Vartha Bharati awarded St Paul’s National Media Award for Excellence in Digital Journalism
Bengaluru: Vartha Bharati was honored with the St Paul’s National Media Award (SPNMA) 2025 for Excellence in Digital Journalism at a ceremony held on March 14, 2025, at St Pauls College, Bengaluru.
The award was presented to Abdussalam Puthige, Chief Editor of Vartha Bharati, in recognition of the media house’s contribution to digital journalism.
The event was attended by Prof. B K Ravi, Vice-Chancellor of Koppala University, Dr. Mamatha B R, retired IAS officer and State Information Commissioner, Ayesha Khanum, Chairperson of Karnataka Media Academy, Rev. Fr. Dr. Thomas M J, Chairman of the SPNMA Awards Committee and Principal of St Pauls College, and Dr. Prashanth Venugopal, Award Committee Coordinator and Head of Journalism & Mass Communication at St Pauls College.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
