MCS/204/2020-22 RnI no. MAhEnG 2002/21899 www.IndIAnEXPRESS.CoM THe Long View Romila Thapar, 94, on her memoir, the battle over History, and why questioning remains essential to intellectual life mUmBaI, may 17, 2026 screeN Ashwiny iyer Tiwari on how life can be LATE CITy 16+4 PAGES ₹6.00 d A I L y F R o M : A h M E d A b A d , C h A n d I G A R h , d E L h I , J A I P U R , K o L K A T A , L U C K n o w , M U M b A I , n A G P U R , NiNTh arresT so far; had coMPleTe access To boTaNy, zooloGy PaPers: cbi 113 141 175 Pune botany prof held for NEET leak, was NTA’s subject expert Plotted with co-accused for deals with 70-75 students: Probe 75 happening today lPM NareNdra Modi will visit Sweden, where he will hold bilateral talks with PM Ulf Kristersson. The two leaders will also address a pan-European business leaders’ forum, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. lThe UNiTed deMocraTic Front, which made a comeback in the recent Assembly polls in Kerala, is scheduled to submit its list of ministers to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com ‘ParasiTes’ reMark Mahender singh Manral, Nirbhay Thakur & soham shah New Delhi, Pune, May 16 A senioR professor of botany at a prominent private college in Pune who was appointed by the national testing Agency (ntA) as a subject expert has become the ninth person to be arrested in the sweeping multicityinvestigationintothequestion paper leak that led to the cancellation of neet (ug) 2026 earlier this week. fifty-seven-year-old manisha gurunath mandhare, who teaches at the junior college of the modern College of Arts, science and Commerce, popularlyknownasmodernCollege, was arrested in delhi, a spokesperson for the Central Bureau of investigation (CBi) said on saturday. mandhare’s arrest came a day after the CBi arrested P V Kulkarni, a retired professor of chemistry, in connection with the leak in Pune. Kulkarni, who was remanded in 10 days’ CBi cJi:Misquoted, hadcriticised »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 thosewhojoin professionswith MaharashTra fakedegrees express News service New Delhi, May 16 Chief JustiCe of india (CJi) surya Kant on saturday issued aclarificationonhiscourtroom remarks in which he compared a section of unemployed youth to“cockroaches”,sayingthathe had been “misquoted” by sections of the media and his criticism was directed solely at those who had joined different professions through “fake or bogus degrees”. “i am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolouscaseyesterday.Whati had specifically criticised were thosewhohaveenteredprofessions like the Bar (legal »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 Vallabh ozarkar Latur, May 16 manisha mandhare and P V kulkarni (right) were involved in the exam process on behalf of the national Testing agency: cBI NTA flags list of paper setters and translators on its radar to CBI abhinaya harigovind New Delhi, May 16 With the CBi arresting two persons associated with the processofpreparingtheneetug question paper, the national testing Agency (ntA) is learnt to have flagged a list of namesofquestionpapersetters and translators who are “on the agency’s radar” to the CBi. the ntA is also learnt to be overhauling its existing list of question paper setters and translators ahead of the retest scheduled for June 21. With the breach being traced to the first stage where the question paper originates — the exam process involves a »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 “WeKneWhewasworkingfor ntA and would frequently traveltodelhi,butweneverimagined something like this. he was very quiet and mostly kept to himself,” said a neighbour of retired chemistry professor P V Kulkarni outside his bungalow near shivaji Chowk in latur. that bungalow, where students preparing for neet and Cet rented rooms and attended guidance sessions, is nowatthecentreofaCBiinvestigation into the alleged neetug 2026 paper leak. in the locality, neighbours and former associates say the allegations against Kulkarni have come as a shock, describing him as a low-profile academic figure whowasknownmainlyamong students preparing for medical entrance examinations. the profile that has emerged is of a man whose position within maharashtra’s tightly networked neet coaching ecosystem — built over nearly three decades of teaching, mentoring and confidential examination-related work — may have been precisely what made him valuable to the alleged racket. Kulkarni taught chemistry at dayanand College in latur for nearly 28 years before retiringaroundfouryearsago.After retirement, he continued mentoring students from latur and Pune, where his family largely stayed. Around 15 to 16 students preparing for neet and Cet stayed on the upper floors of his bungalow near shivaji Chowk, locals said, while others regularly visited for guidance sessions. sources said Kulkarni continued to be associated with confidential examination-related work even after retirement, serving as a subject Mumbai, May 16 themAhARAshtRAgovernment’s move to get ola, uber and Rapido pulled from app stores has run into an unexpected obstacle — the state’s own fears that the crackdown could end up blocking all ridehailing services, not just the bike taxi operations it was targeting. A day after the state Cyber department served notices to Apple and google seeking removal of the three platforms, Nikhila henry Hyderabad, May 16 Bandi sai Bhageerath is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-yr-old Police,toldTheIndianExpress. Bhageerath will be sent for medical examination and produced before a local magistrate V A d o d A R A CBSE makes third language must for Class 9 students from this year At least 2 of 3 languages must be ‘native Indian’; no board exam for 3rd language sophiya Mathew New Delhi, May 16 A month after it released its new school curriculum, announcing that a third language would be made compulsory in Class 6 from the current academic session (2026-27), the Central Board of secondary education (CBse) has made three languages — including at least “two native indian languages” — compulsory for Class9studentsfromJuly1this year. the third language will be exempted from the Class 10 board examination, with its assessmenttobe“entirelyschoolbased and internal”. thecurriculumannounced in April had taken a phased approach to implementing the three-languageformula(R1,R2, R3), making it mandatory only in Class 6 this year. so, students whoareinClass6inthecurrent academic session would have been the first cohort to have R3 in Class 10 in 2030-31. But in its latest circular issued on friday, the Board changed its earlier decision to not make R3 compulsory in Class 9 immediately, and explained that the scheme of studiesforlanguagesinClasses 9-10 is being aligned with the nCeRt syllabus. “With effect from 1st July 2026, for Class iX, the study of three languages (R1, R2, R3) shall be compulsory, with at least two languages being native indian languages," it said. "students who wish to study a foreign language may dosoasthethirdlanguageonly if the other two languages are native indian languages, or as anadditionalfourthlanguage," it said. »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 trump says IsIs dEputy chIEf kIllEd In joInt op WIth nIGErIa Day after targeting Ola, Uber, Rapido bike taxis, state govt on backfoot ishika Gupta P U n E , the world E. paGE 10 Pak must decide if it wants to be part of geography or history or not: Army chief explained Why plan Was put on hold paGE 3 the proposal has been put on hold, the indian express has learned.AseniorCyberdepartment official confirmed that authorities are now looking for a way to specifically halt bike taxi operations without disrupting the cab, auto and other services the platforms offer. »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 Telangana police arrest minister Bandi Sanjay’s son in POCSO case the telAngAnA Police on saturday evening arrested Bandi sai Bhageerath, the son of union minister of state for home Affairs Bandi sanjay Kumar, in connection with a PoCso (Protection of Children from sexual offences) case. “the accused was apprehended at the end of a manhunt at 8.15 pm on saturday and taken to Petbasheerabad police station,” m Ramesh, the Cyberabad Commissioner of In Latur, disbelief around retired chemistry prof named in NEET-UG leak P A T n A , in hyderabad, the commissioner said. the minister, however, said his son had appeared for police questioningofhisownvolition. “in light of the allegations levelledagainstmysonandout of deep respect for the law, i have today, through our legal counsel, handed him over to the police for interrogation.” he said that his son “has been repeatedly asserting that he has committed no wrongdoing”. “As soon as the complaintwaslodged,iintendedto »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 Netherlands returns Chola-era artefacts Prime minister narendra modi with his dutch counterpart rob Jetten (right) during the restitution ceremony of 11th-century chola dynasty copper plates in The hague, saturday. PTI People asked me to arrest their kids: L-G Sinha on J&K drug crisis 800 held in a month, calls to helpline surge, focus shifts to rehabilitation Naveed iqbal Srinagar, May 16 JAmmuAndKashmirlieutenant governor manoj sinha says people have walked into his office asking him to arrest their ownchildren.thatdesperation, he told The Indian Express, is one of the reasons that pushed him to launch an aggressive, month-long campaign against drug addiction and “narco-terror” in the union territory. theresultshavebeeninstantaneous:over1,400peoplehave been arrested under the ndPs (narcotic drugs and Psychotropicsubstances)ActinJ&K so farthisyear—morethan800of them in the past month alone. “Wearemakingeveryeffort express interview MaNoJ siNha J&K LIEUTEnAnT GoVERnoR possible to counter this threat. i’ve had people come to my »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 express News service New Delhi, May 16 in A warning to Pakistan on saturday, Army Chief general upendra dwivedi said that if it continuesto“harbourterrorists and operate against india”, it will have to decide whether it wants "to be part of geography or history or not”. speaking at the ‘sena samwad’ event here, he was responding to a question on the Army’s response if the circumstances that led to operation sindoor last year arise again. “if you have heard me earlier, what i have said... that Pakistan, if it continues to harbour terrorists and operate against india, then they have to decide whether they want to be part of geographyorhistoryornot,”he said. the Army Chief's comments came days after india marked the first anniversary of operation sindoor. this is the second such remark he has »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2 army chief General Upendra dwivedi at the sena samwad event in new delhi, saturday. PTI E. explained towards track two The Army Chief's remarks come at a time when former Army generals and retired diplomats from both India and Pakistan have met at least twice in the last three months. While these are not formal “back-channels of communication”, this is the first such engagement since Operation Sindoor. l deVoTees qUeUe To offer Prayers; acTIVIsTs say nexT sTeP Is To GeT 'mUslIm sTrUcTUres' InsIde comPlex remoVed Day after High Court verdict, disputed Dhar complex wears ‘Hindu’ colours anand Mohan J Chalisa and offered prayers to ‘ma Vagdevi’. in a recessed chamber,flowerswerearranged less thAn 24 hours after in the symbol of “om” beneath more than 2,000 people gath- a garlanded carving mounted ered at the Bhojshala-Kamal against a blackened wall where maulamosquecomplexhereto hindus believe an idol of godoffernamaz,itstransformation dess saraswati once stood. intoanexclusivelyhindureligonfriday,initsorderonthe ious place has begun. long-standing dispute around on saturday, the medieval compage 1 marigold garlands plex, the madhya hung from the Pradesh high Court carved stone pillars ruled that its religof the complex as devotees ious character was that of Bhojqueued barefoot beneath the shala, or a temple of goddess archestoofferprayers,takepho- Vagdevi (saraswati). under a tographs and scatter flower 2003arrangement,hindushad petals across the dark stone been performing puja at the floor. they recited hanuman complex on tuesdays, while Dhar, May 16 anchor muslims, who regard it as a masjid, offered namaz at the adjoining dargah on fridays. in its 242-page verdict, the court made the Archaeological surveyofindia(Asi),whichhas administered the monument since 1952, in-charge of preservation and regulation of access to the complex. it also said that muslims would no longer be permitted to offer namaz at the site, and directed the state government to consider allotting alternativelandindhardistrict for the same. the muslim side has said it will challenge the high Court’s order in the supreme Court. But, on the ground, the order People offer prayers inside the Bhojshala-kamal maula mosque complex in dhar, mP, saturday. AnAnd MohAn J has already started taking effect,withChiefministermohan Yadav rallying behind it. Kuldeep tiwari, one of the petitioners in the case, stood near the entrance distributing ladoos to supporters. Referring tothehighCourtorderthatalso asked the Centre to consider bringing back a saraswati idol housed at the British museum in the uK, which is believed to betheonethatoncestoodatthe Bhojshalacomplex,tiwarisaid: “We now want the government to bring back the idol and respect the high Court decision.” tiwari and other hindu activists present at the complex are also planning their next campaign already. Pointing towardsastaircase,whichhindu groups claim was constructed during the period of Alauddin Khilji, tiwari said it too should eventually be removed. Ravisikarwar,aseniorfunctionary of an outfit called the Bhoj utsav samiti, agreed. “there are various structures madebymuslimswhichhaveto go. We fought for 10 years to reclaimourrighttoworshipatthe site every day. We will continue to fight to remove all muslim communitystructures,”hesaid. in contrast, a quiet hangs over a canopy of white tents at the Kamal maula dargah adjoining the complex. under- neath, Yomuddin shaikh, a khadim whose family has long been associated with the shrine, took out an old family treepreservedinplasticcovers. “my family has helped conduct the namaz here for centuries,”hesayssoftly.Willhebe the last in the line, he wonders. “We don’t know when we will be able to read namaz again. Yesterday, over 2,000 of us offerednamazhereonelasttime.” maulanaKamalWelfaresociety president Abdul samad, one of the petitioners from the muslim side, said it was never about seeking permission to offer namaz. “We have been »coNTiNUed oN PaGe 2