Karnataka ministers hit out at Centre for NEET cancellation
Bengaluru (PTI): The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre for cancelling the NEET examination, saying that such an incident is happening for the second time.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the NEET examination held on May 3 and announced a reexamination following the leakage of question papers.
Addressing reporters, Karnataka School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said children are suffering because of the mismanagement.
"Because of mismanagement, due to their hollow administration, injustice is being done to children. What else can I say? What more do you talk about people who just beat drums and light lamps without doing anything meaningful?" Bangarappa said.
He said the BJP leaders who often criticise the state government are now defending the Centre.
Slamming the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, the minister said, "Tell Ashoka what has happened for the second time, ask him what has happened to the children who wrote NEET".
State Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar alleged that these incidents are being repeated.
"The Central Government and the Supreme Court must take note of it. There is opposition to NEET in many states. Because of this widespread opposition, perhaps those states should be allowed to conduct their own examinations," the minister said.
He charged that a lot of confusion has been created among students.
More than 22,79,000 students registered for NEET and 22,05,000 students appeared for it. Playing with the future of such a large number of students is something none of us can accept, Sudhakar said.
"Cancel NEET and conduct exams at the state level, using state PUC or equivalent 12th-grade marks on a 50-50 basis. We in Karnataka conduct CET through the Karnataka Examinations Authority. If such examinations are conducted, the problems faced by a large number of students can be avoided," he stated.
The Minister demanded that the Central Government should seriously consider his request, file an affidavit before the Supreme Court, and if changes are made, it will preserve the dignity of the NEET process and also prevent hardship to students.
Karnataka Minister for Medical Education Sharanaprakash Patil condemned the Central Government's cancellation of the NEET examination, calling it a grave injustice to lakhs of aspiring medical students across the country.
Speaking to reporters here, Patil alleged that the NEET fiasco is the Central Government's biggest scandal.
"For the past four to five years, irregularities and controversies in NEET have been a recurring phenomenon with no end in sight. The BJP government at the Centre is entirely responsible for this mess," he said.
The Minister pointed out that despite repeated representations to the Central Government and the ministry concerned, no corrective action was taken, leading to yet another massive failure.
"The Central Government must take full responsibility. The guilty must be brought to justice. This is a testament to the incompetence of the BJP-led government at the Centre," Patil charged.
BJP MLA and former Minister C N Ashwath Narayan defended the Centre. He said cancelling the examination was a good decision.
"Students are facing inconvenience because they will have to write the exam again, there will be delays, and multiple issues are arising. Still, to protect the integrity of the exam and ensure that meritorious students are not affected, this step is necessary," he noted.
Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy hit out at the state ministers for criticising the Centre.
"How many times have you postponed exams in our own state? During your (Congress) own tenure, how many such incidents have happened? Even today, you are not able to fix a single institution like the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC)," he said.
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Edgy Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez calls for new elections at club and seeks another term
Madrid (AP): An edgy Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez confronted journalists in a rare news conference on Tuesday and claimed he was the victim of an “organized campaign” to unseat him.
Pérez called for new club elections and told his opponents to present themselves and challenge him and his board of directors.
Usually calm and soft-spoken, Pérez appeared agitated and got into discussions with journalists during the hastily scheduled news conference at the club's training center, two days after Madrid lost 2-0 at Barcelona and saw its Catalan rival clinch its second straight Spanish league title.
“I made this decision because of this absurd situation of campaigns against me,” the 79-year-old Pérez said. “The results haven't been the greatest, but that has happened other times before. But they are taking advantage to attack me.”
He said the campaign against him was being “orchestrated by bad journalists and non journalists.”
“Some journalists and people want to destroy Real Madrid,” he said. “I'll always defend the interest of the Madrid members.”
The president spoke after a meeting of the club's board of directors.
Madrid has endured a second consecutive season without a major trophy, despite having France star Kylian Mbappé in the squad.
Pérez did not speak about the team's results, saying his appearance was solely to defend Madrid club members from attacks. He did not want to talk about a potential coaching change when asked about the possibility of José Mourinho returning next season.
Pérez said the leak of the fighting between players during training last week — which led to Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni being fined 500,000 euros ($586,000) each — was worse than the actual fight itself.
“It's not the first time that players fight with each other,” Pérez said. “It happens almost every season. But someone leaked it for the first time. And we know who it was. It should have stayed within the club.” He gave no further details.
Pérez dismissed rumors that he was tired of the job, or sick, saying they had been spread by his detractors.
“They said I have cancer and that it was terminal," he said. “It was the most undignified thing that has ever happened to me. They said I didn't go out, that I couldn't walk.”
