The editorial Page: Next uN chief’s job — keep conversations alive when others stop talking 8 TueSDAY, June 30, 2026 JOurNalism of COuraGe lUCKnOW, lAte City, 18 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 uTTar pradesh eye at assembly polls, owaisi slams akhilesh, woos muslims & dalits p 3 happening today lPM NareNdra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with all the Central Secretaries, his second interaction with the top bureaucracy in just over a month. p 6 Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By eP unnY deLhi govt aPProves ev PoLicy 2.0: No New cNg autoricKshaws froM JaNuary Next year Delhi mandates all new 2-wheelers be electric from ’28 to fight pollution 100% road tax waiver for four-wheelers priced up to Rs 30 lakh; cash incentives for buying electric two- three-wheelers New Delhi, June 29 In Karnataka, 519 small hydel power projects allotted, 386 cancelled Two-wheelersinThecapiTal 2026* 572 20,239 2025 gayathri Mani NO PetROl motorcycles and scooters can be registered in Delhi after March 31, 2028, the Delhi government announced on Monday. the registration of new CNG auto-rickshaws will stop at the end of this year. Beginning April 2028, therefore, every new two- and threewheeler sold in Delhi will have to be an electric vehicle (ev). the decisions, part of the Delhi government’s ev Policy 2.0, represent a sweeping, firstof-its kind policy reform in the country,aimedatmakingasignificant contribution to the Capital’s chronic air pollution problem. thepolicywillcomeintoeffect on July 1, following approval from lt Governor taranjit Singh Sandhu. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who announced the decision of the Delhi Cabinet on Monday, described the ev Policy as a major step to- l 3,140 36,961 2024 2023 delhi cm rekha Gupta at the secretariat, monday. AbhinAv SAhA wards making Delhi pollutionfreebyMarch31,2030.thegovernment would spend Rs 15,000 crore on incentives and on strengthening the evcharging infrastructure in the city, the CM said. A senior transport Department official clarified that the notification of the new policy didnotmeanthatexistingnonelectric two-wheelers would be forcedofftheroads.“Wearenot stopping any bike or scooty from plying in Delhi. Our only pushisthatnonewregistration »coNtiNued oN Page 2 2022 37,570 34,570 4,92,290 petrol 2-wheeler registrations in 2022-2026 Bengaluru, June 29 While it ranks top among states in the small hydel power sector, with an installed capacityof1284MW,three-fourthsof the allotted projects in Karnatakaeventuallyfellthroughbefore the commissioning stage. in most cases, the reason was failure to get environmental clearances. As per data released for small hydel projects (plants with a generation capacity of up to 25 MW) by the Karnataka Renewable energy Develop- ment limited (KReDl), until May 31 this year, 519 had been allotted in the state, and 386 stood cancelled. in March this year, the Centre cleared a Rs 2,584-crore impetus for private participationinthesmallhydrosector,to facilitateinstallationofapproximately1500MWofsmallhydro power, amid the West Asia crisis-triggered fuel shortage. Most of the cancelled Karnataka projects were allotted in the2007-10and2014-15period, when incentives were on offer. Some among them were aLLotted LargestcoNtributors toPM2.5 4,15,358 3,65,019 3,35,186 * Until JUne 15; SOURCe: CAQM, MoRth, enviROCAtAlyStS Two-wheelers constitute two-thirds of Delhi’s vehicles, why this shift matters sophiya Mathew & devansh Mittal New Delhi, June 29 the Delhi electric vehicle (ev) Policy announced on Monday focuses on two priorities: a phased transition to mandatory electric twowheelers, three-wheelers, and light-duty trucks, and a conscious emphasis on pure evs over strong hybrid vehicles. the policy aims to achieve a minimum 30% electrification of Delhi’s vehicle fleet by March 31, 2030, when the policy runs out. the transport sector is E. stoppage-time goal for brazil to beat Japan 2-1 in the World Cup knockouts, Monday. Kaishu saNo put Japan ahead in the 27th minute, before Casemiro equalised for brazil in the 56th minute. Substitute Martinelli then squeezed in a shot at the far post in the fifth minute of added time to win it for the five-time champions. RepoRts, page 17 Brazil’s Gabriel martinelli celebrates his goal against Japan at houston stadium in Texas, monday. ReUteRS inside page 4 11 projects (54 MW) 52 projects (214 MW) 46 projects (172 MW) 2014-15 (Congress) 25 projects (126 MW) 20 projects (71 MW) 2015-16 (Congress) 21 projects (212 MW) 17 projects (164 MW) 11 projects (118 MW) 10 projects (117 MW) 225 projects (1,165 MW) 220 projects (1,123 MW) 10 projects (142 MW) Akal Takht gives Mann Govt one month to amend anti-sacrilege law Kamaldeep singh brar caNceLLed 22 projects (205 MW) 2025-26 (Congress) »coNtiNued oN Page 2 Amritsar, June 29 2009-10 (bJP) 2018-19 (JDS-Cong) among the most significant contributors to Delhi’s air pollution.Whilewinterepisodesof bad air get the most attention, vehicular emissions remain a persistent source of pollution through the year, makingthetransitionto gabrieL MartiNeLLi scored a »coNtiNued oN Page 2 2010-11 (bJP) 2022-23 (bJP) 67% of Delhi’s total vehicle stock are two-wheelers Brazil knock Japan out of World Cup l allotmentsandcancellations Period (govt) PetROl (31%)andCO(51%)innCR State ranks first in small hydel power generation capacity, but projects are failing to get environmental clearances Johnson t a ev 18 lakh 2,15,716 2,320 31,533 CnG 2 projects (39 MW) DAtA SOURCe: KReDl Ram temple ‘theft’: sc declines uRgent heaRing in petition seeking cbi pRobe ayodhya baR to boycott accused, penalise lawyeRs RepResenting them theAKAltakhtgavetheAam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab governmentamonthtoremove certain “objectionable” clauses in its anti-sacrilege law, as almost all Sikh legislators cutting across party lines, including 78 MlAs and nine ministers, appeared before it on Monday. the Sikh community’s highesttemporalauthorityalso asked the Bhagwant Mann-led »coNtiNued oN Page 2 punjab mLas at the akal Takht in amritsar, monday. RAnA SiMRAnJit SinGh Bihar Governor, MoS likely to attend Khamenei’s funeral in Iran next month PM and Jaishankar have foreign visits planned around same dates divya a New Delhi, June 29 BihAR GOveRNOR lt Gen Syed Ata hasnain (retired) and Minister of State for external Affairs Pabitra Margherita are likely to represent india at iran’sstatefuneralforSupreme leaderAyatollahAliKhamenei next month, The Indian Express has learnt. An official announcement is yet to be made. last week, iran President Masoud Pezeshkian had sent a formalinvitationtoPrimeMinister Narendra Modi to attend the funeral next month. however, sources said there were scheduling issues, as a multination visit by the Prime Minister was planned around the same dates. Khamenei was killed in a uS-israeli air strike on tehran onFebruary28.Whiletheburial was initially scheduled for March,itwaspostponedinview of the conflict raging then. the funeral proceedings will begin (Top) Bihar Governor Lt Gen syed ata hasnain (retired); minister of state for external affairs pabitra margherita in tehran on July 4, and he will be laid to rest in his home town of Mashhad on July 9. With external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, too, unlikely to be available due to prescheduled foreign visits, New Delhi wanted to send a delegation commensurate with the importance it attaches to its civilisational ties with tehran. As MoS, external Affairs, Margherita represented the indian government at the »coNtiNued oN Page 2 express special sarla bhat was killed to drive kashmiri pandits out of Valley, says chargesheet 737-page chargesheet names Yasin Malik as key accused in the abduction and killing of the young nurse in 1990 Naveed iqbal & arun sharma Srinagar, Jammu, June 29 the JAMMu and Kashmir police’s investigation into the death of Sarla Bhat in 1990 has “conclusively established” that she was “abducted, tortured and killed” by the Jammu and Kashmir liberation Front (JKlF), “pursuant to a larger terrorist conspiracy and campaign directed against the Kashmiri Pandit community”. Bhat was a 27-year-old nurse in the Neonatology Department of the Sher-e-Kashmir institute of Medical Sciences (SKiMS), Soura. her body was found on the Mallabagh-OmerColonyRoadinSrinagar on April 19, 1990. On Monday, the State investigation Agency filed a 737-page chargesheet in a special NiA court in Srinagar, naming the thenJKlFchiefYasinMalikasa key accused in her abduction sarla Bhat’s body was found on a srinagar road on april 19, 1990 reLaTed reporT, paGe 11 and killing. Officials called the development a “historic milestoneinthepursuitofjusticefor victims of terrorism” and said thatitstandsas“oneofthemost significantbreakthroughsinthe investigation of legacy terror crimesinJammuandKashmir”. the case was transferred to theSiAonMarch18,2024,under the orders of the J&K DGP. the accused in the case includeMalik,whoiscurrentlyin judicial custody in another »coNtiNued oN Page 2 l of 15 who died, 12, incLudinG 16-year-oLd GirL, were from keonJhar disTricT Girl’s death in TN gas leak spotlights desperate migration in Odisha tribal hamlet sujit bisoyi them women. Of the dead, two belonged to Rangamatia, including Bisuni’s daughter Jamini Juanga. Of the 68 hospitalised, 65 BiSuNi JuANGA, 56, is illiterate. But sitting outside his mud are women; all the five who are house in a remote tribal village, critical and on ventilator supheporesintentlyover a stack of port belong to Rangamatia. A tribal hamlet with a popuofficialpapers,seekinganswers lation of a little over astohowhis16-yearpage 1 200, Rangamatia old daughter died at had at least 10 of its a seafood processing women and 8 men unit in tamil Nadu, employed at the seafood unit — nearly 1,500 km away. Of the 15 who have died making the gas leak one of the since the June 21 gas leak at the worst tragedies to have hit the factory, in tiruvallur district of village. Says Bisuni: “Some officials thesouthernstate,12werefrom Odisha, all belonging to from the block visited our Keonjhar district, and all of house, handed over Jamini’s Rangamatia (Keonjhar), June 29 anchor body,andinformedusshedied due to ‘gas’... i don’t know what that means… She was just 16, and had a full life to live.” Jamini, who had studied until Class 5, was the third of Bisuni’s four daughters. the elder ones, 21 and 19, are married, while the fourth is 14. Jamini went to tamil Nadu a little over seven months ago, the first member of the family to travel outside Keonjhar. Mostly, they onlygotothehomesofthemarried daughters in nearby villages, says Bisuni. After Jamini left, they had no contact with her, the family says. until last year, the village had no mobile connectivity; relatives and neighbours outside the home of Bisuni Juanga, whose daughter died in the June 21 gas leak in Tamil nadu. SUJit biSOyi now BSNl is available. But, Bisuni can barely afford one. Juangas like him are part of a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PvtG), and Bisuni has long struggled with poverty. his only possessions are two goats and the mud house, separated into two enclosures. With no farmland of their own, tribals in the village clear patches of forest to cultivate cropsanddependonforestproduce. the 2011 Census put Rangamatia’s numbers at 38 householdsand158people.locatedin a hilly terrain with poor road connectivity, it has no drinking water and electricity. A small springfromanearbyforestisthe only source of drinking water. there is an anganwadi and a school till the primary level. villagers, particularly girls such as Jamini, don’t study beyondClass5.thenearesthigh schoolis10kmaway,toofardue tobothfinancialconstraintsand lack of transport facilities. the nearest motorable road is officially 1 km away, but is on the other side of a hill. the nearest hospital is in harichandpur town, about 40 km away. “We can’t even travel to nearby markets or towns in search of jobs,” says Bisuni. So it was understood that when she could, Jamini would migrate to sustain her family, like other youngsters here, he says, addingheisnotevensurewhat wages Jamini was promised. Mostofthegirlsandwomen who work outside the village are not married. Once they are wed, it is the men who leave. the Odisha government initiallyannouncedanexgratiaof Rs 4 lakh for the family members of the victims, which was later enhanced to Rs 10 lakh.ButBisuniclaimsallhehas received so far is Rs 3,000 from thepanchayattoconductherfuneral. GumaniJuanga,thesecond casualtyfromRangamatia,was 15 as per her Aadhaar card; her parents, who were looking for a groom for her, say she was 19. She left for tamil Nadu last November.Shewaspartofagroup of workers, including her elder »coNtiNued oN Page 2 Lucknow