The Editorial Page: For lasting peace, US & Iran have to look beyond their philosophies of negotiation 10 ThURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 JournaliSM of Courage NeW delhI, late CIty, 18 PageS ₹7.00 (₹8 RaIPUR, ₹15 SRINagaR) l www.indianexpress.com Construction of the Grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya Transformation of Kashi Vishwanath Dham, Mahakal Mahalok and Kedarnath Dham Virasat Bhi, Vikas Bhi happening today lPresident drouPadi Murmu begins her five-day visit to Madhya Pradesh during which she will participate in various programmes, offer prayers in Omkareshwar and visit Kuno National Park. lall PreParations are in place for election to two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand for which three candidates — JMM’s Baidyanath Ram, Congress’s Pranav Jha and BJP-backed Independent nominee Parimal Nathwani — are in the fray. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Business as usual By EP UNNY Hold talKs on G7 suMMit sidelines, First MeetinG in oVer a Year Trade to sailor safety, Modi and Trump look to turn a new page Ties never as close, says US President; PM commends his efforts to end West Asia crisis shubhajit roy New Delhi, June 17 IN THEIR first meeting in over ayearfollowingthestraininbilateralties,PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi and US President donald Trump Wednesday walked the tightrope, projecting a positive path ahead with a trade deal soon, a strategic commitment to security, and remarks that rekindled hopes of skilled Indian professionals. The meeting, on the sidelinesoftheG7summitatEvianles-Bains in eastern France, lasted 55 minutes, according to sources. Following the talks, Modi said, “Pleased to meet President Trump in Evian. We reviewed the sustained progress »continued on PaGe 2 Hctoheartoday telegramplea The world paGe 12 overblocking key points of order;shocking draft text on u.s.-iran deal material:Govt sohini Ghosh New Delhi, June 17 AdAy after itwasblockedtemporarily by the Centre ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examinationonJune21,messagingapplication Telegram challenged the government move before the delhi High Court Wednesday and said it had received another order warning of action over “non-compliance” with the directive. The bench of Justice Tejas Karia, which issued notice to the Centre with the liberty to file a reply and supporting documents, will hear the matter Thursday. In its petition, Telegram sought quashing of the blocking order and, for the interim, a stay. It has been blocked until June 22. The Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, told the bench there was “shocking material” on the platform. “We shudder to imagine a situation where there is public unrest,” he said. Accusing Telegram of not disclosing certain material »continued on PaGe 2 related report, paGe 8 Vishwas ke, Vikas ke, Jan-Kalyan ke CBC 44101/13/0005/2627 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 pm narendra modi and Us president donald Trump hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of g7 summit in evian, France, Wednesday. aNI Global South shouldn’t be left to bear war burden, needs financial backing: PM to G7 economy Asks leaders to consider economic E. corridor, skilled mobility partnership shubhajit roy New Delhi, June 17 UNdERLINING THAT disruptions in fuel, fertiliser and food supply chains caused by the war in West Asia will impact the Global South for “a considerable period”, Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi Wednesday told G7 leaders, including US President donald Trump, that the “most vulnerable countries” should not be left to bear the burden of these crises alone, and global financial organisations should develop support systems for af- uk-india trade pact to come into force from July 15 paGe 13 fected nations. ThewarinWestAsiahasadversely impacted the economy of India and other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America as supply of »continued on PaGe 2 explained India has taken thelead in articulating the concerns of the Global South comprising the developing,emerging and least developed nations in Asia, Africa,LatinAmerica and Oceania, moreso during its G20 Presidencyin2023. accused into walk of ‘shame’ national rank 2027 Global rank 2026 Global rank institute 118 123 IIt delhi 134 129 IIt Bombay 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 10 452 170 180 IIt Madras 205 215 IIt Kharagpur 221 222 IIt Kanpur 221 219 IISc Bangalore 322 328 delhi University 335 339 IIt Roorkee 349 334 IIt guwahati 503 Shoolini University* *BIOteChNOlOgy aNd MaNageMeNt SCIeNCeS Vidheesha Kuntamalla New Delhi, June 17 FOR THE second consecutive year, IIT-delhi ranked highest among Indian institutions in the QS World University Rankings 2027, climbing five places to 118th globally — the highest ever for an Indian institution, firstachievedbyIIT-Bombayin the 2025 rankings. IIT-Bombay, which topped the country’s list in the past, dropped from 129 to 134. Last »continued on PaGe 2 Police claim they are ‘reconstructing the crime scene’; TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee says will move court sweety Kumari Kolkata, June 17 SINCEHISarrestninedaysago, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Jahangir Khan has been paraded by police three times throughhisstrongholdofFalta. Incensed,hissupporters, allegedly led by his wife, have carried out protests, including an attempt to storm a police station reportedly to free the strongman. As the turning of the tide in Bengal is also reflected on its streets,severalTMCleaders,includinglocalheavyweightsand musclemen, and their associates have been trotted in public throughtheirareasofinfluence (From left) Tmc leader Jahangir khan; shahin molla, who is linked to a former Tmc minister, has been accused of extortion; and akash singh, who is said to be close to a Tmc mLa, being paraded. exPReSS by police or paramilitary forces — many in just their underclothes,andwearinghandcuffs or a rope around their waist as a sort of leash. Viral videos of the parading include the arrested Raut alleges horsetrading, claims MPs being bought, warns of legal action Bridging the divide QS rankings: IIT-Delhi Parade and punish: Bengal police tops India list for 2nd yr, ignore due process, force TMC climbs to 118 globally lTop10incounTry Uddhav Sena issues whip as six of nine MPs decide to switch sides & meet Speaker leadersholdingtheirears,doing squatsandpubliclyapologising. After one such public parading, a vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court pulled up »continued on PaGe 2 (From left) shiv sena (UBT) mps rajabhau Waje, anil desai, sanjay raut and arvind sawant in new delhi, Wednesday. aNI Vikas Pathak, deeptiman tiwary & Vallabh ozarkar New Delhi, Mumbai, June 17 AS SIx of its nine Lok Sabha MPs prepared to break away and possibly defect to the rival Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, theUddhavThackeray-ledShiv Sena (UBT) issued a whip, directing all its MPs to attend its ParliamentaryPartymeetingin New delhi Thursday. “We have issued a whip and convened our Parliamentary Party meeting. We have also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Buying and breaking elected representatives is against democracy and the Constitution. A legal battle will follow,”Sena(UBT)RajyaSabha MP Sanjay Raut told reporters. l loksabhaspeaker invitesabhishekfor meetingtomorrow With lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla yet to take a decision on the status of the tMC in the house, the Speaker’s office Wednesday wrote to party MP abhishek Banerjee, inviting him to present his case on the issue Friday. On tuesday, abhishek was called for a meeting with Birla, but the latter could not be present as he was being questioned by the ed in connection with the school job scam probe. page 6 According to sources, the rebelgroupwaswaitingtosecure »continued on PaGe 2 inside nation Politics mp turns to pvt sector for help in rural healthcare neet: students Join in kota as rahul kicks off campaiGn paGe 9 paGe 6 l 38-year-oLd sUpersTar scores haT-Trick as deFending champion argenTina doWn aLgeria in FirsT oUTing Messi, Messi, Messi: Starts his sixth World Cup by equalling record goals express aT World Cup sandip G New Jersey, June 17 IN THE 17th minute of the game on Tuesday, LionelMessi turned17again.Hebreezeduncheckedintothespacebetween Algeria’s defensive lines, found the ball on his feet, twisted his body with a dancer’s svelte, his mind. “This is my sixth paused, took two steps, and World Cup, and I still feel like thenwithhisleftfootcurledthe I’m in good shape... It’s imporball into the top corner. tant to start the tournament Messi netted two more with a victory,” he said. goals, completing his first hatBut the first was the most trick in six appearMessi-esque of the page 1 ances in the tournathree goals. With his ment. Each strike left foot, just outside displayed a different the box, the ball bendimension of his genius. The ding unstoppably onto the third made him the joint high- nets, past the stretched arms of estgoal-scorerattheWorldCup goalkeeper Luca Zidane. When withGermany’sMiroslavKlose he had the ball on his feet, two (16 goals), a record he could Algerian defenders threw break in the group stage alone. themselves in the line of the Afterthegame,Messispoke ball.ButMessikneadedtheball anchor Lionel messi scores his third goal against algeria during the World cup match in kansas city. aP; reLaTed reporTs ,paGes 17, 18 through the space between. Several generations of defenders would vouch for the illusion of a Messi shot. They presumetheyhavecoveredthe angle, the bend and drop, everything, but somehow the ball escapes them. The second goal, in the secondhalf,wasapoacher’sdelight, latching onto a rebound. An hour into the game, defender AlexisMacAllistertookashyon goal. His shot was blocked and the ball bounced to Messi who hooked the ball into the nets. The third one owed to his supreme balance. Winger Nico Gonzalez found Messi in a central position on the edge of the box.Thestarofthedaysteadied himself with a velvet touch, slouched low and slashed a side-foot shot from the edge of the box to the bottom corner. He smiled contentedly, offered a silent prayer skywards with both his arms aloft and index fingers pointing up. It’s the frame that defines football in the 21st century. Hishat-tricksignedoffaday that two of his heirs-designate, France’s Kylian Mbappe and New Delhi Norway’s Erling Haaland, scoredabraceapiece.Butthere wasadifference.Messiwillturn 39inaweek;Mbappeis12years younger than him; Haaland is only 25. The Norwegian wrote on Snapchat: “Messi is a madman.”Onlyamanofsuchmadness could be a visionary too. Tocontextualise his age, Algeria’s goalkeeper Luca’s legendaryfatherZinedineZidane, who watched the game from thestands,featuredinthesame World Cup when Messi made hisdebut.Thatwas2006.What »continued on PaGe 2