Educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's condition deteriorated further on Wednesday, with doctors reporting that he has lost more than seven kilograms since beginning his indefinite fast 11 days ago.
The CBI has arrested five individuals and conducted searches across India in connection with the NEET UG paper leak case. Protests have intensified, and calls for the Education Minister's resignation have grown louder. Political parties are trading blame, and the Supreme Court is considering a plea for an overhaul of the National Testing Agency.
The CBI informed a Delhi court that Manisha Sanjay Waghmare, an accused in the NEET paper leak case, circulated question papers to students for money. The agency opposed her bail plea, stating students paid for leaked physics, chemistry, and biology papers. Waghmare's counsel argued against the allegations, citing no recovery of cash or incriminating evidence from her. The court reserved its order on her bail plea for June 9, amidst the ongoing investigation into the cancelled NEET exam.
Arvind Kejriwal met the family of a 17-year-old who allegedly died by suicide and criticised the BJP over the NEET cancellation, urging students to protest against paper leaks.
There have been allegations of inflation of marks in NEET-UG which has led to a record 67 candidates sharing top rank with perfect score.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday rejected allegations of paper leak in medical entrance exam National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), saying there is no evidence of it.
An analysis of data indicated that while the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities have not done well, some centres have a high concentration of well-performing students.
After six days of stalemate, a discussion on the anti-paper leak bill began on Tuesday in Lok Sabha with the government describing it as a reaffirmation of ruling dispensation's commitment to safeguard the welfare of students but opposition hit back over the lathi-charge on protesters, saying every blow on them hurt the government's prestige more than the backs of the youth.
Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh has filed a privilege notice against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly making derogatory remarks about a parliamentary committee, claiming he lowered the dignity of Parliament.
"The re-revised score cards are live now," a senior NTA official said.
A parliamentary committee has voiced concerns over ongoing examination irregularities despite government measures, recommending the Ministry of Education publish a time-bound roadmap for reforms. The panel also urged a nationwide blacklist of firms involved in exam processes and suggested utilising the National Testing Agency's financial surplus to enhance its capabilities.
On the second day of the protest at Jantar Mantar, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke sought farmers' support to the youth-led agitation over alleged examination irregularities, NEET paper leak and the demand for education minister's resignation.
Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad has accused the BJP of being linked to the alleged NEET paper leak, claiming that individuals associated with the ruling party are involved in the scandal. He alleges the BJP is an 'expert in theft,' citing previous instances of 'vote theft' and 'job theft'.
'Let the world know that India's Gen Z has now moved out of their social media world and is ready to face the lathis, the tear gas shells or the spiked-dandas of cops.'
The National Testing Agency, under fire over the lapses in the conduct of NEET and UGC-NET, is gearing up to conduct on Sunday a retest for the medical entrance exam for 1,563 candidates who were earlier awarded grace marks to make up for the loss of time at six centres.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the BJP's "real and ultimate target" in seeking a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha is to amend the Constitution to end reservation, rather than genuinely implement women's reservation.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke plans to return to India to launch a peaceful protest seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination-related lapses.
They said the agency is also taking steps to bring under its ambit cases registered in various states by the police.
The CJP's rapid rise on social media reflects growing digital dissent and youth frustration with issues like unemployment and exam-paper leaks.
The petition, filed by 20 students who had appeared for the medical entrance exam, has also sought a direction to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others to conduct the test afresh.
'22 students are fighting over 35,000 seats. In that situation, when someone tells a desperate parent there is a shortcut, and the shortcut costs Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh versus Rs 1.5 crore -- the maths is seductive.'
The NTA had treated the two options as correct answers to the Physics question and had granted four marks to those examinees who had marked these options.
It added that in any examination, there are competing rights that are created whereby the interests of a large number of students who have taken the examination without adopting any unfair means must not also be jeopardised.
The top court took note of the submissions of some aspirants that a question related to an "atom" and its characteristics had two correct answers and a set of examinees, who gave one particular answer out of the two correct ones, were awarded four marks.
Telangana's Mrinal Kutteri, Delhi's Tanmay Gupta and Maharashtra's Karthika G Nair shared the top rank, scoring 720 out of 720. Eight transgender candidates have also cleared the examination.
The National Testing Agency, however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.
The agency seized documents like answer sheets, OMR codes, hand-written notes related to IDs and names of candidates apart from their education certificates, the sources said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case in connection with alleged impersonation by four National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG), 2024 candidates in Bihar's Purnea, officials said on Wednesday.
Observing that a re-test has to be ordered if sanctity of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 is 'lost', the Supreme Court on Monday sought information from the National Testing Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about timing of question paper leak and duration between leak and actual test.
Congress leader Ajoy Kumar alleged the Centre gambled with these competitive examinations by asking the NTA to conduct those.
The National Testing Agency is facing criticism on social media for alleged errors in the answer keys for the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) Main Session 2, 2025.
'Aspiring doctors have put in years of their lives to study in preparation for NEET exams as they start studies from Class 9 to get good marks.' 'And today, after the NEET paper leak, these students even after getting good marks are unable to get admission in any good medical college (because of inflated merit marks due to the paper leak).' 'They are thinking, was it worthwhile to study so hard for the examinations to become a doctor?'
National Testing Agency (NTA) officials reported that 813 of the 1,563 candidates appeared for the retest while the others opted for the marks without the grace.
There were strong indications that the minister may announce the cancellation of the exam and action against NTA DG Subodh Kumar Singh, who was summoned by the ministry earlier in the day.
The Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) had on Thursday told the Supreme Court they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.
rediffGURU Radheshyam Zanwar offers expert advice to students preparing for engineering college admissions and competitive exams.
'They made so many toppers in NEET that automatically the paper leak issue got exposed.' 'The first mistake they did was announcing 67 toppers in NEET. No way this figure was possible.' 'The maximum numbers of toppers that you can have are two or three at best every year.'
The credibility of the examination system has also come under question, they said.
Observing that students have to labour hard while preparing for these examinations, the apex court said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination ought not be treated as adversarial.
Pradhan further said the opposition had a chance to raise this issue during the motion of thanks to the President's address and asserted the government was ready for any type of discussion.
