Prime Minister Narendra Modi will land in Philadelphia around 10 am local time (7.30 pm IST) and then head to US President Joe Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where the two leaders will hold bilateral discussions. Apart from the relationship between the two countries, PM Modi’s visits to Russia and Ukraine and a possible peace process are also likely to be discussed. 
An announcement may be made about the India-US space collaboration, under which Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will be travelling to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. A multi-billion dollar deal in which India plans to acquire 31 predator drones from the US will also be discussed, but it is not clear whether the announcement will happen during the PM’s visit. 
After the bilateral, PM Modi will attend the Quad summit with Mr Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. White House Spokesperson John Kirby has said China will be high on the agenda. “In fact, it would be irresponsible if they didn’t talk about the challenges that still exist in the region caused by aggressive People’s Republic of China military action… for instance, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait… I have no doubt that that all those issues will come up,” he has said. 
On Day 2 of his visit, Prime Minister Modi will address a gathering of the Indian community in New York and interact with CEOs of leading companies. Collaboration in cutting-edge areas of artificial intelligence, quantum computing biotechnology and semiconductors will be discussed.
Day 3 will see the Prime Minister addressing the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’ and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called it a ‘once in a generation UN Summit’. 
PM Modi is also likely to hold bilateral discussions with some other world leaders on the sidelines of the UN summit. 
Former US president Donald Trump, locked in a close contest with Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential polls in November, has said he will be meeting Prime Minister Modi, whom he called “a fantastic man”. The foreign ministry has not, however, confirmed that the meeting will take place.
In his departure statement, PM Modi said, “I look forward to joining my colleagues President Biden, Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Kishida for the Quad Summit. The forum has emerged as a key group of like-minded countries to work for peace, progress and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.” 
The PM said his bilateral with President Biden will allow the two leaders to identify new pathways to further deepen the India-US partnership. Stressing the importance of the UN summit, he said, “The Summit of the Future is an opportunity for the global community to chart the road ahead for the betterment of humanity. I will share the views of one-sixth of humanity as their stakes in a peaceful and secure future are among the highest in the world.”
The PM also said he was looking forward to engaging with the Indian community in the US as well as important American business leaders, who are “key stakeholders and provide vibrancy to the unique partnership between the largest and the oldest democracies of the world.”

A day after it came to light that the friend of an Army officer was sexually harassed at a police station in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar when she and the officer went to file a complaint about an attack on them by a few men, videos of the alleged manhandling have emerged.

The videos, which were accessed by NDTV on Saturday but whose authenticity has not been independently verified, show the woman and the officer being surrounded by some men, who are seen arguing with them and then pushing them while hurling abuses. The assault took place around 1 am on Sunday when the woman and the officer, who is attached to the 22 Sikh Regiment in Kolkata, were returning to their hotel in Bhubaneswar after closing her restaurant for the day. 

In the footage, which appears to be shot on a cellphone, the woman is seen speaking to a man and is heard saying that some of the people surrounding her had tried to misbehave with her. 

“Sir, I am not speaking with you, I am speaking with the people who are trying to misbehave with me. They are… It is my car, whether I show my legs or my hair, it is my prerogative,” she says in Hindi. 

A man in the group interjects and says, “Don’t show it to us, then.” When the woman asks, “Who are you?” another man takes the name of a politician and asks whether she has heard of him. When she says she hasn’t, another man shouts, “The Prime Minister of Odisha”. 

As the argument escalates, the Army officer holds the woman’s hands and tries to take her away, but the men follow, shouting, “This is not Delhi.” The men then push the officer and ask him to “explain things” to her.

The argument continues and the men accuse the woman of playing the “victim card” and tell her not to “show overconfidence”.

The officer takes the woman to their car and in the next video, she is seen standing with the front door open when one of the men slams it. The men hurl abuses and hit the officer who tries to shield the woman. She and the officer are then separated and manhandled. The video ends with the officer and the woman walking towards the car when she says she will go to the police. A man is heard saying, “Arre ja” (go ahead). 

From Bad To Worse

The ordeal from the woman and the officer was just beginning, however. She told reporters on Friday that when they reached the Bharatpur police station in Bhubaneswar some time later, only a woman constable in civil dress was present and she refused to help them. 

The constable abused them and, in the meantime, a few policemen arrived and asked the officer to give a written statement, before locking him up in a cell. 

“I don’t know what happened… they put him in the lock-up. When I raised my voice to say they cannot put an Army officer in custody as it is unlawful, two female officers assaulted me,” she said, adding that her jacket was used to bind her arms and she was left in a room. 

“After some time, a male officer opened the doors and kicked my breasts several times,” she said, alleging he also took off his pants and then hers, while the officer in charge of the police station made obscene gestures.

Police officials at the station have, however,  alleged that the woman and the Army officer assaulted a police officer while drunk and vandalised property there. The woman was arrested and granted bail by the Odisha High Court earlier this week. 

The Odisha Police headquarters said five cops, including an Inspector-rank officer, have been suspended for “gross misconduct” and an inquiry is being conducted. Officials from another police station are now investigating the assault on the woman and the Army officer before they reached the Bharatpur police station. 

Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has called for a judicial probe into the assault at the police station.

“Regarding the violence that was meted out to both of them and the alleged sexual assault on the major’s fiancee, we demand a full judicial inquiry into this matter, and action must be taken very quickly,” he said.

Aamir Nazir, a 29-year-old engineering graduate from Kashmir University, is making a living by selling tea and snacks on a highway in Ganderbal due to limited job opportunities. The nullification of Article 370 has increased the demand for local governance as residents hope for better job prospects and living conditions.