The Editorial Page: Dear Gen Z, join the system. Change happens in mundane politics 12 ThURSdAY, JUNE 4, 2026 JoUrnalism of CoUrage luckNow, lAte cIty, 20 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 Capital morning inferno 21 killed in hotel blaze, 12 foreign nationals; building had 26 rooms but permit only for 6 Most victims were patients seeking treatment in nearby hospitals, caregivers; hotel owner arrested expelled Tmc mLa ritabrata Banerjee addresses a press conference in kolkata on Wednesday. PARthA PAul more rePorTs, PaGe 10 TMC fault lines in the open: 58 of 80 MLAs back rebel as Leader of Opp alok singh, sakshi Chand, Pragynesh & Gayathri mani New Delhi, June 3 Two foreign nationals hang from a window as fire engulfs the building in hauz rani area of south delhi on Wednesday. AP full coverage lhotEl hAd no firE noC: PoliCE ProBE lownEr of hotEl, lUv KEsh BAjAj, PAGE 5 ArrEstEd lsEAl All B&Bs violAtinG norms, sAys ministEr TWeNTy-oNe people, including 12 foreign nationals, were killed in a fire that destroyed a ground-plus-fivestorey building operating as a bed and breakfast (B&B) establishment in malviya Nagar in South Delhi on Wednesday morning. police said the foreign nationals belonged to Liberia, Nigeria, and mozambique in Africa, and Bangladesh. most of them were medical tourists who had come to India for treatment, or were accompanying patients. The hotel, called Flourish Stays B&B, is located in a narrow lane in hauz rani, diagonally across the street from max hospital in Saket. Senior police officers said there were 26 rooms in the establishment, more than four times the maximum permissible number of six. most or all rooms in the building are believed to have beenoccupiedatthetimeofthe fire. The building had only one entry and exit. It allegedly did nothaveaNo-objectionCertificate from the Fire Department. The tragedy, among the biggest fire disasters of the past few decades in Delhi, came four days after a building undergoing illegal additions collapsed »Continued on PaGe 2 happening 3 months after World CuP Win today Suryakumar removed lPrime minister Narendra Modi and Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who is on a five-day visit to India, are expected to discuss energy cooperation, among other issues, during their talks. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com uttar pradesh Govt lAwyErs’ rEmUnErAtion hiKEoKAyEd PAGE3 as T20 captain, may lose place in team too devendra Pandey Mumbai, June 3 Three moNThS after he led IndiatotheT20WorldCuptitle on home soil, Suryakumar yadav has been removed as the captain and is unlikely to find a place in the team for the shortestformat.Thiscomesaheadof the tours of Ireland and england starting later this month. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in consultation with the team management and selection committee, will appoint a new captain for the new cycle. “The selection committee, BCCI and team management, Grieving family members at max hospital in saket, south delhi, on Wednesday. gAjeNDRA yADAV Father in ICU, son rented rooms to be near him: 8 of extended family dead Bangladeshto nigeria:farfrom home,agonising waitandsearch drishti Jain, mishal mussaddique & nirbhay thakur drishti Jain, divya a & sakshi Chand New Delhi, June 3 For hourS at a stretch Wednesday, members of the Aggarwal family moved between hospital corridors and mortuaries, showing photographs on their phones and clinging to hope. Some waited outside the AIImS mortuary. others stood inthecrowdedcorridorsofmax hospital and AIImS Trauma Centre,refreshingtheirphones forupdatesthatnevercame.By evening,theirworstfearscame true: eight from the extended family had perished in the hotel blaze. The family had come to Delhi after radhe Shyam Ag- Not final, remain engaged with US, says Govt; envoy Gor defends move New Delhi, Mumbai, June 3 in consultation with coach Gautam Gambhir, have decided that India should go with a new skipper from here on. under Surya's captaincy, the team did win the T20 World Cup, but keeping his form and »Continued on PaGe 2 By EP UNNY garwal, a man in his 70s, had been in the Intensive Care unit of the max hospital in Saket for »Continued on PaGe 2 New Delhi, June 3 The DIFFereNCe was stark. Familiesandrelativescrowded mortuaries and hospital corridorstotryandidentifytheirkin who perished in the hauz rani hotel blaze Wednesday morning, but very few showed up lookingfortheforeignnationals who died in the city they came to seek medical treatment. Families of most foreign nationals — 12 died while others weresaidtohavebeeninjured– were far from Delhi, in BangladeshandcountriesacrossAfrica, some unaware of the incident. officials said identification of the dead and notification to »Continued on PaGe 2 atri mitra & ravik Bhattacharya Kolkata, June 3 The DIvIDe in the Trinamool Congress (TmC) was out in the open Wednesday after a group of60rebelmLAsseizedcontrol of its legislature party in West Bengal, elected expelled legislator ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of opposition (Lop), and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker. This effectively takes away the control of the TmC legislature party from party chairperson and former Cm mamata Banerjee, though the rebels, in a letter to Speaker rathindra Bose that was signed by 58 mLAs, recognised her as their overall leader. The new Lop also sought to temper the situation by urging mamata to serve as chief adviser to the newly constituted legislature team. The rebels made it clear thatwhiletheyhadnoproblem E. explained is delhi next? The concern in the TMC now is that after the divide in the state, its parliamentary party, which is led by Abhishek Banerjee, could be next. The TMC has 28 Lok Sabha members and 13 Rajya Sabha members. A division there will help the BJP push through key pieces of legislation without any hitch. withmamata’sleadership,they had nothing to do with her nephewandDiamondharbour mp Abhishek Banerjee. “We are representing Trinamool Congress in the Assembly. We are a bloc of 60 mLAs. WerequestmamataBanerjeeto »Continued on PaGe 2 Amid trade talks, US proposes fresh tariffs of 12.5% on India ravi dutta mishra & akash mandal suryakumar Yadav Business as Usual Ritabrata Banerjee says rebels want Mamata to advise and guide The Trump administration Wednesdayproposed12.5%tariffs on India and 53 other countries, including China, the uK andJapan,afteraunitedStates Trade representative (uSTr) trade investigation under Section 301 of the uS Trade Act of 1974 declared that these coun- tries have failed to impose a legal prohibition on “importationofgoodsproducedwholly or in part with forced labour”. The proposed tariffs, which can come into effect by July, havebeenannouncedwhileuS and Indian negotiators are in the midst of talks in New Delhi to finalise a bilateral trade agreement The uSTr has proposed a lower rate of 10% on six countries—pakistan,Canada,ecuador, the european union, Indonesia and mexico — stating that they have demonstrated a commitment to addressing forcedlabourimportsandhave committedtoimposingandenforcing a forced labour import »Continued on PaGe 2 l acTion daYs afTer candLeLiGhT ProTesT, adminisTraTion denies Link UP crackdown: Three coaching centres sealed days before recruitment exam, student anxiety simmers manish sahu prepare for the uttar pradesh police Constable recruitment examination, which is schedTWICe A day for the last two uled for June 8-10 and will see days, priya rajput, a young job nearly 28 lakh aspirants comaspirant from uttar pradesh’s pete for just over 32,000 posts. With just days to go, every Gorakhpur, and pankaj Singh fromneighbouringDeoriahave hour of study matters. But the been making anxious trips to coaching institute where they had enrolled is theircoachingcentre page 1 among three promiin prayagraj, hoping nent ones sealed by to find its gates rethe prayagraj Developened. Instead, they are met each time by opment Authority (pDA) on locked doors and official seals may 31, which claims the buildings were operating without pasted across the entrance. mandatory Both are in their 20s and completing have left their hometowns to formalities. Lucknow, June 3 anchor one of the coaching centres which faced action. MANIsh sAhu The action came days after the owners of the three institutes participated in a candlelightmarchinprayagrajonmay 29, held by aspirants for competitiveexaminations.Theirdemands:releaseofscorecardsfor theuttarpradeshpoliceSub-Inspector examination held on march14-15,whoseresultswere declaredonmay7;cancellation of the Lekhpal recruitment test conductedonmay21overwhat they claim are irregularities; and greater transparency in recruitment processes. The pDA, though, denied »Continued on PaGe 2 Lucknow