kottayam l sunday l june 21, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal was elected as the vice president of the Financial Action Task Force during its plenary in Paris IAS officer elected v-P of global anti-money laundering body Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described Aggarwal’s election as a “major win” for India. “The appointment places an Indian official at the apex of the global standard-setting body for antimoney laundering and counterterrorist financing,” the ministry said. The FATF vice president is elected by delegates from the member countries CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI L ast pen - and - paper exa m 22.8 lakh to take NEET retest today High security in place across 95K centres S l a l i t h a @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Young Sound Wave PLUS 12 P AGES EXPRESS READ Ex-min Patil acquitted in Nimbalkar murder Mumbai: A special CBI court has acquitted former Maharashtra minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, citing “lapses in investigation.” MORE than 22.8 lakh medical aspirants will appear for the NEET UG re-examination on Sunday, nearly seven weeks after the original test was cancelled following a question paper leak that triggered nationwide outrage. The re-examination will be held from 2 to 5.15 pm across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad. Candidates w i t h d i s ab i l i t i e s (PwD/PwBD) eligible for compensatory time will be allowed to write the examination till 6.20 pm. Nine states will see more than one lakh candidates each, led by Uttar Pradesh, foll o w e d by M a h a r a s h t r a (2,22,905) and Rajasthan (2,03,470). Lakshadweep has the lowest number with just 141 candidates. As many as 5,401 foreign candidates will also take the test. The Centre has installed 1,38,560 CCTV cameras with live feeds being monitored at national, state and ministry levels. As many as 51,311 jammers have been deployed across the 95,000plus examination centres to prevent electronic malpractice. A nationwide mega mock drill conducted on Saturday was declared successful. “We checked the working of the jammers, CCTVs, seating arrangements, biometrics and police deployment,” a senior NTA official said. “NTA has put in place a multi-layered security framework, including end-toend secure handling of confidential materials under sealed protocols, GPS-enabled vehicles with police escorts for movement of examination materials, CCTV surveillance at all examination centres linked to centralised control rooms, and Aadhaar-based biometric authentication,” NTA said. High drama as CJP refuses to end stir New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and the outfit’s supporters protested till late Saturday night at Jantar Mantar seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan despite the Delhi Police asking them to vacate the site. The protesters remained at Jantar Mantar beyond the permitted time, with police making announcements around 9.30pm asking them to end the demonstration. The protesters asserted that they would not leave until Pradhan, who is at the heart of the NEET paper leak controversy, resigns. Provide Wi-Fi access to pax on board: DGCA to airlines S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has requested that all domestic airlines provide Wi-Fi internet access to their passengers on board. As of date, only 28 Air India aircraft offer such connectivity Multi. ple airline executives said it is highly unlikely that the airlines would comply with the request. A communication issued on Friday (June 19) by the Deputy Director General of DGCA, A X Joseph, to the Accountable Manager of all airlines states, “Rule 29B of the Air- craft Rules 1937 allows the use of internet services by passengers on board an aircraft in flight through Wi-Fi for use of smartphones in flight mode or airplane mode.” It has been issued as a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) too, it added. IndiGo did not respond to this reporter while Air India Express sought more time to get back on the matter. A SpiceJet source said the airline has been offering an in-flight entertainment system ‘Spice screen’ for all its passengers since August 2020, using which they can view movies and other content available. Sabarimala temple to After KIIFB, govt looks get AI-based pilgrim to restructure K-DISC management system As w i n As o k K u m a r @ T’Puram E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will implement Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based pilgrim management system at the Sabarimala temple during the upcoming pilgrimage season, which begins mid-November. The board organised a workshop in Kochi on Saturday in which representatives of , three AI firms from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai demonstrated the functioning of the technology in managing the movement of pilgrims. “We are discussing the scope of deploying AI cameras and drones in monitoring crowd movement. The AI system will provide real time data and predictive analysis regarding the movement of pilgrims at Sannidhanam, Pampa and Nilakal. The system will analyse the crowd and forward messages to the police officers concerned. This will help ease pilgrim movement and avoid building up of crowd pressure,” said TDB president K ● More on P5 Jayakumar.  Continuing with its ‘corrective’ measures, following the announcement of the restructuring of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the state government is likely to turn its focus to the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC), a strategic think tank and advisory body . According to official sources, active discussions are ongoing, under the close scrutiny of the chief minister’s office, to limit the council’s political character and bring in more professionalism. Chief Minister V D Satheesan is expected to convene a meeting of council officials this week to evaluate the organisation’s functioning. Notably, former IAS officer K M Abraham, who came under fire over KIIFB’s ‘masala bond’ issue, among others, served as executive vice chairperson of K-DISC at the same time that he was the former’s chief executive officer. “The new government wants to put an end to the culture of politicisation that the CPM fostered at K-DISC, particularly in appointments. Also, the CM believes in result-oriented initiatives, in making its functioning more professional. More recently, the council had veered towards the academic side of things, with the preparation of analysis reports, rather than focusing on effective interventions, which was its stated primary goal,” an official working closely with K-DISC told TNIE on condition of anonymity. Notably, K-DISC drew criticism for appointing P Sarin, who was expelled from the Congress, as strategic advisor of the ‘Vijnana Keralam’ ● More on P5 campaign.