The Editorial Page: India-US — from estranged to engaged to restrained democracies 10 SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2026 JoUrNAlISm of CoUrAge JAIPur, LATe CITy, 28 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 Minister Dak bookeD for ‘abusing police personnel’ 109 102 99 101 106 103 95 96 108 106 108 106 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 106 110 96 2020 80 95 98 91 97 90 2019 page 7 INdIA IS staring at the driest monsoon season in a decade, with the Met office Friday makingadownwardrevisionitsearlierforecastandpredictingonly 90 per cent rains this season. InApril,initsfirstforecastfor this year’s monsoon, India Meteorological department (IMd) had said the country was likely to get 92 per cent of the long- 110 100 (*long-period average) 2018 nation New Delhi, Bengaluru, May 29 period average (LPA) rainfall during the four-month season. The LPA, revised every 10 years, is the average rainfall over the 50-year period 19712020, which is considered the baseline, or normal. Its current value is 89 cm for the rainy season — June to September — across the country as a whole. The latest forecast is the lowestbyIMdinthelast20years. If this holds, India could be in for the driest rainy season actualmonsoonrainfallas%oflpa* l Actual rain l May forecast 120 2017 Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com amitabh sinha & anjali Marar l 2016 Hegseth will address the Shangri-La Dialogue with his remarks to focus on the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy. Silver lining: Foodgrain stocks ample, reservoir levels adequate 93 86 88 97 lUs defense Secretary Pete 2015 Aung Hlaing will embark on an official visit to India and is scheduled to hold talks with PM Narendra Modi on June 1. Decade’s driest monsoon looms: Met cuts estimate to 90% of 50-yr average 88 lMyanMar President Min addresses ConCerns oVer delay strong el nino, indian oCean Condition also not faVoUrable 2014 Happening today cracked bed of the koyna dam in satara district, Friday. PTI »ContinUed on Page 2 US President in White House huddle with lmenandwomenwhowereoverweightorobese aides; Tehran Category 2023–24 (nfHs-6) 2019–21 (nfHs-5) says deal not final Proportion of obese women jumps 6.7 percentage points; 4.4 for men 30.70% Men (15–49 yrs) overweight or obese 27.30% Harikishan sharma New Delhi, May 29 AduLTOBeSITyinIndiaisrising fast, with the proportion of men and women in the 15-49 age group who were overweight or obese up by 4.4 and 6.7 percentage points, respectively,infiveyearsbetween2019 and 2024, according to the National Family health Survey-6 (NFhS-6), released by the Ministry of health and Family Welfare Friday. The NFhS-6, conducted in 2023-24 by the union health MinistrywiththeInternational Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai as the nodal agency, covered around 6.79lakhhouseholdsacross715 districts in all States and uTs, except Manipur. It provides business as usual By EP UNNY 24% 22.90% “vitalevidence”onpopulation, health, nutrition and family welfare indicators. As per the survey, the percentage of women who were overweight or obese increased to 30.7 per cent in 2023-24 from 24 per cent in 2019-21. The obesity was higher in urban areas than rural areas. In urban areas, 42.8 per cent women were reported overweight or obese, while the figure was 25.5 per cent in rural areas. The percentage of men who were overweight or obese also increasedto27.3in2023-24from 22.9in2019-21.Inruralareas,23 per cent men were reported obese, while in urban areas the figure was 36.3 per cent. Like the spike in adult obesity, the burden of high blood »ContinUed on Page 2 Washington, May 29 »ContinUed on Page 2 iranians walk past a billboard of the late iranian President ebrahim raisi in downtown Tehran. AP Hormuz crisis: Build LPG stock for at least 30 days’ demand, Govt tells OMCs sukalp sharma New Delhi, May 29 The LPG supply squeeze due to the West Asia crisis has underscored the requirement tohavemoreLPGstorageinthe country, and the government hasaskedpublicsectoroilmarketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, hindustan Petroleum — to workonaplanforLPGreserves rPl trading Case SC relief for RIL, sets aside SEBI order to pay Rs 447 crore, upholds Rs 25-cr fine express news service New Delhi, May 29 u.p. briDge being built collapses, 6 workers Die p 4 The SuPreMe Court Friday set aside the Securities and exchange Board of India’s (SeBI) findingoffraudandmanipulation by reliance Industries Limited (rIL) in trading reliance Petroleum Limited (rPL) futures to make unlawful gains. While it upheld the rs 25 crore penalty on rIL, the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and rMahadevansetasidetheregulator’sdisgorgementorderofrs 447.27 crore with 12 per cent interest. The March 24, 2017 order of the SeBI had been upheld by the Securities Appellate Tribunal(SAT)onNovember5,2020. The bench said, “We have reached the conclusion that SAT, in its majority judgment, committed an egregious error in passing the impugned judgment insofar as the question of express news service AddreSSING CONCerNS over undue delay in pronouncement of judgments reserved by judges, the Supreme Court issued directions Friday to all high courts to pronounce verdictswithinthreemonthsof hearingthecaseandto“display extra promptitude” in cases of personal liberty and bail. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said thedirectionswereintendedto strengthen the judicial administration and ensure timely delivery of judgments. Among the key directions, the Supreme Court said that E. explained flags litigant’s right The SC has held that delay in pronouncing verdicts after hearing them is not only against the provisions of law but an infringement of the right to personal liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. The SC guidelines give litigants a right to seek redress against delays. bail applications should be heardandtheordershouldpreferably be pronounced and uploaded the same day. If it is re- nation page 4 neet leak: probleM won’t enD until accountability is fixeD, sc tells nta served, it should be pronounced the next day and uploaded on the website. The Supreme Court also called for reasoned judgments pronounced in open courts to be uploaded on the high Court website within 24 hours. The directions came on a petition filed by four convicts serving life sentences whose criminal appeals had been reserved by the Jharkhand high »ContinUed on Page 2 In signal to contractors, Rly tells Faridabad station developer can’t reduce project scope aamer Madhani & Michelle l Price uSPreSIdeNTdonaldTrump saidFridayhe’sholdingaWhite houseSituationroommeeting with his advisers as he looks to make a “final determination” on moving forward with a deal toextendtheIranceasefireand reopen the Strait of hormuz. Iran said the deal has not been finalised. Trump confirmed the highlevel talks the day after The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that uS and Iranian negotiators had come to terms on a tentative agreement. The deal would extend the fragile ceasefire by 60 days as new talks are held on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme. Trump wrote on social media that “Iran must agree that they will never have a Directs judgment be delivered within 3 months of matter being reserved, uploading bail petition orders the same day New Delhi, May 29 Sharp rise in obesity, negotiations to end west asia Crisis diabetes in five years Making ‘final determination’ on Iran deal to open Hormuz, since 2019, shows latest health survey extend ceasefire: Trump Women (15–49 yrs) overweight or obese Bail to verdict: SC pushes High Courts to speed up justice fraud under regulations 3 and 4 of PFuTP regulations (SeBI Prohibition of Fraudulent and unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market).” Italsoorderedthatthers250 crore deposited by rIL during the pendency of the case, in accordance with its earlier direction, be returned. The court, however,upheldthers25crore penalty on rIL “for alleged violation of the disclosure »ContinUed on Page 2 politics page 7 inDia trusteD partner, only 1% of traDe Deal talks left: gor to meet at least 30 days of demand in addition to their regular commercial stocks. »ContinUed on Page 2 50% payment, Deepak Builders proposed reducing scope of station citing ‘safety and restoration work’ dheeraj Mishra New Delhi, Faridabad, May 29 IN A decision that sends a clear message to contractors, the Northern railway has turned down a proposal for reducing thescopeofthestationredevelopmentprojectbeingexecuted under the flagship Amrit Bharat station scheme. Ludhiana-based contractor deepakBuildersandengineers India Ltd had in November 2025 proposed to do away with the originally-planned through-roof (canopy covering the entire station), reduce the widthoftheconcourseorpathways between platforms, and cutdownonthenumberoflifts DHeerAJ MISHrA Faridabad station redevelopment work almost 50% complete. and escalators, from the rs 240-crore project. This was deliberated upon for almost six months before the Northern railway finally turned it down on May 16. The Northern railway has asked the contractor to submit a detailed planning as per original plan, but assured it of all possible help including »ContinUed on Page 2 AAP storms into Punjab civic bodies; Cong at second position, SAD trails independents Kanchan Vasdev Chandigarh, May 29 The AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday coasted to victory in thePunjabcivicbodyelections, winning 958, or 48% of 1,977 wards. hailing the win, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said people had “defeated the politicsofhatredandsupported developmental politics”. The Congress finished second with 397 wards and the Shiromani Akali dal (SAd) aaP workers celebrate in Bathinda, Friday. GurMeeT SINGH fourth with 192, behind Independents at 251. The BJP came a distant fifth, but the party managed to increase its tally from 49 to 172, increasing its footprint across Punjab’s urban and semi-urban landscape. The BSP won seven wards. Out of eight municipal corporations, the AAP won five: Barnala, Batala, Moga, Mohali, and Bathinda. Barnala is the home turf of newly appointed state BJP president Kewal dhillon. »ContinUed on Page 2 l aT 81 cases, including 38 noT lodged By nia, The nia courT in delhi is hearing 8 Times The numBer recommended By The ToP courT 5th judge since 2022, 43 NIA cases: SC order on speedy UAPA trials & a reality check nirbhay thakur ing Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered. This followed a Court order eArLIer ThIS month, the Supreme Court directed the set- that judges presiding over NIA ting up of exclusive NIA courts courts not be burdened with to enable timebound disposal additional work. If a court stands as a stark of uAPA trials. “If there are contrast to this, it is more than 15 trials page 1 the one headed by pending within the Special NIA Judge jurisdiction of a parPrashant Sharma at ticular high Court… Patiala house Court two courts will be set up. Whereas, where trials ex- in delhi. The most sensitive ceed 25, three courts will be set NIAcasesareheardintheCapiup,” a division Bench compris- tal, which has just one other New Delhi, May 29 anchor NIA court besides Justice Sharma’s. Appointed on November 20, 2025, Justice Sharma is the fifth judge to head the Patiala houseNIAcourtsinceSeptember 2022. Its four previous presiding judges spent an average of 11 months each in the post. Thereare43NIAcasespending before the court being tried undertheuAPA—rangingfrom terrorismandcross-borderconspiracytoradicalisation—apart from others involving money laundering and other charges. l niacourtpendency l Only 18 of 53 designated NIA courts have no pending cases. l Only 3 of 53 designated NIA courts deal exclusively with NIA cases. l Jharkhand (28), Delhi (19), J&K (16), West Bengal (13), Chhattisgarh, Kerala and TN (8 each), Assam and Gujarat (6 each) rank the highest in terms of cases pending for at least 5 yrs, or more l Chhattisgarh: Highest number of cases under trial at 73, with 4 NIA dedicated courts. l J&K, with 71 cases, has only 1 court; as does Jharkhand with 52 cases l Delhi, with 44 cases and 2 NIA courts; West Bengal, with 38 cases and 3 courts Of these 43 cases, in seven, Judge Sharma is hearing arguments afresh, with the accused andtheNIAhavingalmostcompleted their arguments before the previous judges were transferred. One of these cases was registered in 2017. Inthesesevencases,itisthe second or third time that hearings are being held afresh, and involve 87 accused, with arguments on charges against 32 still pending. At 81 cases, including 43 under the uAPA and 38 not Jaipur lodged by the NIA, the NIA court headed by Judge Sharma is hearing eight times the number recommended by the Supreme Court (10 per judge). Over 2017, 2018 and 2019, the average disposal time of a case in this NIA court was seven, four and three years, respectively (against the Supreme Court’s “expectation” of one month). eight cases in all were disposed of in this period. On an average, Justice Sharma has held 19 hearings in these NIA cases, with a total of 132hearingsacrossthe43cases. A defence counsel for some of the accused told The Indian Express on the condition of anonymity: “The frequent transfer of judges causes delay… The process is prolonged especially in complex caseswithalargenumberofaccused persons.” Since getting bail in terror cases is extremely difficult, a delay also means longer incarceration as an undertrial. Special Public Prosecutor »ContinUed on Page 2