The editorial Page: Next uN chief’s job — keep conversations alive when others stop talking 14 TUeSDAY, JUne 30, 2026 JOurNalism of COuraGe kOlkAtA, lAte City, 22 PAGeS ₹6.00 (₹12 in north east states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 deLhi GovT aPProves ev PoLiCy 2.0: No New CNG aUToriCKshaws froM JaNUary NexT year west Bengal TMC MP, MLA Booked for ‘SundAy TrAffiC diSArrAy’ PAGe 3 happening today lPM NareNdra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with all the Central Secretaries, his second interaction with the top bureaucracy in just over a month. p 10 Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com Business as usual By eP UnnY Delhi mandates all new 2-wheelers be electric from ’28 to fight pollution 100% road tax waiver for four-wheelers priced up to Rs 30 lakh; cash incentives for buying electric two- three-wheelers l two-wheelersinthecapital New Delhi, June 29 nO PetrOl motorcycles and scooters can be registered in Delhi after March 31, 2028, the Delhi government announced on Monday. the registration of new Cng auto-rickshaws will stop at the end of this year. Beginning April 2028, therefore, every new two- and threewheeler sold in Delhi will have to be an electric vehicle (ev). the decisions, part of the Delhi government’s ev Policy 2.0, represent a sweeping, firstof-its kind policy reform in the country,aimedatmakingasignificant contribution to the Capital’s chronic air pollution problem. thepolicywillcomeintoeffect on July 1, following approval from lt governor taranjit singh sandhu. Chief Minister rekha gupta, who announced the decision of the Delhi Cabinet on Monday, described the ev Policy as a major step to- In Bengal, Suvendu sets the ball rolling for UCC, but says: ‘We are not in a rush’ 572 20,239 2025 Gayathri Mani 2026* 3,140 36,961 2024 2023 delhi cm rekha Gupta at the secretariat, monday. AbhinAv SAhA wards making Delhi pollutionfreebyMarch31,2030.thegovernment would spend rs 15,000 crore on incentives and on strengthening the evcharging infrastructure in the city, the CM said. A senior transport Department official clarified that the notification of the new policy didnotmeanthatexistingnonelectric two-wheelers would be forcedofftheroads.“Wearenot stopping any bike or scooty from plying in Delhi. Our only pushisthatnonewregistration »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 2022 37,570 34,570 4,92,290 petrol 2-wheeler registrations in 2022-2026 inside Kolkata, June 29 Asserting thAt the newly elected BJP government is committed to implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in West Bengal, Chief Minister suvendu Adhikari on Monday saidhewas“notinahurry”and that a draft Bill pertaining to it will be taken up by the Cabinet on July 2. speaking in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget session, the chief minister said thatacommittee,ledbyretired supreme Court judge ranjana PrakashDesai,willlookintothe draft UCC Bill and propose changes. “Amadertaarahuronei(We are not in a rush). the Uniform Civil Code will definitely be implemented in Bengal. there is aspecificprocessforit…Wewill bringthis(UCC)Billafterexamining the examples of Uttarakhand, gujarat, and Assam. Ancient tribal communities and indigenous people will remain outside the purview of the UCC Bill,” Adhikari said afteranuproarintheAssembly over the government’s plan to implement UCC in the state. 3,65,019 3,35,186 * Until JUne 15; SOURCe: CAQM, MoRth, enviROCAtAlyStS Two-wheelers constitute two-thirds of Delhi’s vehicles, why this shift matters sophiya Mathew & devansh Mittal New Delhi, June 29 the Delhi electric vehicle (ev) Policy announced on Monday focuses on two priorities: a phased transition to mandatory electric twowheelers, three-wheelers, and light-duty trucks, and a conscious emphasis on pure evs over strong hybrid vehicles. the policy aims to achieve a minimum 30% electrification of Delhi’s vehicle fleet by March 31, 2030, when the policy runs out. the transport sector is »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 among the most significant contributors to Delhi’s air pollution.Whilewinterepisodesof bad air get the most attention, vehicular emissions remain a persistent source of pollution through the year, makingthetransitionto E. »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 Brazil knock Japan out of World Cup GabrieL MarTiNeLLi scored a stoppage-time goal for brazil to beat Japan 2-1 in the World Cup knockouts, Monday. KaishU saNo put Japan ahead in the 27th minute, before Casemiro equalised for brazil in the 56th minute. Substitute Martinelli then squeezed in a shot at the far post in the fifth minute of added time to win it for the five-time champions. rePorTS, PAGe 17 AnTi-GoondA LAw PASSed, CM SAyS wiLL noT Be MiSuSed According to the chief minister, the committee led by the former supreme Court judge willbeaskedtosubmititsreport onthedraftUCCBillwithinfour weeks. “the committee will functionasataskforce,withaneducationist, a social worker, and an iAs officer as its members,” the CM told the Assembly. “thiscommitteewillexamineatotalofnineissues,including marriage, divorce, inheritance of property, custody of children, and adoption,” the chief minister said, adding it would seek people’s views and proposalsbeforesubmittingthe report to the government. 67% of Delhi’s total vehicle stock are two-wheelers (31%)andCO(51%)innCR PAGe 4 PASSAGe of oBC BiLL ShowS CrACkS in TMC reBeL GrouP PetROl LarGesTCoNTribUTors toPM2.5 4,15,358 Sets up panel under retired SC judge to look into draft Bill, lays out timeline atri Mitra ev 18 lakh 2,15,716 2,320 31,533 CnG Brazil’s Gabriel martinelli celebrates his goal against Japan at houston stadium in Texas, monday. ReUteRS nation PAGe 12, 13 Akal Takht gives Mann Govt one month to amend anti-sacrilege law Kamaldeep singh brar Amritsar, June 29 rAM TeMPLe ‘ThefT’: SC deCLineS urGenT heArinG in PeTiTion SeekinG CBi ProBe heAvy rAin rAvAGeS ArunAChAL: Three kiLLed, 12 diSTriCTS AffeCTed theAkAltakhtgavetheAam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab governmentamonthtoremove certain “objectionable” clauses in its anti-sacrilege law, as almost all sikh legislators cutting across party lines, including 78 MlAs and nine ministers, appeared before it on Monday. the sikh community’s highesttemporalauthorityalso asked the Bhagwant Mann-led »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 punjab mLas at the akal Takht in amritsar, monday. RAnA SiMRAnJit SinGh Bihar Governor, MoS likely to attend Khamenei’s funeral in Iran next month PM and Jaishankar have foreign visits planned around same dates divya a New Delhi, June 29 BihAr gOvernOr lt gen syed Ata hasnain (retired) and Minister of state for external Affairs Pabitra Margherita are likely to represent india at iran’sstatefuneralforsupreme leaderAyatollahAlikhamenei next month, The Indian Express has learnt. An official announcement is yet to be made. last week, iran President Masoud Pezeshkian had sent a formalinvitationtoPrimeMinister narendra Modi to attend the funeral next month. however, sources said there were scheduling issues, as a multination visit by the Prime Minister was planned around the same dates. khamenei was killed in a Us-israeli air strike on tehran onFebruary28.Whiletheburial was initially scheduled for March,itwaspostponedinview of the conflict raging then. the funeral proceedings will begin (Top) Bihar Governor Lt Gen syed ata hasnain (retired); minister of state for external affairs pabitra margherita in tehran on July 4, and he will be laid to rest in his home town of Mashhad on July 9. With external Affairs Minister s Jaishankar, too, unlikely to be available due to prescheduled foreign visits, new Delhi wanted to send a delegation commensurate with the importance it attaches to its civilisational ties with tehran. As Mos, external Affairs, Margherita represented the indian government at the »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 express special Sarla Bhat was killed to drive kashmiri Pandits out of valley, says chargesheet 737-page chargesheet names Yasin Malik as key accused in the abduction and killing of the young nurse in 1990 Naveed iqbal & arun sharma Srinagar, Jammu, June 29 the JAMMU and kashmir police’s investigation into the death of sarla Bhat in 1990 has “conclusively established” that she was “abducted, tortured and killed” by the Jammu and kashmir liberation Front (JklF), “pursuant to a larger terrorist conspiracy and campaign directed against the kashmiri Pandit community”. Bhat was a 27-year-old nurse in the neonatology Department of the sher-e-kashmir institute of Medical sciences (skiMs), soura. her body was found on the Mallabagh-OmerColonyroadinsrinagar on April 19, 1990. On Monday, the state investigation Agency filed a 737-page chargesheet in a special niA court in srinagar, naming the thenJklFchiefYasinMalikasa key accused in her abduction sarla Bhat’s body was found on a srinagar road on april 19, 1990 reLaTed reporT, paGe 13 and killing. Officials called the development a “historic milestoneinthepursuitofjusticefor victims of terrorism” and said thatitstandsas“oneofthemost significantbreakthroughsinthe investigation of legacy terror crimesinJammuandkashmir”. the case was transferred to thesiAonMarch18,2024,under the orders of the J&k DgP. the accused in the case includeMalik,whoiscurrentlyin judicial custody in another »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 l of 15 who died, 12, incLudinG 16-year-oLd GirL, were from keonJhar disTricT Girl’s death in TN gas leak spotlights desperate migration in Odisha tribal hamlet sujit bisoyi them women. Of the dead, two belonged to rangamatia, including Bisuni’s daughter Jamini Juanga. BisUni JUAngA, 56, is illiterOf the 68 hospitalised, 65 ate. But sitting outside his mud are women; all the five who are house in a remote tribal village, critical and on ventilator suphe pores intently over a stack of port belong to rangamatia. officialpapers,seekinganswers A tribal hamlet with a popuastohowhis16-yearlation of a little over page 1 old daughter died at 200, rangamatia a seafood processing had at least 10 of its women and 8 men unit in tamil nadu, employed at the seafood unit — nearly 1,500 km away. Of the 15 who have died making the gas leak one of the since the June 21 gas leak at the worst tragedies to have hit the factory, in tiruvallur district of village. thesouthernstate,12werefrom says Bisuni: “some officials Odisha, all belonging to from the block visited our keonjhar district, and all of house, handed over Jamini’s Rangamatia (Keonjhar), June 29 anchor body,andinformedusshedied due to ‘gas’... i don’t know what that means… she was just 16, and had a full life to live.” Jamini, who had studied until Class 5, was the third of Bisuni’s four daughters. the elder ones, 21 and 19, are married, while the fourth is 14. Jamini went to tamil nadu a little over seven months ago, the first member of the family to travel outside keonjhar. Mostly, they onlygotothehomesofthemarried daughters in nearby villages, says Bisuni. After Jamini left, they had no contact with her, the family says. Until last year, the village had no mobile connectivity; relatives and neighbours outside the home of Bisuni Juanga, whose daughter died in the June 21 gas leak in Tamil nadu. SUJit biSOyi now Bsnl is available. But, Bisuni can barely afford one. Juangas like him are part of a particularly vulnerable tribal group (Pvtg), and Bisuni has long struggled with poverty. his only possessions are two goats and the mud house, separated into two enclosures. With no farmland of their own, tribals in the village clear patches of forest to cultivate cropsanddependonforestproduce. the 2011 Census put rangamatia’s numbers at 38 householdsand158people.locatedin a hilly terrain with poor road connectivity, it has no drinking water and electricity. A small springfromanearbyforestisthe only source of drinking water. there is an anganwadi and a school till the primary level. villagers, particularly girls such as Jamini, don’t study Kolkata beyondClass5.thenearesthigh schoolis10kmaway,toofardue tobothfinancialconstraintsand lack of transport facilities. the nearest motorable road is officially 1 km away, but is on the other side of a hill. the nearest hospital is in harichandpur town, about 40 km away. “We can’t even travel to nearby markets or towns in search of jobs,” says Bisuni. so it was understood that when she could, Jamini would migrate to sustain her family, like other youngsters here, he says, addingheisnotevensurewhat wages Jamini was promised. Mostofthegirlsandwomen who work outside the village are not married. Once they are wed, it is the men who leave. the Odisha government initiallyannouncedanexgratiaof rs 4 lakh for the family members of the victims, which was later enhanced to rs 10 lakh.ButBisuniclaimsallhehas received so far is rs 3,000 from thepanchayattoconductherfuneral. gumaniJuanga,thesecond casualtyfromrangamatia,was 15 as per her Aadhaar card; her parents, who were looking for a groom for her, say she was 19. she left for tamil nadu last november.shewaspartofagroup of workers, including her elder »CoNTiNUed oN PaGe 2