KANNUR l friday l june 21, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION eight applications received for EVM verification, says Poll panel The Election Commission said eight aggrieved candidates have sought verification of tampering or modification of micro-controller chips in EVMs Verification sought for 92 polling stations The BJP’s Ahmednagar candidate Sujay Vikhe-Patil, who lost to Nilesh Lanke of the NCP (Sharad Pawar), sought verification of EVMs from 40 polling stations. A YSR Congress Party and a Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) candidate in Tamil Nadu are also among those who have sought verification. In all, verification is sought for 92 polling stations across six states 30 days Candidates must pay D47,200 per set of evm ■ The Supreme Court had on April 26 allowed unsuccessful candidates securing second and third places to seek verification of micro-controller chips embedded in 5% of EVMs per assembly constituency ■ Candidates must pay D47,200 per set of EVM. The amount will be refunded only if a discrepancy is found by EVM makers during verification is the time from announcement of results within which such pleas must be filed 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 panel to scrutinise NTA UGC-net paper leaked on the dark net Pradhan urges Oppn to have faith in the system says Isolated incidents should not affect lakhs of NEET aspirants Institutional failure of NTA: Govt government,” he said. Regarding the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam for junior Under fire over alleged irregu- research fellows, assistant prolarities in the NEET-UG and the fessors, and PhD scholars, PradUGC-NET, Union Education han disclosed that the exam paMinister Dharmendra Pradhan per had been leaked on on Thursday admitted that con- Telegram. He said the governsecutive paper leak cases affect- ment was committed to maining the lives of at least 35 lakh taining the integrity of the exstudents represent an institu- amination process and sought tional failure of the National trust in the system. Testing Agency (NTA). Pradhan said although an anHe announced the formation ti-cheating bill had been apof a high-level panel to scruti- proved by both Houses of Parlianise the functioning of the Na- ment earlier this year, the law tional Testing Agenministry is currently cy (NTA), which refining the associatconducted those exed regulations. “At ams. The panel will present, we lack efcomprise eminent infective measures to dividuals, socioloconfront such chalgists and education lenges,” he said. experts who will ex“Modern software amine the NTA’s such as Telegram is structure, functionoften utilised to leak ing, exam processes, exam questions. By taking transparency and When administering data management, responsibility, we have exams for PhD scholto rectify the system. he said. ars, ensuring high We are committed to P r a d h a n ’s a n - exams with zero errors. standards is crucial. nouncement came a Despite the difficulI request everyone to day after the NTA ties, we are commitnot spread rumours cancelled the UGCted to addressing Dharmendra Pradhan NET after conformathem. New examination the question pation dates for the per was leaked on the dark net. UGC-NET will be announced The matter is now under inves- shortly he said. ,” tigation by the CBI. The results of the NEET exam Addressing concerns about conducted on May 5 across 4,750 the NEET-UG as well, Pradhan centres with approximately 24 said isolated instances of mal- lakh candidates was announced practice should not unfairly im- on June 4. An unprecedented 67 pact lakhs of students who le- students got the perfect score of gitimately passed the exam. He 720 on 720, raising concerns urged the Opposition not to po- about alleged irregularities in liticise the matter and assured the test. strict actions against any the NEET-UG is gateway for adguilty including NTA officials. , missions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH “Let us have faith in our sys- and related courses in both govtems; no irregularities or mal- ernment and private institupractices will be tolerated by the tions nationwide. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Not to dictate, but to listen and learn: CPM’s new mantra E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Students protesting over alleged malpractices in the NEET-UG and the UGC-NET exam, in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI CBI files case in UGC-NET paper leak The CBI on Thursday registered a case against unknown persons under various sections of the IPC on the basis of a complaint from the Secretary, Department of Education. “The complaint said UGC recieved inputs that the integrity of UGC-NET may have been compromised,” a senior CBI official said PM will struggle to run govt: Rahul Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the prime minister saying he is silent on NEET because he is “crippled” and is only worried about the Lok Sabha Speaker’s election. Rahul claimed the PM has psychologically collapsed and will struggle to run a government like this | P7 SC stays proceedings on NEET-UG in hCs, issues notices to NTA, govt S u c h i t r a K alyan M o hant y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed all proceedings before various high courts on the the conduct of the NEET-UG exam and issued notices to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Centre on a fresh bunch of pleas against irregularities in the exam. A two-judge vaca- tion bench of justices Vikram Nath and S V N Bhatti was hearing the NTA request to transfer ’s all cases filed in various high courts on the matter to itself. The bench tagged it along with other pending pleas for hearing on July 8. The court reiterated its refusal to stay the counselling. More than 35 petitions have been filed in the top court, including a fresh petition by a group of 20 students, seeking the scrapping of the NEET-UG 2024 and an SCmonitored probe by the CBI or any other independent agency into the alleged irregularities. “ this has been argued from All day one and they (some petitioners) have been wanting stay of counselling. We have denied that. Ultimately if all of you suc, ceed, everything will go,” the bench told the petitioners, one of whom sought deferment of the counselling till July 8. Finding itself pushed to the wall following the drubbing in the Lok Sabha election, the CPM, in an uncharacteristic move, publicly admitted that it had failed to effectively gauge the people’s sentiment. In a curious shift in its style of functioning, the party said it’s willing to listen to the public. However, the leadership maintained an eerie silence on the severe flak that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his government drew at the state panel meet. The CPM’s five-day summit that reviewed the poll outcome decided to chart out an elaborate course correction, including assigning priorities for the LDF government. The party felt that the government should act in a manner that would not alienate the masses and erode its base. Briefing the media on Thursday on the decisions of the meet, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the party would reach out to the masses, listen to them and take necessary corrective steps. Realising that anti-incumbency against the LDF government played a crucial role in the defeat, the CPM has finalised major corrective measures. The party will hold four regional meetings that are to be attended by general secretary Sitaram Yechury and senior leader Prakash Karat, in addition to district-level meetings. Efforts would be taken in right earnest from the booth level to address the lapses. “The regional meetings to be held on July 2, 3 and 4 are aimed at giving a new sense of direction to the party Gatherings . with the general public will also be held at the local level before August 19, to lend an ear to the public as well as to convey our version of events to them,” said Govindan. Those who spoke at the state committee meet pointed fingers at major lapses in the home and finance departments. ● More on P4 CPM observation Erosion of Ezhava and minority votes, in addition to the national political scenario and the possibility of the Congress forming a government led to LDF defeat The Sangh parivar successfully made inroads into the SNDP leadership through BDJS. Vellappally Natesan’s remarks reflect a pro-RSS mindset in line with the Sangh parivar agenda. Due to different reasons, a section within the Christian community too voted for the BJP this time. Organisations like Jamaat-eIslami, SDPI and Popular Front stood with the UDF Tribal leader Kelu to join Pinarayi cabinet as SC/ST welfare minister Delhi court grants bail to Kejriwal E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram S u c h i t r a K alyan M o hant y @ New Delhi in a big relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a Delhi court on Thursday granted him bail in the money laundering case that stems from the alleged excise scam. Kejriwal is the prime accused in the now scrapped Delhi liquor case. The court granted bail after directing Kejriwal to furnish a personal bail bond of `1 lakh. Vacation Judge of the Rouse Avenue Court, Niyay Bindu, declined the Enforcement Directorate’s request to keep the bail order in abeyance for 48 hours to allow it to appeal. Kejriwal is expected to come out of Tihar Jail by F riday evening after furnishing the bail bond and other completing other formalities. The judge also directed Kejriwal to appear before the court whenever required and to cooperate with the investigation. It is to be noted that as the summer vacations are currently going on in courts, it’s the duty judges who hear important cases involving human liberty and bail matters. Earlier, on June 5, special judge Kaveri Baweja of the same court had rejected Kejriwal’s bail plea on the ground that his involvement in the crime could not be ruled out. The ED had told the court that Kejriwal is the mastermind of the liquor scam. ‘failed to gauge sentiments’ upbeat mood AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal drapes a shawl on state Congress president K Sudhakaran at the KPCC executive meeting at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunsi, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and CWC member Kodikkunnil Suresh are also seen. Most of the newly-elected MPs of the party attended the event | Express HC strikes down Nitish govt’s quota bump-up R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna IN a major setback to the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, the Patna High Court on Thursday set aside the state government’s move to raise quotas for deprived classes from 50% 65%. A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the order on a bunch of petitions that opposed the Bihar Reservation (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes) (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Bihar (in admission in educational institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023. The bench, also comprising Justice Harish Kumar, set aside the amendments brought by the state government in November 2023 as ultra vires and being violative of equally under the Indian Constitution. The amendments had resulted in the reservation cap for government jobs and educational institutions touching 75% after adding 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections. The amendments were based on the findings of a caste survey. Following the survey the state , government increased the quota for Scheduled Castes to 20%, Scheduled Tribes to 2%, Extremely Backward Classes to 25% and for Other Backward Classes to 18%. The petitioners said hike in reservation by the state was beyond its legislative powers. In a landmark decision, the Left front in Kerala has chosen a leader from the tribal community as the new minister for welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Senior CPM leader and MLA from Mananthavady O R Kelu is all set to become the first CPM minister from the ST category . He will replace K Radhakrishnan who stepped down on Tuesday after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Alathur. Kelu is likely to be sworn in on Sunday A final decision will be . taken on Friday after Governor Arif Mohammad Khan retur ns to the state capital. By choosing Kelu, the CPM has ensured Wayanad’s representation in the Pinarayi cabinet. A two-time MLA, Kelu is the first leader from ST community to be elected to the CPM state committee. A leader of the Tribal Welfare Committee, Kelu belongs to the Kurichya community He’s now . Heatwave hits over 40,000, kills at least 110 since March, say officials K A VI TA B A J E L I - D AT T @ New Delhi The brutal heat wave sweeping large swathes of the country killed at least 110 people in the past one-and-a-half months and left around 40,000 people grappling with the effects of suspected heat stroke, Union health ministry sources said on Thursday . The figures emerged from the data received from states between March 1 and June 18. Of this, six deaths were recorded on June 18 alone, officials said. They added that the numbers could go up as they were still assessing data on heat-related incidents submitted by states. They added that Uttar Pradesh is the worst affected, followed by Bihar, Rajasthan, and Odisha. In a review meeting held on Wednesday Union health minis, ter J P Nadda had directed states and Union territories to submit data from all health facilities daily and flag suspected heatrelated deaths. The direction came in the absence of official data on cases and deaths due to heat stroke in the country . Nadda said he has issued directions to all hospitals to treat heat stroke-related cases on a priority basis. “I have also told officials to visit central hospitals and centrally-managed hospitals to see if separate arrangements have been made for heat wave-affected cases. I also urge the public to give special focus on liquid diet, and have more and more water to avoid dehydration,” he said. Two students cover their heads to protect from scorching heat in Lucknow | ANI chairing the assembly panel on SC/ST welfare. “It’s a decision taken by the party. Wayanad faces two major issues —related to tribal welfare and humananimal conflict — that need to be addressed. Former ministers K Radhakrishnan and A K Balan were following LDF policies. I too will follow the same,” Kelu told reporters after coming out of the CPM state committee, which finalised his name for the post. Kelu’s induction into the cabinet makes him the second leader from the ST community to become a minister. ● More on P4 express read With help from SKY, India beat Afghanistan Bridgetown: A cameo from Suryakumar Yadav helped India win their first Super 8 tie of T20 World Cup against Afghanistan. After opting to bat, Yadav (28ball 53) helped team to 181/8. Jasprit Bumrah picked 3/7 as India skittled them for 134 | P11 Suicide among cops: Support group launched Kochi: With suicide deaths among members of the police force remaining high, Ernakulam Rural division has taken the welcome step of launching a support group that would assist officers facing mental trauma and other issues. The initiative, possibly the first of its kind in Kerala, comes at a time when last week alone five cops died by suicide due to work-stress, family, and financial issues. P5
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