJP on saturday passed a resolution to uphold the “honour, dignity, legacy and national status of the complete vandeMataram”,condemning the congress’s decision to sing only the first two stanzas of the national song. in the resolution passed at the first meeting of its new national office-bearers appointed recentlybyBJPpresidentNitin Nabin, the ruling party said the congress working committee (cwc) could not override constitutional institutions or laws of the country. the BJP announced that it will launch a campaign to take the historic legacy and significanceofvandeMataramacross the country. at the start of the meeting, the party officebearers recited all six stanzas of the national song. “theBJPregardsvandeMataram as the national song of Bharat, an expression of reverence for Bharat Mata, a mantra »contInUed on PaGe 2 Proud parents ramesh Prasad Baranwal and Babita, the parents of shrutika, 25, who was among those killed in a fire at a bed-and-breakfast facility in new delhi in June, receive her master’s degree from Tiss Vice chancellor Prof Badri narayan Tiwari at the institute’s annual convocation in mumbai, saturday. TISS shrUtIka secUred a firstclass result in Water Policy and Governance she had Gone to delhI on June 3 to complete the joining formalities for a job she had secured via campus placement when a fire engulfed the facility where she was staying, killing 21 At centre of NEET leak, Maharashtra drafts tough law to regulate coaching Draft Bill bans ‘dummy school’ model, covers centres with 25-plus students Pallavi smart Mumbai, August 22 Maharashtra,whichwas at the centre of the NEEt-UG 2026 paper leak that put its coaching industry under the spotlight, has released a draft Bill to regulate the sector. among its provisions are an explicit ban on school-coach- ing“integration”,betterknown as the dummy-school model, withaprovisiontorecommend derecognitionofaschoolfound actively involved in such violations; prohibition of coaching classes operating from basements; and a bar on hiring anyoneagainstwhomacognizable offence has been registered. the rules would apply to any coaching centre with more than 25 students, The Indian Express has learnt. ifenactedinitscurrentform, the law would be among the strictest and widest-reaching of the state coaching laws, a comparison by The Indian Express hasfound.Onthesizeofcentres covered, who can teach, penalties and enforcement powers,itsprovisionsgofurther than those in rajasthan, Jharkhand, assam and haryana, the only four states to have enacted dedicated legislation linked to »contInUed on PaGe 2 l 48 from across sTaTes To Be conferred The naTional Teachers’ award on sePTemBer 5 Asteroid hunts to school breakfasts: The teachers changing how India learns express news service highest national award for schooleducators.thisyear’slist has 48 names — 3 from Uttar Pradesh; 2 each from Bihar, MadhyaPradesh,Maharashtra, FrOMarajasthangovernment rajasthanandwestBengal;and teacher who helped students 1eachfromandhraPradesh,arhunt asteroids and a chhattis- unachalPradesh,assam,changarh educator who introduced digarh, chhattisgarh, Dadra & nutritional intervention to pre- NagarhaveliandDaman&Diu, ventschoolabsences Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, page 1 to a Jharkhand eduharyana, himachal catorwhopushedfor Pradesh, Jammu & an image makeover Kashmir,Jharkhand, for government schools, this Karnataka,Kerala,Ladakh,Mayear’sNationalteachers’award nipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, list is replete with unsung he- Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, roeswhohavestriventochange sikkim,tamilNadu,telangana, the face of education in india. tripura, Uttarakhand and aninstituted in 1958, the Na- daman & Nicobar islands. tionalteachers’awardisindia’s theseeducatorswillreceive Jaipur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Thiruvananthapuram, August 22 amonG WInners: (clockwise from left) k P sunil kumar, santanu Patra, divyendu sen, Palash chowdhury and munmun Bhattacherjee anchor their awards from President Droupadi Murmu on september 5. Divyendu Sen, Rajasthan ifthere’sonethingDivyendu »contInUed on PaGe 2 P u N E , V A D O D A R A one natIon one electIon express special 85 P A T N A , rahul in Pune. PAVAN KHENGRE On NDA table: Joint polls for 22 states/UTs with LS 2029 Current Bills’ timeline 2034; House panel chief says: It is for NDA CMs to decide damini nath New Delhi, August 22 EvEN as the Joint committee of Parliament on the One Nation One Election Bills is engaged in consultations, including interacting with chief Ministersacrossstates,theNDa islearnttobeexploringadvancing the first simultaneous elections from the present timeline of 2034 to 2029 in the 22 states/Utswhereithasamajority. to that effect, it is considering the dissolution of assembliesbeforetheirtermsend, The Indian Express has learnt. a source familiar with the discussions said that of the 22 NDa-ruled states/Uts, 11 are due for elections over the coming two years, before the 2029 Lok sabha elections. Four states have simultaneous elections with that of the Lok sabha. these are andhra Pradesh, arunachal Pradesh, sikkim and Odisha, which are today all ruled by the NDa. the committee, formed in December 2024 to consider the l pollsin2028,2029 nda-rUled states with polls due in 2028: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Tripura E. states WIth elections along with lok sabha in 2029: Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh nda-rUled states with polls due in second half of 2029: Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra oPP-rUled states where elections due in 2028: Hima- chal Pradesh, Karnataka, Mizoram and Telangana oPP-rUled states/Uts where elections due in 2029: Jharkhand, J&K Bills that would pave the way for simultaneous elections to the Lok sabha and all assemblies in 2034, has been visiting states to interact with »contInUed on PaGe 2