The editorial Page: america’s hubris has yielded a dramatically more dangerous world 8 ThURSDAY, JULY 16, 2026 Journalism of Courage mumbAI, lAte cItY, 16 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 REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 124 152 189 98 Happening today lthe annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri begins. business as usual By EP UNNY After farm loan waiver, Maharashtra to write off Rs 48,000-crore farm electricity dues Shubhangi Khapre Mumbai, July 15 nearly a month after announcing a farm loan waiver that is estimated to cost the exchequer over rs 36,500 crore, the Maharashtra government on wednesday announced a one-time waiver of rs 48,000 crore in pending electricity dues of farmers. Chief Minister devendra Fadnavis made the announcementatafunctionorganisedby the BJp in Mumbai to felicitate himfortherecentlyannounced farm loan waiver. declaring that his government was committed to easing the burden on farmers,Fadnavissaidallpending electricity bills of farmers using agricultural pumps of up to 7 hp would be written off. “since our government came to power, we have given free electricity to farmers using agriculture pumps up to seven hp. For this, we make an annual budgetary allocation of rs 25,000 crore to compensate »COntInueD On PaGe 2 SaYS MaY SuPPORt IF 50% InCReaSe In SeatS In all StateS Delimitation Bill: Ahead of House session, Sule signals options open Says INDIA bloc to take collective call, plays down crossover buzz alok Deshpande Mumbai, July 15 NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule in Mumbai, Wednesday. AkASh PAtIl signalling another break in the opposition ranks ahead of the Monsoon session of parliament, the sharad pawar-led nCp(sp)’s working president and Mp supriya sule on wednesday said her party would consider supporting the Centre’sproposeddelimitation Billifitensuresa50percentincrease in the lok sabha seats in all states. sule’s remarks came amid reports that sections of the NPCIL: Kudankulam data breach not linked Opp worry: NCP(SP) the to nuclear security start, others may lean Pratyush Deep New Delhi, July 15 inside Page 7 semiconductor mission 2.0 gets cabinet nod CaBInet CleaRS the Rs 1.27 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 programme, with the focus on subsidising the supply chain related to chip manufacturing. RS 62,500-CRORe mobile phone manufacturing scheme to increase domestic production gets nod. Following reports of a databreachattheKudankulam nuclear power plant, the nuclear power Corporation of india limited (npCil) said on wednesday that the leaked information does not pertain to any nuclear safety or security systems. in a statement, npCil said the compromised data relates onlytotheplant'sconventional Balance of plant (Bop) commonservicefacilities,forwhich relianceinfrastructureltdwas awarded a contract in 2018. located in tirunelveli district of tamil nadu, Kudankulam nuclear power plant consists of six units of pressurised waterreactorsofVVerdesign, whichwereestablishedintechnicalcollaborationwithrussia. the first two units (KKnpp Units-1 & 2) are already in operation, while Units 3 and 4 are stillunderconstructionandare due to be operational by 2027. the remaining two units are at different stages of progress. thepresentdatabreachisrelated to Units 3 and 4. »COntInueD On PaGe 2 nCp(sp)’s Mps and Mlas were increasinglypushingforatie-up with the ruling BJp-led nda. therehasbeenabuzzabout thenCp(sp)’snextmovesinthe wake of a series of meetings between its leaders and senior BJp and government functionaries over the last several days. withtheparliamentsession getting underway on July 20, thenarendraModigovernment has stepped up its efforts to muster a two-thirds majority to push a fresh constitutional amendmentBilltoadvancereservation for women to 2029 – along with a delimitation Bill »COntInueD On PaGe 2 towards govt proposal DayaftereD summonsfamily, Mamataaide joinsrebelcamp Manoj C G & liz Mathew Ravik Bhattacharya New Delhi, July 15 nCp (sp) leader supriya sule’s signal wednesday that her party could support the delimitation Bill for implementation of women’s reservation if the government specifies that it will ensure a 50% increase in seatsforallstates,hastriggered afreshchurnintheindiabloc. with the alliance already battered by splits and desertions, E. itsseniorleaders expressed doubt about the opposition unity that ensured the defeat of the legislation in april holding. since the defeat of the Constitution amendmentBilltoincrease parliamentary seats, 37 lok sabha and rajya sabha Mps from four anti-BJp parties have defected to the ruling side »COntInueD On PaGe 2 Kolkata, July 15 Madan Mitra, one of Mamata Banerjee’s oldest and closestassociates,whostoodby herevenbeforetheformationof thetrinamoolCongress,joined therebelfactionledbyritabrata Banerjee on wednesday. the move comes a day after the enforcement directorate (ed) summoned Mitra’s wife »COntInueD On PaGe 2 new GOlD StanDaRD: uK envOY India-UK trade deal kicks in: PM says boost for farmers & MSMEs Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, July 15 the india-UK Comprehensive economic and trade agreement (Ceta), under which 99 per cent of indian goods entering the UK and 90 per cent of UK goods entering india will either be duty-free or attract reduced tariffs, came into force on wednesday. prime Minister narendra Modi described the operationalisation of the agreements as “a significant moment in the india-UK partnership”. British high Commissioner lindy Cameron called it the “new »COntInueD On PaGe 2 British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron addresses the media in New Delhi on Wednesday. ANI explained What changes for consumers and Page 11 industry