The Editorial Page: Dear students struggling with exam chaos and scams 12 FRIdAY, JUNE 5, 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 aCting president on india visit expressinvestigation who will be held accountable for exam paper leaks? don’t bet on it, records show most get away Number of exam leaks from 2002 to 2025 with candidate count above 1 lakh in each: 45. Number of cases that led to convictions: 2 shyamlal Yadav & Jay mazoomdaar l poorscore New Delhi, June 4 FORTHE22lakhmedicalcollege candidates forced to put their dreams on hold until the nEET Ug retest on June 21, for the 4 lakh CBSE students left in limboafterquestionswereraised over the new marking system, the real test now is not just of merit—butoffaithinasystem. The CBSE’s chairman and secretary may have been transferredbutoncetheoutragedies down, chances are few will actually be held accountable. That’s what the record shows. The Indian Express investigated the status of cases linked to 45 major exam paper leaks over the past two decades in which each exam had at least 1 lakh applicants or candidates. Thefindingsarestark:Onlytwo ofthesecaseshaveledtoconvictions. Most of the rest are either 24 Years (2002-2025) 45* job, education exam leaks students protest in delhi. Investigators warn leak networks are getting more sophisticated. ShreyA SInGhAI reLaTed reporT 45 major leaks, few top officials face action page 8 trapped in legal quicksand or have simply hit a dead end. If that’s an indication of the low level of accountability, consider this as an index of immunity: twooftheaccusedinexamleaks are now MlAs in UP. This newspaper scrutinised case records from 2002 to 2025, covering 27 job recruitment examsand18higher-education entrancetestsandschoolboard examinations, and spoke to investigators and senior government officials. The findings: At Arrested Chargesheeted Convicted (2 cases) In judicial custody 3.86 lreserve bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra will announce the decision of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee amid expectations that the key interest rate will be left unchanged at 5.25 per cent. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com business as usual By EP UNNY amrita nayak dutta New Delhi, June 4 UndERlInIng THAT the Indian Army has accelerated the absorptionofdrones,UAVs,loitering munitions and counterUAS systems in a structured manner, Army chief general Upendra dwivedi said Thursday that the larger aim of the Army is not merely to procure drones,buttoabsorbtheminto the way the Army trains, operates and fights. InaninterviewwithTheIndian Express, general dwivedi said the procurement and in- General Upendra dwivedi duction of drones cover a wide range of capabilities, that the Army is also introducing better commandandcontrolarrangementsforadrone-densebattle- * With at least 1 lakh candidates in each least 1,658 people arrested, 925 charge-sheeted,18convictedin two cases, 32 acquitted in two cases,and43stillinjudicialcustody.Andyet,onlyatinyclutch of senior officials faced action (see related report on page 8). Butmorethanthenumbers, it’s the human cost that stings: More than 3.86 crore aspirants »Continued on page 8 field, including a Unified Control Centre at division levels to managethegrowingnumberof UAS and C-UAS systems at the tactical level. general dwivedi is set to retireastheArmychiefattheend of this month. Much of the Army’s accelerated move towardsprocuringandinducting drones, unmanned aerial systems, loitering munitions and counter-drone capabilities have gathered pace during his tenure in the last two years. Various structures, procedures andcommandsystemsneeded »Continued on page 2 ‘Can’t forget her screams’: TISS postgrad, new job, a life cut short inside Mumbai, New Delhi, June 4 pages 6, 11 setback for opp as dmk to skip india bloc meeting monsoon Hits kerala; Heavy rainfall until june 7, says imd l FOR SHRUTIkA Baranwal, a 25-year-old from Bokaro in Jharkhand,theworldwaswaiting. A post-graduate from the TataInstituteofSocialSciences in Mumbai, she had already landed a job in the city through campus placement. The Master’s degree in Water Policy and governance was to be conferred later at a convocation. HiredbytheRubber,Chemical & Polymer Skill development Council, Shrutika travelled to delhi to complete induction formalities and be pages 3, 4 police: owner went to Hotel, saw it burning and left at a condolence meeting in mumbai Thursday. PAllAvI SMArt back in Mumbai to start her career. But that was not to be. She was one of the 21 who perished Wednesday in the fire that en- among tHe dead: kyrgyzstan woman waiting to go Home after transplant, Her son and motHer gulfed a B&B facility in Hauz Rani in South delhi – she was oneofthefewwhohadchecked in on a work-related visit, »Continued on page 2 { marJane satrapi • 1969-2026 } ‘What can i do to offer a little bit of a dream to people?’: Persepolis author dies of ‘sadness’ paromita Chakrabarti man, and the then 46-year-old waslookingforwardtothestart of the shooting schedule in InJAnUARY2016,MarjaneSa- Jodhpur later in the summer. trapi was in new delhi after It had been well over a decdays of location and talent ade since the publication of scouting for the cinematic Persepolis, her graphic novel in adaptationofFrenchwriterRo- two parts, about an Iranian girl main Puértolas’s comingofageduring page 1 The Extraordinary the Islamic RevolJourneyofTheFakir ution and the IranWho Got Trapped in Iraq War but its an Ikea Cupboard that she was toweringsuccessnotwithstandto direct. She had got on board ing,theFrench-Iraniangraphic actor dhanush for the lead, novelist-and-filmmaker detalks were on with Uma Thur- clared that she had no interest New Delhi, June 4 anchor marjane satrapi took world inside post-revolution Iran, amplified sorrows, demands of its women. AP fIle In last 10 yrs, mutual funds avoided Rajesh Exports, LIC stake up 5 times to 10.8% 1,658 925 18 43 among 21 who perished in south delhi fire pallavi smart & drishti Jain gold exporter under sebi lens crore aspirants Happening Army chief: Accelerating absorption today of drones, better command systems inside Venezuela, India in talks for long-term energy pacts to the art form any more. “I am like a car that cannot drive back. Once something is finished, it’s finished. You know all these people who get divorced and then get married to the same guy? If you want to getremarried,atleasttrysomeone new. I don’t like to go back to doing the same thing, so I don’t think I will make comic books (she preferred the term to ‘graphic novels’) anymore. It was very pleasant, I was very happy doing it, now I want to »Continued on page 2 Prime minister narendra modi with Venezuela’s acting President delcy rodriguez in new delhi on Thursday. AnIl ShArMA Rodriguez, Modi hold discussions; tech team to go to Venezuela: Puri shubhajit roy New Delhi, June 4 IndIA And Venezuela Thursday discussed “forging an energy partnership” and entering into “long-term contracts” as delcy Rodriguez, on her first trip to India after becoming Acting President of her country, held talks with Prime Minister narendra Modi in new delhi. Rodriguez took charge of Venezuela after President nicolas Maduro was abducted by US forces in a military operation in January this year. After meeting Rodriguez, Modi, in a post on X, said, “We had extensive discussions on expanding our cooperation in energy, critical minerals, technology, agriculture, health and people-to-people ties.” »Continued on page 2 george mathew & sandeep singh Mumbai, June 4 RAJESHExports,undertheSecuritiesandExchangeBoardof India (SEBI) scanner for allegedly inflating revenues by Rs 15.15 lakh crore over FY21 to FY25, was listed more than three decades ago in 1995. But domestic institutional investors, barring one, kept away fromitsstockforatleastthelast 10 years, according to shareholdingdataobtainedfromthe company’s website. A look at the domestic institutional holding in the Rajesh Mehta-promoted Rajesh Exports, a gold and jewellery ex- E. expLained High revenues, low profits The Sebi action has cast a harsh spotlight on Rajesh Mehta’s stewardship of a company celebrated for its scale but questioned for its unusually thin profit margins. porter, shows mutual funds’ maximum exposure in the company was at 0.5% in March 2016; it has only dipped since »Continued on page 2