Eight sixes, a 11-ball half-century and a record book left in tatters, Meghalaya’s Akash Kumar Choudhary, a no. 8 batter long buried in the anonymity of the Ranji Trophy’s Plate division, vaulted into cricketing folklore by becoming the first in first-class cricket to clear the ropes eight times in a row and break the record for the fastest fifty in the format. His feat, achieved against Arunachal Pradesh’s bowlers at Surat, arrived in a contest so lopsided it ignited an old debate: whether the Ranji Trophy’s expanded pool has turned the competition into a record factory born of mismatch, writes my colleague Lalith Kalidas. On that note, let’s get to stories from the rest of the editionMore on Red Fort blast probeOusted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina interviewLongest-ever US shutdown ends Big StoryProbe continues: As the probe into the Red Fort car blast widens, investigators have detained three more doctors in Jammu and Kashmir in a move they say is linked to the “white collar terror module” busted days earlier. The Union Cabinet has called the blast “a heinous terror incident perpetrated by anti-national forces,” and directed the investigation be pursued with utmost urgency. The central focus of the probe: the relationship between Dr Umar Nabi, the man behind the wheel of the car that exploded, and Dr Muzammil Ganai, a doctor arrested earlier in Faridabad. Police sources say that doctors had been planning “something bigger”, they were yet to zero in on a definitive target.The link?: Two clerics, 800km apart, in Kashmir’s Shopian and Haryana’s Faridabad are among those arrested in what the J-K police say is a “white collar module”. In Shopian’s Nadigam, the family of 24-year-old Irfan Ahmad Wagay, locally called mufti sahab, says they never imagined he was on the police radar. In Faridabad, investigators say Maulana Ishtiyaq, a cleric at the Al Falah campus mosque, rented a room to another suspect. Investigators have found that the red Ford EcoSport believed to belong to prime suspect Dr Umar Nabi was registered using a false address in Delhi’s New Seelampur – a lead that has drawn in two medical students. The car was later recovered from a plot near Faridabad’s Khandawali village. Investigators are also examining CCTV footage that shows an “anxious” and barefoot Nabi walking inside a Central Delhi mosque hours before the blast. Retracing steps: Inside the Red Fort police station, one room has become the investigation’s nerve centre, its CCTV control room, where officers are scanning footage from over 350 cameras to retrace the suspect’s movements. Story continues below this adD Sivanandhan (Retired DGP, Maharashtra) writes how the ‘white collar’ terrorist is the new red flag in our Opinion section today. Read here.⚡Only in Express“My only regret is that the judicial inquiry committee we established to investigate the origins of the violence was dismantled by Yunus, who later granted indemnity to these hooligans and even glorified them as ‘July warriors.’”In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express, ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina shares her experience of living in Delhi since fleeing her country amid political turmoil last year. She also speaks on allegations of corruption against her, her willingness to return to Bangladesh, and her message for her country. From the Front PageOut-voted: With just a day to go for Bihar to declare the results of the Assembly elections, my colleague Anjishnu Das takes a look at the new record set by women voters in the state in the two phases of polling held on November 6 and 11. Not only did the state notch its highest-ever voter turnout, the voting percentage among women was recorded to be 71.6%, around 8.8 percentage points more than the 62.8% turnout among men and the largest ever gap.Story continues below this adGST effect: Consumer prices rose a mere 0.25 per cent in October compared to the same month last year amid reduction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates, according to government data released on Tuesday. With the favourable base effect helping drive down the headline retail inflation rate to an all-time low, the rural inflation remained in the negative territory for the first time ever. In urban areas, retail prices were up 0.88 per cent. Must ReadAtmanirbharta: In our Opinion pages today, Shashi Tharoor delves into the vulnerabilities exposed amid the growing US-China relations as ‘G2’, and the way forward for India. As India currently lacks a comparable point of pressure to wield with the US, as Tharoor writes, “we must focus on developing our own unique points of asymmetric leverage — whether in technology, manufacturing scale, or critical minerals — to strengthen our hand, both vis-à-vis the US and, critically, in our complex relationship with China.”42 days later: The US Senate passed a bill on November 10 to end the longest-ever government shutdown, thanks to a minority group of Democrats who supported the Republican spending package that omitted a key healthcare spending provision that the Democratic Party had demanded. The shutdown had put Americans at risk of losing their food benefits, resulting in the cancellations of thousands of flights, and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay. What triggered the shutdown? What does the bill state? We explain.⏳ And Finally…‘Confidence is my thing…’: Two days before the first Test against South Africa, Axar Patel nails his character trait that has seen him blossom into India’s crisis man in all formats, with bat and ball. Beyond his game, it is his nonchalance, laughter, back-slapping jokes, and the exceptional ability to diffuse tension in any situation that makes him the ‘natural’ performer he is. “I know what’s happening on the pitch, why take more tension by getting serious. I am confident that I can do it,” Patel says in an interview with The Indian Express.Story continues below this adLastly, tune in to our today’s episode of 3 Things, as we discuss how Bihar’s liquor ban has affected the state, why stakeholders are protesting the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, as well as fresh updates on the Delhi Red Fort blast case.That’s all for today! Until tomorrow, Ariba and Malavika Jayadeep