DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 DEAL WORK IN PROGRESS 50%tariffon copper,pharma mayinviteupto 200%:Trump US isIndia’slargestmarketforpharma; Indiaisits3rdbiggestcopperexporter AGGAM WALIA & RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, JULY 8 STATE VISIT TO BRAZIL US President Donald Trump at White House, Tuesday. AP cals,withmedicinetariffspotentially reaching 200 per cent. However, he said drugmakers would be given about a year “to get their act together”. “We are going to give people about a year, a year and a half to come in and, after that, they are going to be tariffed,” he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Reiterating his threat of a 10 per cent tariff on BRICS, Trump said the bloc was “not a serious grouping” but acknowledged that it is challenging the US dollar. “It’s alright if you want to challengethedollar.Buttheywill have to pay the tariffs. I don’t think they want that,” he said. “If they have to bring the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Rosangela da Silva welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on Tuesday. AP Online platforms used for terror attacks in Pulwama, UP: FATF AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, JULY 8 CITING THE use of online paymentservices,virtualprivatenetworks (VPNs) and e-commerce platforms in the terror attacks in Pulwama in February 2019 and Gorakhnath Temple in April 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in a report released Tuesday, said digital platforms such as social media, messaging applications and crowdfunding sites are increasingly being abused for terror financing. The FATF report, without naminganycountry,notedithad received reports from its delegationsabouttheuseof statesponsorshipforterroristfinancing(TF), eitherasfundraisingtechniqueor as part of the financial management strategy of certain organisationsengaginginterroristacts. A variety of publicly available sources of information and delegations’inputstothereportindicatethat“certainterroristorganisations have been and continue to receive financial and other formsofsupportfromseveralnational governments,” it said. “Several forms of support havebeenreported,includingdirect financial support, logistical andmaterialsupport,orthepro- visionof training.Delegationsreported state sponsorship for TF purposescoupledwithsanctions circumvention techniques through trade and smuggling mechanismswherethenational government potentially plays a supportiverole,”thereporttitled ‘Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks’ said. Schemes involving several commodities have also been reported, for instance, oil shipped to anintermediary country to be sold in gold, with gold later converted to cash in another jurisdiction, the report said. The FATF flagged the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt ordered blocking US student visas for Indians in of over 2,000 accounts March-May lowest since Covid including Reuters, says F-1 VISAS ISSUED TO INDIANS X; Ministry denies E E X P L A I NE D AS INDIA and the US work on an interim trade deal — Washington’s pause on reciprocal tariff ends July 9 but it has kept the window open for negotiations until August 1 — President Donald Trump Tuesday announced 50 per cent tariffsoncopper,afterhavingimplemented similar duties on steelandaluminium.Hesaidtariffs on pharmaceuticals could rise to 200 per cent after a year. This is significant for India whichexported$2-billionworth of copper and copper products globally in 2024-25, with the US accounting for $360 million, or 17 per cent, of that total. The US is also India’s largest overseasmarketforpharmaceuticals. Drug exports to the US rose to $9.8billion in FY25, up 21 per cent from $8.1 billion the previous year, and now account for 40 per cent of India’s total pharma exports. Trump said he is planning to imposetariffsonimportedsemiconductors and pharmaceuti- The Pak ● fingerprint INDIAN AGENCIES established the role of Pakistanbased terror outfit Jaish-eMohammed in the Pulwama attack. In May, the Indian armed forces said an estimated 100 terrorists were killed on the first day of Op Sindoor when India struck nine terror hubs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan and these included highvalue targets including individuals involved in the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 and the Pulwama attack. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Nitish’s move: 35% women job quota only for domiciles SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, JULY 8 INAdeparturefromtheBihargovernment's policy of not requiring domicile status for state government jobs, the Nitish Kumar CabinetonTuesdayapprovedthe applicationofthedomicilerulefor theexisting35%quotaforwomen in all government jobs. Thismeansthatwomenwho arenotresidentsof Biharwillnot be eligible for government jobs. In the past, the government faced criticism for not applying the domicile criteria during the mass recruitment of teachers. This is thefirst instance in recent timesthattheBihargovernment has applied the domicile policy. “A woman who is a resident TheNitish govthad rolledout thequotain January2016 of Biharalonewillnowbeableto avail the existing 35% quota in jobs,” state Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet) S Siddharth told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. The decision is significant given that it comes just months before the state heads to the polls and is another attempt by the NDA government to consolidate its “caste-neutral” vote bank of women. The Nitish government had rolled out the 35% quotaforwomeninJanuary2016. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Why even this village Mukhiya worries she may not be able to vote ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, JULY 8 SOUMYARENDRA BARIK NEW DELHI, JULY 8 DAYS AFTER the X (previously Twitter)accountsofnewsagency Reuters were blocked over the weekend — the handles have since been restored — the social media company and the Indian government traded charges and counter-charges on Tuesday. While the government had earlierdenied any order to withhold Reuters’ account, X claimed on Tuesday that it had received orders last week “to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like Reuters”. It also expressed con- cernover“ongoingpresscensorship in India”. The government, however, doubled down on its earlier stanceandsaidithad“notissued any fresh blocking order on July 3,2025”.AMinistryofElectronics and Information Technology spokesperson said the government had stepped in “immediately” after the Reuters accounts wereblockedonJuly5night,but X“unnecessarilyexploitedtechnicalities” and “took more than 21 hours to unblock” them. In a post via its Global Government Affairs handle, X saidonTuesday:“OnJuly3,2025, the Indian government ordered CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE US student visa season is off to a slow start for Indians, with the number of F-1 visas issued from March to May falling to the lowest level for these months since the pandemic, recording a 27% drop compared to the correspondingperiodlastyear,according to the latest available data from the US State Department. The months from March to July typically mark a busy visa season for students preparing to begin their studies in the Fall semester (August/ September). From March to May this year, Indian students were issued 9,906 F-1 (academic) visas — even lower than the corresponding period in 2022 (10,894), when international travel had just resumed post-Covid (see 2021* 2022 March 1,102 1,476 736 640 397 April 1,876 2,368 10,589 1,009 2,525 May 503 7,050 3,662 11,829 6,984 Total 3,481 10,894 14,987 13,478 9,906 *Pandemic year 2023 2024 2025 The India-Nepal border in Sursand, Sitamarhi. The border pillars show India on one side, Nepal on the other. Damini Nath Source: US State Department monthly reports chart). A total of 14,987 F-1 visas were issued in these months in 2023, and 13,478 in 2024. The dip comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students, including visa revocations for severalstudents—someof them Indian — linked to pro-Palestine protests or interactionswith law enforcement, as well as a twoweek pause (May 27 to June 18) on fresh applications to imple- ment stricter vetting of applicants’ social media activity. Thevisarevocationshavetriggered multiple lawsuits, even as American universities face funding cuts and growing scrutiny of international enrolments. In May, Politico reported that theTrumpadministrationhaddirectedUSembassiesandconsular sections to halt the scheduling of new interviews for student visa CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD NETANYAHU MEETS TRUMP AS GAZA TALKS CONTINUE PAGE 13 DAMINI NATH MADHUBANI, SITAMARHI, JULY 8 FOUR YEARS ago, the 34-yearold was elected the mukhiya of hervillageinMadhubanidistrict. Now, amidst the confusion stirredupbytheongoingSpecial Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, a question mark hands over her status — as it does over hundreds of others originally from Nepal who, for CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHAT WILL NOT COUNTINBIHAR AN EXPRESS SERIES PART 6 ‘Out of love’: Akash Deep’s sister after he speaks of her cancer fight PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, JULY 8 ON MONDAY evening, Akhand Jyoti Singh, 38, was watching India’s victory ceremony after the team’s win over England at Edgbaston with her family in Lucknow when she was suddenly moved to tears. Her younger brother, Akash Deep — who took 10 wickets in the match — had just dedicated his performance to her, speak- ing publicly for the first time about her two-month battle with cancer. “We were all watching the ceremony when I heard him talking about my health and my fight with cancer. I never imagined he would speak about it publicly — he must have said it out of emotion,” said Jyoti, tears wellingin hereyes, whilespeaking to The Indian Express at her residence. Theeldestof sixsiblings,Jyoti has always shared a close bond with Akash Deep, the youngest. Their father, Ramji Singh, a government schoolteacher, and their brother, Dheeraj Singh, both passed away in 2015. “After those two deaths, Akashbecameespeciallycloseto me.Idon’tknowwhatwasgoing oninhismindwhenhespokeon stage, but I believe it came from the heart,” said Akhand Jyoti, a graduate and homemaker. Until that moment, her battle with cancer was known only to a few close friends and some of Akash’s teammates. “On Monday night, we spoke to him over a video call. When we asked why he mentioned it, he didn’t really answer — just said he couldn’t hold it in. I think it was out of love. Even in such a high-pressure moment, he was AkashDeep(extremeright);hissisterAkhandJyotiSinghandmotherLadumaDeviather Lucknowhome,Tuesday. Jyotiwasdiagnosedwithintestinalcancertwomonthsago. Manish Sahu thinking of me,” she said, adding that Akashalwaysstays updated about her health and stands by her through every difficulty. Born in Bihar’s Sasaram district,JyotimarriedNiteeshKumar Singh in 2008. A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi district, NiteeshretiredfromtheArmyand nowworksatabankinLucknow. The family recently moved into a new home there. Jyoti, a mother of three sons aged 16, 13, and 11, was diagnosedwithintestinalcancertwo months ago, following an endoscopy prompted by severe stomachpain.Thecancerwasalreadyinstagethree.Sherecently underwent surgery at a Delhi hospital and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. According to her family, doctors have said her condition is stable. Her mother, Laduma Devi, came to Lucknow two months ago to care for her. “Akash is very close to Jyoti. He wanted to bring some joy into her life during such a tough time,”saidLadumaDevi. “When he dedicated his performance to her, it truly moved her. We all watchedthematchtogetherand saw how well he played.” She added that Akash had been passionate about cricket CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow