West Bengal: History question papers of class 10 state board exams also shared on social media
Kolkata, Feb 6: After Bengali and English, photos of History purported question papers were circulated on social media on the third day of the class 10 board examinations in West Bengal, a senior education official said.
Three candidates were disqualified for the entire examinations after they were found taking photographs of the question papers on mobile phones, discreetly brought into the centre, and circulating the images on WhatsApp minutes after the commencement of the examination on Monday, the official said.
The three candidates, belonging to two schools in Malda district, had tried to blur the unique and distinct QR code secretly embossed on every sheet of the question paper, but still could not escape detection, he said.
An estimated 9,23,045 candidates wrote their papers at 2,675 centres across the state during the day.
On the previous two days of the class 10 board examinations, which began on February 2, a total of 14 candidates were similarly penalised, 12 for circulating English papers on February 3 and two for forwarding Bengali papers through social media on February 2, the official of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education said.
With this, a total of 17 candidates have been disqualified from the class 10 board examinations this year, with a staggering 16 hailing from Malda district and one from Jalpaiguri district.
Board president Ramanuj Ganguly had earlier expressed concern over the trend and alleged that "some individuals were exploiting children to tarnish the state government's image and disrupt the examination process".
He urged "those behind such acts" to reconsider their actions, emphasising the potential damage to the candidates' future.
BJP leader Shankudeb Panda, in a press conference, alleged that the TMC government has reduced the entire secondary examination system to a farce and held it responsible for "question paper leaks" during consecutive examinations.
He demanded a probe by central agencies into the way examinations are being conducted in the state, while asserting that instead of penalising the candidates, the Board should punish officials conducting the examinations at the centres where the incidents were reported.
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Iran foreign minister Araghchi meets Pakistan Army chief Munir
Islamabad (PTI): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir here, as Islamabad continued its efforts to facilitate engagement between the US and Iran.
The meeting, according to a short video posted by the Iranian embassy on social media, was also attended by Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, and Iran's ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam.
Araghchi calls on Munir, the embassy said in the video caption.
It did not provide further details about the discussions.
Araghchi arrived here late Friday for engagements with the Pakistani leadership. He was received by senior officials, including Munir, foreign minister Ishaq Dar and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.
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However, there is no clarity on whether direct talks between Washington and Tehran will take place during the visit.
"No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US. Iran's observations would be conveyed to Pakistan," Baqaei said in a social media post on Saturday.
Araghchi, before leaving for Islamabad, said that he was embarking on a timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow, and the purpose of his visits is to "closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments".
"Our neighbours are our priority," he said.
As the Iranian team landed in Islamabad, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US Special Envoy on the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner would be leaving for Pakistan on Saturday "to engage in direct talks" with representatives of the Iranian delegation.
However, the US team has not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar, in a social media post, expressed hope for "meaningful engagements" between the two warring parties to promote regional peace and stability.
The first round of US-Iran talks held on April 11 and 12 failed to produce a breakthrough, prompting a flurry of diplomatic efforts by host Pakistan to cool tensions and revive hopes for another round of dialogue.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The Iran war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes.
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