| Good morning! Something remarkable is happening at Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora, and it’s a sight to behold – a sea of pink lotuses, all in full bloom. The idyllic lake, surrounded by the misty Harmukh mountains, is once again home to the flowers, 30 years after a devastating flood completely wiped them out. The credit goes to the Wular Conservation and Management Authority, which had begun clearing silt deposits from the flood. We have some news for you: SCREEN Academy is now official! The Indian Express Group and SCREEN announced the launch of the not-for-profit initiative. The members on board so far include Cannes and Oscar winners, Guneet Monga, Payal Kapadia, and veteran screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, among others. Together with India’s top film institutes, the Academy will set out to identify and empower the next generation of filmmakers.
🚨Big Story ‘Give reasons’: The Supreme Court declined to restrain the Election Commission of India from proceeding with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, which has left people scrambling for documents. It suggested that the poll panel consider three other documents – Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards – to update the rolls. “If you have good reasons to discard it, discard it” but “give reasons”, said the vacation bench hearing pleas challenging the EC exercise ahead of the Assembly polls. The three papers: Our ongoing series from the ground in Bihar shows that the newly suggested documents are ones most families have, mainly because they are far more widely accessible. Of the three, Aadhaar and Election ID cards are nearly ubiquitous in the state, with ration cards available to two-thirds of the population. As of Thursday evening, the EC had not yet decided on the apex court’s suggestion. The three issues: The SC bench also flagged three key issues to the poll panel. These include the EC’s power to check voters' citizenship, the importance of due process and procedure during the revision, and the timing of the revision itself. 🎧To further understand the SC’s response, tune in to today’s episode of the 3 Things podcast. Agents on ground: Since the SIR began on June 25, all parties have shown a steep increase in workers enrolled as Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to carry out the enrolment exercise. But the rise is sharper among Opposition parties with the hope that the outreach will pay off in the coming polls.
⚡Only in Express Remember Norman Borlaug? The legendary agricultural scientist who guided India’s Green Revolution through his high-yielding, semi-dwarf wheat varieties. That was six decades ago, and today, his organisation – the Mexico-headquartered International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre or CIMMYT – is reaching out to the Indian government and the private sector. It is seeking financial support for its breeding research and development programme. The reason: A resource crunch brought about by various global factors, including the shutdown of its largest funder, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), by the Trump administration, officially from July 1.
📰 From the Front Page UK or France? Upon the government’s request, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) must take a call to join hands either with Britain’s Rolls-Royce or France’s Safran to co-develop aircraft engines. This is India’s attempt to acquire expertise on the “constraining factor” for the defence forces. Now, an official in the know told The Indian Express that both the companies have offered to collaborate with DRDO’s Bengaluru-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment lab. In focus: In the latest development on the global trade front, Trump slapped a 35 per cent tariff on Canada, effective August 1. In his letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he said the tariff hike was a unilateral decision and warned of future increases if Ottawa retaliates. For India, the extended deadline remains a window for negotiations. The last round of talks on an interim trade agreement on goods was held on July 4. India’s trade negotiators will likely leave for Washington next week to iron out pending issues, focusing on agriculture and auto sector tariffs.
📌Must Read 1,340 cricket balls for Rs 1 crore — Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president A Jagan Mohan Rao, in collusion with others, allegedly “misappropriated” funds like this. The Telangana Crime Investigation Department’s FIR further states a total of six heads, including air conditioners, sports apparel and plumbing, via which the “scam” of at least Rs 2.32 crore was carried out. ‘Rightful home’: Tribal women from Sitatola in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli have come together to end the centuries-old practice of isolating themselves in menstruation huts or ‘kurma ghars’. They now head to a collectively built space called mawa askan lon, which translates from the Madia dialect as “our rightful home as women”. The structure, part of an initiative led by Sparsh, a Gadchiroli-based NGO, serves as a shelter and a community centre for support groups.
⏳And Finally… “I guess my best chances maybe are Wimbledon, you know, to win another slam” – This is what Novak Djokovic said a little over a month ago, following a straight-sets loss to World No. 1, Jannik Sinner, at the French Open. He will have the opportunity to confirm his telling this week. The Serb is in the semifinals of Wimbledon again and up against him will be Sinner once more, in a highly anticipated encounter on Centre Court on Friday. Until tomorrow Vibha | 
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