DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, PATNA, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FINAL ROUND OF TALKS BEFORE JULY 9 TARIFFS DEADLINE 28/06/2025 88 116 142 78 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY We are going to open up India: Trump on trade deal as Delhi team reaches US RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 AHEAD OF the arrival of Indian trade negotiators in the US Friday for the final round of inperson talks before the end of the July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs, President Donald Trump said the US and India “may” sign a deal that will “open up India”. “Everybody wants to make a deal and have a part of it… We justsignedwithChinayesterday. We are having some great deals. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rajnath for roadmap on de-escalation, border demarcation The blank editorial in The Indian Express after the Proclamation THEEMERGENCY 50YEARSON Itsshadow—andlight AN EXPRESS SERIES BIG PICTURE Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Qingdao, China. ANI EIGHT MONTHS after the disengagementof troopsattheLineof Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun that there is need for a “structured roadmap of permanentengagementandde-escalation”.Hecalledfora“permanent solutionof borderdemarcation”. In his talks Thursday with Dong on the sidelines of the meeting of Defence Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao, Singh underlined the need for E EXPLAINED NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 ● Moving to repair ties FOLLOWING THE meeting between their leaders in Kazan last October and the disengagement of troops along the LAC in Ladakh, India and China have been trying to repair their ties. The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is a step in that direction. “bridgingthetrustdeficitcreated afterthe2020borderstandoff,by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US surged over 270% in first four months of year RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & AGGAM WALIA NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 US President Donald Trump at the White House. AP P10 & 11 NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 THE ONLY woman Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Delhi, the youngest of the five posted in the Capital, Meenakshi Datta Ghosh never expected to findherselfwhereshedid–apart of the night when Independent Indiawitnessedoneof itsbiggest political upheavals. By the time the Emergency AI 171 crash: Last DNA match day after family holds symbolic funeral ADITI RAJA VADODARA, JUNE 27 FRIDAY MARKED Ashadhi Beej, when Kutchhis celebrate their new year. But the Khimani family was grieving. They were grieving the loss of their loved one, Anil Khimani (32), who was on the London-bound AI 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. They were also grieving because his was the only body amongthe241deadthathadnot yet been identified through a DNA match. Searchingfor“closure”andto “overcometheguilt”of notbeing Anil Khimani able to bid a respectful farewell, the Khimanis held a “symbolic” funeralatDahinsara,theirvillage inBhuj,onThursdayfollowedby a prayer meeting on Friday. Hours after the prayer was held, however, a senior government official told The Indian Express that they were finally able to find a DNA match and identify Anil's body. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AAP divided Delhi into two verticals, ignored those paying taxes: CM Gupta EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 ACCUSING THE previous AAP government of dividing Delhi into “two verticals” by ignoring tax-payers,Chief MinisterRekha GuptasaidThursdaythatpeople are now “running towards Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida” in the National Capital Region (NCR) instead of setting up busi- Delhi CM Rekha Gupta at the Express Adda in New Delhi on Thursday. Renuka Puri nesses in the city. SpeakingattheExpressAdda Thursday, Gupta also said the BJP'spollpromiseof distributing Rs 2,500 each per month to women from economically weaker sections would be implementedsoon,sayinghergovernment did not want to “rush intothings”.Askedaboutthe ongoing demolition drives in slum clusters, Gupta said it was time CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Out of field, another battle brews between clubs in Yorkshire — of ‘cricket teas’ EXPRESSIN ENGLAND SANDEEP DWIVEDI BIRMINGHAM, JUNE 27 A TEA break for a club cricket gameinthesub-continentistypically a quick round of cutting chai. In case the hosts are generous, there may be a plate of biscuits and a few odd wafers thrownin.InYorkshire,England’s deeply traditional county with 800 clubs and over 125,000 INDIA’S OIL imports from the US jumped over 270 per cent yearon-year in the first four months of 2025, underscoring Delhi’s strategy of enhancing American imports amid trade pact negotiations and diversifying its sources of crude oil in a volatile geopolitical and geo-economic environment. Negotiations between India and the US for an interim trade deal by July 9 have entered their final phase. According to the latest available data with the Directorate General of Commercial IntelligenceandStatistics(DGCIS), CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, JUNE 27 ESTRANGED COUSINS Uddhav and Raj Thackeray are set to join hands to oppose the Maharashtra government’s decision to implement Hindi from Class 1 to 5 under the National Education Policy (NEP)’s threelanguage formula, calling it an imposition on regional identity andlinguisticdiversity.Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are now planning to hold a joint protest march on July 5. This will be the first time in the past two decades that the Thackeray cousins would join forces over an issue. In a post on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and spokesperson Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut shared a picture of Uddhav and Raj on X. Sanjay Raut announced that bothleaderswillmarchtogether inasingle,unitedprotestagainst the introduction of Hindi in state-run schools. Sharing a photograph of Uddhav and Raj together,Rautposted,“Therewillbe The night Delhi fell silent, fearing ‘something far-reaching’ Student raped in Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, one of five ADMs in Delhi district Kolkata law college when the Emergency was imposed in June 1975, recalls MEETS CHINA COUNTERPART AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & SHUBHAJIT ROY Uddhav, Raj to hold joint protest against ‘Hindi imposition’ in India’s oil imports from Maharashtra schools Market access in agriculture, other sensitive areas remain sticking point We have one coming up, may be withIndia.Averybigone,where we are going to open up India. In the China deal, we are starting to open up China,” Trump said at a White House event. “We are not going to make deals with everybody. Some, we are just going to send them a letter, say thank you very much… My people don’t want to do it that way. They want to do some of it,buttheywanttomakemore deals than I would do,” he said. The final round of talks JULY 5 Club players during a tea break in Yorkshire, England recreational players, tea can’t be light, nor can it be taken lightly. Around here, clubs have designated ‘tea ladies’, the honour bestowed on the wife, daughter or sister of a home player who plays host as sandwiches, cakes, scones, and, of course, tea is served. But with that spread, a club can’t expect to win the fiercely contested ‘Cricket Yorkshire Tea of the Year’ competition that’s sponsored by, who else, Yorkshire Tea. In its fourth year, the contest has been announced and alongwith the smell of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Meenakshi Datta Ghosh got a ringside view of 1975 happenings. Kapil Joshi was imposed, the 27-year-old, whowasonlyinhersecondposting on June 25, 1975, had been witness to the Ramlila Maidan rally that preceded, and maybe evenhastenedtheIndiraGandhi government’s crackdown, and seen how the levers of powers were oiled and wills were bent. “The issue was do I comply with the law, or follow the political cum bureaucratic commands? Do I preserve process CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, JUNE 27 A 24-YEAR-OLD student was allegedly raped at a law college in Kolkatathisweek,afterwhichpolice arrested three men — a contractual staffer, who was a TMC students’ wing functionary, and two students. The three accused have been identifiedasMonojitMishra(31), Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20). CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mishra, the prime accused, was a former student of the law collegeandiscurrentlyemployed in the institution as a contractual staffer,officialssaid.Whilehewas a Trinamool Chhatra Parishad leader during his time as a student, the TMC claimed he is no longer associated with the party. The two other accused are currentlystudyinginthelawcollege. ThecasehasbeenlodgedunderBNSsections127(2) (wrongful confinement), 70(1) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2