Daily Briefing: As NEET retest nears, aspirants’ suicides mount; Cocktail 2 review; and more

With that, let’s move on to the top five stories from today’s edition:

🚨 Big Story

In the weeks between the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 and the nationwide retest scheduled for June 21, at least 12 students across India died by suicide. The re-examination was ordered after the suspected leak of a 150-page ‘guess paper’ circulated in Rajasthan’s Sikar, with investigators finding links to an interstate network based in Maharashtra’s Latur. In at least five of the 12 cases, no suicide note was found. Through conversations with families and investigators, The Indian Express traces the uncertainty, pressure and grief that followed.

In the Northeast: Now, with just a day left for the NEET re-examination, aspirants in Manipur are worried as fresh conflict and hardening of faultlines have made circumstances significantly different. A 19-year-old has had to travel days before the test to the location of her examination centre, under the cover of night and accompanied by security personnel. The tensions have resulted in vast swathes of the state, including roads and highways, becoming potentially dangerous for members of each of the three communities. The circumstances have led the district administration, police, and security forces to arrange convoys for the safe passage of medical aspirants from Kangpokpi through the Imphal valley to Churachandpur.

⚡ Only in Express

“What began as a casual conversation with Sanjay Singh eventually became a year-long effort to separate myth from fact. The deeper we dug, the clearer it became that the story most people think they know is only part of the truth.”

The 1978 kidnapping and the murder of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra in Delhi by the duo, Ranga and Billa, has become one of India’s most renowned criminal cases. Drawing from his days as a young crime reporter in Bombay, Raju Santhanam recalls how he initially came across the name “Billa” while reporting from across the city. He describes how he broke the news of Billa’s escape from the Crime Branch cell, which became a matter of embarrassment for the police. Uncovering a lesser-known chapter of the incident, the reporter narrates how a photograph provided to him by the Bombay Police, and circulated by The Indian Express across all its editions at the time, helped bring the duo to justice.

💡 Express Explained

The recent talks held in Bonn, Germany, threw up an interesting proposal to tackle climate change. Turkey, the host of the year-ending climate conference COP31 2026, proposed that the world should aim to meet at least a third of its energy needs from electricity by 2035 to reduce emissions. As of now, only about 20% of the world’s final energy consumption is met through electricity. The electrification target, if agreed upon, would be an addition to multiple other climate-related global goals that are already in place, such as the temperature targets contained in the Paris Agreement. What would such a measure entail? We explain.

✍️ Express Opinion

As the Tata Group grapples with internal conflicts, retired directors R Gopalakrishnan and Noshir Soonawala share their pain and suggest an alignment between the firm’s enterprise and philanthropy institutions. They write: “Though leaders will seek power and glory, they must combine adaptiveness and humility. There is no magic formula to reconcile ambiguities. However, there is value in a self-questionnaire: One, do I listen enough? Two, do I shun cliques and gossip? Three, do my actions convey that the institution is bigger than myself? Four, are responsibilities clear so that there is tight accountability for results?”

🎥 Movie Review

Wondering what to watch this weekend? Well, we’ve got you covered! Cocktail 2, a spiritual sequel of the 2012 original, has hit the theatres, bringing you a love-triangle filled with melodrama. In her review, Shubhra Gupta writes: “Ultimately Cocktail 2 comes off as a bit of a cocktail itself, swinging between style and substance. It is Shahid Kapoor who carries this film with a pleasing conviction I haven’t seen in a long time. And while I missed Deepika Padukone’s wild wounded-ness, Sanon isn’t half bad herself. But there’s no getting past the conservatism which comes wrapped in this pyaar ka punchnama: for all its modern vibe, it’s the guy who gets the last word, not the gals.”

That’s it for today! Have a lovely weekend!

Until next time,
Ariba

Business As Usual by E P Unny