The Editorial Page: In a shifting world order, five principles should guide India’s diplomacy 10 WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026 JournalisM of Courage New delhI, lATe CITy, 22 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 , l u 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 exam CaNCelled BeCaUse PrOCess Was fOUNd TO have BeeN vITIaTed: NTa ChIef dOWN almOsT 5% sINCe sTarT Of WesT asIa War NeeT-ug scrapped over paper leak, As rupee falls to record low CEA flags: Stopping govt orders fresh exam, cBi probe of 95.63,fall a key imperative further Over 22 lakh affected; NTA says new exam date soon; one held in Nashik afterlastleak, ex-IsrOchief panelhadcalled forreforms;all gatherdust abhinaya harigovind & mahender singh manral abhinaya harigovind & anonna dutt In a move affecting over 22 lakh candidates, the national testingagency(nta)tuesday cancelled the neet-UG exam for admission to undergraduatemedicalcourses,ninedays after it was held on May 3, following an alleged paper leak — the first time such a decision has been taken by the agency since the exam was introduced in 2016. the nta said the exam, which is the largest it conducts in terms of students appearing in a single session, will be held again on dates to be notified separately even as the Centre handed over the paper-leak probe to the CBI. the cancellation triggered protests by student organisations, mainly in Delhi and Kerala, and drew sharp criticism from the opposition, which accused the Government of crushing the “hard work, sacrifices, and dreams of more than 22 lakh students”. around 22.7 lakh candidates had registered WhILe thIS is the first time thatthenationaleligibilitycum entrance test-Undergraduate (neet-UG), for admission to undergraduate medical education, is being cancelled over an alleged paper leak, there have beenclaimsofmalpracticesand breaches before. Under fire over an alleged neet-UG paper leak in 2024, the BJP-led government, which had just returned to power then for a third term, had constituted a high-level committee of experts led by former ISro Chairman K radhakrishnan to recommend reforms in the examination process, and improve security protocol. In its october 2024 report submitted to the education Ministry, the committee had presented a detailed set of recommendations. But, nearly two years after a CBI probe foundthatcandidatesallegedly New Delhi, May 12 »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 New Delhi, May 12 accused shubham khairnar being taken into custody by cBi officials in nashik, Tuesday. ANI A ‘whistleblower’, a paid WhatsApp group, ‘guess paper’ that did rounds hamza Khan Jaipur, May 12 the UnraveLLInG of a suspectedleakinthenationaleligibility-cum-entrance test (neet-UG), 2026, in rajasthan began with an automated fine print on a Whatsapp message: “forwardedmanytimes.”When investigators following the trail of a “guess paper” stumbled upon this Whatsapp message, they realised that what they hoped was an isolated leak was inside StudentS dejected: ‘feelS like god keepS teSting me’ pageS 4, 9 much larger in scale. officials of the rajasthan Special operations Group (SoG), which had been investigating the case before the CBI took charge on tuesday, said that they found a Whatsapp group named ‘Private Mafia’, where the said paper was being circulated and had members whohadpaidvariousamounts, beginning from around rs 5,000, to join the group. however, despite strict “instructions” from the group administrators not to share the paper, it was circulated far and wide. officials said that preliminary investigation had indicated that the paper may have »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 E. »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 happening SIR-deleted can’t avail govt schemes: Won’tbepartof biasedexercise: today Bengal; Bihar to cancel passbooks lThree days afTer taking oath following dramatic efforts to secure a majority, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s government is scheduled for a crucial floor test in the state Assembly. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com Bengal govt starts process of checking ration cards to weed out names ravik Bhattacharya & santosh singh Kolkata, Patna, May 12 The Big PicTure the goa land grab caSe page 19 poliTics himanta takeS oath aS aSSam cm, 4 miniSterS Sworn in page 6 Says structural shifts in global economic order not going to reverse trIGGerInG freSh apprehension among those deleted from electoral rolls under the SpecialIntensiverevision(SIr) exercise, the BJP governments in West Bengal and Bihar have said that they will not be able to avail government schemes in their states. however,thosewhosecases are under consideration before tribunals in West Bengal will continuetoreceivethesametill their matter is decided, the newly elected government in the state said. the BJP government in West Bengal held its first Cabinet meeting Monday, where it announced that all social schemes of the previous governments in the state would continue, while Central pro- grammes that the trinamool Congress regime had blocked would now be available. holding a press conference after the meeting, Chief Minister Suvendu adhikari said: “all social programmes of the government, which may have beenstarted30yearsor10years back, will continue. however, allsuchschemeswillnowfunction through a transparent process. no deceased person, illegal infiltrator, or non-Indian individual will be allowed to availbenefitsmeantforcitizens of the state.” »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 Bhojshala never a mosque... no right to offer namaz there: MP govt to court anand mohan J Bhopal, May 12 the MaDhYa Pradesh government, in its written submissionsbeforethehighCourt, has claimed that the disputed Bhojshala site in Dhar “was never a mosque and the Muslim community has no right to offer namaz,” The Indian Express has learnt. the replies were filed on behalf of the respondents, including the State of Madhya Pradesh, the Dhar archaeological officer, the District Magistrate, and the Superintendent of Police.therearefivepetitionsfiled inconnectionwiththedisputed site, and the court is currently hearing rebuttal arguments before it passes the judgment. the state government said initsreplythatthe“permission to the Muslim community” to offernamazatthedisputedsite “was granted just to defuse the communal situation”. “the structure in question was never a mosque, and as such, the Muslim community has no right to offer namaz at Bhojshalaandclaimtitleoverit. the entire Bhojshala premises »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 cea V anantha nageswaran at a cii event in new delhi. PTI siddharth Upasani New Delhi, May 12 on the day the the rupee hit an all-time low of 95.75 per dollarbeforeclosingat95.63,Chief economic advisor (Cea) v anantha nageswaran, while warning that ongoing structural shifts in the global economicorderwerenotgoingtoreverse, said tuesday that stopping the rupee from falling further was one of the “central macroeconomic imperatives” of the current fiscal. Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) annual business summit in new Delhi, nageswaran said, »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 economy marketS Slump for Second day page 13 rahuldissents onselectionof nextCBIchief sukalp sharma New Delhi, May 12 the GovernMent will have to “take a view” at some point on how long public sector oil marketing companies (oMCs) can continue to suffer losses by selling major fuels below market price, Petroleum Minister hardeep Singh Puri said tuesday, but did not comment on whether a fuel price hike is on the cards. While he assured that there are adequate stocks of petrol, diesel and cooking gas for regular supplies, Puri said the global energycrisisduetotheWestasia warandtheconsequentclosure oftheStraitofhormuzisleading tosignificantfinancialstrainfor business as usual By EP UNNY theoMCs,withcombinedlosses of the three refiners-cum-fuel »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 The WOrld exPlaINed Stung by iran war and in need of winS, trump headS to beijing asad rehman »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 Puri: Govt will have to weigh how long oil firms can suffer losses Trump begins china visiT Today New Delhi, May 12 Soon after the Prime Minister-ledthree-membercommittee met tuesday to select the nextCBIDirector,Leaderofopposition rahul Gandhi, in a letter to Prime Minister narendraModi,recordedhisdissent overtheproceedings,sayingthe “Leader of opposition is not a rubber stamp” and he will not participatein“abiasedexercise”. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant is the third member of the committee. the committee members metat7,LokKalyanMarginthe evening to decide who should succeed Praveen Sood as the CBI Director. Sood’s two-year tenure, extended by a year in 2025, is due to end on May 24. releasinghisdissentnoteto the Prime Minister on X, rahul Gandhi said, “Despite repeated written requests, I was not providedwiththeself-appraisalreports or 360-degree reports of theeligiblecandidates.Instead, I was expected to examine the Union minister hardeep singh Puri with cii president rajiv memani at the cii annual Business summit in new delhi, Tuesday. ANI trump-Xi meeting: managing rivalry, not reStoring truSt page 14 page 15 Iran’s Araghchi, Russia’s Lavrov to be in Delhi for BRICS huddle Grouping’s foreign ministers gather tomorrow for talks over two days shubhajit roy New Delhi, May 12 IranIan foreIGn Minister Seyed abbas araghchi and russian foreign Minister SergeyLavrovhaveconfirmedthat theywillbeattendingthemeeting of BrICS foreign Ministers in new Delhi on May 14-15. however, Chinese foreign iranian Foreign minister seyed abbas araghchi Minister Wang Yi will not be at themeetingsincehehastobein Beijing for the high-stakes talks between visiting US President Donald trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. China’s ambassador to India, Xu fei- hong, is likely to represent his country at the BrICS meeting. announcing the meeting, the Ministry of external affairs said, “India will host the BrICS foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 14–15 May 2026. the meeting will be chaired by S Jaishankar, external affairs Minister… BrICS foreign Ministers and heads of Delegation from MemberandPartnerCountries willparticipateinthemeeting.” the foreign Ministers of BrICS member countries, the Mea said, will exchange views on “global and regional issues of mutual interest”. on the second day, member and partner »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2 l as he sPeaks aBoUT walking To The Bank wiTh sisTer kalara’s Body, JiTU mUnda keePs looking aT her graVe and Folding his hands in aPology Money in account, sister grave secure, man who carried skeleton remains haunted sujit Bisoyi Much has changed since april 27 when Jitu walked around 3.5 km barefoot to the near the doorway of his Malliposi branch of odisha modest one-room concrete Grameen Bank, carrying sister house at Dianali village in Kalara Munda’s skeleton. he odisha’s Keonjhar district, Jitu wanted to prove to the bank ofMunda sits surrounded by ficials that she was indeed relatives,whohavebeenvisiting dead, and they should let him himdaily.Jitu,whoisinhis60s, withdraw the rs 19,300 in her hasgottiredtellingthestory,but account. every fresh group of With the incipage 1 visitors wants to dent, from the home know how he carried district of Chief Minthe skeleton of his ister Mohan Charan sister to a local bank branch — Majhi, triggering outrage, acand became a national head- tion followed swiftly. While Kaline. every time that he does so, lara’s death certificate was isJituturnstohissister’sgrave,lo- sued by the Patna Community cated barely a few metres away, health Centre (ChC) within and folds his hand in apology. two days, the bank handed Dianali (Keonjhar), May 12 anchor back over rs 19,400 (including interest), and the district administration extended rs 30,000 from the red Cross fund. the family home, allotted to Jitu’s elder brother raibuunderthePradhanMantri awas Yojana got electrical connection almost overnight, while Jitu’s name was enrolled for subsidised rice under the PDS and for the rs 1,000 monthly social security pensionofthestategovernment,of which the first instalment has already come. his aadhaar card has been updated. Jitu who had struggled to receive rs 19,300 now has an account at the Patna branch of Bank of India with a deposit of last him six months, says Jitu. Kalara’s grave is also changed; it’s cemented. The siblings Jitu munda at his sister’s grave in odisha’s dianali village. SuJIT BISoyI rs 10.95 lakh — all donated. having never worn any footwear in his life, he now has multiple donated pairs. other donations also stand out: an iron-framedcot,apedestalfan, a cycle, and sacks and sacks of rice and potatoes, enough to after losing her husband and only child some four decadesago,Kalarahadcomeback to her maternal home. Since Jitu was not married, the siblings lived together. the family says the two mostly survived on government schemes which Kalara was a beneficiary of: 35-kg rice monthly under the antyodaya anna Yojana, and rs 1,000 monthly each as part of social security pension and the Madhu Babu Pension Scheme, a state programme for the poor who are 60 years and above. With no official documents in his name, Jitu was not a beneficiary of any scheme. he says he lost his aadhaar card in January 2015. the money in Kalara’s account was from the pair of buffaloes they sold around two yearsago,saysJitu.Sincehedid not have a bank account, they put the money in hers. then, Kalara fell ill late last year. for two months, she was bedridden. Jitu says he first went to the bank around that time,anticipatingmoneyissues shouldanythinghappentoher. “each time the bank staff sent me back, saying the account holder needed to be physically present,” he says. “When I said Kalaracouldnotwalk,theysaid to carry her or bring her in a vehicle… they never explained what else I could do.” on January 26 this year, Kalara passed away. Jitu says he kepttryingtogetadeathcertificate till february, but the red tape overwhelmed him. “the panchayat officials said it would take at least five years.” aseniordistrictadministration official admits lapses on the part of the ChC in issuing Kalara’s death certificate. “they should have completed the process by March.” In the absence of a death certificate,hisvisitstothebank »CONTINUed ON PaGe 2