New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed July 18 for hearing on a batch of petitions alleging irregularities in the conduct of NEET-UG examination.

Rising early for the day, a Bench presided over by CJI, DY Chandrachud, suggested taking up the issue for hearing on Friday at the top of the list.

The petitioner’s side suggested listing the matter for coming Monday as they were served affidavits filed by the Centre and National Testing Agency (NTA) late on Wednesday night.

However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the Centre, expressed personal difficulty to appear on coming Monday and Tuesday.

Ultimately, the Bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, decided to list the batch of petitions, including pleas seeking cancellation of NEET exam, on July 18 on the joint request of the parties, noting that the CBI has put on record the status report in relation to paper leak allegations.

In its latest affidavit, the Centre told the top court that the data analysis conducted by IIT-Madras shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted, leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG examination held on May 5 this year.

“There is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across the cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus,” said the Centre, adding that candidates obtaining such high marks were spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating very “less likelihood of malpractice.”

After a comprehensive data analysis using the parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution and candidates spread over marks-range, experts of IIT-Madras opined “no abnormality”, the affidavit said.

In an earlier hearing held on Monday, a Bench presided over by CJI Chandrachud, to decide if re-test should be ordered in entirety, directed the NTA to make full disclosure before the apex court regarding the nature of paper leak, the places where leaks took place, and lag of time between the occurrence of leak and conduct of examination.

It also asked the CBI to file a status report indicating the status of investigation and the material collected during the course of the probe.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 11 (IANS) The CBI officials investigating the cash-for-school job case in West Bengal have seized two servers from the office of S. Basu Roy & Company, the outsourced agency responsible for providing optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets for written examination for primary teachers’ recruitment in state-run schools, sources said on Thursday.

Since Thursday morning a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, accompanied by cyber and software experts, were conducting a fresh round of raid and search operation at that office. Earlier, a similar raid and search operation was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The central agency officials are taking the help of the cyber and software experts following a directive from Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, who advised CBI to take the help of any specialised agency to recover the data regarding the OMR sheets.

However, the CBI sleuths are tight-lipped on whether the latest raid and search operation have led to any significant recovery in the matter.

As per the directive of Justice Mantha, the entire cost for bearing the assistance of expert agencies is supposed to be borne by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE).

Significantly, on July 9, the WBBPE counsel made an explosive revelation at Justice Mantha’s bench claiming that the OMR sheets used in the written examination in 2017 for recruitment of primary teachers in state-run schools of West Bengal were destroyed. This was done following the instructions of the Trinamool Congress legislator and former WBBPE chairman Manik Bhattacharya, said the counsel.

The WBBPE counsel also informed the court that the decision to destroy the OMR sheets was taken independently by Bhattacharya without any resolution adopted by other members of the board in the matter.

–IANS

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Amaravati, July 11 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Thursday said that the government was on a mission to rebuild the state and that it is crucial to win back the confidence of investors.

A day after meeting top officials of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and VinFast, the Chief Minister took to X to share his thoughts.

“We are on a mission to rebuild Andhra Pradesh. Given where the previous government had left it, this will be a humongous challenge. I require everyone’s support in this mission, and particularly the media which is the fourth pillar of our democracy. Media plays a crucial role in keeping citizens informed while holding the government accountable,” said CM Naidu.

CM Naidu mentioned that he had productive meetings with BPCL and VinFast that could result in large scale investment and job creation.

“This is a departure from what occurred over the last five years – when politics trumped progress, corruption replaced cooperation and destruction replaced development. Investors had lost confidence and left the state, impacting the economy and employment. Now, it is crucial that we win back the confidence of investors,” he claimed.

“I thank our media colleagues for reporting on these meetings, spreading hope across the state. Your coverage has helped spread the word about the opportunities and potential that Andhra Pradesh has to offer, reassuring investors that our state is a reliable and safe destination for investment. I hope that we will continue to work together to make Andhra Pradesh the No. 1 state in the country,” added Naidu, who posted a picture of newspaper headlines about the meetings with top executives of BPCL and VinFast.

BPCL officials led by Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Kumar called on the CM on Wednesday.

They discussed the proposed establishment of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex with an investment of Rs.60,000 to Rs.70,000 crore.

CM Naidu sought a detailed plan and feasibility report in 90 days and assured the company that the government would allocate about 5,000 acres of land required for this project.

VinFast CEO, Pham Sanh Chau also called on CM Naidu.

VinFast is a leading automobile conglomerate from Vietnam. CM Naidu invited them to set up their EV and battery manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) On the rainy evening of July 11, 2006, as millions of commuters hurried to their homes by the Western Railway (WR) suburban trains, they were stopped dead in their tracks at the high-peak hour, at around 18:24 hours (6.24 pm).

For the next 11 minutes, seven of the chock-a-block local trains were surgically targeted with ‘pressure cooker bombs’ innocuously placed in the first class gents compartments, which the harried crowds ignored.

Snuffing out 209 innocents, the terror attack became the second worst extremist disaster in Mumbai, preceded by the March 12, 1993 serials bomb blasts (257 killed) and followed by the November 26-29, 2008 terror strikes (166+9 terrorists killed).

When the commuters had settled down for the long commute to their waiting families, the ‘train bombs’ suddenly exploded with devastating results on several stations between Matunga (south Mumbai) and Bhayander (Thane) stations.

This led to massive chaos among the terrified commuters, the lights went off in many coaches, and left the WR authorities rattled plus shook awake the central and state administrations.

The multiple blasts in the trains, either running or halted at stations on their journeys, brought the usually efficient WR system to a grinding halt, but the pre-smartphone era mobiles and the still-reliable landlines were jammed, confusion reigned among the people and the officialdom.

As the suburban trains had stopped running and hordes of security personnel launched their primary investigations, lakhs of commuters trooped onto the road, grabbing any available mode of transport, but the main thoroughfares, highways, arterial roads and even local streets witnessed unprecedented traffic snarls.

Eyewitnesses remember that horrifying evening when the much-cursed and congested suburban trains earned silent prayers and blessings for reaching the commuters home quickly, safely and efficiently, barring of course the odd aberration…like July 11, 2006.

Hungry, thirsty, confused and stranded for hours in the BEST buses, autorickshaws, taxis, cars, vans, and two-wheelers, the ordinary Mumbaikars opened their hearts and rushed to their aid — akin to the great floods of July 26, 2005, which claimed 1,094 lives.

In a show of solidarity in the face of the tragedy, thousands of Mumbaikars, ranging from slums to skyscrapers, poured out to offer umbrellas, raincoats, plastic sheets, tea-coffee-biscuits-snacks-light meals, complimentary to the bewildered commuters trudging home.

Many big and small restaurants offered refreshments-meals ‘on the house’ for that night, and the supplies continued till the stocks lasted or the last wayward commuter had his fill, in some cases till dawn the next morning.

Though the WR services had limped back shortly before midnight (July 11), the next morning many services had poor occupancy as people had barely reached home after last night’s ordeal.

Nevertheless, those who ventured out gawked with disbelief at the targeted coaches ripped apart in the bomb blast the previous evening, presenting an eerie picture of devastation at the stations where they were parked for the investigation teams.

The then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that they had intel on the attack which did not specify the time or location, while the Mumbai Police rounded up more than 350 suspects.

The initial probe confirmed that the ‘pressure cooker bombs’ had a deadly brew of RDX+Ammonium Nitrate — and the RDX, which first became a household name after the March 1993 serial bomb blasts, was apparently used for the second time in a big way for the July 11, 2006, strikes.

The multi-pronged investigations, the claims, denials by several of the usual offshore terror outfits, or the unfriendly neighbourhood off the borders, the investigators managed to zero in on the culprits who underwent a keenly-watched trial.

Finally, in September 2015, the Special Court of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) pronounced as guilty and convicted 12 persons, for the unnerving deadly strikes on Mumbai’s lifeline.

Four men who got the hangman’s noose are Faisal Shaikh, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui and Asif Khan, convicted for planting the 7 ‘pressure cookers’ in the suburban trains.

The rest were awarded life in jail and they are — Dr Tanvir Ansari, M. Sajid Ansari, Mohammed Ali, Muzammil Shaikh, Majid Shafi, Sohail Shaikh, Zamir Shaikh, for providing various kinds of support to execute the heinous crime.

Exactly 18 years on, only faint memories remain of that mayhem on the railway tracks, the families of the victims and the survivors remembered those 11 minutes but the vast commuters continued their daily grind in local trains as usual.

–IANS

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Jammu, July 11 (IANS) A blast occurred across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, said officials here on Thursday.

The blast occurred on Wednesday night across the LoC in the district.

“The suspicious movement was reported across the LoC in the Laam sector of Rajouri district late on Wednesday night. The blast occurred very close to the zero line during the movement,” said officials.

A search operation has been launched in the area, the officials further said.

The blast most likely occurred during the movement of suspicious persons close to the LoC on the other side in the no man’s land.

It is being ascertained whether the blast occurred accidentally or was triggered by suspicious movement in the no man’s land which contains pressure-triggered landmines.

More details were awaited.

Pakistani agencies have been trying to push terrorists into the Indian territory to create disturbances. Massive search operations are already underway in some areas in the Jammu division.

–IANS

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