The editorial Page: india doesn’t just need start-ups, but scale-ups that become global giants 8 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2026 JournAlisM of CourAge luCkNow, laTe CiTy, 18 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 happening today lBangladesh PM Tarique Rahman will begin an official visit to China. During the visit, until June 26, Dhaka and Beijing are likely to discuss the Teesta river plan. New Delhi will be keeping a close watch on any announcement on the project. lThe BoMBay hC is sched- uled to hear State of Goa’s concluding arguments in its appeal against Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a rape case by a trial court in 2021. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Land bought by MP CM’s family: Opp Cong seeks his resignation, independent probe express news service Business as usual New Delhi, Bhopal, June 23 the COnGress on tuesday demanded Madhya pradesh Chief Minister Mohan yadav’s resignation, citing The Indian Express investigation on land purchases linked to his family andassociatedrealestatefirms. the party also sought a public explanation from the CM and an “independent inquiry” into the issue. TheIndianExpressreported on tuesday that after yadav took oath as the CM on By EP UNNY the editorial page in ujjain, a familiar plot, a disturBing aBdication page 8 The Express report dated june 23 »ConTInUed on Page 2 Maulshree seth Lucknow, June 23 6 yrs before sit probe, audit firm flagged lack of ‘systemic record’ of ram temple donations Had sought SOP for each level of transaction to fix accountability shyamlal yadav WIthIn MOnths of the formationofshriramJanmabhoomi teerth Kshetra, an audit firmhadfounditsmanagement to be “highly unprofessional” and noted that there was no “systemic record” of donations. six years later, the recommendation of the private audit firm that a “systematic Operating process (sOp)” be drafted forefficientmanagementisyet to be implemented, even as the temple committee is now facing allegations of misappropriationofdonations.Aspecial Investigation team submitted its preliminary findings to the uttar pradesh government on tuesday. Initsreportsubmittedinno- vember2020,theauditfirmsuggested the “need to devise sOp oftrustforeachleveloftransaction, data management, staff and other resources” to fix responsibilityandaccountability. Italsonotedtheunavailability of “systematic record for financial reporting” and said: “(the) Layer of management at theexecutionlevelisnotdefined and highly unprofessional… It willbedifficulttocontroltheinformation and establish fair practiceinthepresentscenario.” A senior official at the firm wascontacted,butcouldnotbe reached for comment. The IndianExpressalsosentquestions to the firm’s accountant, Chandan rai, as well as the trust’s »ConTInUed on Page 2 related report, page 3 India, US start trade talks union commerce and Industry minister piyush goyal with united states Trade representative jamieson greer and us ambassador to India sergio gor in new delhi, Tuesday. aNi expLaIned, page 10 2 held, role oF 2 PUnJaB PolICe oFFICers Under sCrUTIny express news service Mumbai, June 23 A tWO-JuDGe division bench of the Bombay high Court last week upheld a decision of a single judge that restrained the expresspublications(Madurai) pvt. Ltd (epML) from using the title the new Indian express outside the states of tamil nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Andhra pradesh andspecifiedunionterritories. thisprohibitionemanatesfrom a Memorandum of settlement signed between epML and the Indian express (p) Limited in 1995 which became a decree of the Madras high Court. the division bench of Justice Bharati h Dangre and Justice Manjusha A Deshpande heldtherewas“noperversityor patent error” in the november 13, 2025 order of Justice riyaz I Chagla. thebenchofJusticeDangre and Justice Deshpande, by a judgementpronouncedonJune 15, 2026, dismissed an interim applicationintheappealfiledby express publications (Madurai) pvt. Ltd against the november 2025 decision by the bench of Justice Chagla, which had passed the order on an interim application in a commercial intellectualpropertyrightssuitby »ConTInUed on Page 2 An AppLICAtIOn submitted a decade ago by the owner of the Aliganjbuildingthatcaughtfire on Monday, killing 15 people, led to the revocation of a demolitionorderissuedoverunauthorised construction, The Indian Express has learnt. the owner, in the application, claimed he had not been given an opportunity to present his casebeforethedemolitiondecision was taken. sources told TheIndianExpress that the order withdrawingthedemolitionproceedings was passed “by the same officer” who had originally ordered the demolition. speaking to The Indian Express, Lucknow Development Authority(LDA)Vice-Chairman prathmesh Kumar said a 15-day demolition notice has been issued.hesaidtheofficerwhohad issuedademolitionnoticeadecade ago but later revoked it would also face action, and that the LDA has recommended to thestategovernmentthatappropriate disciplinary proceedings »ConTInUed on Page 2 Rs 10 lakh paid to tailor forensic report: Gurgaonpolice on clip Mann called fake the Big picture CM points finger at ‘some wrong elements’ in Akal Takht, AAP at BJP-ruled Haryana Varinder Bhatia HC upholds decision to restrain use of New Indian Express outside permitted territories Lucknow fire: 10 years ago, building escaped demolition as owner said he wasn’t heard Demolition notice issued again: LDA Vice-Chairman December 13, 2023, his family andtheirrealestatecompanies had bought at least 137 plots in express special Ayodhya, June 23 Monday horror Chandigarh, June 23 AMID A raging row in punjab over an “objectionable” video clip purportedly featuring ChiefMinisterBhagwantMann who has told the sri Akal takht that the footage was fake and manipulated, police in Gur- gaon have arrested two men following a complaint from a forensic expert that two senior officers of punjab police allegedly paid him rs 10 lakh to tailor a forensic report on the video clip. the Gurgaon police FIr, whichmentionstwopunjabofficials, names two individuals punjab cm Bhagwant mann has maintained that an actor was used in the clip to defame him who have been arrested — ArunMahendrufromsirsaand »ConTInUed on Page 2 Pune, June 23 A 25-yeAr-OLD belonging to a prominent real-estate family, who was earlier suspected to have fallen to his death at the Lohagad Fort near pune while takingaphotograph,waskilled by his 20-year-old fiancee and her friend, police said. Five days after Ketan Agarwal’s death, the pune rural police tuesday arrested siya pra- ketan agarwal and siya praveen goyal got engaged in February veenGoyalandChetanBabulal Chaudhary,22,onthechargeof killingAgarwalbypushinghim off the cliff. the two had confessedtokillingAgarwal,police said, and are probing if it was 12-metre building did not need NOC or fire audit: Fire Dept seeks to distance itself express news service Lucknow, June 23 As the special Investigation team (sIt) on tuesday began probing Monday's devastating fire in Lucknow that claimed 15 lives, officials in the Fire servicesDepartment,whichalong with the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and the electricity Department is under scanner, sought to distance themselves from the re- sponsibility for the tragedy. the state government has already indicated that it holds the three departments accountable for lapses, suspending a fire service officer (FsO), an executive engineer of the electricity Department and two LDA engineers within hours of the incident. Among the three departments, the Fire services Departmentisexpectedtofacethe »ConTInUed on Page 2 Rainfall 43% deficit so far, 111 districts high priority, says Govt via lipulekh: at 17,000 ft, a trade door opens into china page 13 Pune businessman’s son was pushed off cliff by fiancee, her friend; both held for murder: Police sushant Kulkarni sIT members at the building where 15 people were killed in a fire, in Lucknow on Tuesday. ViShal SRiVaSTaV reLaTed reporTs on page 4 their fourth attempt to kill the 25-year-old. Agarwal, the son of real-estate businessman Vishal Agarwalandadirectorinthefamilyrun firm, was killed on June 18 morning while on a visit to Lohagad Fort, about 50 km from pune,tocelebrateGoyal’sbirthday that falls on June 19. thetwogotengagedinFebruary and were to have a destination wedding in rajasthan »ConTInUed on Page 2 agriculture minister shivraj singh chouhan chairs a review meeting, at krishi Bhawan in new delhi, Tuesday. X/@ChouhaNShiVRaJ harikishan sharma & amitabh sinha New Delhi, June 23 WIth InDIA staring at a fairly dry monsoon season this year, the Agriculture Ministry has formulated contingency plans for districts likely to be most affected due to low rainfall, and identified 111 districts with irrigation coverage of 25 per cent orlessas‘highpriority’needing intervention, Agriculture Minister shivraj singh Chouhan said on tuesday. Afterchairingareviewmeeting,heldovervideoconference, withstateagricultureministers, senior officials and district collectors, Chouhan said that 315 districtsacrossthecountrywere likely to be affected due to low monsoon rainfall. "Of these (315 districts), 111 districts are of high priority, wheretheirrigationcoverageis lessthan25percent;76districts are of medium priority, where »ConTInUed on Page 2 landhra pradesh IT mInIsTer nara Lokesh says Tdp's supporT To pm ‘uncondITIonaL’, rejecTs suggesTIons Bjp aLLIes are aT a dIsadvanTage In nda ‘Parties like TMC, AAP that lose ideology after coming to power face trouble’ express news service naidu, said the tDp has endured political ups and downs because it remained rooted in the reGIOnAL parties that its ideology and cadre despite lose their ideological moorings facing both victories and deafter years in power inevitably feats over the years. referringtotMCleaderAbrun into trouble, Andhra pradesh It Minister and telugu hishekBanerjee,Lokeshsaidhe was going through a Desam party (tDp) difficult phase and national working page 1 suggested that the president nara LotMC had become kesh said, citing the “complacent” after challenges being faced by parties such as the tri- spendingmorethanadecadeat namool Congress (tMC) and the helm of the West Bengal government. he claimed that the Aam Aadmi party (AAp). speaking at the express both the Mamata Banerjee-led Adda in Delhi on Monday, Lo- tMC and the Arvind Kejriwalkesh, the son of Andhra pra- led AAp had drifted away from desh Chief Minister and tDp the principles on which they president n Chandrababu were founded. New Delhi, June 23 anchor andhra minister nara Lokesh at the express adda, monday. ReNuka PuRi “When I look at what is happening around me, the message is loud and clear that we stand for our ideology, as a regional party, we should stand for our workers and we have to double down on it. parties whichhavelosttheirideologies because of winning elections and coming to power multiple times have faced challenges,” Lokesh said. he was in conversationwithVanditaMishra,national Opinion editor, The Indian Express. the tDp is a key ally of the BJp in both Andhra pradesh and at the Centre. Lokeshrejectedsuggestions that regional parties were at a disadvantage within the BJpled nDA, insisting that the alliance provided enough space for partners to express their views and shape policies. “Our support to nDA has always beenunconditional.Ourleader and the tDp believe that India needs stable leadership,” he said,addingthatdifferenceson policy matters were discussed within the nDA. “I absolutely disagree with that narrative. Because whenever we wanted to voice an opinion, the doors were always open. Whenever we wanted reforms to come in certain sectors, our opinion was always heard. And things were changed,” he said. Lokesh cited the Waqf amendmentBillasanexample, saying the tDp had raised concerns that eventually led to wider consultations on it. he also referred to discussions on the delimitation issue, saying the party had closely studied the proposal before taking up its concerns within the ruling coalition. the question of the tDp’s place in the nDA resurfaced when Anant Goenka, executive Director, the Indian expressGroup,referred toreports of a meeting involving CM naidu, a corporate leader and a formerVice-presidentinMumbai. Asked what had transpired during that meeting, Lokesh dismissed speculation that it had any political significance. “I don’t know why this story keepsrepeating.Andit’salways as if the tDp has to prove itself that we are in nDA. someone writes tDp is upset, someone says tDp is going to go away. there was never such conversation,becauseallthedoorsare open,” the tDp leader said. “About the rumour, I met Modi ji. I told him the context in which I met the person and the conversations I have had »ConTInUed on Page 2 Lucknow