Govt itself is misguided about farm laws: Farmer leader

Mangaluru: Former minister and KPCC vice-president B Ramanath Rai stated that the NEET-UG should be conducted again and a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court should be initiated.

“Being a Congress leader from Dakshina Kannada, which is an educational hub with a large number of medical colleges, I have to raise concern towards students and parents.

While a few students were becoming toppers in the exam earlier, this time 67 students scored 720. The grace marks were awarded, though it was not in the NEET guidelines. The govt has been playing with the future of lakhs of students. There should be a transparent and unbiased probe. The Congress will launch a nationwide protest,” he told reporters on Monday.

Stating that the NEET-UG result, which was scheduled to be released on June 14, was released 10 days earlier on June 4, Rai said, “The govt may have announced the results of NEET-UG and the Lok Sabha polls on the same day with the calculations of diverting the people’s attention. While many have made suicide attempts, the issue also has reached the court. Congress demands a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court.”

Stating that the CET was introduced in Karnataka during the tenure of then-chief minister M Veerappa Moily in 1984, Rai said that a large number of students from the state were able to get admission to medical seats. 

“The previous system of holding medical entrance at the state level should be reintroduced. There is a need for a united fight along with other states for the re-introduction of the CET at the state level. Meanwhile, a fresh NEET-UG exam should be conducted for this year,” he said.

Congress candidate Padmaraj R Poojary, who contested the recent Lok Sabha poll, said a mass protest will be held if the central govt does not respond. He added that none of the students’ unions, except the NSUI, has raised their voice against the NEET-UG controversy.

Nagpur: The Nagpur district court on Monday handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined ₹ 3,000.

Additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

"The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹ 3,000," said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani.

Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company's missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018.

The former BrahMos Aerospace engineer was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent OSA.

He had worked at the Brahmos facility for four years and was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

Agarwal was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April.

London: Maharashtra followed by Karnataka and Delhi are the top three states of India bringing in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK, according to a new joint report produced by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the High Commission of India in the UK.

Indian Assets: Charting the Journeys of Indian Companies in the UK, launched in London earlier this week, revealed that companies headquartered in Maharashtra brought in the highest amount of FDI into the UK at 20 per cent in 2023, followed by Karnataka (12 per cent) and Delhi (8.6 per cent).

Completing the top 10 tallies are the states of Gujarat (7.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu (6.7 per cent), Telangana (6.5 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (5.9 per cent), Haryana (4.5 per cent), West Bengal (3.14 per cent) and Kerala (3.05 per cent) -- making up 78 per cent of the total FDI from India into the UK.

“As India and the UK continue to evolve and navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing global landscape, I believe that our businesses reimagining the India-UK corridor will realise our shared vision and aspiration for a secure and sustainable future prosperity,” said  Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, who launched the report in London.

The analysis finds the leading sector bringing in FDI from India in terms of the number of companies and employees is IT and software, highlighting the achievements of Indian companies in the UK across sectors such as automotive, electric car batteries, diagnostics and healthcare, and technology.

It also spotlights the positive impact Indian companies can have on heritage British brands and how the value of these legacy brands is retained and protected when acquired by Indian companies.

“Today, Indian companies with operations in the UK have integrated themselves into the British economy, making their mark in industries in almost all leading sectors. Their ability to adapt, innovate, and forge meaningful partnerships has not only propelled their growth but has also enriched the economy of the UK and its regions, promoting job creation, driving investment, and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion,” said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.

Among some of the other findings of the report, new Indian students cumulatively contributed an estimated GBP 4.3 billion (Rs 45,611 crore) to UK universities against the backdrop of a 5 per cent increase in UK student visas last year.

It also showcases the robust relationship that Indian companies have across different UK regions, with the West Midlands, London and the north-west being the top recipients of Indian FDI in the UK across the fields of automotive, software and IT services and energy.

According to the latest official data from the UK’s Department of Business and Trade, total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and India was GBP 39.0 billion (Rs 4.1 lakh crore) in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2023, an increase of 4.8 per cent or GBP 1.8 billion (Rs 19,093 crore) in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022.

India was the UK’s 12th-largest trading partner and the second-largest source market for the UK, bringing in 118 new projects and creating 8,384 jobs.