The Editorial Page: In age of uncertainty, patriotism is a poor substitute for statecraft 8 ThURSDay, May 14, 2026 JoUrnaliSm of CoUrage ahMeDaBaD, laTe CITy, 18 PageS ₹5.00 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 inCreASe AMid PriMe MiniSter’S CALL FOr AUSteritY MeASUreS expressinvestigation Gold, silver import duty hiked Ministry’s special fund is for top to 15% in bid to secure forex athletes, bureaucrats dip into it to Sukrita Baruah Guwahati, May 13 THRee CHURCH leaders have been killed and four injured after an attack on their vehicles whiletheyweretravellingfrom Churachandpur to Kangpokpi in Manipur on Wednesday morning. The deceased, who have been identified as Reverend Vumthang Sitlhou, Reverend Kaigoulen Lhouvum and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou, are part of the Thadou Baptist Association and were reportedly returning to Kangpokpi after a church leaders’ meeting in Churachandpur. According to the police, the attack took place between Kotzim and Kotlen in Kangpokpi while the group was travelling in two vehicles. A security official said that militant groups are suspected to be responsible for the attack, though the matter is subject to investigation. Thefourinjuredweretransported to the state capital, Imphal, for treatment, and Chief Minister Yumnam KhemchandvisitedthemonWednesday afternoon, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho and Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam. “Ivehementlycondemnthe dastardly terror attack of the armedmiscreantsfiringupona group of civilians this morning »COntinUed On PAGe 2 New Delhi, Sikar, Pune, Mumbai, May 13 FOLLOWING THe arrest of a Nashik-based Ayurveda student over his alleged involvement in the paper leak that led to the cancellation of the NeeT-UG exam, the CBI said Wednesdaythattheagencyhas arrested five persons so far and conducted searches across multiple states as part of its probe in the case. Police officers in Maharashtra and Rajasthan said more people have been detained in the case, mainly for questioning, including a woman from Pune. A CBI spokesperson said, “The arrests — three from jaipur, one from Gurugram and onefromNashik—markaswift crackdown following the CBI’s registrationofaFIR...onMay12.” ThosearrestedhavebeenidentifiedasShubhamKhairnarfrom Nashik; Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal from »COntinUed On PAGe 2 one of the five arrested being produced before a court in Jaipur on Wednesday. PTI NEET whistleblower first went to police, no FIR, so wrote to testing agency Hamza Khan Sikar, May 13 ATAROUND1:30amonMay4, several hours after the NeeT UG 2026 examination had wrapped up, a teacher with a prominent coaching centre in Sikar reached the district’s Udyog Nagar police station with a bunch of pages in his hand. “He had brought a stack of papers with him, alleging irregularities in the just concluded NeeT paper,” Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar told The Indian Express. “The staff present at the police station heard him and handed him a blank sheet of paper, asking him to submit a written complaint. However, he simply left,” claimed the SHO, denying claims that the police turned him away. ItwasontheeveningofMay 3 that the teacher had received the handwritten ‘guess paper’ from his landlord in Sikar, asking if it was indeed genuine. »COntinUed On PAGe 2 Karnataka scraps hijab ban order, students can wear faith symbols Kiran Parashar Bengaluru, May 13 FOUR YeARS after the then BjP-led government banned the wearing of headscarves including the hijab in government and government-aided education institutions in the state, the Karnataka governmentWednesdaywithdrewthe order, and allowed students to wear limited religious or faithbased symbols along with the prescribed uniform. The February 5, 2022 order had led to protests and heightened communal tensions in several parts of Karnataka. As the row escalated, the matter went to the courts. While the Karnataka High »COntinUed On PAGe 17 Happening today lUS PreSident Donald Trump will hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Besides trade, the talks will also cover the Iran war and US arms sales to Taiwan. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By EP UNNy Court upheld the ban order, a Supreme Court bench deliveredasplitverdictandasked that the matter be referred to a larger bench. On Wednesday, Karnataka School education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said the 2022 order related to religious attire in education »COntinUed On PAGe 2 Parliament panel’s red flag: Fund is shrinking, use it responsibly Mihir Vasavda l nsdF:dipping Mumbai, May 13 CONTRIBUTIONS TO the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) have more than halved in three years — from Rs 85.26 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 37.02 crore in 2025-26, records obtained by The Indian Express under the Right To Information (RTI) Act show. TheslidepromptedaParliamentary panel to raise the red flag last August, linking the decline to waning corporate faith in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and a growing preference amongdonorsforprivatelyrun sports organisations. »COntinUed On PAGe 17 Fundmanaged by12-member council,grants okayedbypanel ofsixofficials Mihir Vasavda contributions Mumbai, May 13 ₹37.02 cr threechurch leaderskilled inManipur ambush Mahender Singh Manral, Hamza Khan, Sushant Kulkarni & Mohammed thaver AN INVeSTIGATION by The Indian Express has found that the money used to build, or refurbish, these world-class facilities meant for some of the country’stopbureaucratscame fromtheNationalSportsDevelopment Fund (NSDF) — a fund created to train athletes and build sporting infrastructure, and allotted by a committee of bureaucrats. The Indian Express investigated five years of official records and data obtained under the RTI Act, and interviewed current and former Governmentofficials,tofindthatwhile a chunk of these funds was indeed allotted for sports facilities, a slice of the pie was also channelled into civil services institutions and the Delhi colony for bureaucrats. This temperature-controlled swimming pool at the new moti Bagh clubhouse in new delhi is one of the sports facilities funded by a rs 2.2-crore nsdF grant in 2024. MIhIr VaSaVDa 2025-26 CBI conducts searches across multiple states, seizes phones l About 3 km away, a squash court at the Civil Services OfficersInstitute(CSOI)sitsempty on a mid-week afternoon. Scuff marks on the side walls hint at aneveningrush.Outside,asignboarddeclarestherulesofentry: No ID, no access. ₹70.16 cr NEET-UG: 3 from Rajasthan family among 5 in CBI net l Tucked inside New Moti Bagh, an upscale residential complex in Lutyens’ Delhi where many of India’s top bureaucrats live, children slice throughthewaterinatemperature-controlled pool beneath a transparent canopy. Nearby, a teenager drills forehands on a gleaming tennis court. The facilities look public, but guards at the gate decide who gets in. 2024-25 COnGreSS, BjP trAde CHArGeS New Delhi, Mumbai, May 13 ₹85.26 cr »COntinUed On PAGe 2 Mihir Vasavda 2023-24 Modi’s call for austerity measures and appeal to citizens to reduce petroleum consumption, avoid non-essential foreign travel and gold purchases for a year as part of measures to help the country deal with global disruptions and challenges. The government has also increased import duty on gold and silver findings to 5% – the findings are small components such as hooks, clasps, clamps, Official panel disbursed National Sports Development Fund money to build, refurbish sports facilities in showpiece New Delhi residential complex for bureaucrats. Funds also went to Civil Services Officers Institute ₹43.88 cr TO PReSeRVe foreign exchange, the government Wednesday hiked the customs duty ongoldandsilverimportsfrom 5% to 10%, and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) from 1% to 5%, taking the total effective import duty to 15%. This may be the first of a series of measures to bring stabilitytothecapitalaccountand prevent the rupee from further sugar export upgrade their own sports facilities 2022-23 New Delhi, May 13 depreciation. It closed at 95.71 to a US dollar on Wednesday, losing almost 5 per cent since the beginning of the West Asia conflict. There are discussions already in the government about hiking petrol and diesel prices with global crude oil sizzling at over $100 a barrel and state-owned oil marketing companies suffering losses of almost Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 1,200 crore a day. The import duty hike on gold comes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra pins, screws used to hold the whole or a part of a piece of jewellery in place. Platinum findings will attract a 5.4% import duty. The effective import duty on platinum has also been increased to 15.4% from 6.4%. Additionally, a 3% Integrated GST (IGST) will be payable on all imports of precious metals in addition to the basic customs duty and AIDC. All these measures will help reduce outflows of foreign exchange; since the onset of the conflict, foreign exchange reserves have been depleted by almost $38 billion. Managing the current ₹15.13 cr Aanchal Magazine page 13 2021-22 inside Officials say move intended to curb non-essential imports, support rupee govt bans SoUrCe: rTI What is the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)? The NSDF was established in 1998 under the Charitable endowments Act, 1890. It is fundedbydonations from the public and private sectors, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), and charities or non-profits, with contributions from the Government. E. »COntinUed On PAGe 17 Textile mill worker dies after ‘suspected heat stroke’; Surat hospitals set up special wards Kamal Saiyed & ritu Sharma Surat, Ahmedabad, May 13 SURAT, WHICH saw the highest deviation from normal in temperatures recorded across the state in the past few days, reported its first suspected heat-related death on Tuesday. Anujkumar Shah (30), a resident of Sai Bhupat residency, at Paligam in Sachin, who hailed from Gopalgunj in Bihar,workedatatextileunitin Sachin GIDC and fell unconscious while walking home. A passerby alerted the emergency services and he was taken toNewCivilHospital,wherehe died. Dr Ketan Naik, Resident Medical Officer (RMO), New Civil Hospital, said, “The patient was brought to our hospital in an unconscious condition. His body was dehydrated, possibly due to prolonged exposure to direct sunlight and high temperatures. After the post-mortem, no injury marks or other symptoms were found to determine the cause of death. To get the exact cause of death, we have sent samples to FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) for histopathology test.” Surat has been witnessing high temperatures in the past coupleofdays,nearlysevendegrees higher than normal, although the temperatures fell drastically on Wednesday. A police team reached the hospital after learning about the incident and informed the deceased's older brother, Kundankumar. The post-mortem examinationwasdoneonWednesday and the body was handed to his family members for the final rites. Sachin GIDC police inspector K A Gohil said, “The deceased was walking home and fell on the road in broad daylight near his house in Bhupat Residency. We spoke to the doctors at NCH, who said the cause of death could be heatstroke. Our police team has taken statements from people near the spot where he fell down on the road at Paligam. We have registered an accidental death case and started a probe.” On May 11 and 12, Surat, »COntinUed On PAGe 12 l acquIred u.s. cITIzenshIp In 2022, has sInce Been TravellIng on an amerIcan passporT Diljit Dosanjh’s no to politics may have another reason — he’s now a US citizen Varinder Bhatia Chandigarh, May 13 LeADINGPUNjABIsingerand BollywoodactorDiljitDosanjh, who has turned down an appeal to enter politics in Punjab, is not an Indian citizen. Not for a while now. Dosanjh, whose signature, pride-filled declaration Main Hoon Punjab (I am Punjab) serves as a powerful affirmation of his cultural identity and roots, acquired US citizenship in 2022, The Indian Express has learnt. He has been travelling on a US passport since September 1, 2022. His last Indian passport was issued in Mumbai in 2018. Prior to that, his Indian passport was issued in Zambia. Dosanjh’s spouse Sandeep KaurtooisaUSnational.Atthe time of acquiring US citizenship,hehadshownhisresidential address — a 5-bedroom, 3107sqmbungalow—inanupscale locality of California. He used his US passport to travel to India last month. Sourcessaidhehasbeentravelling to India on an e-visa since September 2022 — this means he does not hold an OCI card. diljit dosanjh’s last Indian passport was issued in 2018 Last Saturday, a think tank of retired IAS officers, Defence personnel and professionals in Punjab issued a full-page advertisement in a leading newspaper, urging Dosanjh to take over the political leadership of Punjab “brought to its knees by successive dispensations”. Dosanjh,however,declined the offer. In a post on X, he said, Kadey v Nahi (never). Mera kaam entertainment karna (My job is to entertain people). Am very happy in my field. Thank you so much.” even if he were to change his mind, Dosanjh cannot just jump into Indian politics. Under Section 6 of the Indian Citizenship Act, a foreign national can apply to seek Indian citizenship if he or she satisfies conditions, one of which stipulates that the applicant must have lived in India for 12 years in total before the application, including continuous residence during the immediately preceding 12 months and residence for 11 of the previous 14 years. Multiple attempts by The Indian Express to contact Dosanjh for comment did not elicit a response. Phone calls and Ahmedabad queries sent to his secretary Sonali Singh, janamjai Sehgal (localcontactonhisIndianvisa application) remained unanswered. Last week, Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a leader of the Sikhs for justice banned by India, threatened Dosanjh for rebuking flag-waving Khalistan sympathisers at his concerts in the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Calgary. Born on january 6, 1984 to Balbir Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur in jalandhar’s Dosanjh Kalan village, Dosanjh’s first prominentmusicalalbumIshq Da Uda Ada was released in 2004. He made his debut in Punjabi cinema in The Lion of Punjab (2011) and became very popular after Jihne Mera Dil Luteya.HisroleinUdtaPunjab (2016)gothimaFilmfareaward in the Best Male Debut category. In 2020, Dosanjh became the first Indian artist to enter the Billboard Social 50 chart. Last month, he appeared for a second time on The Tonight Show Starring jimmy Fallon, and discussed Sikh history and Punjabi pride.