The editorial Page: The indo-Pacific is here to stay, with or without Washington 12 WEdNESdAY, JUlY 1, 2026 Journalism of Courage luckNow, 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 TheiR FiRST cOnVeRSaTiOn aFTeR iRan-U.S. MOU pROBe inTO ‘TheFT’ aT RaM TeMpLe Safe Hormuz is key, Modi tells Pezeshkian; extended invite to BRICS summit in India: Tehran Police approach Rai, Mishra for details, another arrest likely President briefs PM on developments in West Asia and the way forward Divya a In hIs first conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian who signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UsPresidentDonaldTrumpon June17toendhostilities,Prime Minister narendra Modi Tuesday expressed the hope for “lasting peace in the region” and underlined “the impor- tanceoffreedomofnavigation” in the strait of hormuz, key to India’s energy imports. According to the Iranian readout of the phone conversation,postedonXbyitsembassy in new Delhi, Prime Minister Modi “formally invited the President of Iran to attend the upcoming BRICs Leaders’ summit to be hosted by India Under fire, Trust likely to move informal staff to non-cash duties hope for lasting peace in region, Pm tells iran President New Delhi, June 30 Happening today lJapan pM Sanae Takaichi arrives in Delhi on a three-day visit during which she and PM Narendra Modi will hold the India-Japan Annual Summit. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com afterJunedeficit, below-normal rainfallexpected inJulytoo:iMD amitabh Sinha New Delhi, June 30 WhILe JUne recorded a 40 per cent rainfall deficit, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said rainfall in the month of July was also expected to be below normal, less than 94 per cent of the long period average. The IMD had predicted 92 per cent rainfall for June, but themonthbroughtinjustabout 60 per cent of normal rains, making it the fifth driest June since 1901 — the year from whichrainfallrecordsareavailable in India. The shortfall in June has put a question mark over the rainfall prediction for the entire monsoon season. In May, the IMD had said that under the influence of a developing el nino phase in the Pacific region, the fourmonth monsoon season starting in June was expected to bring less than normal rainfall. »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 rainfalldeficitinJune state/Ut deficit Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 84% Gujarat 82% chandigarh 75% Meghalaya 74% Manipur 71% Source: IMD and expressed hope that the meeting would contribute to furtherstrengtheningmultilateral cooperation among the member countries”. Modi, the Iranian readout said, “conveyed the condolences and sympathy of the Government and people of Indiafollowingthemartyrdom »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 Lucknow, New Delhi, June 30 General dhiraj seth (left) takes over as the 31st chief of the army staff from General Upendra dwivedi, in new delhi on Tuesday. X/@ADGPI rePorT, PaGe 8 In setback for Trump, Small firms panic over Govt probe US top court upholds at behest of JSW joint venture birthright citizenship Company wants penal duty on suppliers from China, South Korea 6-3 ruling; Trump urges Congress to act, says ‘too bad for our country’ andrew chung Washington, June 30 hAnDInG PResIDenT Donald Trump a stinging defeat, theUssupremeCourtonTuesday rejected his attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in theUnitedstates—arightlong woven into the fabric of American society — scuttling one of his top priorities in his crackdown on immigration. The 6-3 ruling marked the second time this year that the court has invalidated a major Trump initiative, following its Februarydecisiontostrikedown his sweeping global tariffs. The Justices upheld a lower court’s decision that blocked »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 New Delhi, June 30 This is the second time the court has invalidated a major Trump initiative; it struck down his sweeping global tariffs in Feb E. explained An AnTI-DUMPInG probe initiated by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Cold Rolled Grain Oriented (CRGO) steel, a specialised type of steel, has sparked outrage among MsMe transformer manufac- turers, and also raised fears of a hike in electricity cost for consumers. The investigation, ordered on June 22, is based on an applicationbyonecompany,JsW JFe electrical steel nashik Private Limited, which is a joint venture between JsW steel Limited, India’s largest steel producer, and Japan-based JFe By EP UNNY Bhupendra pandey & Divya a Army gets a new chief pratyush Deep & Ravi Dutta Mishra Business as Usual steel Corporation. JsW JFe electrical steel is theonlyproducerofCRGOsteel in India, and is seen as strategicallycrucialforthecountry.Itis a key input material in transformers,whichformsthebackbone of the electricity transmission system. The probe comes in the backdrop of a »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 POLICe In Ayodhya, investigatingtheallegedtheftandembezzlement of funds and valuables donated to the Ram temple, have been seeking detailsfromChampatRai,general secretary of the shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, and trustee Anil Mishra on the duties and responsibilitiesofeightpersonsarrestedso far in the case. Rai and Mishra sent their resignationstotheTrustfollowingtheregistrationofanFIRon June 25 and the arrest of Avinash shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, RamshankarYadavaliasTinnu Yadav and subhash srivastav. Tinnu Yadav is Rai’s former driver. All the arrested men are currently in judicial custody. Followingcourtpermission, inside Cong leaders pUt Under hoUse arrest for 24 hrs a police team visited the jail Tuesday to question Avinash shuklaontheroleoftheprivate agency hired by the state Bank of India for counting of cash and its dispatch to the bank branch.shukla,anofficialsaid, was recruited by the agency and the bank. It is likely that another arrest will be made soon, an official said. »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 the Big piCtUre the impact Ahead of the ruling, experts had estimated that US President Donald Trump’s directive could affect the legal status of as many as 250,000 babies born each year, and could require the families of millions more to prove the citizenship status of their newborns. What U.p. Wants: postCard from 5 Cities — a year Before polls page 18 Two European giants out, Paraguay, Morocco win in tense shootouts express at World Cup Sandip G Boston, June 30 GeRMAns ARe masters of penalties,especiallyatWorldCups. They had won the last four shootoutsbeforeParaguay’s6’6” goalkeeper Orlando Gill beat them at their own game. Gill made himself look even bigger to make two crucial saves in the tie-breaker to script a historic south American victory. The netherlands, blessed Germany lost to Paraguay in the penalty shootout, monday. reuterS withincredibleattackingprowess and midfield riches, are knowntosettlemattersinopen play. Morocco held them 1-1 for more than 120 minutes, and »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 l aFTer years oF PrivaTe PerFormances, he is TakinG his Passion For menTalism PUblic Before his next film, director Chaitanya Tamhane wants to read your mind alaka Sahani on July 3 at Mumbai’s 3 Art house. Currently developing his MUCh BeFORe Chaitanya thirdfeaturefilm,withtwo-time Tamhane made it to global at- Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuarón tention and acclaim with his on board as a producer, Tamdebut feature Court (2014), he hane, who penned the script two years ago under was studying magic. page 1 the working title The writer-direc‘Who Is Metcena’, tor, who has often says that pivoting to spoken about how magic has influenced his film- mentalism fulfills his need for making, will be holding his “more autonomy”. “Filmmaking takes a long maidenpublicmentalismshow, ‘While I still Can: Mindreading, time — raising funds, making Wonder and other Lost Causes’, thefilm,workingwithdistribuMumbai, June 30 anchor magic and cinema are both forms of illusion, says chaitanya Tamhane tors and exhibitors. I felt the need for something more im- page 4 mediate and autonomous, where I could create and perform entirely on my own terms… Magic has been a significant part of my life for nearly 20 years, and now I've decided to share that publicly,” says the 39-year-old director. Mentalism,hesays,ismagic of the mind. “This involves playing with attention, perception and, moreover, storytelling, while using techniques from magic. Intuition and psychology are also involved in »cOnTinUeD On paGe 2 Lucknow