Ram Temple donation row, Prambanan Temple’s history, EPFO’s new portal explained: Today’s Premium reads

India’s recent trade deals with the EU, the UK, and Japan have been widely celebrated. But the numbers tell a different story: India’s goods trade surplus with the US is nearly four times its combined surplus with all three partners. This is the number that should be at the centre of India’s trade strategy conversation. It is emphatically not, writes Surjit S Bhalla.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this week marked the beginning of India’s effort to help restore Indonesia’s iconic Prambanan Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Prambanan Temple Compounds comprise Prambanan Temple (also known as Loro Jonggrang or Candi Prambanan), Sewu Temple, Bubrah Temple, and Lumbung Temple. Nikita Mohta explains the temple’s origins.

Last week, the Raipur Police arrested Vincent John, a man from Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu who claims to have scammed hundreds of hotels over the last 30 years with the same modus operandi: checking into luxury hotels, enjoying their opulence for days, and quietly sneaking out — all without paying. Read Jayprakash S Naidu’s story on the guest who never checked out.

Aanchal Magazine and Ravi Dutta Mishra look at how the EPFO’s revamped portal will change the provident fund experience for its members — from a unified platform for records and claims to faster interest crediting and fewer rejections through automated processing.

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09/07/2026

A doctor’s account of fear after an assault inside a hospital, the investigation that brought the Lawrence Bishnoi gang under scrutiny in North America, how Kashmir’s insurgency has transformed a decade after Burhan Wani’s death, and why the fragile US-Iran ceasefire still has global energy markets on edge — here are Premium stories from The Indian Express from July 9.

For two days after he was assaulted inside Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation’s Shastrinagar Hospital by a Shiv Sena corporator and his aides, a 26-year-old resident medical officer says he lived in fear — changing locations after receiving threatening phone calls and hiding the incident from his mother. In an interview with Purnima Sah, the doctor recounts the assault, the threats that followed, and why he and other staff members have not returned to work since.

Long before the FBI announced Operation Hard Ball this week, Canadian investigators had been steadily tracing the alleged international reach of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Manraj Grewal Sharma reports how Canadian authorities built their case over two years — culminating in terror designation, cross-border investigations and fresh US indictments against Bishnoi and his close associate Goldy Brar.

The numbers are indisputable: In 2016, the year after photos of Burhan Wani and his group first emerged on social media, 157 terror operatives were killed in Kashmir. This number peaked at 266 in 2018. This year, it’s down to just 10. Bashaarat Masood reports how Kashmir’s insurgency has changed 10 years since Burhan Wani’s death.

Even as the US and Iran keep the door open for negotiations, recurring strikes and escalating rhetoric continue to test the fragile ceasefire between them. Bashir Ali Abbas, Senior Research Associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, looks at the fault lines — from the Strait of Hormuz to Iraq and Lebanon — that could determine whether the current truce evolves into a lasting peace or slips back into conflict. And Sukalp Sharma explains what the renewed tensions could mean for global oil markets and energy-importing countries such as India.

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08/07/2026

A wrongful accusation that upended a Mumbai family’s life. A high-stakes political contest taking shape in Punjab. Questions over governance at the Ram Temple. And an analysis of the shifting balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Here are Premium stories from The Indian Express from July 8.

Two decades after a rape-murder in Glasgow, police showed up at Sougat Mukherjee’s door in India, certain they’d found their man. What followed was an arrest, a slide into depression, and a clearance that came years too late — the story of what mistaken identity actually costs. Sophiya Mathew reports.

Punjab heads to the polls early next year, and every major party is running scared: AAP is fighting anti-incumbency, Congress is chasing a comeback, SAD is trying to reinvent itself, and BJP still hasn’t found a foothold. Liz Mathew maps the fight in a state known for upending predictions.

An SIT probe into donation theft at the Ram Temple found CCTV blind spots, loosened frisking rules, and a cash-counting system built to fail. Bhupendra Pandey and Manish Sahu break down what the report found — and, in a companion piece, Deeptiman Tiwary tells you why the Trust running it operates unlike any other major temple body in India.

C Raja Mohan writes on the emerging ‘G Minus Two’ Indo-Pacific order: as the US and China harden their rivalry, the region’s balance may come down to its middle powers — India and Indonesia chief among them.