The Editorial Page: In age of AI, Pope returns to older concern: Technology, wealth, inequality 8 WedNesday, JuNe 10, 2026 JournAlism of CourAge lUCkNow, lATE CiTY, 18 PAGEs ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com CBC 01101/13/0004/2627 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 cElEbRaTioNs aT bhaRaT MaNDapaM Nda turns 12 today, meets to mark modi crossing Nehru stint Express News service New Delhi, June 9 leAdersofNdAconstituents will meet at the Bharat mandapaminNewdelhiWednesdayto celebrate the completion of 12 yearsoftheBJP-ledgovernment and Prime minister Narendra modi reaching a personal milestone by becoming the longest continuously serving elected Prime minister, bettering the record of Jawaharlal Nehru. on Wednesday, modi will complete 4,399 consecutive daysinofficeasPrimeminister, onemorethanthe4,398daysof Nehru as a directly elected Primeministerwhoenteredoffice on may 13, 1952 and served until his death on may 27, 1964. the 1952 general election was the first since independence when Nehru was chosen Prime minister. speaking to reporters tues- editorial page 4,399 days, the long arc of leadership by m VeNKaiah Naidu p 8 the ideas page Modi Milestone is affirMation of strength,openness of deMocracy by Nitish Kumar Modi’s challenges: diversity, dissent, deliMitation p 9 day, BJP president Nitin Nabin said, “these 12 years under Prime minister Narendra modiji’s leadership have been No siGN of pRicE Dip, DoMEsTic pRoDUcTioN bEiNG RaMpED Up Fertiliser subsidy burden set to double on global supply crunch Psus float tenders for imports, Govt plans to tap russia to meet demand siddharth Upasani & aanchal Magazine New Delhi, June 9 risiNg gloBAl costs of fertilisers amid a supply crunch is likely to result in a subsidy burden of almost rs 3.4 lakh crore, or an almost 100 per cent increase compared with the Budget estimate of rs 1.7 lakh crore, according to top government sources. “We are still selling fertiliser at a subsidised price of around »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 l Fertilisersubsidy FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26 FY27 Figures in Rs crore 81,124 1,27,922 1,53,758 2,51,339 1,88,292 1,70,683 1,86,460 1,70,781 FY26 is REvisEd EsTiMATE, FY27 BUdGET EsTiMATE; soURCE: BUdGET doCUMENTs Congestion at ports, exporters flag carriers’ ‘opportunistic pricing’ Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, June 9 Amid logisticAl disruption due to the West Asia crisis, indian exporters are grappling with mounting financial burden posed by “opportunistic” pricing practices by foreign shipping lines and “nontransparent” imposition of detention, demurrage charges »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 liz Mathew & Jatin anand As the newly formed cockroach Janta Party (cJP) draws support for its campaign against paper leaks and other exam controversies, the BJP will take an accommodating stand. Amid the clamour for education minister dharmendra Pradhan to resign, senior BJPleadersstressedheretuesday that youth should not be “defamed for their aggressive stand over issues”. Noting that he had “serious reservations about gen Z being termedasanti-establishment”, by eP uNNy explained p14 uP govt plan: housing, health benefits for triple talaq, acid attack victims iN A move that could carry political significance ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Yogi Adityanath government has begun identifying women affected by triple talaq and acid attacks to extend housing and health insurance benefits under various state and central welfare schemes. officials in the Women Welfare department said the exercise follows directions from chiefministerAdityanath,and aimstoprovideeligiblewomen withpermanenthousingunder the Pradhan mantri Awas Yojana (PmAY) or the mukhyamantri Awas Yojana, besides linking them and their families to the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and the mukhyamantri Jan »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 l BiggesT WorLd cUp in hisTory Begins This Week Under shadoW of U.s. Visa resTricTions, ice ThreaT The football world is coming to America, but not everyone is welcome this time express at World Cup sandip G New York, June 9 theBillBoArdfindsyoubefore you find it. step out of the subway at times square and there it is — three storeys of france’s Kylian mbappé, his face stretched, jaw set, eyes fixed on something beyond the frame.Nexttohim,istheBrazilian, vinicius Jr. football’s global stars are sparkling from the manhattan skyline. this is New York in the days before the fifA World cup 2026, which begins on June 11, and the city is doing what it always does with the world’s attention — absorbing it, amplifying it, making it feel like it was always meant to be here. “Back in the day, it was all about supporting the country Natarajan’s rs papers rejected, Cong cries foul, to meet eC today WhAt BegAN as a battle over whether congress could keep its madhya Pradesh legislators together ended with the party losing its rajya sabha candidate altogether. on tuesday, congressleadermeenakshiNatarajan’s nomination to the Upper house of Parliament was rejected, delivering a significant victory to the BJP after days of political manoeuvring, legal challenges and an aggressive campaign that put the opposition on the defensive. the rejection comes days after the BJP upended the election by fielding a third candi- meenakshi natarajan date, mahesh Kewat, against Natarajan and then mounting a legal challenge to her nomination papers. the development came after the congress spent much of tuesday focused on moving its legislators to Karnataka, where it is in power. the party leadership had decided to shift »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 Vehicles pass through the Zojila tunnel after its breakthrough ceremony at meenamarg in Ladakh, Tuesday. The 13.153-km tunnel, which connects kashmir Valley to Ladakh, forms the centrepiece of the Zojilaproject, which is aimed at ensuring year-round access to the region. AP reporT, page 7 Lucknow, June 9 a-i crash: two Men & a phone call paRTy fliEs oUT Mlas iN VaiN breakthrough at Zojila Maulshree seth The Big PicTure The near closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US naval blockade has led to congestion at ports on India’s western seaboard and sent freight costs soaring, severely impacting exporters and their margins. Business as Usual can cockroach Be Used as political party syMBol p 13 »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 the hormuz fallout anand Mohan J »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 a top BJP leader said: “there are youngsters who are involved in stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir, but it’s also thanks to them that the Union territory won the ranji trophy for the first time. similarly, the gen Z that is making the start Up drive a success is also protesting over errors in the education sector.” explained Bhopal, June 9 bJP leaders see CJP protests as ‘part of democracy’, say Gen Z not anti-establishment New Delhi, June 9 E. preparations in the Us ahead of the World cup starting June 11. AP of your ancestry,” says Nathan JonesoftheAmericanoutlaws, the Us national team’s supporters’ group. “it is changing — and that in a sense is the beauty of football in America”. A mall at columbus circle hasinstalledacountdownclock nearly three metres tall. the empirestateBuildinghaslitits towerinthecoloursofthethree host nations — red, white and blue for the United states, red and white for canada, green, white and red for mexico. »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 sevenkilledin poKunrest,india sayspakmustbe heldaccountable shubhajit Roy New Delhi, June 9 With At least seven persons reported to have been killed in police action on protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), india on tuesday flagged the “severe police brutality” and called on the internationalcommunitytohold islamabad accountable for its “misdeeds and abuses”. AccordingtoareportinPakistan daily Dawn, at least 11 people, including four police personnel, were killed in rawalakot on sunday as security personnel cracked down on protesters from the banned Joint Awami Action committee (JAAc). responding to a question on tuesday, the ministry of »coNTiNUED oN paGE 2 happening today lTop officials of the Health and Education ministries, the NTA and the National Medical Commission will brief a House panel on the NEET-UG retest. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com Lucknow