The Editorial Page: India-US — from estranged to engaged to restrained democracies 10 SaTURDaY, MaY 30, 2026 JoUrNAlISm of CoUrAge MuMBAI, lATe CITy, 20 PAGeS ₹5.00 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 addresses ConCerns over delay strong el nino, indian oCean Condition also not FavoUrable Decade’s driest monsoon looms: Met cuts estimate to 90% of 50-yr average Aung Hlaing is scheduled to arrive in India on an official visit. He is set to hold talks with PM Narendra Modi on June 1. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com 109 102 99 101 106 103 95 96 108 106 108 106 2025 2024 2023 2022 106 110 96 2021 80 2020 90 2019 lMyanMar President Min 100 2018 INdIA IS staring at the driest monsoon season in a decade, with the Met office Friday makingadownwardrevisionitsearlierforecastandpredictingonly 90 per cent rain 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 2017 New Delhi, Bengaluru, May 29 (*long-period average) 95 98 91 97 Happening today 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 2016 amitabh sinha & anjali Marar actualmonsoonrainfallas%oflpa* l Actual rain l May forecast 120 93 86 88 97 80 l 2015 Silver lining: Foodgrain stocks ample, reservoir levels adequate 168 88 136 2014 108 cracked bed of the koyna dam in maharashtra’s 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 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts in all States and uTs, except Manipur. It provides 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 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 politics to meet at least 30 days of demand in addition to their regular commercial stocks. »ContinUed on Page 2 New Delhi, May 29 The SuPreMe Court Friday set aside the Securities and exchange Board of India’s (SeBI) finding of fraud and manipulation 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 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 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 12 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 AT LeAST 14 people have died after consuming spurious liquor in Pune in the last three days. Several others, who too are suspected to have consumed the same liquor, are undergoingtreatmentatdifferent hospitals, the police said. The state government has orderedaprobebytheCriminal Investigation department (CId). The death toll is likely to increase, police said. Three officersofhadapsarpolicestation weresuspendedbyPunePolice CommissionerAmiteshKumar. Among the deceased, ten were residents of Phugewadidapodi areas of PimpriChinchwad under Pune district. They include Pandurang Sakharam Phuge, 53, Akbar Ajimkhan Pathan, 48, rajesh Move comes amid inspections of 16 elite clubs on collector-owned plots Pratip acharya Mumbai, May 29 u.p. Bridge Being Built collapses, 6 workers die p 12 grieving family members of ashok ramesh chavan. Arul HOrIzON Shantaram rajput, 50, Anand Panderao desai, 53, Anand Kashinath Nikalje, 64, Bhimanna Basanna Nagaral, 27, Akshay Ashok Avasarmal, 28, Sachin ramchandra Netke, 36, Surappa Manappa Bangari, 55 and raju Prakash rathod,34. Police said they died between May 26 and May 28 after allegedly consuming poisonous country liquor. Probe revealedtheyconsumedhoochat an illegal liquor den in Pawar Wasti in dapodi area. »ContinUed on Page 2 Govt begins review of Mumbai Gymkhanas on public land, eyes wider access to people By EP UNNY 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 page 12 india trusted partner, only 1% of trade deal talks left: gor Relief for RIL: SC sets aside SEBI order to pay Rs 447 cr, upholds Rs 25-cr fine express news service explained Pune, May 29 Business as usual rPl trading Case 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. Chandan Haygunde & sushant Kulkarni Washington, May 29 »ContinUed on Page 2 express news service CID probe ordered as 14 die after consuming spurious liquor in Pune over 3 days 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 of bail plea order 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 A WeeK after the union Ministry of housing and urban Affairs’ Land and development Office (L&dO) asked the century-old delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its leased premises on Safdarjung road, the Mahara- shtra government has initiated movestodraftapolicyaimedat making land parcels occupied by Mumbai’s gymkhanas more accessible to the public. Government sources told The Indian express that the exerciseisalsointendedtoensure greater government control over these land parcels. tHe city page 4 delhi dispute rekindles questions over mumBai’s elite cluBs The state’s action comes closeontheheelsoftheBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) 2024 takeover of a large portion of the Maha- laxmi racecourse to create a public park. The move follows a government resolution (Gr) issued in February this year. According to the resolution, the state revenue and forest department hasproposedsettingupastudy group to review existing policies governing gymkhanas and clubs across Maharashtra. “In Mumbai as well as several other districts in the state, government owned lands have »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 Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered. eArLIer ThIS month, the SuThis followed a Court order preme 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. of uAPA trials. “If there are If a court stands as a stark more than 15 trials contrast to this, it is page 1 pending within the the one headed by jurisdiction of a parSpecial NIA Judge ticular high Court… Prashant Sharma at two courts will be set up. Patiala house Court in delhi. Whereas, where trials exceed The most sensitive NIA cases 25, three courts will be set up,” are heard in the Capital, which a division Bench comprising hasjustoneotherNIAcourtbeNew Delhi, May 29 anchor sides Justice Sharma’s. Appointed on November 20, 2025, Justice Sharma is the fifth judge to head the Patiala house NIA court since September 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 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