July 18 News Highlights: NEET Supreme Court Hearing, Bangladesh Student Protests & More

Hello, readers! Welcome to Outlook India's live blog, where we bring you real-time updates on news from across the world. Here's what's in focus today:

• NEET controversy hearing in Supreme Court

• Weather updates

• US elections

• IAS officer Puja Khedkar row

• Karnataka private jobs quota row

• and more

Just in case you missed it, here are some of the top news that hit the headlines on Wednesday, July 17:

• Karnataka: Private Jobs Quota Bill Put On Hold Hours After Approval

• Akhilesh Yadav Says BJP Govt 'Unstable' Amid Rumours Of Yogi-KP Maurya Rift

• Puja Khedkar Row: After Civic Notice, Unauthorized Structure Cleared Near Family Residence In Pune

• With Gaza Death Toll Near 39,000, ICJ Ruling On Genocide An Ignored Warning For Israel

• Oman Oil Tanker Capsize: INS Teg Rescues 8 Indians, 1 Sri Lankan; Search Operation For The Rest Underway

• Bangladesh Schools, Colleges Shut As Students Protest Over 'War Heroes' Quota | All You Need To Know

US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing “mild symptoms”, the White House said on Thursday.

“Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

A fresh gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in a forest village in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir early Thursday, officials said.

The encounter began in Jaddan Bata village in Kastigarh area around 2 am when terrorists opened fire on the security search parties, officials said.

The exchange of fire between the two sides was going on when the last reports were received, they said.

A row has erupted over the Karnataka government's private jobs quota bill. Several private firms expressed discontent over the mandate for making reservations for locals in the private firm.

The Karnataka government on Wednesday put the reservation bill for Kannadigas in private firms on hold amid fierce criticism from business leaders and tech tycoons.

The Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024 was cleared by the state Cabinet on Monday and was expected to be tabled in the Assembly on Thursday.

"The bill approved by the Cabinet to provide reservation for Kannadigas in private sector organisations, industries and enterprises has been temporarily put on hold. This will be revisited and decided in the coming days," a statement issued by the Office of the Chief Minister said on Wednesday.

Two soldiers were injured in an encounter with terrorists in a forest village in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district early Thursday, officials said.

The encounter took place at Jaddan Bata village in Kastigarh area around 2:00 am when terrorists opened fire on a temporary security camp established in a government school for the ongoing search operations, the officials said.

Two soldiers suffered minor injuries in the terrorist firing, the officials said, adding efforts are on to flush out the terrorists.

Two STF constables were killed and four others injured in an IED blast triggered by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, said police.

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai this morning, causing waterlogging in several parts of the city. | Visuals

Ohio Senator JD Vance, who was picked as the Vice President nominee by Donald Trump, has formally accepted his nomination.

"Tonight, I stand here humbled. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to say that I officially accept your nomination to be Vice President of the United States of America," Vance said.

Sensex declines 251.93 points to 80,464.62 in early trade; Nifty dips 76.6 points to 24,536.40.

NCP leader and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has met party leaders from Pune's Pimpri Chinchwad after 29 corporators joined NCP-Sharad Pawar faction in the presence of Sharad Pawar in Pune.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024 which was held on May 5.

According to the cause list of July 18 uploaded on the apex court's website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra would hear more than 40 pleas, including those filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations.

Pune Police detained from Mahad Manorama Khedkar, the mother of controversial Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm days after a video of her waving a pistol in front of a man at what looked like a farmland went viral.

The Khedkar family is mired in controversy which started after Puja Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer was transferred from Pune to Washim over her 'VIP demands. She later faced allegations of securing a position in the IAS by taking the civil services exam under the Other Backward Class (OBC) – with less than Rs 8 lakh annual income – and visually impaired categories and submitting a mental illness certificate. READ FULL STORY

The CBI has questioned three students from AIIMS Patna in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said Thursday. Further details on the students being quizzed were not immediately known.

The agency on Tuesday had arrested Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya, a 2017-batch civil engineer from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, who allegedly stole the NEET-UG paper from the NTA trunk in Hazaribagh, the officials said.

The Ratna Bhandar, the revered treasury of the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri, was reopened on Thursday for the second time in a week for shifting of valuables to a temporary strong room, officials said.

The treasury was reopened at 9.51 am, officials cited in a news agency PTI report said.

After offering prayers before Lord Jagannath and his siblings, the members of a supervisory committee set up by the Odisha government for the shifting of valuables from the Ratna Bhandar, entered the temple around 9 am.

Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice N Kotiswar Singh on Thursday took oath of office and became the first judge to have been elevated to the Supreme Court from Manipur.

Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court R Mahadevan was also sworn in as judge of the apex court.

Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai condoled the demise of two STF jawans who lost their lives in an IED blast in Bijapur and prays for the speedy recovery of four jawans who are injured.

A Supreme Court bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud is hearing a batch of petitions in connection with the alleged irregularities and demand for re-test in the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test - Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2024.

While hearing the NEET-UG petitions, seeking cancellation of the medical entrance test, CJI Chandrachud said, "You have to show us that the leak was so systemic and affected the entire examination so as to warrant the cancellation of the entire exam," Live Law reported.

Sr Advocate Narendra Hooda informed the Supreme Court that there are a total of 56,000 seats in government medical colleges and 52,000 in private colleges.

"So total, One lakh eight thousand. If re-exam happens, the total number is one lakh eight thousand and not twenty three lakhs," Hooda told the top court.

CJI Chandrachud responded to senior Advocate Hooda saying that just because out of 23 lakh only 1 lakh will get admission, "we cannot order a re-examination".

"Re-examination has to be on a concrete footing that the entire exam is affected," the CJI added.

Senior Advocate Hooda said, "the IIT Madras analytics based on 23 lakh students performance is not reliable, adding that the analytics should have been done on the basis of 1 lakh eight thousand candidates who would get admissions.

Senior advocate Hooda said that there is a conflict of interest since IIT Madras Director is a member of NTA.

However SG Mehta objected saying that it was factually wrong.

"Senior Advocate Hooda said, "the IIT Madras analytics based on 23 lakh students performance is not reliable, adding that the analytics should have been done on the basis of 1 lakh eight thousand candidates who would get admissions," the SG added.

Upon being asked as to what relation does NTA have in regard to JEE, the SG said that JEE Mains is conducted by NTA.

The bench noted that this year's JEE Advance was organised by IIT Madras.

The Supreme Court bench asked for the IIT Madras' report, for which senior Advocate Hooda read out the executive summary of the report.

Senior Advocate Hooda said that the NTA and the Government are giving two reasons for the "exponential inflation in marks - one, there was reduction of syllabus; two, increase in candidature. The reply is not giving a full disclosure".

He said that there is increase in syllabus too. "There is increase and decrease both in the syllabus. They are not talking about the increase in syllabus. I can show the increased portions," Hooda told the apex court.

Showing the report of the IIT Madras, which was based on the performance of 23 lakh students, senior Advocate Hooda said that the "inflation of marks is admitted, leak is admitted".

"The curve is no indication that there is no abnormality. Because, the data is too large, which cannot be caught. Granular variations can't be seen with this large data of 23 lakh candidates," he added.

Senior advocate Hooda asked as to why the data in the IIT Madras report shows the data of only 17 students.

"There are 571 cities. They say toppers are evenly spread. But the data they give is of only 17 students. Why are they shying away? If they have run it for top 100, they should give for top 100 and not just 17," Hooda was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

NTA told the top court that the NTA affidavit has annexed the details of top 100 ranks.

The CJI took note that the top ranker is from Guntur, however, senior advocate Hooda said, "There are nine people from Jaipur, which IIT has not captured in their report."

"The purpose is to show that the toppers are spread over. Just to show that and that there is no abnormal spike in any particular centre," the SG responded.

Senior advocate Hooda said that the entire country was given paper from SBI but in Hardayal school paper from Canara bank was given.

"The principal says that the instruction was that let the students do Canara bank paper. They gave grace marks to everyone in the school. Because of that extra marks, 6 people got 720/720, two people from the same centre got 718," Hooda was quoted as saying by Live Law.

Hooda further said that the NTA has not come clean about this, adding that the court has not examined the as to the grace marks they gave to 1563 odd students.

"To hush up the matter, they have a re-exam," he said.

The CJI responded saying that the issue has attained finality. "This court has upheld the re-examination," CJI Chandrachud said.

As the top court noted that the top hundred marks is distributed across the country, 12 states and one UT, the SG said, "First 100 rankers are spread across 95 centres located in 56 cities within 18 States/UTs."

The SG said that the number of students who secured the perfect score of 720/720, which was 67 earlier, had reduced after the re-examination.

"How many of them were in 1,563?" CJI asked. To which the NTA responded saying 44.

The SC bench asked to how many students, in their entire exam, changed their centre. "How many out of 23.22 lakh?"

"In the name of corrections, they change centres. During that process, only the possibility of changing happens. We will never know it. As of now system doesn't catch that," NTA counsel.

The exam govering body, NTA, told the top court that 15,000 students utilised the window for corrections.

The top court bench asked as to how many of these 15,000 changed their centres and for how many days the window was open.

The NTA also said that the candidates are required to opt for the city of their choice. The CJI responded saying, "So what they can change is only the city. No candidate can choose the centre. Centre is alloted by the system."

NTA informed the Supreme Court that the centre allotment takes place only two days before the exam, adding that nobody knows which centre will be allotted to them.

The NTA told the court that 15,000 new applications were received, adding that "as far as change of centre, petitioners have focused only on Godhra".

"Do we have any data on how many students, out of one lakh eight thousand, had changed their cities? We would like to see the distribution and was the change to any of the suspected areas?" the CJI asked.

"Is there any skew between those who registered between April 9 and 10?" CJI Chandrachud further questioned.

"Those who changed the centres, how many of them made it to one lakh eight thousand? Two, is there any skew in favour of those who registered on April 9 & 10," the CJI added.

Senior lawyer Mathews Nedumpara said, "The discussion is going off..the only issue is whether re-test is needed...but discussion is on something else."

"No, this is the very heart of the issue," CJI responded.

Senior lawyer Mathews Nedumpara termed the IIT Report as "a lie".

CJI Chandrachud objected to the remark and said, "Don't just use adjectives against a premier institute. Give us core facts."

The Supreme Court bench is now on a lunch break. The hearing in the NEET UG controversy will resume at 2 pm.

The Supreme Court bench has resumed the hearing of the pleas related to the controversy-ridden NEET UG.

The CJI has asked NTA about the Rajasthan High Court order, which it had cited to open a new window for fresh applications.

The SC bench asked NTA whether the Rajasthan High Court order was for only one candidate.

The Solicitor General responded saying, "We received several representations, so we thought, as a student friendly measure will open."

CJI Chandrachud came down heavily on NTA and said, "This order was only for one student who didn't pay fee. And what does NTA do? It allows every one to apply."

NTA told the SC that it received approximately 15,000 new registrations and "out of this new 15,094 students, those who will be getting admission in one lakh eight thousand is only 44."

"Out of the new registrations, about 12,000 students are failing," it said, adding that, "This was not intended to help someone in particular. It was a pro-student measure. Only 44 out of the new registrations are getting admissions," Live Law reported.

Citing a data table in the IIT report, senior Advocate Hooda said that there is an inflation of marks.

"The increase of students who scored between 550 to 720 is 77,000," he added.

CJI Chandrachud asked NTA as to how many students had appeared in 2022.

"17 lakh 64 thousand five hundred seventy appeared in 2022. In 2023- 20,38,526 appeared. In 2024- 23, 33,297 appeared," NTA responded.

So between 2022-24, about 33 per cent increase in candidates, the CJI noted.

The CJI said that as per NTA, there was a reduction in the syllabus. However, sr Advocate Hooda said that there was a corresponding increase in the syllabus.

"The increase in the number of candidates in the 550-720 range is five-fold compared to previous years," Hooda said citing a document.

The CJI asked whether this could be an indication of a leak, to which the petitioners' counsel said, "It is a red flag".

However, CJI told Hooda said that he needs to have "something more concrete".

Senior advocate Narender Hooda told the Supreme Court that he will show the bench that there is an increase in syllabus.

He showed topics increased in subjects, says they were notified just five months ahead of exam.

"Surprisingly, the NTA does not make any whisper on this. They should have come clean on this," Hooda responded.

Senior Advocate Hooda, about the chain of custody of the question paper, told the apex court bench that the papers were dispatched to the centres on April 24 through a private courier company.

The papers reached the SBI and Canara banks on May 3.

The CJI took note that the gap between the date of dispatch and the date of arrival of the papers at the SBI/Canara bank branches in the 571 cities is that of nine days.

The Solicitor General informed the top court that the CBI investigated the entire chain of custody, right from the printers to the centre, how the sealing was done, GPS trackers and digital lockers, adding that in total there is a seven layer safety system.

Following the SG's point over the 7-layer safety system, senior advocate Hooda said that papers were dispatched on April 28.

"You said April 24," the CJI responded. Hooda clarified saying that for Hazaribagh the dispatch date was April 28.

"Was the despatch date the same for all centres?" the CJI asked.

The Solicitor General stepped forward to explain the system, saying that there are two printing presses in play because there are two papers.

"So the two printing presses started distributing papers between April 24-28," the CJI said, to which the SG responded "for cities".

Meanwhile, Hooda read out the NTA affidavit and said that for Hazaribagh the dispatch took place on April 28.

"This trunk (containing papers) was found travelling on an e-rickshaw on the 3rd May in Hazaribagh under the open sky and it was received by the Principal of the school. The CBI arrested the Principal. The NTA affidavit does not refer to this," Hooda was quoted as saying by Live Law.

The CJI asked the petitioners as to how do they formulate their contention that the "leak is widespread and systemic".

Hooda said, "There is a systemic failure in conducting the exam by NTA. Failure is multi-dimensional."

Hooda explained in chronological order:

Transportation of question paper got compromised.

For 6 days question papers remained in the hands of a private courier company.

Question papers were transported in an e-rickshaw in Hazaribagh. Instead of it being taken to the bank, E-rickshaw driver took it to the school.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda told the top court that there photographs of e-rickshaw carrying the papers, adding that the Principal of the Hazaribagh school -- Oasis School -- was arrested in connection with the paper leak.

"He was part of the NTA and city coordinator," Hooda added.

The senior advocate further said, "Dissemination of the leaked paper was happening on the May 3 itself. Evidence of Telegram videos show that the solved papers were being circulated on May 4 itself.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda said that given the nature of social media, it is impossible to precisely determine the exact spread of the leaked question papers and who all benefitted from it.

"NTA does not talk about this in the written note filed yesterday," he added.

CJI Chandrachud, in response said, "Idea of somebody doing this is not to make a national charade of NEET exam. People were doing it for money. Therefore anybody who is making money out of it won't circulate it mass scale."

As the CJI asked as to when the leaked paper was put out on the Telegram channel, the National Testing Agency reiterated its stance saying that it is a "doctored video".

The Solicitor General said, "Telegram channel has an inbuilt feature that if there is a change, it will be reflected. From that, it is known that this was circulated after the exam."

However, Hooda disputed the NTA's stance.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda told the top court that according to the Telegram videos, the question papers were circulating on May 4.

"It was the original question papers. The time is 9 am, the NTA wants this court to disbelieve. The date and time they show is not a date and time which can appear in a Telegram channel. It is a watermark," he added.

"It is not a date and time. Date and time appears like the one which is appearing in page (in the petitioners' submission)," Hooda noted.

Referring to the arrest of the principal of the Hazaribagh school, senior advocate Narender Hooda said that they have transported the papers in an e-rickshaw without any guard.

The solicitor general said, "These are OMR sheets not question papers".

The CJI asked NTA whether they use a private courier company to dispatch NEET question papers. However, the solicitor general said that he would explain during his turn.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda referred to the statement recorded by Bihar police of another accused, Anurag Yadav, saying that the statement shows paper leak on May 4.

CJI asked Hooda whether they have 161 recorded statements. Hooda said that the statements are getting circulated in social media.

Senior advocate Narender Hooda said that the NTA's counter-affidavit says that it is not a certified copy of the 161 statements and hence should be discarded from evidence.

The Solicitor General countered saying that the translation of the statement is not accurate.

According to them [statements that came out in the probe], students were made to memorise on May 5 morning. That means prior to 5th May somebody has solved the question papers. If somebody has solved the papers, it has happened prior to May 5. So the leak happened prior to May 4 night. Question is when the leak happened."

(via LiveLaw)

Appearing for petitioners, Narendra Hooda said the "papers were in private hands for long, in courier company, in e-rickshaws."

To this, CJI asked when the leak took place according to him.

"There is no leak which took place," SG said.

CJI: "Okay, when the breach took place?"

SG: "It was in a particular centre, between 8.02 AM to 9.23 AM a person goes in, photographs the paper and comes out."

(via LiveLaw)

'Results of all students -- city-wise and centre-wise -- should be uploaded online by Saturday, 12 pm,' directs SC.

Supreme Court refuses to stay counselling for now, till Monday. 

'Counselling will take two three months. It will start on July 24 or so,' said SG.

'We will hear on Monday itself,' said CJI.

SC to resume hearing pleas related to NEET-UG 2024 controversy on July 22

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar who was detained under the Goondas Act in May by the Tamil Nadu Police.

Granting the interim relief to Shankar currently lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said it would not decide the case on merits as the Madras High Court is seized of the matter.

Three people were arrested in Spain and one more in Germany on suspicion of belonging to a network that supplied the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with parts to build kamikaze drones that would have been used in attacks in northern Israel, Spanish authorities said Thursday, AP reported.

Four people were killed and 20 injured when eight coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told PTI four people were killed in the accident. Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner GS Naveen Kumar said 20 persons have been injured in the accident.

AAP on Thursday alleged the BJP MPs are making the poor homeless by getting their houses demolished through the departments under them.

Addressing a press conference, AAP leader and MLA Durgesh Pathak said houses were "demolished illegally" in Civil Lines, and the people living there since independence were made "homeless".

"Now the railways has given a notice to demolish the slums of Brar Square on July 22, but the BJP MP from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj has not gone there to meet the people," he said.

One person died after an explosion occurred at a scrap warehouse located in Adhartal Industrial Area in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Thursday, a police official said.

According to the police, the explosion occurred at around 10 am on Thursday and around 10 people were working in the warehouse out of which one sustained injuries and later succumbed.

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) will investigate cow shelters taking grants fraudulently in Jaisalmer district, Gaupalan Minister Joraram Kumawat said in the Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday.

Strict action will be taken against the culprits and "the grant amount will be recovered from such cow shelters", the minister said while replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Assembly.

Kumawat said that a confidential investigation and surprise inspection of cow shelters in the Jaisalmer district was conducted by the directorate of Gaupalan on February 7 and 8, 2024. (PTI)

Police on Thursday told a court in Maharashtra’s Pune district that they had invoked IPC section 307 for attempt to murder against Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, as they sought her custody for five days in a land dispute case.

Cops also called Manorama, her husband Dilip and three others, all shown as accused in the FIR, as “influential and politically active” persons, in the court in Paud that remanded Manorama in police custody till July 20.

Police had launched a search for Manorama and her husband Dilip Khedkar after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in Pune's Mulshi tehsil in 2023.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu makes a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza, days before speech to US Congress, reports AP.

A 45-year-old woman died after she jumped off an elevated metro station onto the road below in west Delhi on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The victim was reportedly suffering from depression, the police said citing her husband. According to the CCTV footage retrieved by the police, the woman was seen entering the Uttam Nagar West Metro Station and going upstairs, a senior police officer said.

"She found a place where no other passenger or metro official was around and then kept her phone aside. She then climbed the railing and jumped from there," the officer added. (With PTI Inputs)

Two jawans injured in an IED blast detonated by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. Two personnel of the Special Task Force (STF) were killed and four others injured in a separate incident of IED blast in the same district earlier today.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday said India will not allow "even a gram" of drugs to come into the country, as he exhorted anti-narcotics agencies to adopt a "ruthless" approach to dismantle supply chains.

He was addressing senior officials of the central and state anti-narcotics agencies during the 7th apex level meeting of NCORD, or narco-coordination centre, in the national capital.

Shah also launched the MANAS helpline number '1933' along with an email id -- info.ncbmanas@gov.in.