DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NEXT HEARING ON JULY 28, EC HAS TO RESPOND BY JULY 21 SCletsECrevisioncontinue,suggestsadding Aadhaar,ration,votercardtolistofdocuments In poll run-up, to help voters, parties ramp up their agents on the ground Give reasons if you wish to discard these 3 papers: Bench to poll panel ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, JULY 10 Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi listed for hearing again on July 28, before publication of the draft electoral roll. Justice Dhulia, who was presiding over the bench that heard a clutch of petitions voicing concerns over the SIR in Bihar, including its timing, said, “There is a democratic process which is on… You may question it, we CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHAT WILL Booth level officers collect forms in Patna as part of the special intensive revision. Express BUSINESS AS USUAL Why three documents SC suggests widen net, dial down panic HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, JULY 10 THESUPREMECourt’ssuggestion to include Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ration cards in the ongoing SpecialIntensiveRevision(SIR)of Bihar’s electoral rolls, if adopted bytheElectionCommission(EC), could provide existing voters — thoseenrolledafter2003butstill needing to prove their eligibility to remain on the rolls — with Tennis player shot dead by her father at Gurgaon home more accessible options, potentiallyeasingtheirscrambletosecure one of the 11 documents originally proposed. As the ongoing series in The IndianExpressshows,thesethree arethedocumentsmostfamilies have. The fact that none of these meets the requirement has sparked concerns among voters acrossBihar,fromChief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Harnaut in NalandatoRJDchiefLaluPrasad’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BY UNNY APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, JULY 10 EXPLAINED POLICY THEREVISION OF ELECTORAL ROLLS PAGE 9 RECIPROCAL TARIFF PAUSE RUNS OUT AUG 1 Agri, auto in focus as India team heads back to US next week for trade talks RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, JULY 10 Radhika Yadav; her father, Deepak Yadav, has been arrested EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE GURGAON, JULY 10 RADHIKA YADAV (25), a statelevel tennis player, was shot dead, allegedly by her father, at their residence in Gurgaon’s Sushant Lok-II on Thursday. Police said the accused, DeepakYadav(54),wasarrested, and the licensed revolver allegedlyusedinthecrimewasrecovered. According to police, Deepak Yadav faced “taunts” for relying on his daughter’s income. DETAILED REPORT PAGE 3 WITH A fresh window for negotiations before the US 'reciprocal tariffs' come into effect on August 1, Indian negotiators led by Rajesh Agrawal, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, are likely to leave for Washington nextweektoironoutpendingissues like agriculture and auto sector tariffs that are holding back the interim trade agreement on goods, a government official told The Indian Express. The Indian team had returnedfromthelastroundof negotiations on July 4, days before the reciprocaltariff pause was earlier set to run out on July 9. Lastweek,theUSsaidthenew tariffrateswouldcomeintoeffect on August 1, and there would be “no extension”. It said that if the August 1 deadline was not adheredto,countrieswouldgoback Timing, due process & citizenship: SC flags key issues for poll panel President Donald Trump, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. AP totheApril2tarifflevels—theUS hadannounced26percentreciprocal tariffs on India then. “Aproposalforanotherround of trade negotiations with the US has been sent to the top brass of the government. Negotiators are confident that the differences with the US team on agriculture, whichhavebeenholdingbackthe agreement,willberesolved.There isalreadybroadconsensusonthe subject between the two teams andtheremainingissueswillalso be settled,” an official said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EVEN AS the Supreme Court allowed the Election Commission (EC) to continue its Special Intensive Revision of the electoral list in Bihar, a two-judge bench Thursday flagged three key issues that the commission will have to factor in as it formulates its response. These include: the EC’s power to check the citizenship of voters; the importance of due process and procedure to be followed during the revision and the timing of the revision itself. A bench of Justices SudhanshuDhuliaandJoymalya Bagchisaidthat“thereisnoquestion that this issue is an important one and goestotheveryrootof democracy and the right to vote.” ● The bench, in the three-hour-longhearing, acknowledged that the EC, as a constitutional body, has powers well beyond the E EXPLAINED DECLINING TO restrain the Election Commission of India from proceeding with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Supreme Court Thursday suggested to the poll panel to also consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards for the purpose of updating the rolls. The vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and JoymalyaBagchisaiditwasleaving it to the EC to consider its suggestion on the inclusion of these three documents and “if youhavegoodreasonstodiscard it, discard it” but “give reasons”. It directed that the matter be CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NOT COUNTINBIHAR AN EXPRESS SERIES PART 8 NEW DELHI, JULY 10 FROM INFRASTRUCTURE for a forwardaviationbase,facilitiesfor missiles and vital road linkages along the Line of Actual Control, the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SCNBWL) has approved proposals forcriticalDefenceprojectsalong theboundarywithChina,stretching from eastern Ladakh to Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh. It has also cleared construc- EXPRESS NETWORK tion of the Arunachal Frontier Highway close to the Myanmar border, through the core zone of the Namdapha Tiger Reserve subject to mitigation measures to minimise impact on wildlife and their habitats. The project will divert 310 hectares of forest from the tiger reserve — committee members have noted it will also lead to tree felling. One of the most significant projects approved was a 10.26kmroadlinkbetweenDaulatBeg Oldie (DBO) to the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) Hut Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrives for the Monsoon Session in Mumbai on Thursday. Narendra Vaskar Fadnavis warns of ‘urban Maoism’, Bill to tackle ‘extremist Left ideology’ passed Opposition calls some clauses vague, voices apprehension of law’s misuse VALLABH OZARKAR MUMBAI, JULY 10 HIMANSHU HARSH PATNA, JULY 10 ASTHEongoingSpecialIntensive Revision(SIR)of electoralrollsin Bihar spreads confusion and leavespeoplescramblingfordocuments, political parties are reaching out by boosting their presence on the ground. Whileall parties have shown a steep increase in workers enrolled as Booth Level Agents (BLAs),theriseissharperamong Opposition parties, which hope the outreach will pay off in the coming Assembly elections. Since the SIR began on June 25, the Election Commission datashows,the totalBLAsacross CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Ladakh to Arunachal, 30 Defence projects get wildlife panel nod NIKHIL GHANEKAR SPECIAL PUBLIC SECURITY BILL whereseniorIndianandChinese Army officers meet to discuss border issues. At a height of 17,000 feet, DBO is the country’s northernmost military outpost where the highest airstrip is also located. Last October, the SCNBWLhadapprovedanalternate route to DBO for quick movement of troops and resources. The Ministry of Defence had toldthewildlifeboardpanelthat no road exists between DBO and the Old BPM Hut, which is frequented often by the Indian CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE STRINGENT Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, which seeks “to provide for effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organizations or similar organizations and for mattersconnectedtherewithorincidental thereto”, was passed by the state Assembly Thursday via a voice vote amid Opposition concern over the definition and interpretation of some of the Engine tech a constraint, urgency for tie-up with Rolls-Royce, Safran AANCHAL MAGAZINE & ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, JULY 10 REALISINGTHEimperativetoacquire expertise on engine technology, the government has decided to pursue this objective by pushing Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)tojoinhandseitherwith Britain’s Rolls-Royce or France’s Safran to co-develop aircraft engines in India. “Engines are a constraining factor… a strategic decision has tobetaken.BothRolls-Royceand Safran are contenders for fifth- generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft. A Cabinet note will be prepared from the DRDO side and circulated,” an official told The Indian Express. Both the companies have offeredtocollaboratewithDRDO’s Bengaluru-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment lab and provide full ToT and IPR, the government official said. A Cabinet note will be floated for this soon andtheprocesshasbeeninitiated by the DRDO, the official said. As India works to bolster its domestic defence manufacturing capacity, delays in engine supplies by GE to the Tejas CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Screen Academy launched, to nurture new voices in Indian cinema — guided by top filmmakers MUMBAI, JULY 10 PAGES 6, 7 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UK or France? Cabinet waits for DRDO on combat aircraft engine EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE DAY AFTER BRIDGE COLLAPSE, VILLAGE FACES THREAT TO LIVELIHOOD MARANS PATCH UP: STALIN BROKERED PEACE, WITH HELP terms and clauses in the Bill. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who tabled the Bill in theHouseandassuredmembers that the Bill would not be misused against political protesters and activists, said Maoists had lostgroundinthestateand were “trying to brainwash the youth of urban areas and make them stand up against the democratic system”. He warned of the rise of “urban Maoism” and said the Bill would “control them”. The Bill, which provides for punishment ranging from two THE INDIAN Express Group and Screen on Wednesday announced the launch of Screen Academy, a pioneering not-forprofit initiative that will nurture and showcase exciting new voices in Indian cinema. With a fast-expanding list of talented members, including Cannes and Oscar winners Guneet Monga, Payal Kapadia and Resul Pookutty Guneet Monga, Payal Kapadia and Resul Pookutty, and veteran screenwriterAnjumRajabali,the academywillworkwithsomeof India’stopfilminstitutestoidentify and empower the next generation of filmmakers through education, representation and recognition. Establishedwiththe support of founding patron Abhishek Lodha of Lodha Foundation, the academy will offer annual CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 With USAID shut, Norman Borlaug’s institute knocks on India’s doors PAGE 1 ANCHOR HARISH DAMODARAN NEW DELHI, JULY 10 SIX DECADES ago, the legendary agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug ushered in India’s Green Revolution through his high-yielding, semi-dwarf wheat varieties such as Lerma Rojo 64A, Sonora 63, Sonora 64 and Mayo 64. Today, his organisation — the Mexico-headquarteredInternational Maize and Wheat ImprovementCenterorCIMMYT — is reaching out to the Indian governmentandtheprivatesector, seeking financial support for its breeding research and development programme in the two cereals that cover over a quarter of the world’s cropped area. Thereason:Afundingcrunch brought about by global factors, including the shutting down of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)bytheDonaldTrumpadministration, officially from July 1. The agency, which administered civilian foreign aid and development assistance for the US government,accountedforabout $83millionoutofCIMMYT'stotal grant revenue of $211 million in 2024. That made it CIMMYT's largestfunder,followedbytheBill & Melinda Gates Foundation (now Gates Foundation), which gave $42 million. “USAID ceasing operations andotherdevelopmentagencies drastically reducing funding is going to significantly impact our agricultural R&D activities worldwide. While there may be somemoneythisyearfromprojects in winding-down stage, the realeffectswillbefeltfrom2026. We are looking for support from countriessuch as India that have interests in CIMMYT continuing Norman Borlaug (right) and MS Swaminathan. MSSRF to empower farmers through science and innovation and breeding varieties today for tomorrow's climate,” CIMMYT’s director-general,BramGovaerts, told The Indian Express. CIMMYT’sadvancedbreeding lines are present as parent or grandparent in wheat varieties planted on more than 60 million hectares (mh) globally. The early GreenRevolutionblockbustervarietiesthatIndianscientistsdeveloped were all through selections fromCIMMYTmaterials.Thatincluded Kalyan Sona (released in 1967), Sonalika (1968) and PBW 343 (1995), which, at their peak, were grown on 5-6 mh, 14 mh and 7-8 mh respectively. That hasn’t changed much. Last year, Indian farmers sowed wheat on around 32 mh, with the top 10 varieties accounting for over 20 mh. Of these 10 varieties, six were released from CIMMYT-derived germplasm — DBW 187, DBW 303, DBW 222, WH 1270, DBW 327andPBW826—andcovered an estimated 15.3 mh. “Roughly 50% of the wheat cultivated in India now is from varieties released after 2019 and developed through collaboration between CIMMYT and national institutions such as the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal. Our partnership has led to India not only becoming self-sufficient, buteventransformingwheatfor the world,” Govaerts said. Hecitedtheexampleof DBW 303, “the first wheat variety in South Asia to exceed an average grain yield of 8 tonnes per hectare”. Some advanced lines, yet to be released for commercialplanting,haveevenachieved 10-tonnes yield in CIMMYT’s field trials. In October 2011, CIMMYT established the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) as a joint venture with the Indian Council CONTINUED ON PAGE 2