NEET-UG set for May 4 amid steps to foil any malpractice
Representative image
NEW DELHI:
National Testing Agency
(NTA) will conduct NEET (Undergraduate) 2025 on Sunday at around 5,500
exam centres
across India and abroad, marking a sharp increase from last year's 4,750 centres spread over 571 cities. This year, the test will be held across 552 cities in India and 14 international locations.
Monitored by the education ministry, 180 central institutions have been entrusted to verify the preparedness of the centres. In some states, such as Assam, following a request from CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, all centres are located in govt-run institutions.
Candidates have been allotted centres based primarily on their first-choice preferences, leading to expansion in several cities. Nearly 90% of the centers are located in govt-run institutions, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, and state govt schools, according to NTA officials.
Meanwhile, the datesheet for CUET-UG 2025, scheduled to commence on May 8, remains pending.
Following paperleak allegations and widespread complaints that marred NEET-UG 2024 , NTA has formed state-level and district-level committees to oversee logistics and security. According to NTA sources, district magistrates (DMs), superintendents of police (SPs), and senior local officials were consulted before finalising exam centers. They, along with district coordinators, will jointly supervise arrangements to ensure seamless conduct.
NTA has also launched a dedicated portal for reporting suspicious activities related to NEET-UG 2025.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Assam to use 75-yr-old law to push back illegal migrants
Guwahati: Assam govt is preparing to use a 75-year-old previously overlooked law to pushback illegal migrants from the state without any judicial intervention immediately after their identification. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court , while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act (October, 2024), had said there is no legal requirement for the Assam govt to always approach the judiciary to identify foreigners and "we are examining this". "There is an old law called the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), and during hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court said this Act is still valid. Under its provisions, even a district commissioner can issue an order for immediate pushback of illegal immigrants," he added. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this, and we weren't aware of it either," Himanta added. He said in the past few days, the entire matter has come to light and the state govt will now discuss it seriously. "The process of identifying foreigners, which had paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be sped up a bit. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner and we don't send them to a tribunal. We will straightway push them back. Preparations for this have been ongoing over the last few days," he said. He underlined that those who have moved courts will not be pushed back for now. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 (IEAA) empowers the central govt to order expulsion of any person or class of persons who have come into Assam from outside India, either before or after the commencement of this Act, and whose stay in Assam is detrimental to the interests of the general public of India or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam. Sarma was referring to the five-member Constitution Bench headed by then chief justice DY Chandrachud on October 17, 2024 which upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala giving the sole dissenting opinion. Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra in their joint order said the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 "shall be effectively employed for the purpose of identification of illegal immigrants." They noted that the IEAA grants "Central Government the power to direct the removal of immigrants who are detrimental to the interests of India." "If there is any other piece of legislation such as the IEAA, under which the status of an immigrant can be determined, we see no reason as to why such statutory detection shall also not be given effect to, for the purposes of deportation. We thus hold that the provisions of IEAA shall also be read into Section 6A and be applied along with the Foreigners Act, 1946 for the purpose of detection and deportation of foreigners," the judges noted in their order. WHAT IS IEAA Enacted even before the immigrants from West and East Pakistan were considered foreigners under Foreigners Act The Statement of Objects and Reasons states the Act was enacted to deal with the large scale immigration of migrants from East Bengal to Assam Other statutory enactments to address the influx of immigrants in Assam Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Passport Act, 1967. Guwahati: Assam govt is preparing to use a 75-year-old previously overlooked law to pushback illegal migrants from the state without any judicial intervention immediately after their identification. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act (October, 2024), had said there is no legal requirement for the Assam govt to always approach the judiciary to identify foreigners and "we are examining this". "There is an old law called the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), and during hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court said this Act is still valid. Under its provisions, even a district commissioner can issue an order for immediate pushback of illegal immigrants," he added. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this, and we weren't aware of it either," Himanta added. He said in the past few days, the entire matter has come to light and the state govt will now discuss it seriously. "The process of identifying foreigners, which had paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be sped up a bit. This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner and we don't send them to a tribunal. We will straightway push them back. Preparations for this have been ongoing over the last few days," he said. He underlined that those who have moved courts will not be pushed back for now. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 (IEAA) empowers the central govt to order expulsion of any person or class of persons who have come into Assam from outside India, either before or after the commencement of this Act, and whose stay in Assam is detrimental to the interests of the general public of India or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam. Sarma was referring to the five-member Constitution Bench headed by then chief justice DY Chandrachud on October 17, 2024 which upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in a 4:1 majority with Justice JB Pardiwala giving the sole dissenting opinion. Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra in their joint order said the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 "shall be effectively employed for the purpose of identification of illegal immigrants." They noted that the IEAA grants "Central Government the power to direct the removal of immigrants who are detrimental to the interests of India." "If there is any other piece of legislation such as the IEAA, under which the status of an immigrant can be determined, we see no reason as to why such statutory detection shall also not be given effect to, for the purposes of deportation. We thus hold that the provisions of IEAA shall also be read into Section 6A and be applied along with the Foreigners Act, 1946 for the purpose of detection and deportation of foreigners," the judges noted in their order. WHAT IS IEAA Enacted even before the immigrants from West and East Pakistan were considered foreigners under Foreigners Act The Statement of Objects and Reasons states the Act was enacted to deal with the large scale immigration of migrants from East Bengal to Assam Other statutory enactments to address the influx of immigrants in Assam Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Passport Act, 1967.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
SC allows direct expulsion of illegals: Sarma
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state does not require the help of the foreigners' tribunal for identification of illegal immigrants . Sarma also pointed out that the Supreme Court , in one of its orders, said the order for expulsion of illegal immigrants is still in force. He said that as per this law, the deputy commissioner can immediately order a push-back. "The constitutional bench of Supreme Court, while hearing the 6A of the Citizenship Amendment Act, has stated that it is not always necessary for the Assam government for deportation of foreigners to go to the foreigners' tribunal. The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Order, 1950 - is an old law and the Supreme Court has stated that this law is still in force," Sarma told reporters on Saturday. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Realistic Game of 2025 RAID Play Now Undo
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Deportation may not require legal process: Himanta Biswa Sarma
The Assam Government may follow a 1950 order to fast-track the detection and deportation of 'illegal immigrants' instead of going through a long legal process, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday (June 7, 2025). He said illegal immigrants, once detected, will henceforth be pushed back without referring their cases to the quasi-judicial Foreigners Tribunal (FT) or any court. 'The process of detecting and deporting foreigners staying illegally in Assam was slowed down due to the exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC). We can now push back such people without going through tribunals,' the Chief Minister told journalists at Ghagrapar in western Assam's Nalbari district. Assam has 100 FTs, the first few of which were established in 2005 to adjudicate the citizenship of people referred by the Assam Police's border wing on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, a euphemism for Bangladeshi nationals allegedly staying illegally in the State. Mr. Sarma said that a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case related to Article 6A of the 1955 Citizenship Act, said Assam didn't need to route the cases of illegal immigrants through the tribunals. 'The Supreme Court observed that an old law, the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), continues to be valid. Under its provisions, even a District Commissioner can issue an order to immediately pushback illegal immigrants,' he said. The Chief Minister said that the State Government, made aware of this order recently, would deliberate on the matter thoroughly before implementation. 'We have already pushed back a large number of people, except those with ongoing court cases. The number of illegal immigrants being deported is increasing and will continue to do so at a faster pace,' Mr. Sarma said. Also Read | Ground Zero: The 'suspected foreigners' of Assam Barrage of criticism The Chief Minister's view on the deportation process follows criticisms of its recent pushback drive from minority organisations and rights activists. On May 28, the government pushed back 14 people — all Bengali-speaking Muslims, who were declared foreigners by the FTs or facing charges as 'illegal immigrants' — into Bangladesh. Not accepted by Bangladesh, these 14 people spent more than two days on the no man's land (the neutral zone on the border between any two countries) before they were sent home in Assam. These organisations accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government of indiscriminately detaining and deporting people suspected of being foreigners, without proper verification. On June 2, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition filed by the All BTC Minority Students' Union, which challenged the Assam government's alleged arbitrary deportation measures. BTC expands to the Bodoland Territorial Council. In May, the Ministry of External Affairs urged Dhaka to expedite the nationality verification process to facilitate deportations. The Ministry's spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said more than 2,000 verification cases were pending with the Bangladesh government.
