TN to pay allowance, train fare for candidates appearing for NEET outside
Chennai, May 4: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Friday announced a travel allowance of second class train fare for Tamil Nadu students appearing for the NEET medical entrance exam outside the state.
In a statement issued here, Palaniswami said the government would pay second class train fare (for those travelling by bus an allowance not exceeding second class train fare) and a cash allowance of Rs 1,000 for Tamil Nadu students who have to travel outside the state for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
He said the government would also pay the travel fare for one person who accompanies the student.
Palaniswami said the eligible students can get the sum from the Principal Education Officer in their district through their school headmaster as an advance or claim the same on their return by submitting the necessary bills.
He said the assistance will be provided based on the copy of the NEET Hall Ticket and the identity card issued by the school as proof.
Several students from Tamil Nadu have been allotted exam centres in Kerala and Rajasthan.
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Bombay High Court strikes down Centre's plan to set up Fact-Check Unit
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has struck down the central government's plan to establish a fact-checking unit (FCU) under the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023. The decision comes in response to a petition filed by standup comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's move.
Justice A.S. Chandurkar, delivering the final verdict, declared that the proposed IT Amendment Rules violated key provisions of the Indian Constitution, namely Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), and 19(1)(g) (right to profession).
“I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Articles 14, 19, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India,” Justice Chandurkar said in his judgment. He further remarked that terms like "fake, false, and misleading" in the IT Rules were "vague" and lacked a clear definition, making them unconstitutional.
This judgment followed a split verdict issued by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in January. The bench, consisting of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale, was divided in their opinions. While Justice Patel ruled that the IT Rules amounted to censorship and struck them down, Justice Gokhale upheld the rules, arguing that they did not pose a "chilling effect" on free speech, as the petitioners had claimed.
The matter was then referred to a third judge, leading to today's decision. The Supreme Court had previously stayed the Centre's notification that would have made the fact-checking unit operational, stating that the government could not proceed until the Bombay High Court ruled on the case.
Kunal Kamra and other petitioners had argued that the amendments posed unreasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. They contended that the provisions would lead to government-led censorship, effectively granting the government unchecked powers to determine what constitutes 'truth' online. The petitioners further claimed that such powers would turn the government into "prosecutor, judge, and executioner" in matters of online content.
With the Bombay High Court’s ruling, the Centre's move to create fact-checking units has been effectively halted, reaffirming the importance of protecting freedom of speech and expression in the digital space.
