Two students scheduled to take NEET-UG retest at Chandigarh centre skip exam
Chandigarh, Jun 23: An exam centre in Chandigarh where all arrangements had been made, including the deployment of police and invigilators, for two students to take their NEET-UG retest on Sunday shut the gates after neither turned up.
An official at St Joseph's Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh's Sector-44 said the gates were to be closed at 1:30 pm. After neither student turned up for the retest, the authorities shut the gates.
The re-exam was held from 2 pm to 5:20 pm.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted a retest for 1,563 students awarded grace marks in the Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) to make up for time loss at six centres. 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.
The official said necessary arrangements were put in place for the re-exam. Chandigarh Police personnel were also deployed.
NEET-UG is conducted for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions.
This year, the exam was held on May 5, with around 24 lakh candidates appearing for it. The results were announced on June 4.
Since then, there have been allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar and other irregularities. The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of petitions in various high courts as well as the Supreme Court.
Facing flak over the alleged discrepancies in the exam, the Centre on Saturday shunted out NTA Director General Subodh Singh and handed over the probe into the irregularities to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Union education ministry also set up a seven-member panel to review the agency's functioning and recommend exam reforms.
The CBI has filed an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities, officials said on Sunday.
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K'taka Cong to protest against replacing MGNREGA, 'hate politics' in National Herald case
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the ruling Congress in the state will hold protests against the central government's move to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, and the alleged "hate politics" against the party leadership in the National Herald case on December 17.
The state Congress president said that the protest led by him and CM Siddaramaiah will be held in front of Gandhi state at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, and similar protests will also be held at all district and taluka centres of the state.
The party also plans to raise the issues in the state legislature here.
"The agitation has become necessary. Tomorrow at 9.30 am, the chief minister, myself, all ministers, MLAs and MLCs will stage a protest in front of the Gandhi statue. Everyone will participate," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the protests will also be held in all district and taluk centres including Bengaluru, and there is also a plan for a programme on Saturday, details of which will be shared later.
"In Assembly too there is a need to discuss this and for it to go into records, we are making preparations for it....the protest is against removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from MGNREGA, and against the hate politics towards Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders," he added.
The Congress' move, came as the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, that seeks to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid strong objections by the opposition to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name from it.
Also, a court in Delhi on Tuesday refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering charge against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and five others in the National Herald case.
Alleging that Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were "harassed" in connection with the National Herald case, Shivakumar said several people, including him, had given funds to help the party related organisation, and they too were being troubled.
"My brother D K Suresh (former MP) and I were supposed to appear before the Delhi police in connection with the National Herald case. We had written a letter to them seeking a FIR copy. Chargesheet was filed by ED in the case without an FIR," he claimed.
Pointing to the Delhi Court's decision, the Deputy CM said, "This is proof that the legal system in the country is still alive. This also proves that the power is being misused (by those in the central government) to harass political opponents."
Highlighting that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru started the National Herald in 1937, and that it is Congress' property, Shivakumar, questioning the validity of the ED case, said, "As Congress presidents (in past) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had their shares, it was not their own. Similarly, if we as Congress workers don't donate to the party organisation, who else will?"
Shivakumar also said that the move to rename MNREGA is with an intention to "insult" Gandhi and to weaken the scheme by reducing its funding.
