The editorial Page: sonia gandhi writes — india remains silent on gaza, world continues to speak up 10 SATuRdAy, JuNe 27, 2026 Journalism of Courage JAIPur, lATE cITy, 20 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 Business as Usual By eP uNNy ayodHya Probe Widens, Police form seParate team Theft at Ram temple: Police arrest eight, recover part of stolen money Rs 79.8 lakh seized from 7 accused, role of bank staff under scanner Happening today lPrime minister narendra Modi will begin a state visit to Seychelles. During the visit, until June 29, the PM will hold talks with President Patrick Herminie and also attend the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Day of Seychelles. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com bhupendra Pandey & deeptiman tiwary Lucknow, New Delhi, June 26 A DAy after police in Ayodhya registered an FIR on a complaintallegingtheft,misappropriationofcash,embezzlement offundsandvaluablesdonated totheRamtemple,alleightpersons named in the FIR were arrested and sent to judicial custody for three days. Police have so far recovered Rs 79.80 lakh from seven of the eight arrested men. Prosecu- Rajasthan C-sec deaths: Centre seeks report after WHO asks for info anonna dutt & Parul Kulshrestha New Delhi, Jaipur, June 26 THE UNIoN Health Ministry has asked the Rajasthan governmentforadetailedreporton women developing complicationsfollowingcaesareanoperations across several governmenthospitalsinthestate,with some resulting in casualties. sources said the ministry sent a note after the World Health organization (WHo) sought information from the Indian government on the possible link of spurious oxytocin to the cases. The WHo soughtinformationtoascertain whether the issue was localised, or more widespread, with potentialriskatotherlocations, the source said. The Centre action followed E. explained drug under spotlight Oxytocin is used to induce labour before a delivery and to contract the uterus for preventing blood loss after it. Many of the women who died or developed complications in Rajasthan saw excessive blood loss. after the Rajasthan government and the top drug regulator in the country cancelled licencesofaKota-basedwholesale drug distributor of oxytocin and two factories manufacturing the drug in Punjab and »continued on PaGe 2 Telegram key platform for drug ads, Myanmar route a concern: NCB mahender singh manral New Delhi, June 26 ENCRyPTED MEssAGING platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp and signal have become major channels for drug trafficking worldwide, including in India. of these three, Telegram has emerged as a key platform for drug-related advertising, according to the NarcoticsControlBureau’sAnnual Report 2025 released Friday. According to the report, released by Union Home Minister Amit shah, Telegram has become a prominent drug advertising platform, with public channels offering product list- union home minister amit shah at the apex-level meeting of the narco-coordination centre in new delhi on Friday. ANI ings, pricing and delivery details to large subscriber bases. “Unlike darknet markets, »continued on PaGe 2 Tinnu yadav (centre), one of the eight men arrested, being produced in an ayodhya court, Friday. he used to work as a driver for ram temple trust general secretary champat rai. ANI relaTed reporT, page 7 tion officer A K Verma said the recovered money was part of the donated funds allegedly stolen from the temple. The eight men — Avinash shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anu- kalp Mishra, Manish Kumar yadav, Karunesh Pandey, RamashankarMishra,Ramshan- kar yadav alias Tinnu yadav and subhash srivastav — were produced by police before a remand magistrate. Verma said they were sent to judicial custody for three days and will be produced again Monday before the PreventionofCorruptionActcourt for further proceedings. According to Verma, no cash or valuables were recovered from srivastav while Rs 79.80 lakh was recovered from the other accused. Tinnuyadavusedtoworkas a driver for Champat Rai, general secretary of the shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. According to an official, ever since the consecration of theidolin2022,Tinnuhadbeen involved in the functioning of affairs inside the temple. »continued on PaGe 2 express investigation Union minister gets Rs 99-lakh subsidy for his cucumber farm — from scheme under own ministry vir cHaKra for rifleman sunil Kumar Agniveer among six Army, IAF personnel killed in Op Sindoor, names made public express news service New Delhi, June 26 INDIA HAs officially released the names of six Armed Forces personnel who were killed in action during operation sindoor in May 2025. This is the first time that the names have been made public. ofthesix,fivewereArmysoldiers and one an Indian Air Forcepersonnel:subedarMajor Pawan Kumar from Headquarters 10 Infantry Brigade; RiflemansunilKumarfromthe 4thbattalionoftheJammuand Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment; Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar from the 5 Field Regiment; Agniveer Mood Muralinaik from the 851 Light Regiment; Havildar sunil Kumar singh from the 237 Field Workshop; and sergeant surendra Kumar from the 39 Wing of the IAF. The majority of the Army casualties were in J&K during operation sindoor. Rifleman sunil Kumar is a Vir Chakra awardee, and sergeantsurinderKumarhasbeen awarded the Vayu Medal. on June 8, President Droupadi Murmu presented the Vir The names of the six personnel on a wall at the national War memorial, Friday. PTI Chakra (posthumous) to sunil Kumar’s family at the Defence Investiture Ceremony. The names were released alongside the list of all soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice during various military operations in 2025. The names of these soldiers will remain permanently inscribed at the National War Memorial in the Capital. Their names have also been published in the Roll of Honour on the website of the National War Memorial. As MoS Agriculture, Bhagirath Choudhary is ex officio Vice-President of the board that approved his Rajasthan project for horticulture scheme; his is one of only 467 approvals last year; his aide says details will be disclosed to Govt 4steps,rs1crore cap:Howthe subsidyiscleared Harikishan sharma New Delhi, June 26 union minister of state Bhagirath choudhary Harikishan sharma New Delhi, Peeh (Rajasthan), June 26 IN A sprawling farm in central Rajasthan, where stone walls and barbed wire shield an orchard, artificial ponds and four large polyhouses, a white signboard spells it out: “Assisted by National Horticulture Board, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India”. Thebeneficiary:“Mr.Bhagirath Choudhary”. The subsidy amount: “50% (99,60,000)”. It’s what the signboard does not say that is most telling. Choudhary is Minister of state in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. An investigation by The Indian Express reveals that he received the subsidy three months ago through a scheme underhisownministryandapproved by a board in which he is ex-officio Vice-President. The scheme to promote “commercial farming” — on a »continued on PaGe 8 The signboard at union mos Bhagirath choudhary’s farm in peeh, deedwana-kuchaman district, rajasthan. HArIkISHAN SHArMA Among beneficiaries: wife, son, mother of IAS officer Harikishan sharma New Delhi, June 26 IT’s NoT just the Union Minister. The mother, wife and son of a senior IAs officer are also among the beneficiaries in Rajasthan of the scheme under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare to promote commercial farming, records investigated by The Indian Express show. Records show the three family members of Naresh Pal Gangwar, a 1994-batch Rajasthan-cadre IAs officer, who is a secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, received a total ofoverRs1.16croreinsubsidies across five years under the scheme. Titled “Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and PostHarvest Management of Horticulture crops”, the scheme is run by National Horticulture Board (NHB) under the Union Agriculture Ministry. Accordingtorecords,Gangwar has disclosed details of only one project approved under the scheme in the mandatory annual declaration of immovable property with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for 2021-22. Gangwar told The Indian Express that service rules mandate that he declare only the »continued on PaGe 8 What is the scheme? “Development of Commercial Horticulture through ProductionandPost-HarvestManagementofHorticultureCrops” isasub-schemeunderNational Horticulture Board’s Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). PurPose: Promotecommercial farming (for profit) of horticulturalcropson alargescale.The crops under the schemearethree types of vegetables: capsicum, cucumber and tomato; and eight varieties of flowers: anthurium,orchid,rose,lilium, chrysanthemum, carnation, gypsophila and gerbera. subsidy: Upto50percentof the project cost, capped at Rs 1 crore per family, is available as subsidy under the scheme. beneficiaries: Individuals, self-help groups, associations or groups of growers, trusts, cooperativesocieties,companies, farmerproducerorganisations, cooperative marketing federations, agricultural produce marketing committees, E. medical supplies and other relief material being sent to Venezuela under operation amistad, on Friday. ANI relaTed reporT, page 12 Venezuela reels after deadly quakes, India sends transcontinental flights with medical aid amrita nayak dutta New Delhi, June 26 THEINDIANArmedForcesFriday dispatched two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft carrying a specialisedmedicalcontingent, reliefsuppliesandmedicinesto assistVenezuelawhereback-toback earthquakes have killed over 900 people and left thousands injured and missing. Mounting operation Amis- tad(spanishforfriendship),the IndianAirForceisundertaking oneofitslongesthumanitarian aid flights — Venezuela is around 15,000 km from India. The C-17 Globemaster III aircrafthasspearheadedmultiple global humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) missions, delivering medical supplies, field hospitals and emergency aid to regions worldwide. »continued on PaGe 2 THE BIG PICTURE How ImmIGRanTs aRE sHaPInG THE fooTBall woRld CUP PaGE 16 »continued on PaGe 8 l BuilT under sTaTe goVT's aTal e-liBraries scheme, These FaciliTies sTock Books For compeTiTiVe exams Why Haryana’s villages are turning libraries into gateways to government jobs sukhbir siwach graduate and kabaddi player, tells The Indian Express. since 2020, a quiet transformation has been unfolding AT 5 AM, before the rest of his across Haryana’s villages. Lifamily wakes up, sahil Kumar braries and reading rooms, makes his way to the village li- such as the one in Pabra, have brary in Pabra. There, he mushroomed with one aim: spends the next few hours por- helping students like sahil ing over books to prepare for crack competitive examingovernment recruitment ations.BuiltundertheHaryana government’sAtaleexams for Group C page 1 Libraries scheme, and D jobs, along these facilities stock with dozens of other books for competiaspirants. “It is centrally located, air- tive exams and attract conditioned and open round hundreds of government job the clock. We had to go all the aspirants, many targeting way to Hisar before. Now we Group C and D posts. According to officials, the can study here, cutting commute time,” sahil Kumar, a BA Haryanagovernmenthassetup Gorakhpur (Fatehabad), June 26 anchor 985 libraries, spending Rs 150 crore. For many rural youths, thelibrariesareasymbolofHaryana’s growing aspiration. “These libraries have been setupinchaupalsandcommunity centres,” an official from the Development and Panchayats Department says. “We've provided books, furniture and air conditioners to help students study.” The libraries have drawn thousands of students across thestate.onesuchvillageisGorakhpur in Fatehabad district, where two regulars cleared the Haryana staff selection Commission (HssC) examination for Group D posts Friday. The latest selections take at a library in gorakhpur village of haryana’s Fatehabad. ExPrESS the number of the library's regularswhohavesecuredgovernmentjobssinceitwassetup in october 2020 to 40. “We set up the library because youngsters, particularly girls,fromourvillagepreparing for competitive examinations had to travel either 15 km to Bhuna town or 40 km to Hisar city to study,” says satywan Numberdar, who played a key role in establishing the facility. “Today, around 70 students regularly study at the library.” Group C posts include positions such as junior engineers, clerks, excise and taxation inspectors, auditors, assistant managers, patwaris, and male and female police constables. Group D posts comprise entrylevel positions in government departments, including peons, animalattendants,helpers,gardeners,cooksandwatercarriers. According to locals, the demand for village libraries gathered momentum after nearly Jaipur 18,000 candidates were recruitedforGroupDpostsinHaryana in 2018. A typical library has 40 to 100 seats. some are government-run, while others are privately managed. Most are simply furnished with study tables and chairs, and many haveairconditionerstobeatthe summer heat. The panchayatsupported library in Pabra charges Rs 300 a month to covermaintenancecosts,while three privately run libraries in Pabra charge around Rs 800. Government libraries are funded under the Atal e-Libraries scheme, while private ones are financed by private individuals.Moststockbooksand studymaterialforexaminations conductedbytheHaryanastaff selection Commission. The growing number of libraries reflects changing aspirations among rural youth, says Kuldeep Kundu, who runs one such private facility in Pabra. “During the Bhupinder singhHooda-ledCongressgovernment, there was a surge in sports because government jobs were offered to sports persons who excelled at the national and international levels. During the BJP government, there has been a surge in libraries as people increasingly believe that government jobs are now being awarded on »continued on PaGe 2