www.thestatesman.com | FOLLOW US: India’s National Newspaper since 1818 BRIEFLY Car-lorry collision in Keralam kills 8 engineering students: Thiruvananthapuram: Eight engineering students from Tamil Nadu were killed late Friday night when their car rammed into a stationary lorry on National Highway 66 near Kaipamangalam in Keralam’s Thrissur district. The collision took place at around 11.40 p.m. on Friday at Panambikkunnu Centre along the NH-66 corridor. The victims, all aged 20, were travelling from Guruvayur toward Kodungallur in a car when it crashed into the rear of a goods lorry that was illegally parked on the right side of the highway. The highway stretch was undergoing widening work, with traffic routed through a diversion. Police said that the car was travelling at a high speed, and the driver appeared to miss the diversion barricade before slamming into the parked heavy vehicle. | @TheStatesmanLtd Pages 16 | @thestatesmanltd ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR ‘Policy paralysis has now become policy dynamism’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 5 September P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday offered Gen Z a glimpse into the pre-2014 India when, according to him, scams, inflation, economic distress, bomb blasts and soldiers’ deaths along LoC frequently made headlines, saying that nothing but “disappointment and despair” prevailed during the Congress-led UPA era. Addressing students, faculty and guests during the centenary celebrations of the Shri Ram College of Commerce, Mr Modi recalled his visit to the college in February 2013, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and said the circumstances confronting the country at that time were vastly different from those prevailing today. “The current generation may find it surprising; perhaps they may wonder, ‘Did this really happen?’ Yes, it did. The World Bank had lowered its GDP growth forecast. The current account deficit was at an all-time high. Inflation was around 10 per cent. The industrial sector was in the grip of a slowdown. Corruption in the helicopter deal had been exposed. There were bomb blasts in Hyderabad. These were all headlines at that time,” Mr Modi said. He said that these developments show the sorry state of affairs of the country during the Congress rule. “Growth was at the bottom, while inflation was at the peak. Scams were at their height, and the corrupt were moving around fearlessly. The economy was in distress. There was discussion everywhere about policy paralysis. The world was counting India among the “Fragile Five.” Terrorists were CM Adhikari promises overhaul of Bengal education system, rules out religion-based discrimination STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 5 September West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said the state’s new BJP government would restructure the entire education system and ensure that there was no discrimination among students on the basis of religion. Speaking at a Teachers’ Day programme, Mr Adhikari said scholarships would no longer be restricted to students belonging to any particular community. “Can you think that from Class V to Class VIII, some students used to get scholarships only because they belonged to a particular community? I have stopped that. I have said if there is a scholarship, then every student will get it, else no one will,” he said. Coming down heavily on the previous Trinamul Congress government, Mr Adhikari accused it of damaging Bengal's education system and said the state faced a long road to People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 recovery. “So far as education is concerned, Bengal ranks 31 among the states (as also Union territories) and our Education Minister said it will take at least three years to change the situation. We have made a lot of mistakes, but there should be an end,” he said. Referring to a recent snakebite incident at a government school in Kolkata, the Chief Minister said: “Can you believe this? But this has happened only because the schools did not get composite grants for the last three years. There was money for fairs and games. There was money to give grants to the Imams and Muazzins, but no money for schools,” he said. In a major announcement aimed at improving the quality of education in the state, Mr Adhikari said two educational institutions would initially be established in each district on the lines of Central Schools. “The CM-SHRI Institutes will be in line with the central model schools where students will get admitted on the basis of merit. There will be good teachers and the latest facilities,” he said. Laying out his government’s roadmap for the education sector, Mr Adhikari said the first priority would be to improve school infrastructure before undertaking large-scale teacher recruitment. He said around 19,000 schools in the state lacked basic infrastructure, with some functioning without electricity, toilets and purified drinking water. “All the schools should have this basic infrastructure. We should also focus on physical activities like Bratachari and bring back NCC. We did not pay attention to sports. We have caused a lot of damage,” he said. “We want to create a proper educational environment for teachers, students and schools and restore the traditions that have existed for a long time,” he said. operating unchecked, and Pakistan was out of control. In other words, there was nothing but disappointment and despair…,” he added. In contrast, Mr Modi said, the country is faring much better today as those spreading terrorism are on the back foot, peace has increased in Jammu and Kashmir and the North0east and the back of Maoist terrorism has been broken and if Pakistan indulges in any misadventure, India’s armed forces enter their territory and strike. “The world that was once concerned about India’s policy paralysis is today talking about India’s policy dynamism,” he said. “India’s 7.8 per cent growth amid global uncertainty reflects its economic strength,” Mr Modi said, referring to the reported GDP growth figures for the first quarter of 2026-27 to buttress his point, and adding that India was moving forward at a “new pace”. Mumbai, 5 September Tata Steel CEO & MD T V Narendran (photo, right), Tata Sons Executive Director and Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal (photo, middle), along with NSE CEO Ashish Chauhan (photo, far right), have emerged as candidates in the race to succeed present Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan, according to sources. Other names being discussed at Bombay House include Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata himself, Tata Sons’ Group Chief Digital Officer Aarthi Subramanian; Tata Motors CEO Shailesh Chandra and Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha. Mr Narendran’s name is being mentioned the most and remains the strongest internal operating candidate. Mr Narendran has been a Tata Steel veteran since 1988 and has steered Tata Steel’s difficult European operations, spending more than three decades with the Tata Group. Tata Sons Executive Director and Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal, whose name is also being mentioned, was Head of Strategy at Aditya Birla Group, Head of Corporate Finance for India and South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, as well as Head of Investment Banking at DSP Merrill Lynch. He joined Tata Sons in June 2017 and at this time looks after major Tata Group companies like Tata Steel, Tata Capital and Tata Digital. However, it is the unlikely candidature of NSE CEO Ashish Chauhan which has come as a surprise. Mr Chauhan was among the executives who helped establish the NSE in the LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 06 September 2026 Centre advances Census exercise in 4 poll-bound states, defers in Manipur STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 5 September The Union government on Saturday advanced the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 in the states of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand to start from 1 December 2026 onwards, ahead of the nationwide enumeration planned for February 2027. The government also formally deferred the Census exercise in Manipur “till further declaration.” “The conduct of the Census of the population shall be undertaken in the States of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of the State of Uttarakhand, from 1st December, 2026 to 4th January, 2027 with a revisional round from 5th January, 2027 to 9th January, 2027,” the Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said in a gazette notification. Citizens in these areas can opt for self-enumeration from 16 to 30 November. The population enumeration for the remaining parts of the country is likely to begin in February next year, barring snow-bound regions. The terms of the state assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will end by May 2027, and they are likely to go to the polls early next year. Separately, the Centre also issued a notification formally announcing the deferment of houselisting operations for Census 2027 in Manipur ‘until further declaration’. The development comes amid a long-standing demand from various groups in Manipur for implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state before the Census exercise is carried out. In the notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs amended its earlier notification issued on 7 January 2026, regarding the commencement of Census 2027 houselisting operations across all States and Union Territories. Earlier, on 31 August, the Central government had given an undertaking before the Manipur High Court that the house-listing operations in the state, which were scheduled to begin on 1 September, would be postponed. (Representational image) CBI books Subhash Chandra over `1,322 crore LICHF loan fraud Swatantra Bhardwaj sent to police custody STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 5 September The CBI has registered an FIR against businessman Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and seven others for allegedly inflating his net worth to avail loans from Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL), that led to a loss of over Rs 1,322 crore, an official said on Saturday. The FIR, under provisions for criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct, was registered on 31 August on the complaint of LICHF General Manager Neeta Menghani in Mumbai. The complaint is related to alleged fraud in two loan accounts that were secured by the personal guarantee of Subhash Chandra. LICHFL has alleged wrongful loss of over Rs 1,322 crore, plus interest and charges, after the borrowers defaulted on the loans. Tata Sons Chairman race narrows down to Narendran, Agrawal and Ashish Chauhan STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE | 1990s and later served as MD and CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange before returning to NSE as its chief in 2022. Mr Chauhan has handled senior positions at the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd and IDBI Bank. Right now, he is in the process of steering a Rs 30,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) of the NSE. Mr Chauhan’s candidature could offer the Tata Group a candidate from outside the Tata Group along with his experience in the financial world, especially since he understands capital markets, corporate management, finance and technology, besides India’s regulatory and policy environment. The others named in the FIR include Vasant Sagar Properties, Churchgate, Mumbai; Pankaj Suroliya, Director of Vasant Sagar Properties; Pan India Infrastructure, Lower Parel, Mumbai; Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services, Lower Parel, Mumbai; Amish Pandya, Director of Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services; Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures, Mumbai; and Rajeev Dholakia, Director of Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures, Mumbai. One of the loans involved a Rs 500 crore facility to Vasant Sagar Properties and Pan India Infraprojects, while the other pertained to a loan facility of Rs 480 crore to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services and Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures. The LICHF said that the Vasant Sagar loan facility was granted on the basis of the net worth certificate submitted by Subhash Chandra dated 28 March 2018, issued by DJM & Co, certifying that his net worth was $6,197.62 million (Rs 59,113.21 crores) as on 31 March 2017. The other loan facility was granted on the basis of the net worth certificate submitted by Subhash Chandra, issued by MPJ &Co., Chartered Accountants on 6 July 2018, certifying that his net worth was Rs 40,562 crore. The complaint further alleges that during subsequent proceedings relating to Mr Chandra’s personal insolvency resolution, he denied having the net worth reflected in the certificates submitted to LIC Housing Finance. New Delhi, 5 September Swatantra Bhardwaj, described as a right-wing social media influencer, was remanded to one day’s police custody on Saturday after being produced before a judge at the Karkardooma Court complex in New Delhi. Delhi Police arrested the 21-year-old on Friday from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, over a month after he was allegedly involved in an assault on 38-year-old Sanjay Kumar, the father of a student activist during the NEET exam paper leak protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar in July. The case drew widespread attention after a purported video surfaced in which Mr Bhardwaj appeared to boast of attacking Mr Kumar, claiming that he had “cracked the skull” of the 38-year-old during the protest and had avoided jail because of political connections. 115-year -old mosque demolished in UP’s Saharanpur on court order STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Saharanpur/Lucknow, 5 September Amid resistance from opposition parties, Saharanpur district authorities demolished a 115-year-old mosque in the collectorate complex on Saturday based on a court order. The mosque was reportedly built in 1911 on a government land in the Saharanpur Collectorate complex. Six bulldozers were used to demolish the mosque built on 3,300 square feet area. The two-storey mosque had five rooms, including two large halls. The ground floor had a large hall and two rooms. The first floor had a large room and a hall. The mosque also houses a post office. The demolition commenced at 4 a.m. on Saturday in the presence of five companies of the PAC, the RAF, and 200 police personnel. Police did not allow anyone to approach the mosque. Tensions had been soaring since Friday night over the government action. At 11 p.m. on Friday, as news spread that the administration was going to demolish the mosque, a large crowd gathered at the site. The administration team arrived at the scene and dispersed the crowd. City Magistrate Kuldeep Singh said that the administration was acting according to the law relating to illegal occupation and misuse of government land. “Action is being taken as per rules over illegal occupation and misuse of government land,” Mr Singh said, adding that security had been tightened across the Collectorate premises and administrative officials were closely monitoring the situation. Officials said any attempt to disturb law and order would be dealt with strictly. Given the sensitivity of the issue, the police and administration also kept a close watch on political activity and the possibility of protests in the district. Saharanpur Division DIG Abhishek Singh said: “The City Magistrate’s Court had deemed the mosque built in the Collectorate as illegal construction on government land. The mosque side appealed this order, but their appeal was rejected, and the City Magistrate's order was upheld.”