New Delhi: The board exams for class 10 and 12 will begin from February 15, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced on Wednesday.

In a late night notification, the board announced that the class 10 exams will conclude on March 18 while class 12 exams will end on April 4, 2025.

For the first time, the datesheet has been issued by the board at least 86 days in advance.

“Sufficient gap has been given between two subjects. The datesheet has been prepared by keeping in mind at least 40,000 subject combinations to ensure that no two subjects opted by a student fall on the same date,” CBSE Exam Controller, Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

Belagavi: A primary school teacher from Sonatti village in Belagavi district spent Rs 2.1 lakh from his savings to take 17 students on an air trip to Hyderabad as a reward for maintaining perfect attendance. Prakash Deyanna, a teacher at the Government Primary School in Sonatti, organized the trip on November 7, fulfilling a promise he had made to encourage regular attendance.

Located 11 kilometers from Belagavi city, the school had been struggling with low attendance rates, with many students often staying home to assist their daily wage-earning families. In an attempt to change this, Deyanna pledged to take the children on an air tour if they attended classes daily. Motivated by this unique offer, 17 students maintained perfect attendance throughout the term.

Deyanna, joined by three colleagues and the president of the School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC), accompanied the students on their trip, visiting popular sites in Hyderabad such as Ramoji Film City, Charminar, Snow World, Salar Jung Museum, and Golconda Fort.

Speaking about his initiative, Deyanna stated, “Traditional efforts to improve attendance weren’t working, so I decided to try something new. It’s rewarding to see the children’s enthusiasm, and I’m happy to have been able to keep my word.”

Kota: A 20-year-old NEET-UG aspirant from Uttar Pradesh allegedly hanged himself in his PG in Kota, the coaching hub’s fifteenth suspected suicide death this year.

The incident happened in the Dadabari police station area of Kota city on Wednesday night, police said on Thursday.

According to police, when the youth failed to respond to knocks on the door of his room and calls from family members on Wednesday night, the caretaker of the PG alerted the police.

After arriving at the scene, police entered the room and found his body, they said.

Police said Ashutosh Chorasia, who hailed from Mirzapur, UP, had been preparing for the medical entrance test in Kota for the past six months.

The youth’s body has been placed in the hospital mortuary, awaiting the arrival of his parents for the post-mortem, they said.

DSP Yogesh Sharma said the exact reason for his act is unclear but initial findings suggest that he had been battling a neurological disorder and receiving treatment for it.

While he has written two notes, the contents are currently part of the investigation, police said.

New Delhi: In a first, the Centre on Wednesday allowed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to perform Aadhaar-based authentication to verify candidates’ identity on a voluntary basis, both at the time of registration and during various stages of examinations and recruitment.

The move assumes significance as the commission last month cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations for fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility.

Khedkar has also been accused of misusing disability and Other Backward Classes or OBC (non-creamy layer) quotas, among others.

In a notification, the personnel ministry said the UPSC “is allowed to perform Aadhaar authentication, on voluntary basis, for verification of identity of candidates at the time of registration on ‘One Time Registration’ portal and various stages of examination/recruitment test, using Yes/No or/and e-KYC authentication facility”.

The commission shall adhere to all provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, “the rules and regulations made thereunder” and directions issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the notification added.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit number issued by the UIDAI to all eligible citizens on the basis of biometric and demographic data.

The UPSC had, in July, initiated a series of actions against Khedkar, including the registration of a forgery case against her for availing attempts in the civil services exam by faking identity. Subsequently, the Delhi Police registered a case and started its probe.

Khedkar, who was provisionally allotted the Indian Administrative Service (2023 batch, Maharashtra cadre), was accused of misusing power and privileges during her training in Pune.

In June, the UPSC also decided to use facial recognition and artificial intelligence-based CCTV surveillance systems to prevent cheating and impersonation in its various tests.

Through a tender document, it invited bids from experienced public sector undertakings to devise two tech solutions — “Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (else digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates and QR code scanning of e-admit cards” and “Live AI-based CCTV surveillance service” — to be used during the examination process.

The UPSC conducts 14 major exams annually, including the prestigious civil services examination to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), besides a number of recruitment tests and interviews every year for induction to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts of the central government.

Lakhs of candidates appear in such recruitment conducted across the country.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras remained on the top spot in the National Institute Ranking Framework, 2024 for the sixth consecutive year, while the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru was ranked as the best university for the ninth year in a row, according to the Ministry of Education.

Delhi University improved its rank from 11 to 6 while Hindu College stalled Miranda College’s seven-year run as the best college in the ninth edition of the NIRF rankings, which was announced by Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday.

Behind IIT Madras, IISc Bengaluru took the second spot in the “overall” category, followed by IIT Bombay while IIT Delhi, which was at the third place in the category last year, slipped to the fourth position.

Eight IITs figured in the top ten besides All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Among universities, IISc Bengaluru is followed by JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia. All three retained their positions.

Nine IITs are in the top ten list for engineering colleges with IIT Madras being at the top for the ninth consecutive year in the category. IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay also retained their second and third spot respectively in the category. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirapalli is the only non-IIT in the top ten list.

Knowing the quality, performance and strengths of an academic institution is a right of students and parents, the education minister said after the rankings were announced.

“All the 58,000 HEIs (higher education institutions) in the country must come under the ranking and rating framework. Our ranking mechanism must also include skilling as a parameter. Intangible aspects are powerful stimulus to learning and development. We should devise mechanisms to bring intangible aspects of education in the rankings framework,” Pradhan said.

“As we move forward, we recognise the need for more transparency and a progressive approach in evaluating institutions. The feedback from various institutes highlights that not all should be judged on the same factors,” he added.

Among management colleges, IIM Ahmedabad retained its top spot for the fifth year in a row, followed by IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode. Two IITs — Bombay and Delhi — also figured in the top ten list for management courses.

In pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard rose to the top spot from its second position last year while the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad slipped to the second rank. BITS Pilani retained its third position in the category.

DU’s Hindu College and Miranda House switched positions in the colleges category with the former bagging the top spot. St Stephen’s College is in the third position among colleges, up from its 14th rank last year.

Similarly for law, the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru followed by the National Law University, Delhi and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad retained their first, second and third spots, respectively.

For architecture and planning courses, IIT Roorkee was announced as the best, followed by IIT Kharagpur and NIT Calicut.

Among medical colleges, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi bagged the top position followed by PGIME, Chandigarh and CMC Vellore at second and third spot.

Among the dental colleges, Saveetha Institute of Medical And Technical Sciences, Chennai and Manipal College of Dental Sciences retained the top two positions while the third rank was bagged by Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, New Delhi.

For research, IISc Bengaluru was declared the best, followed by IIT Madras and IIT Delhi at second and third spot.

For education in Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi is at the first spot while ICAR-National

Dairy Research Institute, Haryana bagged the second rank, followed by Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

For 2024, the ranking exercise maintains the practice of providing a comprehensive “overall” rank, alongside distinct rankings in categories — Universities, Research Institutions, Degree Colleges and Innovation as well as discipline-specific rankings in Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Law, Medical, Dental, Architecture and Planning, and Agriculture and Allied Sectors.

Additionally, open universities, state public universities and skill universities have been included as new verticals in this year’s rankings.

Among state public universities, Anna University in Chennai bagged the top spot, followed by Kolkata’s Jadavpur University and Savitribai Phule University, Pune.

IGNOU topped the list for open universities, followed by Netaji Subhas Open University, Kolkata and Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad.

Among skill universities, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, Pune was awarded the first position followed by Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana and Bhartiya Skill Development University, Rajasthan at second and third spot respectively.

The participation of HEIs in the NIRF rankings has grown from 3,565 in 2016 to 10,845 in 2024, with the number of categories and subject domains expanding from four in 2016 to sixteen in 2024.

The NIRF provides for ranking of institutions in five broad generic groups of parameters – Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR), Research and Professional Practice (RP); Graduation Outcome (GO); Outreach and Inclusivity (O&I) and Perception (PR).

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday asked the opposition not to create fear among the Muslim community over an alleged lack of equal opportunities for minorities and asserted that the government did not differentiate between citizens.

Responding to a debate on the demands for grants for the Union education ministry in the Lok Sabha, Pradhan also asserted that the government did not impose any language.

Sharing figures to counter suggestions that Muslims and other minorities were not being given equal opportunities in education, the minister said, “Don’t spread fear among Muslims, this will not last long.”

Pradhan noted that the transition ratio from classes 5 to 6 among Muslim students stood at 89.2, which was close to the national average of 93.2.

“Aligarh Muslim University was set up in 1875 and no woman vice-chancellor was appointed in all these years. It happened during our tenure that a woman professor who studied at the same university was appointed as vice-chancellor … on the basis of merit … there is no charity,” he said.

“Earlier, they used to say that you appoint people with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) affiliation. It is not like that … She is not from RSS affiliation … If a Muslim woman progresses on the basis of merit, we should be proud,” Pradhan said.

“We (government) do not differentiate … It is just your perspective, your opinion … You might have an agenda of creating an atmosphere of fear and it is not going to work for long,” he added.

The education minister said the higher education Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) rose by 32 per cent in 2021-22 over 2014-15.

“The national average transition ratio from classes 5 to 6 is 93.2. Among Muslims students, this ratio is 89.2, which is close to the national average,” he said.

“The transition ratio from upper primary to secondary school, which refers to students moving from classes 8 to 9, the national average is 88.8 and among Muslims it is 82.2,” he added.

The minister said there was a need to encourage competency-based education and the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, was a step in that direction.

“NEP is not just a 60-page policy document. It is a philosophical element for the reconstruction of India, for increasing brotherhood … For solving all the problems of the world. The country accepts it unanimously today,” he said.

The minister noted that 3.84 per cent of GDP was spent on education in 2013-14.

“In 2020-21, it increased to 4.64 per cent of GDP. The way the size of our economy is growing, we will soon reach 6 per cent and more GDP spending on education,” he said.

Supreme Court of India (PTI), Student organisations protest against NEET-UG results

New Delhi, Jul 18: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to declare by 12 noon of July 20 the centre and city-wise results of controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 while masking the identities of the aspirants, saying it wanted to ascertain whether candidates appearing at allegedly tainted centres scored more marks than those elsewhere.

As it strove to address the allegations of malpractices in the conduct of the May 5 examination, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said any order for conducting it afresh has to be on concrete conclusion that the alleged leak was “systemic” and the sanctity of the entire process was affected.

“We direct the NTA to publish the marks obtained by students at the UG-2024 NEET examination, while, at the same time, without disclosing the identity of the students. The result should be declared city and centre wise by 12 noon on July 20, 2024 and shall be uploaded on the website of the NTA,” the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said in its order.

“We want the identity of students be masked. You can have dummy roll numbers. But let us see it centre-wise what is the marks pattern,” the bench said.

The top court will resume hearing arguments on July 22 on a batch of pleas seeking cancellation, re-test and court-monitored probe into the allegations of malpractice in the prestigious exam.

The bench noted the counsel for the petitioners have submitted that it would be appropriate if the result of NEET-UG 2024 examination was published on the NTA website so as to bring about transparency with regard to centre-wise marks obtained by candidates.

It also said that material collected by the Bihar Police and the report of its Economic Offences Wing (EOW), before the investigation was taken over by the CBI, shall be filed in the court by 5 P.M. on July 20.

At the outset, the bench said it has prioritised the hearing on the pleas over other cases as these have “social ramifications” and lakhs of students are waiting for the outcome.

It rejected the submission of the petitioners that they were handicapped as the CBI’s status report filed in the court was not made available to them.

“This is not a sealed cover procedure and we are all for transparency. What the CBI has told us, if it is revealed, probably the investigation may get scuttled. The investigation is going on as of today. The people will become wise,” the CJI said.

“You (petitioners) will have to show us prima facie that the leak is systemic and has affected the sanctity of the entire exam so that we must cancel it,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda, appearing for some of the petitioners, vehemently sought cancellation of the exam claiming “systemic failure” in holding it.

He alleged transportation of question papers was compromised and that they were in the custody of a private courier company for six days in Hazaribagh. Shockingly, he claimed, they were transported in an e-rickshaw to an exam centre whose principal later got arrested for alleged involvement in the racket.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, asserted there was no leak of question papers.

Hooda informed the court that around 23.33 lakh students appeared for the exam for about 1.08 lakh seats in government and private medical colleges.

“Merely because out of 23.33 lakh only 1.08 lakh students will get admission, we cannot order a re-test. Re-examination has to be on a concrete footing that the entire exam is affected,” the bench said.

The bench said it prima facie appeared that the question paper leak was limited to Patna and Hazaribagh, and nothing of that sort could be said to have happened in Godhra in Gujarat.

In Patna and Hazaribagh, the question papers allegedly got leaked, while in Godhra there were claims that a person involved in holding the test took money for filling up the OMR sheets of certain candidates at an exam centre.

Questioning the claims about the leak of question paper on social media platform ‘Telegram’, the bench said, “You have to bear in mind that the idea of somebody doing this was not to make a national charade. People did it for money. So, it was not to bring disrepute to the exam and somebody was doing it to make money which is evident. Mass leakage requires contacts also at that level so that you connect to all such key contacts in different cities.”

The NTA’s counsel claimed the Telegram video was doctored.

The bench questioned the NTA for hiring a private courier for transporting question papers from the printing press to the vault of the SBI and Canara Bank in different cities.

“How much you make in terms of revenue from the examination?” the bench asked. Mehta said around Rs 400 crore was generated from such exams and the expenditure stood at approximately Rs 300 crore.

“Mr Solicitor, you engage a private courier company (for transporting question papers)?” the CJI asked Mehta.

Mehta then referred to the CBI’s status report filed in the court and said the agency has probed the entire chain– from the printing press to the examination centre– and there was a seven-layer safety system to prevent any malpractice.

The bench referred to the NTA data about 100 toppers and said they hailed from different states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

“What is worrying us is how much was the time gap between the breach (paper leak) and the exam,” the bench observed during the hearing.

While posting the matter for further hearing on July 22, the bench said it would like to have a copy of the report of Bihar Police, which initially probed the case.

At the fag end of the hearing, when Hooda asked the court if the counselling for NEET-UG 2024 can be stayed, Mehta said counselling takes two-three months and it is likely to commence from July 24.

More than 23.33 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the decision to give grace marks to 1,563 NEET-UG, 2024 candidates for admission to MBBS, BDS and others courses has been cancelled and they will be given an option to take a re-test on June 23.

A vacation bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was told by the counsel for the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) that the students, who were given grace marks, will be given an option to take the re-test.

The court said it will not stay the counselling process for admissions.

If the candidates, out of the 1,563, do not wish to take up the retest then their earlier marks, sans the grace marks, will be given for the purposes of the results.

The results of the re-test will be declared on June 30 and the counselling for admission in the MBBS, BDS, other courses will start on July 6, the Centre said.

Taking note of the submissions, the bench said all the pleas, including the one filed by Alakh Pandey, the chief executive of EdTech firm Physics Wallah over the issue of award of grace marks, will be taken up for hearing on July 8.

They also include the petitions seeking cancellation of NEET-UG, 2024 on account of allegation of question paper leaks and other malpractices.

The examination was held by the NTA on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.

The allegations such as question paper leak and the grant of grace marks to over 1,500 medical aspirants have led to protests and filing of cases in seven high courts as also the Supreme Court.

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.

Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.

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.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board witnessed a subdued turnout on the first day of the state board secondary school leaving certificate (SSLC) examination, which began on Monday. Out of the 8,45,811 registered students, 13,468 were absent, with one student being debarred.

The examinations for first language subjects including Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, English, and English (NCERT) were conducted on Monday. Of the total registered students, 8,32,343 appeared for the exams, resulting in an overall attendance rate of 98.41%.

Vijayapur district reported one student being debarred, while notable absenteeism was observed in other districts as well. In Kalaburagi district, 1,688 students failed to attend the exams, followed by 1,515 students in Raichur district and 1,030 students in the Bidar district.

NEW DELHI: Candidates who missed the Central University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG) exam in the first phase in July due to last-minute change of centres and cancellations, will get another chance in the second phase beginning August 4, officials said on Tuesday.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the entrance examination, on Tuesday released admit cards for students appearing for the examination on August 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesday. Admit cards for the examinations to be held after August 6 will be issued later.

The testing agency also announced that exams for candidates affected by the flood and having other entrance and competitive examinations during this period had been shifted to August 12, 13 and 14 from August 4, 5 and 6, following various representations Technical problems in the first phase marred the first-ever CUET.

Exams were cancelled in two centres, one in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri and other Punjab’s Pathankot – owing to technical issues. NTA said 19 students who missed the exams in these two centres can now take them. Registered candidates can download their admit cards from the official website cuet.samarth.ac.in by logging in through their registered credentials.