www.indianeXpress.com mcs/204/2020-22 rni no. mahenG 2002/21899 GoinG with the Crowd mumbai, June 21, 2026 How crowd work became comedy’s hottest art form — and sometimes its biggest headache SCreen Ricky Kej on Bollywood music overshadowing other Indian genres late city 12+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 , p a t n a , p u n e , v a d o d a r a vanCe SayS wIll leave fOr SwITZerland SOOn, Team already There 128 156 194 90 Happening today lThe IndIan navy is sched- uled to commission three indigenously built frontline platforms, ‘Dunagiri, Sanshodhak, and Agray’ in Kolkata. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com In run-up to talks, Iran says Strait of Hormuz shut again, US denies 3 India-flagged oil tankers cross Strait safely: Sonowal Iran cites Israel strikes in Lebanon, negotiators head to Switzerland vikas Pathak New Delhi, June 20 Kareem Chehayeb, bassem mroue & munir ahmed Tyre, Beirut, Islamabad , June 20 IRAN ON saturday said it had closed the strait of hormuz because of Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon and warned »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 after the israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon, saturday. ap thRee INDIAN-flagged crude oil tankers carrying “over 8.6 lakh million tonnes of cargo with 94 Indian crew members” crossed the strait of hormuz safely on saturday, Union Minister of Ports, shipping and Waterways sarbananda sonowal said. In a post on X, sonowal said the tankers — Desh Vaibhav, Desh Vibhor and Sanmar Herald — had “successfully transited the strait of hormuz todayandareenroutetoIndia”. “safepassagesecured,”hesaid. sayingthatthegovernment was working on “highest priority to secure India’s maritime interests”, he added: “Our Ministry is actively coordinating with all relevant agencies to »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 Ex-NCP minister, 7 others acquitted in 2006 murder of Cong leader Sadaf modak Mumbai, June 20 A sPeCIAL CBI Court in Mumbaionsaturdayacquittedeight accused,includingformerNCP minister Padamsinh Patil, in the 2006 murder of Congress leader Pavanraje Nimbalkar and his driver. Patil (86), a former Maharashtra home Minister and the main accused, is the brother of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister sunetra Pawar. special Judge s R Navander said the prosecution had failed to produce satisfactory evidence connecting the accused with the planning, execution, financing or aftermath of the Former ncP minister Padamsinh Patil outside the mumbai court on saturday. Ganesh shirseKar offence. “Crucial scientific, documentary, electronic and corroborative evidence that could reasonably have been collected during investigation has either not been collected at allorhasnotbeenproducedbefore the Court,” the Judge said. the CBI has said it will challenge the acquittal in the high Court. Nimbalkar's son, Omraje, a shiv sena (UBt) Lok sabha member from Dharashiv, also said the family would challenge the acquittal in the high Court. Omraje, who is among the MPs expected to quit the shiv sena (UBt) to join the eknath shinde-led shiv sena, had maintained that he would take afinaldecisionaftertheverdict in the murder case. On saturday, he said: “the court verdict and my political decision are two completely different issues. Linking the two is ridiculous”. Omraje was present in the courtroom during the pronouncement of the judgment. Patil was brought in an ambulance and was seated on a wheelchair. Nimbalkar and his driver, samad Kazi, were shot dead on the Mumbai-Pune expressway onJune3,2006.WhileNimbalkarandPatilwerecousins,they had a strained relationship after 2002 due to various »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 NEET retest today, NTA ready with more security and quick processing All prep in 38 days: Papers, translation, printing and transportation abhinaya harigovind New Delhi, June 20 the NAtIONAL testing Agency conducted a nationwide mock drill on saturday to assess preparedness at centres and said it is all set to conduct a smooth and secure Neet-UG retest for 22.79 lakh candidates on sunday. the NtA had on May 12 announcedthecancellationofthe Neet-UG exam held on May 3 after allegations of a paper leak surfaced in Rajasthan. the matter is now being probed by the CBI. “We have added personnel to reduce the waiting time for biometric authentication, so that the process is quick,” National testing Agency Director General Abhishek singh told The Indian Express. the NtA has attempted to ensure a balance of adequate security »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 at renukai career centre, whose founder was identified by the cbi as one of those allegedly responsible for leaking and circulating the neeT-ug questions, in maharashtra’s Latur, saturday. pallavi smart inSide denied delhi police nod to continue protest, dipKe says won’t move Page 2 leaKs stain nta scorecard versus other aGencies Page 6 In Latur, leak casts long shadow, students keep faith in their dreams Pallavi Smart Latur, June 20 LAtURINMaharashtramaybe under the spotlight for the CBI probeintotheleakofNeet-UG papers,butthathasnotstopped Ramkisan Garad, a 79-year old farmer from a village in Majalgaon taluka in neighbouring Beeddistrict,fromgettingalong hisgrandsonforadmissioninto acoachingclassinthistier-2city. “My son and I have faced repeated farming losses due to uncertain rainfall. We dream that shubham (grandson) will study and build a better life,” says Garad. shubham is 16, has »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 l FronTLine docTors in easTern drc warn oF LimiTed TesTing, insecuriTy, FragiLe heaLTh sysTems the outbreak is outpacing us: inside Congo’s fight against rare ebola strain page 1 anchor rinku Ghosh New Delhi, June 20 DR KeRRy Dierberg barely pausesasshecoordinatesshifts of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers for a 24-hour vigil atahealthcentreinGoma.this city, in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is Ground Zero of the world’s worst ebola outbreak. No matter what the care burden or shortage of medicines and supplies, we have to protect ourselves and healthcare workers” dr Kerry dIerberG, emerGency medical coordinator at msf A transit hub with a population over 1 million, it has a bustling cross-border economy with Rwanda, geography which has also made it a latent spreader zone. “It has been a month after the ebola outbreak and it is still outpacing our response efforts. there are big gaps in surveillance, diagnosis, contact tracing and community engagement,” she says, speaking from Goma to The Indian Express. she rotates teams working »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 What Sunetra brother’s acquittal means for Uddhav Sena split Zeehan Shaikh Mumbai, June 20 E. As the shiv sena (UBt) battles a rebellion by six of its nine Lok sabha MPs, a court verdict delivered on saturday has removed a key uncertainty surrounding one of the rebel camp’s most prominent faces. the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special Court’s acquittal of former minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Padamsinh Patil, who is also Deputy Chief »COnTInUed On PaGe 2 20 new national records in 3 months: Behind Indian athletics’ winning run nihal Koshie New Delhi, June 20 thReeNeWmen’s100metres records in two days; men’s 400 metres in sub-45 seconds; 8,000-point barrier crossed in decathlon; a five-decade-old marathon record down from 2 hours, 12 minutes to 2 hours, 11 minutes and 58 seconds. In just over three months, from the end of February until early June, Indian records in athletics were broken 20 times. It’s happening across age groups, too. Nineteen-year-old Pooja singh rewrote a 14-yearold women’s high jump record, 31-year-old Parul Chaudhary bettered her mark in the 5,000 metres. And half-a-dozen indoor marks have also been improved. Athletics Federation of India(AFI)spokespersonAdille sumariwalla predicts a good show at the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Asiad. “We have found cracks inthedam,intimethedamwill break. We moved to 29 medals at the Asian Games (in 2023). »COnTInUed On PaGe 2