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 | SILIGURI Saturday, 05 September 2026 SPORTS SATURDAY INTERVIEW ‘All of us are to blame’ NATION WORLD UP polls: BJP plans temple complexes in Mathura-Vrindavan US Vice President says all options against Iran on table Page 4 | Page 7 Mandhana chases legacy beyond records as India face Pakistan Page 12 Page 9 Swatantra Bhardwaj detained over assault on protester’s father Air India terminates Phuket-Delhi flight pilot after positive drug test PARWINDER SANDHU Air India has terminated the pilot-in- command of its Phuket-Delhi flight that encounter severe turbulence last month, with immediate effect after a confirmatory drug test found him positive for a psychoactive substance, the airline said on Friday. The action came weeks after the Airbus A320 operating flight A12379 experienced an altitude upset over Odisha on 4 August, during which several passengers were injured. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is probing the incident, had recommended that regulatory authorities take appropriate action against the pilot after the test result. “Safety remains Air India's highest priority,” an Air India spokesperson said. The airline has a zero-tolerance approach towards violations involving safety, fitness and regulatory requirements, the spokesperson said. The AAIB’s preliminary New Delhi, 4 September S ocial media influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, accused of assaulting the father of a student protester during the Cockroach Janta Party-led Jantar Mantar protests, was reported to have been detained by Delhi Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Friday. However, Delhi Police had not officially confirmed Mr Bhardwaj’s detention till the filing of this report. The reported detention came hours after Delhi Police assured members of the CJP, who had been demanding action against Mr Bhardwaj over an alleged assault on Sanjay Kumar, the father of a student activist, that he would be arrested within 72 hours. Several police teams had been deployed to trace the influencer in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier on Friday, police CJP activist Nishu Azad outside the Parliament Street Police Station after a meeting with police officials in connection with the assault case involving Nishu’s father, Sanjay Kumar, in New Delhi, on Friday. IANS sources said Mr Bhardwaj had left Naithla village on a Bullet motorcycle and headed towards Khurja. Plainclothes police teams were deployed to locate him. The police action followed controversy over a podcast in which Mr Bhardwaj allegedly claimed to have attacked Mr Sanjay Kumar during the Jantar Mantar agitation. His remarks triggered protests and demands for his arrest. Mr Bhardwaj subsequently denied wrongdoing and maintained that he acted in self- defence after being surrounded by a group of people. He claimed he feared being lynched and said Mr Kumar was hit on the head when he tried to protect himself. He also disputed claims regarding the seriousness of Mr Kumar’s injuries and said he was cooperating with the investigation. The influencer further alleged that a podcast clip circulating on social media had been manipulated. He also rejected allegations that political connections had helped him avoid arrest, saying BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan were like his brothers and that his earlier remarks about political influence had been made sarcastically. The controversy centres on remarks attributed to Mr Bhardwaj in the podcast, where he appeared to claim responsibility for striking Mr Kumar and described the alleged assault in graphic terms. He also claimed that Mr Kumar had suffered head injuries and required stitches. On Friday, CJP supporters staged a protest outside the Parliament Street police station, demanding stringent action against Mr Bhardwaj. In a statement, C JP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka said they, along with supporters, marched to the Parliament Street police station demanding stringent legal action, including invocation of attempt-to-murder charges, provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and relevant sections of the POCSO Act, against Mr Bhardwaj within 72 hours. Addressing the media outside the police station, Mr Das accused Delhi Police of “structural bias and inaction”. He referred to recent judicial developments and questioned why action had not been taken despite the renewed threats made by Mr Bhardwaj in the podcast against Mr Kumar’s daughter. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 4 September An inside view of the Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi after it hit turbulence, injuring a number of passengers, in New Delhi on 4 August 2026. ANI report, also released on Friday, said the aircraft, carrying 145 people, was cruising at 36,000 feet when it experienced a near-simultaneous loss of all three hydraulic systems. The incident resulted in an altitude deviation before the flight controls recovered and the aircraft returned to normal operation. According to the preliminary findings, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft when the abnormal Bengal CM announces `500 crore investment push for state tourism India continues to engage with Russia, Ukraine to help end war: Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 4 September Kolkata, 4 September Seeking to position the state as a distinctive international destination, the West Bengal government on Friday unveiled a new global tourism brand and announced a Rs 500 crore investment push to upgrade the sector. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched the new logo of the tourism department titled “West Bengal ~ Where India Feels Different”, with the campaign line “See it in a new form, see it through new eyes”, at the Dhono Dhanya Auditorium in Alipore here. A dedicated ringtone was also unveiled for the tourism department. During the previous Trinamul Congress (TMC) regime, the tourism department used to brand the state as “Experience Bengal The Sweetest Part of India” and had Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador. The proposed investment will include modernising government tourist guest houses from the southern tip of the Sundarbans to the northern hills of Darjeeling, developing Mandarmani as an international-standard beach destination, expanding river tourism and introducing a water metro in Kolkata. Mr Adhikari announced that at least 11 new vessels will be deployed for pleasure rides on the Ganges, with proposed tourism circuits including journeys from Babughat to the Sundarbans and other destinations along and beyond the river. The government also plans to develop day-long and overnight tourism circuits around the state’s riverfront, islands and natural attractions. The chief minister said the new branding was intended to help Bengal regain its position as “Destination West Bengal” and make better use of its considerable natural and cultural resources. “West Bengal has considerable natural resources and enormous potential in tourism. But many other states have developed their tourism infrastructure and networks in a better way, and tourists have tended to opt for those destinations. We have to move beyond this situation,” he said. The Chief Minister said the government was bolstering the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation and taking steps to expand employment and manpower in the tourism sector. The government is also seeking to expand tourism on the Ganges. Kolkata is expected to become the country’s 17th city to be associated with a water-metro project, with the riverfront and ghats being developed as new tourism and connectivity hubs. (Photo: Biswajit Ghoshal) STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE situation developed and initially attempted to stabilise it. The pilot-in-command subsequently took over the controls. During the event, the aircraft climbed about 372 feet before descending approximately 292 feet from its assigned flight level of FL360, the report said. The aircraft later landed safely in Delhi. As part of the post-incident procedures, both pilots underwent testing for psychoactive substances. The co-pilot’s test was negative, while the pilot-in-command was found non-negative in the initial screening and subsequently returned a positive result in the confirmatory test. The AAIB, while noting that its investigation into the technical and other aspects of the incident was continuing, described confirmation of psychoactive substance use by the pilot as a serious concern. It recommended that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) take appropriate action on priority. Two rescued alive from Nepal tunnel 9 days after floods STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday said that India has been maintaining continuous engagement with both Ukraine and Russia, while exploring ideas and suggestions that could help de-escalate the ongoing conflict between the two countries and pave the way for its cessation. Addressing a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw, Mr Jaishankar responded to questions on India’s role in diffusing tensions between Moscow and Kyiv. “You will appreciate that beyond a point, I can't go into specifics. What I can tell you is that we've been in continuous touch with the Ukrainian side, also with the Russian side. I myself was in Moscow a few days ago. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and President (Vladimir) Putin met in Bishkek Kathmandu, 4 September three days ago and then I went to Kyiv. So what we had were discussions, fairly detailed discussions with the Russian side. Yesterday, with the Ukrainian side. And, what we are trying to do is to see if, you know, there are ideas and suggestions that can be developed in some way in which they would contribute to the mitigation, ideally the cessation of the conflict,” Mr Jaishankar said. Reiterating that the Ukraine conflict can be resolved by dialogue and diplomacy and not through decisions of nations to buy or not buy oil, minerals, or alumina, Mr Jaishankar said that India has a responsibility to meet energy needs for 1.4 billion people given the current situation in the world. He was responding after being asked about India’s purchase of Russian oil. Rescuers on Friday pulled out two men alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project, which was affected by last week’s deadly floods, raising hopes that others could still be trapped inside. The Nepal government confirmed that Kabir Maharjan, 45, a supervisor for the Hydropower Automation Project of Upper Trishuli 3A from Kathmandu, and Sanjaya Sah, 30, a foreman from Saptari district, were rescued alive. Meanwhile, local media reports put the death toll from the devastating flash floods at 1,287 on Friday, while 5,083 people are still missing. Those still unaccounted for include 275 Indian nationals, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. • Details: Page 9 GSLV successfully places advanced ‘eye in the sky’ in orbit HarperCollins India to publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging MC RAJAN Chennai, 4 September Breaking a nearly eight-month-long spell, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) heavy-lift GSLV rocket successfully injected the country’s first-ever Geo Imaging satellite, EOS-05, into the intended Sub-Geo Synchronous Orbit (S-GTO) in a pre-dawn lift-off amid rains and chilly weather from the Sriharikota launchpad on Friday morning. Marking the first success of this year, the textbook launch of the GSLV-F-17/ EOS-5 mission has dispelled doubts about the launch capabilities of Isro, following two successive PSLV failures, last year and in January this year. The 2,367 kg EOS-5, considered as India’s ‘eye in the sky’, is the heaviest ever to be launched by the GSLV, and this is the vehicle’s 19th flight. “Today we have accomplished the mission. We have injected the heaviest and most advanced satellite, 2,367 kg, using this launch vehicle. The health of the satellite is perfectly alright,” a beaming Isro chief, V Narayanan, told scientists after the launch from the Mission Control Room. Hailing the successful mission as an outstanding achievement and a proud moment for the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on ‘X’, wrote: “Yet another outstanding achievement by ISRO and a proud moment for our nation. The successful launch of GSLV-F17 carrying EOS-05, India’s first-ever imaging satellite from Geosynchronous orbit, is a reflection of the excellence, innovation and growing capabilities that define India’s space sector.” He added: “The growing partnership between ISRO and Indian industry is adding new strength and scale to our space programme and expanding India’s capabilities across the entire space ecosystem.” The GSLV rocket lifted off from the second launchpad at Sriharikota, the country’s spaceport, at 2.55 a.m. Indian Standard Time, and the satellite was injected into its intended orbit 18 minutes later. This success also comes at a crucial time ahead of India’s human space flight programmes and particularly the manned lunar mission, Gaganyaan, to which it is considered a precursor. While Narayanan discounted the view that EOS-5 is a spy satellite and an ‘eye on the sky’, he said it is the country’s first dedicated imaging satellite providing strategic data for the country, and its life span is 9 years. On the importance of this multi-purpose satellite, Mission Director Thomas Kurien said that EOS-5, placed in a 36,000 km platform, is configured uniquely for real-time imaging and monitoring of India and nearby regions. Nearly five years after the August 2021 unsuccessful GISAT-1 mission by GSLV-F10 due to a glitch in the cryogenic upper stage, Isro has hurled into space the EOS-05, also known as GISAT-1A, using the heavy-lift launch vehicle GSLV-MkII. Isro is targeting six more launches in this financial year. VIBHA SHARMA New Delhi, 4 September HarperCollins India will publish Belonging: A Journey of Love Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s long-awaited memoir, in India. Thr publication date is 10 November. “One of the most anticipated political memoirs of our time, Belonging is a dramatic and deeply personal story of love, identity, duty and belonging, and offers a rare insider’s view of India’s journey,” the publisher said as it made the announcement on social media. The publisher noted that the memoir charts the journey of one of India’s most private and influential political figures. “In this book, the once famously reticent Sonia Gandhi opens up with warmth and candour to tell the story of her remarkable life,” it said. HarperCollins’ announcement follows a controversy involving Penguin Random House India, which was supposed to publish the memoir but later said it would not be the Indian publisher. Media reports had said that the deal with Penguin collapsed after Mrs Gandhi refused to make changes or delete references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, and Chinese intrusions. Penguin Random House India, however, said: “Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances.” The decision triggered a political slugfest, with Congress leaders alleging government pressure and raising concerns over freedom of expression. • Editorial: Burden of Belonging - Page 6