The Editorial Page: Look beyond strategic autonomy, and closer at the Quad possibility 8 WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 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 happening today lPrime minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome. lFacebook owner meta is expected to start laying off 10% of its staff as part of an overhaul as it surges its AI investments. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com The ideas page p 9 iNdiA ANd iTAly look ToThEfuTuRE,bouNd by powER of CulTuRE ANd A ShAREd viSioN BY PM NArENDrA MODI AND ITALY PM GIOrGIA MELONI GroUPinG to meet sePtember 12-13 wHat maDe nationaL testinG aGency Look witHin All Chemistry questions in ‘guess paper’ matched with those in actual NEET exam E. Based on own probe, NTA referred names of Chemistry paper-setters and translators to CBI abhinaya Harigovind New Delhi, May 19 A 100% MATCH of Chemistry questions in the ‘guess paper’ with the actual nEET paper is what led the national Testing Agency to look within and then zero in on the source pool of the leak.Basedonitsinternalprobe, the nTA referred the names of all Chemistry paper setters and translators to the Central BureauofInvestigation(CBI)for further examination, sources close to the development said. According to the sources, four days after the nationwide nEET exam on May 3, the nTA had on May 7 received an email from a whistleblower in Sikar. This whistleblower had first mailed information about the leak to the nTA, and subse- explained putting its own house in order union education minister dharmendra pradhan chairs a review meeting on the neeT (uG) retest, in new delhi, Tuesday. pTI quently shared the pdf of the leaked paper. upon comparing itwiththeactualpaper,thenTA found that 100% of the Chemistry questions were leaked, and »continUeD on PaGe 2 The NTA is increasing its institutional strength. Besides getting four officers, two of Joint Secretary rank and two of Joint Director rank, the agency has advertised for appointing contract professionals, including a Chief Technology Officer, a Chief Financial Officer and a Chief Human Resource Officer. Xi and Putin likely to be in Delhi for BricS meet business as usual By EP UNNY SC cites citizen’s right to move freely, allows euthanasia of ‘rabid, dangerous’ stray dogs Dayaftersc’s reminderon bailrule,Umar khalid’splea rejected sohini Ghosh New Delhi, May 19 AdAYaftertheSupremeCourt, while underlining that bail is the rule and jail an exception even in uAPA cases, expressed “serious reservations” on the decision of one of its own benches to deny bail to activist umar Khalid in the 2020 delhi riots case, a delhi court Tuesday declined to grant him interim bail. Khalid had sought bail to observe a death ritual of his uncle and to take care of his mother who is due to undergo surgery. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sameer Bajpai of the Karkardooma Court, while turning down the interim bail request, held that “attending the Chehlum ceremony (observed on the 40th day after death) of his uncle is not that necessary”, and that “things would have been different if the ceremony was of a person who was in immediate relation” with Khalid. “... if the relation was so immediate and thick, (Khalid) would have asked for the release at the time of death of his uncle only and not now after such a long time. Therefore, the court does not find his reason to be just,” ASJ Bajpai said. declining any relief on the grounds of his mother’s surgery, the court observed that he has five sisters, and though they do not live in the vicinity, Dismisses pleas against direction on relocation of stray canines ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, May 19 undErLInInG THAT the right to live with dignity under Article 21 includes the right to move in public spaces without fear of dog bites, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed euthanasiaofstraydogsiftheyare “rabid, incurably ill or demonstrablydangerous/aggressive”, in accordance with the existing rules and laws. dismissing applications challengingthecourt’snovember 2025 directions on dealing with stray dogs, a three-judge benchofJusticesVikramnath, Sandeep Mehta and n V Anjaria said: “The right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India necessarily encompasses the right of everycitizentomovefreelyand access public spaces without living under a constant appre- The Big PicTure explained sUmmit Voices concern oVer cHanGinG worLD orDer China President’s last visit to India was in Oct 2019, months before LAC standoff pAgE 14 shubhajit roy quESTioNS of RighT To lifE, CompASSioN To liviNg bEiNgS hension of physical harm, attack, or exposure to life-threateningevents,suchas dog bites in public areas.” “In areas where the population of stray dogs has assumed alarming proportions and where incidents of dog bites or aggressiveattackshavebecome frequentandposeacontinuing threat to public safety, the concernedauthoritiesmay,subject to due assessment by qualified veterinary experts, and strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, theAnimalBirthControl(ABC) rules and other applicable statutory protocols, take such measuresasmaybelegallypermissible,includingeuthanasia, in cases involving rabid, incurably ill or demonstrably dangerous/ aggressive dogs so as to effectively curb the threat »continUeD on PaGe 2 New Delhi, May 19 prime minister narendra modi with (from left) norway pm Jonas Gahr store, Finland pm petteri orpo, sweden pm ulf kristersson, iceland pm kristrun Frostadottir and denmark pm mette Frederiksen at the nordic-indian summit at the city hall in oslo, norway, Tuesday. Ap shubhajit roy New Delhi, May 19 ASIndIAandnordiccountries agreed to transform ties into a GreenTechnologyPartnership, leadersofallsixcountriesTuesday flagged concerns over glo- manish sahu Lucknow, May 19 bihAR’S powERplAy »continUeD on PaGe 2 pAgE 13 ruSSIAn PrESIdEnT Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to attend the new delhi summit of BrICS leaders on September 12 and 13, sources told TheIndian Express Tuesday. It is learnt that the russian andtheChinesesideshaveconveyed to new delhi that their leaders are likely to come for the summit. Putin’spresenceatthesummit was confirmed by russian officials, according to russian news agency TASS. He will also be attending the Shanghai Cooperationorganizationsummit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on August 31 and September 1. Prime Minister narendra Modi too is likelytoattendtheSCosummit. Sources said Xi’s participationintheBrICSSummitisthe most anticipated visit. It will be his first visit to India after october 2019 when he was at Mamallapuram near Chennai for the second informal summit of India-China leaders. Bilateral ties between India and China dived after a border standoff began in April-May 2020. The process of stabilisation of ties began after Modi »continUeD on PaGe 2 Green tech to innovation, India elevates ties with Nordic nations In Bengal, new norms for slaughter spread PM: Nordic expertise, India’s talent can confusion and fear develop trusted solutions for world bal tensions and turbulence in the international order. Prime Minister narendra Modi said India and the nordic nations will continue to stand together in upholding a “rules-based global order”. After the third India-nordic Suvendu aide murder case: CBI arrests 5th suspect from Varanasi AdAYafterarrestingthefourth suspect in connection with the killing of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant, Chandranath rath, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday arrested another suspect from Varanasi, officials said. officials said the arrested russian president vladimir putin with chinese Foreign minister Wang yi after arriving in beijing, Tuesday. REuTERs The World, p 15 The suspect being produced at a court in barasat, north 24 parganas district, Tuesday. pTI man, identified as 40-year-old Vinay rai alias Pumpum rai, originally hails from the Zamani area of Ghazipur. Police said rai has three criminal cases registered against him in Ghazipur, including one for attempt to murder. As per information, officials said rai had relocated to Varanasi several years ago, where he was engaged in property »continUeD on PaGe 2 summitinoslo,Modisaid,“We have decided to shape the India-nordic relationship into a strategic partnership focused on green technology and innovation. Through this Green Technology Partnership, by combining Iceland’s expertise in geothermal energy and fisheries,norway’sstrengthsin theblueeconomyandArcticaffairs, and the maritime and »continUeD on PaGe 2 inside at his cowshed in south 24 parganas, sadhan Ghosh says he planned to sell the cows to repay a loan: ‘but that looks difficult now’. pARThA pAul ravik bhattacharya pETRol, diESEl pRiCES hikEd by 90 pAiSE p 16 SimulTANEouS ElECTioNS will SAvE RS 7 lAkh CRoRE: houSE pANEl ChiEf p 4 Bhangar, May 19 STAndInGnEArhiscowshed in Ghoshpara in Bhangar, South24Parganas(about28km from Kolkata), Sadhan Ghosh says he is running out of options.Hetookaloanofrs5lakh fromalocalmoneylenderat4% interest rate, and hoped to repay it by selling nine of the 10 cows he owns. That looks diffi- cultfornow,Ghoshsays.Meanwhile, “every day, I am spending rs 500 per cow on fodder”. About 15 minutes drive from Ghoshpara is Polerhat Goru Haat (Polerhat cow market). on any given day, nearly 2,000 cows would be bought and sold here, especially ahead of Bakr-i-Eid, which is falling this year on May 27-28. These days, the ground holds barely »continUeD on PaGe 2 l From a ‘very privaTe number’, a very public scam In Rajkot, a con, clone DPs and govt officer who did not fear his ‘boss’ brendan Dabhi It was an unusual order, delivered unusually. Yet Malkan, sitting in his office on nana Around 1 pm on May 4, the Mava Main road in Laxminageneral manager (finance) of gar, rajkot, chose to comply. Paschim Gujarat Vij Company He did not recognise the Limited (PGVCL), the number–thesendersaiditwas public-sectorpowerdistributor a “very private number” – but in Western Gujarat, received it did have the display picture a WhatsApp message from (dP) of the PGVCL managing someone he thought was director, IAS officer Ketan P his boss. Joshi. The message inThe sender aspage 1 structed the officer, suredMalkanthathe 54-year-old Kintuwould “provide the kumar Shashikant formalities later”. Malkan, to transfer The message rs 45.6 lakh to an IndusInd turned out to be fake. Malkan Bank account belonging to one ended up being duped by Manisha Mandal. criminals who police believe Ahmedabad, May 19 anchor The offices of paschim Gujarat vij company limited (left) and rajkot urban development authority ExpREss were based in Siliguri in West Bengal. After an alarm was raised, IndusIndBankactedquicklyto freeze rs 33 lakh of the rs 45,60,904 that Malkan had deposited. The rest — nearly rs 12.5 lakh of public money — had been withdrawn by the scamsters. All this was earlier this month. It has now emerged that Malkan wasn’t the only senior government official in rajkot who was targeted that afternoon. A second official got similar WhatsApp messages at almost the same time, from probably the same gang. With one crucial difference. unlike Malkan, this officer, ojas Mehta, the accounts officer at rajkot urban development Authority (rudA), went strictly by the rulebook. Mehtatoldthesenderofthe message – who claimed to be his boss, rudA CEo Gautam V Miyani – that he would not act without an official order from him in writing. That afternoon, Mehta received three messages – like Malkan, from a “very private number”. The first came at 1.26 pm, and asked Mehta to transfer rs 30,60,801 to a Kotak Mahindra Bank account be- Ahmedabad longing to someone called nitin. “Make payment on urgent basis… after my meeting I will provideyouallformalities...try to do fast... Waiting for uTr number,” it said. uTr, or uniqueTransactionreference, is an alphanumeric code that is assigned to all online financial transactions in India. It acts as a digital fingerprint for banks and individuals to track transactions. It was an unusual request. AndMehta,sittingintherudA headquarters on Jamnagar road, a little less than 6 km fromthePGVCLoffice,decided he could not comply. “Sir,pleasesendofficeorder copy,” he messaged back, according to screenshots of the conversation. “ojassendmechequephoto right now... I will manage,” the messager insisted. Mehta remained firm: “I can’t make payment without office order.” He got a third message – in the same urgent, somewhat threatening tone. And he refused to comply for the third time. That was at 2.08 pm. Mehta told The Indian Express that the person who WhatsApped him claiming to be Miyani had the logo of »continUeD on PaGe 2