The Editorial Page: Population spectres do harm. managing demographic change is the challenge 8 MONDAY, JULY 13, 2026 JournAlism of CourAgE NEW dElhI, lATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 rAIPUr, ₹15 SrINAGAr) 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 , lU 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 happening today lA high-level delegation led by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will begin its trip to Spain, Belgium and Finland to deepen India’s economic engagement with Europe and explore new opportunities for Indian exporters. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By EP UNNY U.S. MiliTARY ASSeTS iN JORDAN, KUWAiT, OMAN, QATAR STRUCK, SAYS iRgC US strikes Iran; Tehran hits back at Gulf states, says Hormuz shut Indian seafarer missing as ship hit in Hormuz, MEA condemns attack Bandar Abbas port and Qeshm Island targeted; prepared to free up navigation, says US Centcom Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, July 12 Steve holland, Parisa hafezi & Yomna ehab Washington, Dubai, July 12 USANdiranianforceshaveexchanged heavy missile and droneassaults,withTehrantargeting US facilities in countries across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of hormuz. Thestrikeswerethelatestin a cycle of attacks and counter- vietnamboat capsize:victims’ familiesseek govthelpfor returnofbodies Divya A & Sreenivas Janyala New Delhi, Hyderabad, July 12 A dAy after 15 indian tourists died in a boat accident near Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island on Saturday, mourning families backhomearewaitingformore information and for the remains of their loved ones to be repatriated. The indian embassy in hanoi said on Sunday that the bodies would be transported back to india “at the earliest”. “The mortal remains of 15 indiannationalswhotragically passedawayinyesterday’sboat accident have reached ho Chi Minh City. After completion of formalities at ho Chi Minh, the mortal remains will be transported to india at the earliest. The embassy and the Consulate teams are closely coordinating with the Vietnamese authorities,whoarecommitted to providing all assistance for the earliest transportation of the mortal remains to india,” theembassysaidinastatement posted on social media. “We continue to pray for the early recovery of the one survivor at Phu Quoc hospital,” it added. Along with the embassy in hanoi, india has a consulate in »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 the world page 10 u.s. senator lindsey graham dies after ‘brief, sudden illness’ a video released by the us central command saturday shows a projectile being fired towards iran. rEUTErS attacks as iran seeks to assert control over shipping through thestrait.however,thebarrage marked an escalation in pace and range. The strikes extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 AS iRAN and the US attacked each other in the last 24 hours, indian seafarers on a Cyprusflagged ship transiting the Strait of hormuz came under fire from Tehran — after which one indian is missing while 10 have been rescued. New delhi on Sunday condemned the attack on the merchant vessel off the coast of »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 express special linen stolen from ac coaches in indian railways: in 4 years, 1.27 crore bedsheets, towels, blankets, pillows Among most stolen items: bedsheets in Bikaner, towels in Delhi, pillow covers in Sonpur, blankets in Jodhpur Dheeraj Mishra New Delhi, July 12 l dailylinencount8lakh.whatrlyscalls‘theft’ eVeRyNiGhT,about8lakhAC linen‘theft’ passengers across the indian Railways network tuck themYeAR TOTAl iTeMS selves into linen bedrolls, typi2022 24.83 lakh callytwobedsheets,ablanket,a 2023 29.67 lakh pillow, a pillow cover and a face towel — a service that comes 2024 31.31 lakh withtheticket.Andaseverytrip 2025 38.81 lakh ends, some of them, about one 2026* 2.31 lakh in every 1,000 passengers, walk away with at least one bedroll total 1.27 crore item, an investigation by The IndianExpressreveals. towels top list of railways went back to providing bedrolls after covid. EXPrESS ArChIVE The newspaper filed Right stolen items (in lakh) to information (RTi) applicationswithall69divisionsofthe towels Bedsheets pillowcovers Blankets pillows indian Railways. Replies were obtained from 54 divisions across 16 of 18 Railway zones, some shared partial informa*UNTIl MAY; ToTAl INClUdES 4,700 ITEMS FroM 2021; SoUrCE: rTI tion. These records show that from January 2022, when bed- year period, the RTi data sugroll services had fully resumed gests — money that coach atafter the pandemic, to May tendants employed by the con2026, at least 1.27 crore bedroll tractorssayismostlyrecovered pieceswerestolen—mainlyby from their salaries. passengers, officials said. The A Ministry of Railways spodata,whencompiledyear-wise, kesperson said the issue is of shows a 56% rise in such thefts “serious concern” and “efforts from 2022 to 2025. are being made to Set against the prevent linen theft your right sheer scale of what and take action Dheeraj Mishra counsel bedroll attendants: inthe Railways against offenders”. New Delhi, July 12 structing them to remain vigihands out every The spokesperson lant, monitor linen closely, enAN EXPrESS RTi single day, it’s a also said the Rail- diViSiONS ACROSS the Rail- sure prompt collection, stay APPlICATIoN drop in the ocean. ways“cannotestab- ways have adopted a mix of alert during duty hours, take But that’s exactly lish” any evidence measures to curb the theft of proper care of linen items, and whatmakesthenumbersinter- of staff collusion in the theft. linenitems fromACcoaches — undergo sensitisation and esting: call it theft or temptaA compilation of the data from counselling bedroll at- special drives. tion, the data is less an indict- shows that 10 divisions across tendants, monitoring linen in a letter to general manment of the housekeeping staff sevenzonesaccountformostof through CCTV, and using the agers of all zones in September than a snapshot of passenger the overall linen theft — 67% of Coach Mitra app, according to 2015, the Railway Board had behaviour. thetotal.TheyincludeBikaner, RTi replies received by The prescribed that linen distribuThe theft has cost bedroll Jodhpur and Jaipur (covering Indian Express. tion staff advise passengers to contractors an estimated Rs Rajasthan); Ranchi; delhi; The primary response hand over used linen at least 104.51 crore in the over four»CONTiNUeD ON PAge 6 across divisions has been to »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 6 46.54 41.13 23.59 12.95 2.76 COACh MiTRA APP TO TRACK bOARDiNg E. After verification, Maharashtra cuts 92 lakh beneficiaries from ‘Ladki Bahin’ l whythebeneficiarieswereremoved e-KYC not completed 62 lakh (67%) delhi’s diplomatic challenge The fresh strikes impacting Indian seafarers have put Delhi again in a diplomatic high-risk zone. Delhi’s engagement with Tehran and Washington is key towards safeguarding Indian lives in the region. Temple‘theft’: Policecheckif 20peoplelinked to8arrestedhad purchasedland Manish Sahu 16 lakh (17%) 4.42lakh(4.8%) Already receiving Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana benefits explained Family income above rs 2.5 lakh Family member a Govt employee 3.6 lakh (3.9%) More than two beneficiaries in a family 2.5 lakh(2.7%) Age above 65 years 1.8 lakh (2%) Flaggedduringdistrict-levelverification 1.7 lakh (1.8%) Male beneficiaries 29,000 (0.31%) Government employees 8,000 (0.08%) SoUrCE: rTI employees, already receiving other benefits, being above the age limit of 65, being flagged during district-level verification — and being male in 29,000 cases. Officials associated with the exercise estimated that the beneficiaries who were revallabh Ozarkar movedreceivedaboutRs14,000 Mumbai, July 12 crore in all before payments were stopped. On average, offiMORe ThAN 92 lakh benefici- cials estimated, these beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri aries received assistance for Majhi ladki Bahin around 10 months. yojana in MahaSo far, budget your right rashtra, accountallocations and ing for nearly 38 supplementary per cent of the flagprovisions for the AN EXPrESS RTi ship welfare schemehavecrossAPPlICATIoN scheme’s peak ed Rs 60,000 crore beneficiary base of since its launch. around2.43crorewomen,have According to officials, there been removed after the state was no single cut-off date for government’sverificationexer- stopping payments for those cise — far higher than the found ineligible because benearound 80 lakh deletions that ficiaries were identified at difhad been publicly disclosed till ferent stages of the verification now, according to Right To in- exercise. “Some received only formation (RTi) records re- five or six instalments before viewed by The Indian Express. they were flagged. Others conThe reasons for removal tinued for more than 10 or 12 from the state scheme for months, while some received women include (see chart) all 15 instalments before paybeneficiaries exceeding the ments were stopped,” an familylimit,beinggovernment »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 Removals are 38% of scheme’s peak beneficiary base of 2.43 cr women to know Lucknow, July 12 AyOdhyA POliCe, which is investigating the alleged theft and embezzlement of cash and valuables donated at Ram Temple, have asked the district revenuedepartmenttofindout detailsoflandpurchases,ifany, by20relativesandassociatesof the eight arrested men. Sourcesinthepolicesaid20 people were identified as close associates and relatives of the eight accused who were “entrusted with assets or financial dealings on their behalf”. The eight arrested men are Ram Shankar yadav alias Tinnu yadav, Ramshankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar yadav and Karunesh Pandey. except for Ram Shankar alias Tinnu yadav and Subhash Srivastava, the other six accused were allegedly »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 related reports, p 5 ‘National records are being broken again and again. This shows we have bench strength’ ADilleSUMARiWAllA, olYMPIAN ANd World AThlETICS VICE-PrESIdENT page 14 Rly roadmap to improve ‘Do we have to go to Trump?’: Omar passenger behaviour: slams Centre on statehood promise counselling to CCTVs to know Delhi protest will mark ‘new method’ in push for restoration of status: J&K CM express News Service Jammu, July 12 AdAyafteraccusingtheBJPof trying to topple his government, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that the National Conference’s protest at delhi'sJantarMantartomount pressure on the Centre to re- storestatehoodwouldmarkthe beginning of a “new method” since “enough time was given to the Central Government to fulfill its promise”. “Wepursuedtherestoration of statehood for nearly two yearsgivingenoughtimetothe Central Government to fulfill its promise made to the people »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2 J&k cm omar abdullah at a rally in Jammu, sunday. AP ‘inappropriate’ books: J&k police arrests three publishers p 7 l Two sides face off in semifinals, Their firsT big-sTage encounTer in 24 years England vs Argentina: A rivalry forged by war, on-field spats and history of cons express at World Cup Sandip g Atlanta, July 12 dieGO MARAdONA never repented his “hand of God”; not because he thinks he didn’t cheat,butbecauseitwasscored against england. he wrote in his autobiography, weighing his two goals in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, the other arguably the greatest of the century: “i sometimes think i preferred the one with my hand.” Because, he explained, “it was a bit like stealing the wallet of the english.” The Falklands War was just fouryearsold,andbothnations were feeling the gripes and wounds. Maradona called the victory “revenge”. he said: “Although we had said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas war, we knew they had killed a lot of Argentine boysthere,killedthemlikelittle birds. And this was revenge.” There are rivalries in sport marked by genuine sporting feuds;somedefinedbypolitical and cultural antipathy; some stewed by colonial friction; some found on clashing sport- ing ideologies. england versus Argentina after 24 years at the grand stage — the World Cup semifinals in Atlanta on Wednesday — is all these threads bound into a single, riveting narrative. Unfailingly, no encounter has passed peacefully and without incident. And no duelhaspassedwithouttheold devilsraisingtheirheadsagain. Maradona’s “hand of God” is unforgotten and unforgiven; nostalgia splashed when englandrevisitedAztecainMexico City for the Round-of-16 game against Mexico. When they beat the co-hosts 3-2, england felt like a symbolic exorcism of a curse. But the real redemptionwouldbeiftheyendlionel harry kane-led england and lionel messi’s argentina advanced to the semis after defeating norway and switzerland, respectively. AP Messi’smarchinAtlanta.david Beckham’s red card in 1998 for fouling diego Simeone, both a regular presence in the ViP box this tournament, has been a metaphor of Argentina practis- ing the dark arts. years later, Simeone admitted, guilt-free, that he had conned the referee. “i had tackled him, and we both fell to the ground. As i was trying to stand up, that was when he kicked me from behind. And i took advantage of that. And i think any person would have taken advantage of that in just the same way,” he told Observer Sports Monthly. Beckhamexactedrevengeat their next meeting, in the 2002 edition,withthelonegoalofthe game. That was the last time they met on the global stage. The cards themselves were introducedafteranill-tempered gamebetweentheminthe1966 quarterfinals, which england won 1-0. Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, who passed away on Friday at the age of 84, was sent off for two offences in thespaceoftwominutes.herefusedtoleavetheground,pulled the referee’s shirt and threatened to “punch him”. After the game, players pushed each other in the tunnel and the local police had to intervene. One of them urinated in the tunnel. Rattin fumed after the game: “it was clear that the referee played with an england shirt on." Roberto Ferrero attacked the referee and ermindo Onega spat in the face of Fifa vice-president harry Cavan. New Delhi When fullback George Cohen was about to swap his shirt, manager Alf Ramsey shouted: “George, you are not changing shirts with that animal.”later,someofArgentina’s players flung chairs at the englanddressingroom.Whenapoliceman tried to stop them, an orange was thrown at his face. Allegations of referees favouring england was a broader theme of the World Cup. Fansclashingisnatural,and not just at an england-Argentinagame.it’sanywherethe fans meet. A video of england and Argentina supporters hitting each other during the Norway-england quarterfinal in »CONTiNUeD ON PAge 2