The Ideas Page: A reply to CEA — what’s missing in India is not ambition, but competition 9 SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2026 JournAlIsm of CourAge JAIPur, lAte cIty, 22 PAgeS ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I ly F r o M : A H M e DA B A D , c H A N D I gA r H , D e l H I , J A I P u r , Ko l K AtA , l u c K N o W , M u M B A I , N Ag P u r , PAt N A , P u N e , vA D o DA r A PosTal regn. no. JaiPur ciTy/001/2024-26 TODAY, THE COUNTRY HAS NEARLY 1,000 WAREHOUSES, ALMOST TWICE AS MANY AS IN 2014 vaNCe, iraNiaNS Call oFF SWiTZerlaNd MeeTiNG Deal under strain: iran suspends talks after israel attacks Lebanon Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire after intense fighting, but Israel says its troops will stay Business as Usual Via Hormuz to Gujarat By EP UNNY E. explained Difficult talks ahead The discussions in Switzerland, when they do happen, are expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran maintains it is peaceful, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be used to build multiple atomic bombs. Happening today lPM NareNdraModiwill release the 23rd instalment of PM-KISAN from West Bengal. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com The Big PicTure Billa & Ranga a reporter’s diary Page 15 Govt empowered to issue emergency blocking directions under IT Act: Court New Delhi, June 19 Zurich, Cairo, June 19 »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 Delhi HC upholds Govt order blocking Telegram to secure NEET retest Sunday Sohini Ghosh aamer Madhani, Jamey Keaten & Samy Magdy the aMerICan push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just two days after the signing of an agreement that opens a twomonth window for negotiations on tehran’s nuclear programme and returning oil trafficthroughtheStraitofhormuz to prewar levels. Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that Israeli strikes on Iranian-backed hezbollah militants in lebanon ‘leaST reSTriCTive’ lng carrier Disha, the first indian vessel to cross the strait of hormuz after the us-iran deal, at gujarat’s dahej port, friday. carrying Qatari lng, it had been stranded in the Persian gulf for over three months. PtI India’s Russia oil imports at record high in June, set to remain core of crude diet Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, June 19 WIthIndIasteppingupitsoil imports from russia amid the lossofWestasianbarrelsdueto supply disruption owing to the crisis in the region, crude imports from Moscow in June are expected to touch an all-time high,preliminaryshiptracking data indicates. although the US has alloweditssanctionswaiveron russian oil purchases to lapse, at least for the time being, industry experts and insiders ex- pect russian crude to remain Indianrefiners’mainstayinthe foreseeable future. SofarinJune,India’soilimports from russia averaged at 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd), a whopping 53.5% of the country’s total crude imports for the period, as per vessel tracking data from commodity market analytics firm Kpler. Forthefullmonth,Kplerexpects russian oil imports at over 2.35 million bpd, which would be the highest-ever. the previous monthly high was »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 tHe world 47 killeD as isRael stRikes leBanon; 4 iDf solDieRs DeaD in hezBollah attack: tel aviv Page 18 UPholdIng the Centre’s order directing temporary blockingofmessageapplication telegramuntilJune22,aheadof the neet-Ug 2026 re-examination this Sunday, the delhi high Court said Friday that the government is “empowered” to issueemergencyblockingdirections to not only individual users, but also platforms or applications like telegram. dismissing telegram’s plea challenging the June 16 blocking order, Justice tejas Karia »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 l importofrussianoil overeightmonths l in million bpd Nov 2025 1.84 Dec 2025 1.24 Jan 2026 1.09 Feb 2026 1.04 Mar 2026 1.99 Apr 2026 1.57 May 2026 1.91 Jun 2026* 2.66 *uP to JuNe 19 source: KPler ‘All Problem Solved’: Inside Insta scam built on faith, desperation alok Singh New Delhi, June 19 By the time she typed “hi” on a number she found on Instagraminmid-april,theengineer had already drawn on every ounce of her emotional strength.at22,thisB.techgraduatehadfoundlifetobeunkind: shehadspentmonthsfillingout job applications and attending interviews with no luck, and was getting increasingly dismayed by the rejections. So, when she came across thefaith-healingpage‘allProblem Solved’ while browsing Instagram, she thought she had found a solution. after all, the comments section was full of praise for how a “Moulana ji” accused ganesh and mandeep in custody of delhi Police helped people overcome similar predicaments. however, she didn’t know she was about to walk into a trap that police claim was meant for people like the 22year-old: desperate people looking for solutions to their love, family and financial »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 l ParT of ai 171’s cabin crew, 22-year-old would call uP home wiThouT fail For family, flight attendant killed in Air India crash lives — one message at a time dipanita Nath Pune, June 19 karna sab thik ho. Ameen” May 3, 8.08 PM: “Abhi hum raaste mein hain. Inshaallah 10-11 baje tak pahuchenge. Bhaijaan Scorpio chala raha hai, dulha bana hai or khud ki gaadi chala raha hai” JUNe17,5.50aM: “Irfan,Islamic naya saal shuru hua hai. Moharram ka mahina” May22,6.37aM: “Irfan,aajbarish ho rahi hai. Is saal garmi ke onJUne12,2025, baad ki pahli baa22-year-old Irfan rish…mainevideo air iNdia CraSh Shaikh, an attendnahin nikali... ant on aI-171, was tujhe bhejti thi killed when the na, ab kisko bheair India Boeing joon…” May3,6.14aM: “Janamdinmu- 787 dreamliner crashed in ahmedabad, seconds after barak ho Irfan, or aaj hi Bhai»CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 jaan ka nikah bhi hai. Dua a year later irfan shaikh’s parents with the last uniform that he wore, at their home in Pimpri, Pune. Arul HorIzoN Jaipur ‘What if there’s an ambush’: Across divide, aspirants dread journey to NEET centres In Manipur, some are being escorted to centres under security cover at night Sukrita Baruah Guwahati, June 19 More than a month ago, a 19-year-old student travelled from her home in Manipur’s Kangpokpi by road, taking nationalhighway-2throughSenapati district, to her exam centre in nagaland’s Kohima, to write thenationaleligibilitycumentrance test (neet) on May 3. Sincethen,notonlyhasthat test been cancelled following a paper leak controversy that rocked the entire country, but her state has also seen fresh conflict, with the flaring up of tensions and hardening of »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2