The credibility of the examination system has also come under question, they said.
Police in Patna, Bihar used water cannons and mild force to disperse protesters demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam held on December 13. The protesters, who were joined by Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishore, attempted to march towards the chief minister's residence, prompting police action. The protesters had gathered at Gandhi Maidan despite warnings from the administration that any demonstration would be considered unauthorized. The district police registered an FIR against 21 known persons, including Prashant Kishore, for organizing the gathering. The protest is ongoing, with students seeking the cancellation of the exam due to allegations of a question paper leak. The government has agreed to meet with a five-member delegation of BPSC aspirants.
Priyanka accused the prime minister of "speaking on unnecessary issues" while staying silent on corruption, unemployment and the alleged misrule under the NDA government in Bihar.
The postponement comes two days after the National Testing Agency cancelled the UGC-NET examination within 24 hours of its conduct, saying the integrity of the exam had been compromised.
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.
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.
Rao suggested changes should also be brought in the evaluation methods and pitched for introduction of an open-book examination system for competitive examinations designed to test the candidates' "competence, aptitude, attitude and Intelligence Quotient".
Officials said the three others who have been arrested are Ghosh's security guard Afsar Ali (44), and hospital vendors Biplav Singha (52) and Suman Hazara (46) who used to supply material to the hospital.
College students in Bihar, many first-time voters, express concerns about job opportunities and education quality ahead of the state elections, desiring a government focused on employment and strengthening the education system.
They have sought a direction from the top court to the Union education ministry to probe, identify and take strict action against students and others who indulged in unfair practices like paper leak and impersonation in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5 this year.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor alleges Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary escaped a murder trial by falsely claiming to be a minor. He demands Choudhary's dismissal and threatens to expose further financial irregularities.
The top court said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.
The Commission has desired to incorporate Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (else digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates, scanning of QR Code of e-admit cards and monitoring through live AI-based CCTV video surveillance, it said.
AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi made the allegations against the agency at a press conference and called the entire probe a "scam" in itself.
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.
Female students of Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management, Delhi were allegedly forced to visit the quarter of self-styled godman Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati late at night and one of them was even forced to change her name, the FIR filed against him read.
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
The 'top leadership' of the National Testing Agency is under the scanner over alleged irregularities in competitive exams National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and National Eligibility Test, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday even as he denied any paper leak in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-University Grants Commission NET, which was postponed a day ago.
A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately, a senior Ministry of Education (MoE) official said.
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.
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.
The cancellation of UGC-NET, amid the raging row over NEET, led to questions being raised over National Testing Agency's (NTA) capability to conduct exams of larger magnitude.
The Centre on Saturday night announced that the probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET will be handed over to the CBI for a comprehensive investigation.
Assuring a fair probe and strict punishment to those involved in the alleged scam, he said the government is also thinking of bringing stricter laws to control such malpractices.
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 NTA denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres were some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.
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.
A special CBI court in Godhra on Saturday granted the probe agency four-day custody of Jay Jalaram School's principal Purushottam Sharma, teacher Tushar Bhatt, and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra, all of whom are alleged to be involved in irregularities in the May 5 NEET-UG exam in Godhra.
AISA general secretary and Bihar MLA Sandeep Saurav along with others in a press statement said that the committee formed by the ministry is a "conspiracy" to postpone the matter till the elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a batch of pleas related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024, including those alleging irregularities and malpractices in the May 5 test and seeking a direction to conduct it afresh.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a Zilla Parishad school teacher from Latur in Maharashtra and registered a case against four persons after it emerged that a racket was being operated to help NEET students willing to pay money to crack the exam, police said on Monday.
All work in the armed forces is team work. One has to deal with people all the time -- at work, play and even during war, advises IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe.
Amid a row over irregularities in competitive exams National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and National Eligibility Test (NET), the education ministry on Saturday notified a seven-member panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The notification of the Act comes just a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was asked when the legislation would be implemented. The minister had said the law ministry was framing the rules.
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.
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.
'The NEET-PG is the only exam for admission to MD, MS and PG Diploma courses.' 'Many doctors take time off from work to prepare for it, while others study during their long hospital shifts.'
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.
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.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two persons including a key accused in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak case who allegedly stole the paper from a National Testing Agency's trunk in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, officials said Tuesday.
