Massive door-to-door search in Kashmir; First time since 1990s

New Delhi: Indian universities and higher education institutions will now be allowed to offer admissions twice a year on lines of foreign universities with the University Grants Commission giving a go ahead to the plan, UGC chief Jagadesh Kumar said.

The two admission cycles will be July-August and January-February from the 2024-25 academic session.

"If Indian universities can offer admission twice a year, it will benefit many students such as those who missed admission to a university in the July-August session due to a delay in the announcement of board results, health issues, or personal reasons," Kumar said.

"Biannual university admissions will help students maintain motivation since they do not have to wait one full year to be admitted if they miss admission in the current cycle. With biannual admissions in place, industries can also do their campus recruitment twice a year, improving employment opportunities for the graduates," he added.

The UGC chief explained that biannual admissions will also enable the higher education institutes (HEIs) to plan their resource distribution, such as faculty, labs, classrooms and support services, more efficiently, resulting in a better functional flow within the university.

"Universities worldwide already follow a biannual admission system. If Indian HEIs adopt the biannual admission cycle, our HEIs can enhance their international collaborations and student exchanges. As a result, our global competitiveness will improve, and we will align with the global educational standards," Kumar said.

"If HEIs adopt biannual admissions, they need to work on administrative intricacies, good planning for increased use of available resources, and providing seamless support systems for the smooth transition of students admitted at dissimilar times of the year. HEIs can maximize the usefulness of biannual admissions only when they sufficiently prepare faculty members, staff and students for the transition," he added.

Kumar, however, clarified that it will not be mandatory to offer biannual admissions for universities and those HEIs that have the required infrastructure and teaching faculty can utilise the opportunity.

"Offering biannual admissions will not be mandatory for the HEIs, it is the flexibility that UGC provides to the HEIs which want to increase their student intake and offer new programmes in emerging areas. To be able to admit students twice a year, HEIs must make suitable amendments to their institutional regulations," he said. 

Tech mogul Elon Musk has sent a storm across social media after he tweeted that electronic voting machines should be replaced by paper ballots since he believes such devices are prone to getting hacked.

"We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," said the Tesla CEO as he retweeted Independent POTUS candidate Robert F. Keddy, who in a post talked about voting irregularities in voting machines in Puerto Rico.

"Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail?," Kennedy said.

"US citizens need to know that every one of their votes were counted, and that their elections cannot be hacked. We need to return to paper ballots to avoid electronic interference with elections," he further added.

Soon after Musk's post, BJP leader and former IT Minister of State Rajeev Chandrashekhar took to X and said, "This is a huge sweeping generalization statement that implies no one can build secure digital hardware. Wrong."

He further added, "@elonmusk's view may apply to US n other places - where they use regular compute platforms to build Internet connected Voting machines.(sic)"

Chandrasekhar continued, "But Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media - No connectivity, no bluetooth, wifi, Internet. ie there is no way in. Factory programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed.(sic)"

He even went on to say, "Electronic voting machines can be architected and built right as India has done. We wud be happy to run a tutorial Elon. (sic)"

Soon after, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi posted an image of a news article that says an individual had access to a mobile phone with which an EVM can be unlocked.

Rahul said in his post, "EVMs in India are a "black box," and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them. Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability."

The news report by Mid-Day reveals that the accused in question, Mangesh Pandilkar, is a relative of Mumbai North West MP Ravindra Waikar, who belongs to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The article cites police officials as saying that the phone can be used to generate a one-time password (OTP) to unlock an EVM machine, and was used on June 4 inside the NESCO Centre. The phone in question has been sent for forensic tests.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) unanimously elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the ruling bloc's leader on Wednesday. The decision was made during a meeting at Modi's residence in New Delhi, a day after the NDA secured a majority in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for Modi to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.

The meeting, attended by prominent leaders such as TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, and NCP leader Praful Patel, also saw the passing of a resolution reaffirming the government's commitment to serving the poor, women, youth, farmers, and deprived sections of society.

The resolution said the NDA government will continue working to lift people's living standards for the country's all-round development while conserving its heritage.

"Over the past 10 years, 1.4 billion Indians have witnessed the country develop in every sector under the leadership of the esteemed Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, through the welfare policies of the NDA government. After a long interval of nearly six decades, the people of India have chosen a strong leadership with an absolute majority for the third consecutive time."

"We all take pride in the fact that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were fought and won by the NDA under the esteemed leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi. All of us NDA leaders unanimously choose the esteemed Mr. Narendra Modi as our leader."

"Under Mr. Modi's leadership, the NDA government is committed to serving India's poor, women, youth, farmers, and the oppressed, deprived, and suffering citizens. By preserving India's heritage, the NDA government will continue to work towards comprehensive development and improving the standard of living for every citizen of India. This proposal was unanimously passed on June 5, 2024, in New Delhi," read the proposal letter passed by the leaders of the NDA in Delhi.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, in a significant move, passed a resolution emphasizing the alliance government's commitment to serving the marginalized sections of society. The resolution, passed during a meeting in New Delhi, highlighted the NDA's dedication to the welfare and empowerment of the poor, women, youth, farmers, and other deprived segments of the population.

The NDA is set to meet President Droupadi Murmu to stake claim to form the government under Modi's leadership. JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha stated, "The government under the leadership of Narendra Modi will soon be formed, and very soon a meeting of all the MPs will take place." Eknath Shinde expressed his support for Modi, stating, "Modiji has got a majority. The NDA will form the government under Modiji's leadership."

According to the sources, discussions were held on the government formation by the NDA. According to sources, PM Modi will take the oath for the third time on June 8. Discussions are ongoing regarding the allocation of key portfolios to alliance members.

Despite the BJP falling short of the magic number for the first time since 2014, the NDA is comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. This victory paves the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term in office.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu dissolved the 17th Lok Sabha on Wednesday after the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.

"The President accepted the advice of the Cabinet on June 5, 2024, and signed the Order dissolving the 17th Lok Sabha in the exercise of the powers conferred upon her by Sub-Clause (2) of Article 85 of the Constitution," a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi tendered his resignation along with his Council of Ministers to President Murmu. The President accepted the resignation and requested that the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers continue until the new government assumes office.

Also, a meeting of the opposition coalition, INDIA bloc, is convened in Delhi on Wednesday evening. INC president Mallikarjun Kharge said that leaders of the alliance will be meeting to discuss the election results and strategy thereafter.