New Delhi: All MPs from the Opposition INDIA bloc have entered the Lok Sabha together at the commencement of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The leaders gathered at the location where the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was placed earlier, carrying a copy of the Constitution as a symbolic gesture of unity.

The Congress MPs also convened at the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) office in Parliament House earlier today.

The first session, which began today, will witness the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected Members of Parliament. PM Narendra Modi and other prominent cabinet ministers have already taken their oath. A “Swagatam” cutout has been placed at the Parliament Makar Dwar to welcome the newly elected MPs.

Expectations for the first session are high, with the opposition planning to confront the BJP-led NDA government on various issues, including the election of the Speaker, allegations of  paper leaks in NEET-UG and UGC-NET, and the appointment of the pro-tem Speaker.

President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Bharatiya Janata Party lMP Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Mahtab will oversee the oath-taking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Leader of the Lok Sabha, and other members of the House.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will continue until July 3 for the oath/affirmation of newly elected Members. The 264th Session of the Rajya Sabha will commence on June 27 and conclude on July 3.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi

New Delhi: Delhi Water Minister Atishi continued her indefinite fast, which enters the second day on Saturday, over the water crisis in the national capital.

In a video message from her ‘Jal Satyagrah’ venue at Bhogal in south Delhi, Atishi said she will not eat anything till Haryana releases more water for the people in the city, 28 lakh of whom she said were water shortage.

The minister sat on indefinite fast on Friday, alleging that Haryana was not releasing Delhi’s rightful share of water in Yamuna.

She said 110 million gallons per day (MGD) less water was released by Haryana on Friday.

“One MGD water provides for 28,000 people. Shortage of 100 MGD water means 28 lakh people are not getting water in Delhi,” she said.

The Water Minister said that Delhi depends on neighbouring states for water. It receives 1,005 MGD water from neighbouring states through rivers and canals, out of which Haryana provides 613 MGD, she said.

In the extreme summer heat faced by Delhi, Haryana has reduced its share to 513 MGD for a few weeks affecting over 28 lakh people, she added.

 The Centre on Saturday night announced that the probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET will be handed over to the CBI for a comprehensive investigation.

The development came amid a flurry of decisions over alleged irregularities in competitive exams, including the removal of National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Subodh Singh and setting up of a seven-member panel headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan for exam reforms.

“Certain cases of alleged irregularities, cheating, impersonation and malpractices have been reported in NEET-UG which was conducted on May 5.

“For transparency on the conduct of the examination process, it was decided after a review that the matter be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for comprehensive investigation,” a senior Education Ministry official said.

The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protecting the interest of students, the official said, adding any individual and organisation found to be involved in irregularities will face the strictest action.

The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates appeared. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4.

The allegations of irregularities have led to protests in several cities, litigation and sparring between rival political parties.

A fresh plea was filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the CBI and the ED to investigate the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG.

The petition, filed by 10 students who had appeared for the exam, has also sought a direction to Bihar Police to expedite the investigation in the case and file a report before the apex court.

The top court had earlier sought responses from the Centre, the NTA and others on a slew of petitions, including those seeking scrapping of the NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored probe.

The apex court had also stayed further proceedings on similar pleas pending before different high courts.

As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities.

There was also controversy over grace marks awarded to students to make up for the loss of time at six centres. The Centre later told the apex court that the grace marks are being scrapped and these students would be given an option of a retest.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will on Sunday conduct the retest for these 1,563 candidates.

The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

Suraj Revanna

Hassan (Karnataka): JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna — the brother of former MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing allegations of sexually abusing several women — was arrested on Sunday on charges of “unnatural offences” against him, police sources said.

He was booked on Saturday for allegedly sexually abusing a party worker a few days ago and has been booked under different sections of the IPC, including “unnatural offences.”

Suraj was questioned at CEN police station here overnight, before he was arrested, the sources said.

A 27 year-old man had complained to the police that Suraj Revanna, the eldest son of Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna, sexually abused him at his farmhouse in Ghannikada on June 16.

Based on the complaint, the Holenarasipura police registered a case against the JD(S) MLC under IPC sections 377 (unnatural offences), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) late on Saturday evening.

However, Suraj Revanna (37), the grandson of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and the nephew of Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, has categorically refuted the charge. Suraj had also alleged the man had filed a false complaint against him in a bid to extort Rs 5 crore from him.

On Friday, police registered a case of extortion against the JD(S) worker on a complaint by Suraj Revanna’s close aide Shivakumar.

Shivakumar had alleged that the party worker was trying to extort money from Suraj Revanna by threatening to lodge a false case of sexual assault against him.

It has been alleged that while the man demanded Rs 5 crore from Suraj Revanna, later it was reduced to Rs 2 crore.

Suraj’s brother and former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna is in police custody for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and was arrested upon his return from Germany last month.

Prajwal, who lost from Hassan Lok Sabha seat, was arrested on May 31 soon after returning from Germany where he was holed up after rape and intimidation cases were registered against him.

Their father H D Revanna and mother Bhavani are out on bail. They have been accused of kidnapping and keeping an alleged victim of their son Prajwal’s sexual assaults.

Kingstown: Afghanistan stunned heavyweights Australia by 21 runs in their Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.

Afghanistan rode on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (60) and Ibrahim Zadran’s (51) half centuries to post 148 for 6.

All rounder Gulabdin Naib then produced his career-best figures of 4/20 to bowl out Australia for 127 in 19.2 overs.

With the win, Afghanistan kept themselves in contention of a semifinals spot. India and Australia game on Monday could now become a knockout fixture.

Afghanistan had earlier defeated New Zealand in the group stage.

Brief Scores:

Afghanistan 148 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 60, Ibrahim Zadran 51; Pat Cummins 3/28)

Australia 127 all out in 19.2 overs (Glenn Maxwell 59; Gulbadin Naib 4/20)

Former Union Minister Suryakanta Patil

Former Union Minister Suryakanta Patil has resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).“I have learned a lot in the last 10 years, I am thankful to the party,’’ she said after quitting.

Patil, who joined the BJP in 2014 after leaving the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, made the announcement shortly after the party’s disappointing performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Patil, a four-time MP from the Hingoli-Nanded constituency and once an MLA, had sought BJP’s nomination for the Lok Sabha elections in Marathwada’s Hingoli constituency but did not receive the ticket. Expressing dissatisfaction on social media following the decision, she had been allocated the role of poll chief for the Hadgaon Himayatnagar assembly constituency during the general elections.

The seat-sharing arrangement saw the Hingoli seat being allocated to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, a decision that likely contributed to Patil’s departure from the BJP.

The Shiv Sena had lost the Hingoli seat to the Uddhav Thackeray led faction.

Patil has represented the Hingoli-Nanded constituency four times as MP and once as MLA. She was the minister of state for rural development and parliamentary affairs during the UPA government.

Four people were injured as an ambulance caught fire after colliding with a truck in Odisha’s Balasore district on Sunday morning, police said.

The accident took place when the ambulance was heading to the Balasore district hospital from Basta with a patient, they said.

The ambulance hit the container truck from behind near Murkimundi Chhak in the Rupsa police station area. After the collision, the ambulance caught fire, they added.

The patient and injured persons were rescued and admitted to the Balasore district hospital, police said.

The pharmacist of the ambulance was seriously injured, and had been sent to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack for better treatment, they said.

A 19-year-old man was killed after a car speeding on the wrong side of a road hit his motorbike in Maharashtra’s Pune district, police said on Sunday.

The accident took place at around 9.30 pm on Saturday at Mauje Eklahare village on Pune-Nashik road in Ambegaon taluka. The car driver was arrested late night, they said.

The victim was identified as Om Bhalerao, the police said.

A case has been registered against the accused at Manchar police station, an official said.

“The accused was driving a Fortuner car on Pune-Nashik road. He was driving the car on the wrong side of the road while travelling to Manchar village when the vehicle had a head-on collision with the motorbike. The two-wheeler rider was seriously injured in the accident and lost his life,” a senior police official said.

“Both the vehicles were badly damaged in the incident. The car driver has been arrested and a case has also been registered against him. We are conducting further probe into the incident,” he added.

This mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), the space agency said.

The third and final test in the series of Landing Experiment (LEX-03) was conducted at 07:10 1ST at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka.

Following the success of the RLV LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, ISRO in a release said, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions (cross range of 500 m against 150 m for LEX-02) and more severe wind conditions.

The winged vehicle, named ‘Pushpak’, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km “from a release point 4.5 km away from the runway. Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway and performed a precise horizontal landing at the runway centreline,” it said.

Due to this vehicle’s low lift-to-drag ratio aerodynamic configuration, the landing velocity exceeded 320 kmph, compared to 260 kmph for a commercial aircraft and 280 kmph for a typical fighter aircraft, it added.

ISRO said, after touchdown, the vehicle velocity was reduced to nearly 100 kmph using its brake parachute, after which the landing gear brakes were employed for deceleration and stop on the runway.

During this ground roll phase, Pushpak utilises its rudder and nose wheel steering system to autonomously maintain a stable and precise ground roll along the runway, it said.

According to the space agency, this mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).

Through this mission, the advanced guidance algorithm catering to longitudinal and lateral plane error corrections, which is essential for the future Orbital Re-entry Mission has been validated, the space agency noted.

The RLV-LEX uses multi-sensor fusion including sensors like Inertial sensor, Radar altimeter, Flush air data system, Pseudolite system and NavIC, it said, adding “Notably, the RLV-LEX-03 mission reused the winged body and flight systems as such without any modification, from the LEX-02 mission, demonstrating the robustness of ISRO’s capability of design to reuse flight systems for multiple missions.”

The mission, led by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was a collaborative effort involving multiple ISRO centres — Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) and Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

The mission received significant support from the Indian Air Force, Aeronautical Development Establishment, Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness under Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification, National Aerospace Laboratories, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Indian aerospace industrial partners, Indian Oil Corporation of India and Airport Authority of India.

S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, Department of Space, congratulated the team for their efforts in maintaining the success streak in such complex missions.

Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of VSSC, emphasised that this consistent success boosts ISRO’s confidence in the critical technologies essential for future orbital re-entry missions.

J Muthupandian is the Mission Director and B Karthik is the Vehicle Director for this successful mission.