DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2025, AHMEDABAD,LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 DEAL WORK IN PROGRESS 50%tariffon copper,pharma mayinviteupto 200%:Trump US isIndia’slargestmarketforpharma; Indiaisits3rdbiggestcopperexporter AGGAM WALIA & RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, JULY 8 STATE VISIT TO BRAZIL US President Donald Trump at the White House. AP cals,withmedicinetariffspotentially reaching 200 per cent. However, he said drugmakers would be given about a year “to get their act together”. “We are going to give people about a year, a year and a half to come in and, after that, they are going to be tariffed,” he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Reiterating his threat of a 10 per cent tariff on BRICS, Trump said the bloc was “not a serious grouping” but acknowledged that it is challenging the US dollar. “It’s alright if you want to challengethedollar.Buttheywill have to pay the tariffs. I don’t think they want that,” he said. “If they have to bring the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Rosangela da Silva welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on Tuesday. AP Online platforms used for terror attacks in Pulwama, UP: FATF AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, JULY 8 CITING THE use of online paymentservices,virtualprivatenetworks (VPNs) and e-commerce platforms in the terror attacks in Pulwama in February 2019 and Gorakhnath Temple in April 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in a report released Tuesday, said digital platforms such as social media, messaging applications and crowdfunding sites are increasingly being abused for terror financing. The FATF report, without naminganycountry,notedithad received reports from its delegationsabouttheuseof statesponsorshipforterroristfinancing(TF), eitherasfundraisingtechniqueor as part of the financial management strategy of certain organisationsengaginginterroristacts. A variety of publicly available sources of information and delegations’inputstothereportindicatethat“certainterroristorganisations have been and continue to receive financial and other formsofsupportfromseveralnational governments,” it said. “Several forms of support havebeenreported,includingdirect financial support, logistical andmaterialsupport,orthepro- visionof training.Delegationsreported state sponsorship for TF purposescoupledwithsanctions circumvention techniques through trade and smuggling mechanismswherethenational government potentially plays a supportiverole,”thereporttitled ‘Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks’ said. Schemes involving several commodities have also been reported, for instance, oil shipped toanintermediarycountryto be sold in gold, with gold later converted to cash in another jurisdiction, the report said. The FATF flagged the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt ordered blocking US student visas for Indians in of over 2,000 accounts March-May lowest since Covid including Reuters, says F-1 VISAS ISSUED TO INDIANS X; Ministry denies E E X P L A I NE D AS INDIA and the US work on an interim trade deal — Washington’s pause on reciprocal tariff ends July 9 but it has kept the window open for negotiations until August 1 — President Donald Trump Tuesday announced 50 per cent tariffsoncopper,afterhavingimplemented similar duties on steelandaluminium.Hesaidtariffs on pharmaceuticals could rise to 200 per cent after a year. This is significant for India whichexported$2-billionworth of copper and copper products globally in 2024-25, with the US accounting for $360 million, or 17 per cent, of that total. The US is also India’s largest overseasmarketforpharmaceuticals. Drug exports to the US rose to$9.8 billioninFY25,up 21 per cent from $8.1 billion the previous year, and now account for 40 per cent of India’s total pharma exports. Trump said he is planning to imposetariffsonimportedsemiconductors and pharmaceuti- ● The Pak fingerprint INDIAN AGENCIES established the role of Pakistanbased terror outfit Jaish-eMohammed in the Pulwama attack. In May, the Indian armed forces said an estimated 100 terrorists were killed on the first day of Op Sindoor when India struck nine terror hubs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan and these included highvalue targets including individuals involved in the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 and the Pulwama attack. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, JULY 8 SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, JULY 8 DAYS AFTER the X (previously Twitter)accountsofnewsagency Reuters were blocked over the weekend — the handles have since been restored — the social media company and the Indian government traded charges and counter-charges on Tuesday. While the government had earlier denied any order towithhold Reuters’ account, X claimed on Tuesday that it had received orders last week “to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like Reuters”. It also expressed concernover“ongoingpresscensorship in India”. The government, however, doubled down on its earlier stanceandsaidithad“notissued any fresh blocking order on July 3,2025”.AMinistryofElectronics and Information Technology spokesperson said the government had stepped in “immediately” after the Reuters accounts wereblockedonJuly5night,but X“unnecessarilyexploitedtechnicalities” and “took more than 21 hours to unblock” them. In a post via its Global Government Affairs handle, X said on Tuesday: “On July 3, 2025,theIndiangovernmentordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance risked criminal liability. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD NETANYAHU MEETS TRUMP AS GAZA TALKS CONTINUE U.S. REVOKES TERROR TAG OF NEW SYRIAN LEADER’S GROUP P 15 THE US student visa season is off to a slow start for Indians, with the number of F-1 visas issued from March to May falling to the lowest level for these months since the pandemic, recording a 27% drop compared to the correspondingperiodlastyear,according to the latest available data from the US State Department. The months from March to July typically mark a busy visa season for students preparing to begin their studies in the Fall se- 2021* 2022 1,102 1,476 736 April 1,876 2,368 May 503 7,050 Total 3,481 10,894 March *Pandemic year 2023 2024 2025 640 397 10,589 1,009 2,525 3,662 11,829 6,984 14,987 13,478 SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, JULY 8 INAdeparturefromtheBihargovernment's policy of not requiring domicile status for state government jobs, the Nitish Kumar CabinetonTuesdayapprovedthe applicationofthedomicilerulefor theexisting35%quotaforwomen in all government jobs. Thismeansthatwomenwho arenotresidentsof Biharwillnot be eligible for government jobs. In the past, the government faced criticism for not applying the domicile criteria during the mass recruitment of teachers. This is thefirst instance in recent timesthattheBihargovernment has applied the domicile policy. “A woman who is a resident The Nitish govthad rolled out the quota in January2016 of Biharalonewillnowbeableto avail the existing 35% quota in jobs,” state Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet) S Siddharth told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. The decision is significant given that it comes just months before the state heads to the polls and is another attempt by the NDA government to consolidate its “caste-neutral” vote bank of women. The Nitish government had rolled out the 35% quotaforwomeninJanuary2016. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why even this village Mukhiya worries she may not be able to vote 9,906 Along Nepal-Bihar border, lines have blurred; now EC drive casts a shadow Source: US State Department monthly reports mester (August/ September). From March to May this year, Indian students were issued 9,906 F-1 (academic) visas — even lower than the correspon- ding period in 2022 (10,894), when international travel had just resumed post-Covid (see chart). A total of 14,987 F-1 visas CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 GUJARAT BULLET TRAIN: 16 OUT OF 21 BRIDGES COMPLETED PAGE 4 MNS-Sena (UBT) hit Mumbai streets on Marathi issue, BJP & Sena try to firefight EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, JULY 8 THE PROTESTS over Marathi blewupinMaharashtraTuesday as political workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT), and activists of the Marathi Ekikaran Samiti, hit the streets in Thane. As the ruling coalition of the BJP and Shiv Sena tried to contain the damage, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik came to join the protest, but was turned away. In counting season, Nitish’s move: 35% women job quota only for domiciles The MNS rally to counter the protest by traders against the assault on a food stall owner, in Mumbai. Sankhadeep Banerjee Theprotesthadbeencalledin responsetoabandhbyshopkeepersinThanelastweekovertheassault on one of them in MiraBhayandar by MNS supporters, who demanded he speak in Marathi. The MNS had announced soon after the July 3 protest that it would hold a counterprotest on July 8, along with its new partner, Shiv Sena (UBT). Police had warned against the same, citing law and order problems. Anticipating trouble, onthenightof Monday-Tuesday, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The India-Nepal border in Sursand, Sitamarhi. The border pillars show India on one side, Nepal on the other. Damini Nath DAMINI NATH MADHUBANI, SITAMARHI, JULY 8 FOUR YEARS ago, the 34-yearold was elected the mukhiya of hervillageinMadhubanidistrict. Now, amidst the confusion stirredupbytheongoingSpecial Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, a question mark hands over her status — as it does over hundreds of others originally from Nepal who, for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHAT WILL NOT COUNTINBIHAR AN EXPRESS SERIES PART 6 Off Andhra coast, a duel with a giant fish, and a missing 28-year-old PAGE 1 ANCHOR NIKHILA HENRY HYDERABAD, JULY 8 YERRAYA C was no Santiago. For one, he was only 28, his years stretchingoutliketheendlessexpanse of sea he ventured into everydayashesetoutfishing.But like Santiago, the ageing protagonist of the Ernest Hemingway classic, The Old Man and the Sea, one day, the young fisherman met his marlin. At the end of a gruelling battle, the marlin dragged Yerraya into the waters. He has been missing since then. Marlinsareoneof thefiercest predatory fish species, with black marlins, the one Yerraya encountered,consideredamong the fastest. That day, July 3, Yerraya, his younger brother C Koralaya, 26, and two others, had set out in their fishing boat from Pudimadaka village in Anakapalli district of Andhra Pradesh. “We set sail around 2 am. By around 9 am, a Kommu Konam (Telugu for marlin) got caughtinthenet.Itwasbig,must have weighed about 200 kg,” says Koralaya. While the others suggested that they cut the net, Yerraya insisted that they will be able to haul in the fish. “After all, he has been fishing since he was 7. He was a big, strong man, so he kept fighting with the fish,” Koralaya says of his elder brother. The marlin splashed and pulled at the net from the other end, with Yerraya trying hard to draw the line. But his legs got caught in the net and the fish dragged him into the waters. His fellow fishermen tried rescuing Yerraya. One of them, V Yellaji, swam after Yerraya for about30minutes.“Hekeptlooking for Yerraya under the waters, Yerraya went missing off the Anakapalli coast in Andhra Pradesh on July 3 but couldn’t find him,” says Koralaya. On July 4, the Anakapalli police lodged a missing person’s complaint after the Coast Guard searched for an entire day. “The search operation by the Coast Guard was launched after the fishermen could not find Yerraya. We suspect no foul play intheincident.Itwasanaccident as per our investigation,” said N Ganesh, Inspector of Atchutapuram police station. “Asperthestatementgivenby co-fishermen,it’samarlinattack. The Coast Guard too indicated that it is a Marlin attack,” said P Vijaya, District Fisheries Officer. “It has been six days and there’s no news of him,” says C Devi, Yerraya’s elder sister. Marlin attacks are not uncommon along Andhra Pradesh’s northern coast with the fish, weighing 80-200 kg, sometimes getting caught in the nets of unsuspecting fishermen. In February 2022, fisherman Molli Joganna was impaled by a marlin along the Anakapalli coast. As Joganna tried hauling in the catch, the marlin, which had broken free, pierced his stomach with its long, sharp snout. Joganna’s body was retrievedfromthe sea. “At leasthis body was found. My brother is missing,” says Devi. Yerraya family and the other villagersinPudimadakasaythey arenotsurprisedhevolunteered to haul in the marlin. “He loved the sea. He started accompanyingourfathertotheseawhenhe was seven,” says Bhavani, Yerraya’s younger sister. Marlins, if netted well, are a bonus for the fishermen as the meaty fish sells for Rs 1,000 a kg, almost as much as seerfish. But the fish is also hunted for sport. “It is considered an adventure to net a marlin and bring it to the shore. Yerraya would always be the first to take on a challenge. No wonder he tried pulling the marlin into the boat,” says Devi. Venkata Ramana, sarpanch of Pudimadakavillageandafishermanhimself,says,“Fromwhat the other fishermen told me, the line got heavy but Yerraya was adamant that he could pull the line and catch the fish, however big it may have been. But then thingswentoutof control.Tonet amarlinisconsidered aonce-ina-lifetime opportunity.” According to the AP Traditional Fisher Workers Union, between 2015 and 2025, around 200 fishermen have gone missing in the sea during deep-water fishing. “There are CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad