17052026-TTC-01.qxd 5/17/2026 12:40 AM Page 1 c m y b 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 10 NO. 135 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 AFTER TRUMP, PUTIN TO VISIT CHINA ON MAY 19 WORLD /thetribunechd ZOJILA TUNNEL NEARS BREAKTHROUGH, 100 M WORK LEFT J&K DILJIT’S ‘AURA TOUR’ & HIS NO TO JOINING POLITICS SPECTRUM ROBERT VADRA GETS BAIL IN GURUGRAM LAND DEAL CASE BACK PAGE sunday | 17 may 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com CBI nabs another teacher over NEET leak,botany,zoologyquestionson NTAcoachingclassespanel remained duringspecial paper foraspirants ‘Disclosed’ Harsh Yadav Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 The CBI on Saturday arrested a Pune-based botany teacher, who is allegedly another mastermind and a source of the leak of biology questions of the NEET-UG 2026 examination. The accused, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a senior botany teacher, was arrested in the national capital after interrogation by the CBI. Her arrest came a day after Prof PV Kulkarni and other accused were arrested in the case, officials said on Saturday. Kulkarni, a domain expert in chemistry from Latur, had for years served on panels involved in setting the NEET question paper. Mandhare too was involved in the NEET-UG examination process and appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as a botany expert. She had complete access to the botany and zoology question papers, the agency said. The CBI had so far apprehended nine accused as the investigation into the paper leak was continues, said the officials. The probe agency said Mandhare had mobilised Monsoon likely to hitnorthwestdays early on June 20 Student activists during a protest against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi on Saturday. PHOTO: MUKESH AGGARWAL NEET candidates in April 2026 through another accused, Manisha Waghmare, of Pune, who has already been arrested by the CBI. She conducted special coaching classes for candidates at her Pune residence and disclosed various questions from botany and zoology subjects and made the stu- dents note these in their notebooks. A majority of these questions tallied with the actual NEET-UG examination held on May 3, the agency mentioned. The CBI said in the last 24 hours, it had conducted searches at six locations across the country and seized several incriminating Vijay Mohan NCB makes first-ever seizure of ‘jihadi drug’ worth ~182-cr Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 In a major crackdown on transnational narcotics trafficking, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized nearly 228 kg of Captagon — the notorious amphetamine popularly dubbed the “jihadi drug” — with an estimated international market value of Rs 182 crore, in what officials described as India’s first-ever seizure of the banned substance. The operation, codenamed Operation Ragepill, exposed an alleged Syria-linked drug trafficking network that was using India as a transit hub to smuggle Captagon consignments to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The NCB said the operation began following intelligence inputs from a foreign drug law enforcement agency indi- nine accused had been arrested in the case from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahliyanagar. Of these, five have already been produced before a court and remanded to sevenday police custody. Two accused, who were arrested on Friday, were produced before a court in Pune and continued on page 6 Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service new Delhi, May 16 In a stern message to Islamabad, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday said if Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then it will have to “decide whether it wants to be part of geography or history or not”. The Army Chief was at an interactive session at the Manekshaw Centre here, where he was asked about how the Army would respond if the circumstances that led to Operation Sindoor last year surfaced again. General Dwivedi said, “If you had heard me earlier, what I 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 geography or history or not.” General Dwivedi’s remarks came days after RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale, in an interview to a news agency, said fostering dialogue with Pakistan was important. “If Pakistan is like a pinprick trying to create incidents like Pulwama, we have to answer appropriately according to the situation MODI’S ROYAL CONNECT Exposes Syria-linked network using India as transit route to Gulf cating that international syndicates were routing Captagon shipments through India. Acting on the inputs, officials raided a rented house in Delhi’s Neb Sarai area on May 11 and recovered around 31.5 kg of Captagon tablets concealed inside a commercial chapati-cutting machine allegedly meant for export to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Investigators arrested a Syrian national who had allegedly entered India on a tourist visa in November 2024 but continued to stay illegally after his visa expired in January this year. Further interrogation led investigators to a container at continued on page 6 PM Narendra Modi with Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima in Amsterdam. The PM discussed cooperation in digital technology, innovation and blue economy with the royals. PTI DECADE OF DISASTERS, POVERTY COULD RETURN This decade is turning out to be a decade of disasters... the achievements of the past several decades could be undone. A vast segment of the global population could once again be pushed back into the quagmire of poverty. — PM Modi BACK PAGE ❝ Tribune News Service Claims was misquoted, proud of nation’s youth In a statement issued on Saturday, CJI Kant clarified: “It is totally baseless to suggest I criticised the youth of our nation. Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me. It is not an exaggeration to say that Indian youth have great regard and respect for me and I too see them as the pillars of a developed India.” The clarification follows a controversy during a hearing on Friday, when CJI Kant used words such as “parasites” and “cockroaches” while pulling up a lawyer over his petition on the designation of senior advocates. — TNS New Delhi, May 16 For centuries, the copper plates remained far from the land where they were once buried for safekeeping. They survived wars and dynasties, crossed oceans during the colonial era, spent more than 160 years in a European university archive, and eventually became the focus of a diplomatic effort between India and the Netherlands. On Saturday, that long journey finally began turning homeward. In a moment heavy with history and symbolism, Leiden University in the Netherlands announced its decision to return the famed 11th-century Chola Plates — among the most important surviving records of the Chola Empire — to India after an official inquiry concluded that the artefacts The copper plates were taken out from India 160 years ago. had left the country during Dutch colonial rule without the consent of their “rightful custodians”. The announcement came during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to The Hague, where the return of the ancient inscriptions emerged as one of the most significant cultural outcomes of the IndiaNetherlands engagement. Known internationally as the Leiden Plates, the inscriptions date back nearly a mil- lennium to the reigns of Rajendra Chola I and Kulottunga Chola I. Historians regard them as invaluable records of the Chola Empire at the height of its political, maritime and cultural influence. Written in Tamil and Sanskrit, the copper plates record royal grants made to the Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist monastery in Nagapattinam, reflecting the deep links between the Chola kingdom and the Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including six-page Spectrum and four page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Former SAD leader Surjit Singh Rakhra, who had switched over to the SAD (Punar Surjit) faction, on Saturday joined AAP at a gathering in the presence of CM Bhagwant Mann here. Welcoming him and his brother Charanjit Rakhra into the party fold, the CM said, “Rakhra tried to reform the SAD, but the party had gone astray and fallen into the wrong hands.” INSIDE CHANDIGARH: Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi at ‘Sena Samvad’ in New Delhi. PTI because the security and selfrespect of a country and nation have to be protected, and the government of the day should take note of it and take care of it,” Hosabale had said, citing terrorist attacks such as 26/11 Mumbai, Pulwama and Pahalgam. “But at the same time, we need not close the doors,” he added. “We should always be ready to engage in dialogue. That is why diplomatic relations are maintained, trade and commerce continue, and visas are being given. So we should not stop these, because there continued on page 6 Tribune News Service Ujwal Jalali PATIALA: EDsummonsPSPCL CMD in Arora case Rishika Kriti ‘Cockroach’ remark for those Netherlands returns 11th century Chola-era plates with fake degrees, clarifies CJI New Delhi, May 16 Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday clarified that his remarks referring to certain elements as “parasites” were being misquoted by a section of the media, asserting that his comments were aimed only at those entering professions with fake degrees and not at the youth. “I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday. What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have also sneaked into the media, social media and other noble professions, and hence, they are like parasites,” the CJI said. Remark days after RSS’ Hosabale called for talks Former SAD leader Rakhra joins AAP Days after the arrest of AAP minister Sanjeev Arora in a PMLA case, the ED has summoned PSPCL CMD Basant Garg in an alleged case of returning of bank guarantee worth Rs 1.97 crore to a company associated with Arora. The ED has asked the CMD to present record related to the case. INSIDE Union minister’s son held in POCSO case HYDERABAD: Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s son Bandi Bageerath, who was booked under the POCSO Act, surrendered before the police on Saturday. A case was registered him on May 8 on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged that Bageerath sexually harassed her. INSIDE 14 of Punjab’s 23 dists see decline in gender ratio; Malwa worst-hit Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 The monsoon is expected to hit northwest India on June 20 this year, four to six days ahead of its normal onset period of June 24-26. Though it is similar to last year, the monsoon had entered the region on June 27 in 2024, on June 24 in 2023 and on June 29 in 2022. In 2021, the onset date was June 13. Over the past 26 years since the turn of the century, the monsoon has entered the region before June 20 only on five occasions, the earliest being June 6, 2000. The other years were 2021, 2013, 2008 and 2004. A map showing the progress of the monsoon released by the India Meteorological Department on May 16 forecasts the monsoon touching the easternmost fringes of continued on page 6 documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones. Detailed analysis of the seized items is going on. The CBI had registered a case over the paper leak on May 12 based on the written complaint by the Department of Higher Education, Union Ministry of Education. The probe agency said the Pak must decide if it wants to be part of geography or history, warns Army Chief Srivijaya empire in Southeast Asia. Together weighing nearly 30 kg, the plates bear royal seals and detailed inscriptions that scholars say offer rare insight into medieval South India’s administration, trade networks and religious life. But the story of the artefacts themselves is equally remarkable. According to findings accepted by Leiden University, the plates were likely unearthed between 1687 and 1700 during operations of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Nagapattinam, then a key colonial trading outpost under Dutch control. Investigators believe the plates had originally been buried carefully underground, possibly to protect them during a period of political upheaval and conflict. continued on page 6 Jalandhar, May 16 Though Punjab’s sex ratio at birth has shown a marginal improvement, rising from 922 females per 1,000 males in 2024 to 924 in 2025, the overall trend continues to remain worrisome, with 14 of the state’s 23 districts witnessing a decline. The latest data from the Punjab Health Department showed that Doaba districts Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur recorded the best performance in the state with 964 and 962 females per 1,000 males respectively. However, Punjab still remains below the national average of 928 females per 1,000 males. Muktsar emerged as the worst-performing district with 891 females per 1,000 males, followed by Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib (both at 893). Nawanshahr Civil Surgeon Dr Gurinderjit Singh said, “We have directed our ANM and ASHA workers to increase vigilance at diagnostic centres. Also, these staff keep a check on pregnant women 10 WORST PERFORMERS DISTRICT 2024 2025 Muktsar 904 891 Fatehgarh Sahib 895 893 Mohali 904 893 Sangrur 901 896 Tarn Taran 908 903 Mansa 921 906 Ludhiana 927 914 Amritsar 917 915 Jalandhar 939 924 Moga 960 932 who already have girl children as they are more likely to opt for female foeticide compared to those expecting first child.” According to the data, while some border districts have shown signs of improvement, the Malwa region continues to be the worst affected. Fazilka recorded the highest sex ratio at birth with 932 females per 1,000 males, unchanged from last year. Pathankot witnessed a notable rise, improving from 911 in 2024 to 926 in 2025. continued on page 6 Andhra CM promises cash incentive for 3rd, 4th child Narasannapeta, May 16 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday announced incentives of Rs 30,000 for the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth as part of efforts to reverse the state’s declining population trend. Addressing a public meeting at Narsannapeta in Srikakulam district, Naidu said he had taken the decision and would announce further details within a month. “We Move aimed to reverse population decline: Naidu will provide Rs 30,000 immediately after the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth child. Isn’t this the right decision?” Naidu said on the sidelines of the SwarnaAndhra SwachAndhra cleanliness programme. Although he had once advocated population control continued on page 6