bengaluru l wednesday l june 17, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION El Nino to hit 12 states severely, govt calls for contingency plan The impact of El Nino weather phenomenon, linked with a weaker monsoon in India, is likely to be “severe” in 12 states, including UP and TN weak monsoon across majority of states reliable inputs critical for farmers El Nino is a climate phenomenon linked to weaker monsoons. As per IMD, El Nino conditions are present over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and expected to strengthen during the southwest monsoon season. Other states likely to be impacted are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, MP, Jharkhand and Maharashtra ■ ■ Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed states to identify vulnerable districts and prepare crop-wise contingency plans so that farmers can be provided with options, advice and assistance Chouhan said the government’s priority is to ensure farmers receive “reliable, and solution-oriented messages based on scientific inputs” 20% cut in Mumbai water supply for commercial usage due to low storage CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI G7 Summit Israel’s war on Lebanon has gone too far, says Trump A g en c i e s @ Evian-les-Bains (France) A day after the US and Iran announced an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday panned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his aggressive military campaign in Lebanon causing civilian casualties, urging him to be “more responsible” in the way he fights Hezbollah. “You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody There are lots of . people in those apartments… and they’re not all Hezbollah,” he said. Speaking to reporters in France at the G7 Summit, Trump said Israel’s war with Hezbollah has gone too far and “too many people are being killed.” Without the According to United Iran, the peace States, there deal includes would be no Israel. Israel’s exit from Lebanon. Without me, there would Israel’s contin- be no Israel, ued attacks on because Lebanon could no other jeopardise the president pact, which is was willing to do what scheduled to be I did signed in Switz e r l a n d o n Donald Trump Friday . Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday said Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon would violate the deal. Netanyahu, who is under tremendous pressure ahead of elections in October, has rejected the peace deal saying Israel is not part of it. Cautioning Netanyahu against defying his directions, Trump said: “Without me, there would be no Israel… no other president was willing to do what I did. Israel would have been blown up a long time ago, had I not gotten involved.” Terming Hezbollah threat ‘minor’, Trump described the Iran-backed militant outfit in Lebanon as “the little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head”. Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles during the first week of the war. Since then, it has been striking targets deep inside Beirut.  P12 PM plain speak on trust deficit, lack of respect for global law Only 20% of kharif sowing area covered in state A s h w i n i M S r i pa d @ B e n g a l u r u D e l ay e d m o n s o o n h a s slowed kharif sowing in Karnataka which could impact production. Agriculture Department officials said sowing has covered only around 20% of the targeted area. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting belownormal rainfall and sowing activities already affected, production is likely to face setbacks this season. Experts said a prolonged delay could force J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told G7 leaders that global partnerships can succeed only when they are founded on trust, stressing that the world today suffers not from a shortage of resources but from a shortage of trust. Calling for renewed international solidarity in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, Modi said mutual trust is the most important strategic asset and warned that disregard for international law remains the biggest obstacle to building global cooperation. He highlighted that dialogue and diplomacy must be prioritised to ensure peace, stability and stronger international partnerships. The remarks came shortly after Modi was seen exchanging a handshake and a brief conversation with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the summit. The interaction, ahead of a scheduled bilateral meeting between the two leaders on Wednesday, drew attention amid ongoing discussions on trade, technology , security and geopolitical challenges. Addressing the Outreach Session on “Forging New Partnerships and Rebuilding International Solidarity ,” Modi, seated next to Trump, said that while global interdependence has increased, confidence among nations has eroded. “In a world that is getting more interconnected and interdependent than ever before, this subject becomes all the more vital. But partnerships can succeed only when they are founded on trust,” Modi said. A major focus of Modi’s address was the need to redefine engagement with developing countries and the Global South. He said nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America were looking for equal partnerships rather than traditional aid arrangements. “The Global South has immense expectations from the world. More than support, it seeks partnership. We must move beyond the donor-recipient mindset and work as equal partners. We must walk together and not merely alongside one another. Partnerships must be linked to dignity not dependency he said. , ,” Protect seafarers Modi said it’s important that sea lanes are kept safe and seafarers are able to perform their duties without any fear. “It is our responsibility to protect the seafarers,” he said while welcoming progress in the peace talks Indian lives lost “Due to this conflict, our friendly countries in West Asia have suffered loss of life and property. The world economy was damaged... Many Indian civilians had to lose their lives,” the prime minister said Howdy trump This World Cup has thrown quite a few early surprises with lower ranked teams showing more resistance and spunk than their more illustrious counterparts. Though 5 days and 16 matches of football until June 16 morning, underdogs are the flavour of the week. Here are a look at some talking points... Ronaldo in action today Cristiano Ronaldo will be in action, his sixth World Cup, late on Wednesday when the team takes on Democratic Republic of Congo. They are in Group K along with Colombia and Uzbekistan. England, considered one of the favourites at this edition’s FIFA World Cup, will open their campaign against Croatia on Wednesday The biggest win (figuratively) of all saw Cape Verde managing to thwart Spanish attack and secure 0-0 draw. Spain are ranked 2 and are considered as one of the favourites while Cape Verde are ranked No 67 0-0 1-1 No 61 Saudi Arabia held No 16 Uruguay 1-1 No 29 Egypt tied No 9 Belgium 1-1 if target of 84.10 lakh hectares, which is around 20%. During the same period last year, sowing had crossed 40% and by July it had hit 61% of the targeted area. “We may not reach that level this year due to rainfall deficit in north-interior Karnataka, Malnad and coastal Karnataka,” a department official said. Some districts are at a lower level than the state average – Ballari (6%), Chitradurga (5%), Kalaburagi (9%), SHivamogga (7%), Vijayapura (4%) and many more. Telegram app banned till NEET-UG re-exam to curb cheating, rumours R a ke s h K u m a r @ New Delhi THE government on Tuesday temporarily restricted access to the Telegram messaging app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on June 21, with the National Testing Agency (NTA) saying the measure was aimed at tackling cheating rackets and misinformation. Interestingly, the government has directed Apple and Google to remove the messaging app from their app stores rather than merely disable it. This means users will not be able to download Telegram from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store until further orders. Indians top users of app Founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov in 2013 and headquartered in Dubai, Telegram is used by roughly 40 million Indians, accounting for about 10.4% of the platform’s global user base NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the restriction on Telegram till June 22 was part of efforts to ensure that the June 21 re-test is conducted without malpractice. “We will not let anything go wrong,” Singh told PTI. According to NTA, some channel administrators allegedly misused the message-editing feature and inserted actual question papers while retaining the original timestamp, thereby creating misleading “evidence” of pre-exam paper leaks. In a post on X, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Telegram removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam material in India. “We are also making the edit label more visible to prevent backdating scams. Banning it even temporarily is a mistake,” he said. Prof MB Rajegowda, agrometeorologist and former registrar, University of Agriculture Sciences, told TNIE that sowing has been less this year and hoped it would pickup. “We have told farmers to take up short or medium-duration crops and not long duration. It will lead to lesser production for sure, but if farmers opt for long-duration crops, they will face distress,’’ he warned. “The rainfall pattern follows an eight-year cycle,” Rajegowda said. P7 E x p r e s s Re a d Guj farm stir collapses as Cong, AAP clash Ahmedabad: A farmers’ agitation that remained at the centre of Gujarat’s political discourse for several months came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, exposing a rift between the Congress and the AAP. The agitation was attended by thousands of farmers in the morning. P10 LPG crunch may not ease soon, warns govt official New Delhi: Despite a ceasefire on the offing between the US and Iran with the assurance of reopening Strait of Hormuz soon, uncertainty over availability of LPG is likely to continue, said a government official. There is still no clarity on the damage caused in the production sites of the gas in the Gulf, he said. P13 Govt bans sale of cough syrups without prescription K AVITA BA J E LI - DATT @ New Delhi THE Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has amended rules to prohibit sale of cough syrups without a doctor’s prescription. The decision comes months after contaminated cough syrups caused deaths in India and abroad. “The measure is expected to promote responsible distribution and sale of cough syrups while ensuring greater compliance with regulatory standards,” officials said. Welcoming the gover nment’s decision, Dr Kuldeep Kumar Grover, associate direc- Cough syrups will no longer be sold over the counter | p RAVIKUMAR tor, pulmonology and critical care at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, said: “A cough can be a symptom of other serious conditions, such as infections, asthma, and allergies. Prescription-based access encourages proper evaluation, accu- rate treatment, and safer medication use.” Dr Mohsin Wali, senior consultant and head of preventive cardiology at Pacific One Health, said some African countries reported deaths due to cough syrups from India that contained industrial solvent. “This brought a bad name to our country he said. ,” Dr Meena J, senior consultant, paediatrics and neonatology at Aakash Healthcare, Delhi said making syrups prescription-only will encourage parents to consult a doctor before giving their children medicines. is it rocket science? Odisha ‘steals’ Soudha, minister pulls up GBA staff over potholes Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with US President Donald Trump before the plenary session at the G7 summit in France on Tuesday | AP Fit to be tied: Big upsets draw attention farmers to shift from longerduration crops to shorter-duration varieties, that again could affect the yield. As per data from the Agriculture Department, available with The New Indian Express, sowing has been completed on 5.86 lakh hectares of irrigated land against a target of 24.43 lakh hectares. In rainfed areas, it has been carried out on only 11.23 lakh hectares out of the targeted 59.68 lakh hectares. Overall, it is 17.09 lakh hectares out of the total khar- Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda remarks that while the old potholes were filled, new ones were emerging like mushrooms after each rain| P2 4 2-2 All four matches on Monday/ Tuesday (India time) ended in draws -- the most in a single day of men’s WC play since 1958 At No 85 New Zealand are the lowestranked team out of the 48 qualifiers but they held No 20 Iran to a draw Today’s matches (IST): Group L: England vs Croatia (1:30AM); Ghana vs Panama (4:30AM). Group K: Portugal vs DR Congo (10:30 PM); Uzbekistan vs Colombia (7:30AM). Hampi from Karnataka Sudarsan Maharana @ Bhubaneswar From an image of the iconic stone chariot at Hampi’s Vijaya Vittala Temple being used in place of the Konark Sun Temple to a picture of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly replacing the Odisha Assembly, the Odisha government has come under scrutiny for more than 1,600 errors in textbooks prescribed for Classes I to VIII this academic session. The new textbooks, revised and published in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, have been found to contain a significant number of errors, including grammati- A photo of Vidhana Soudha used in a school textbook in Odisha cal mistakes, incorrect identification of landmarks, wrong tribal nomenclature and geographical inaccuracies. A total of 1,678 factual and typographical errors have so far been detected in textbooks for Classes I to VIII.  P7