Latest news with #NationalEligibility-cum-EntranceTest
Hindustan Times
34 minutes ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
After SC order on NEET-PG, NBEMS seeks approval to defer it till Aug 3
The National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking to conduct the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for postgraduate medical courses (NEET-PG) in a single shift on August 3. The decision comes days after the top court, on May 30, set aside the board's decision to hold the examination –– earlier scheduled for June 15 –– in two shifts. The court held that the two-shift model 'creates arbitrariness', as the question papers are set with different difficulty levels. In compliance with the directive, NBEMS issued an order on Monday postponing the examination until further notice. In its application moved before the top court, NBEMS said that August 3 is the earliest date given by M/s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), its technology partner, for the conduct of the examination. 'The present application is being filed on behalf of National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences seeking permission to schedule the NEET PG 2025 on August 3, 2025, which is the earliest possible available date given by its technology partner i.e., M/s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) in accordance with the directions passed by this Court vide order dated May 30, 2025,' the application said, adding that TCS suggested that the exam be held in a single shift from 9am to 12.30pm. On May 30, the Supreme Court bench headed by justice Vikram Nath directed the NEET-PG 2025 be conducted in a single shift and gave NBEMS two weeks to identify more centres for this purpose. Following the order, NBEMS contacted TCS, which said that complying with the court's direction by June 15 is not possible. The firm suggested the revised date of August 3, considering the fact that the examination is to be held in over 250 cities, requiring more than 1,000 exam centres equipped with requisite technical and physical infrastructure to handle 242,679 candidates. Besides, over 60,000 personnel will be required, ranging from commanding officers, system operators, network administrators, invigilators, security staff, registration managers, CCTV staff, to electricians, etc, NBEMS sai d in its plea. In addition, TCS said it would require over 2,000 local exam servers to be arranged, configured and mobilised across the country and it depends on hardware supply chain. TCS also shared with the court the board's specifications for test centres, which state that the centres require secure examination premises, adequate number of compatible computer systems, three-tier power backup systems, network infrastructure, security software and hardware, trained technical manpower, anti-cheating and surveillance measures, prior record of compliance with examination integrity protocols, besides dedicated deployment of trained technical manpower, invigilators, administrative staff, and independent observers. NBEMS informed the court that prior to the May 30 order, the examination for the registered candidates was planned to be held in 448 centres across 195 cities in two shifts. With the decision to hold the examination in a single shift, the application window has to be reopened and candidates be provided the option to choose the centre nearest to them. Going by a rough estimate, the number of centres required would cross 1,000, the plea said, as NEET-PG 2022 held for 206,541 candidates in single shift required 849 centres while NEET-PG 2023 was held in 902 centres for 209,030 candidates. The exam was conducted in two shifts starting last year. NBEMS has already written to state chief secretaries, director generals of police (DGP) and district magistrates to provide requisite support, that would include not only law and order, but cyber security, uninterrupted power supply at test centres, and installation of jammers. The application said, 'The respondent (NBEMS) is fully committed to holding the NEET-PG 2025 in a single this application is being made only to ensure practical feasibility and safety of the said examination along with the coordination with all the relevant authorities and stakeholders.' The candidates had approached the top court raising flaws in last year's two-shift model which revealed varying difficulty levels in question papers for different shifts. The petitioners, which included individual candidates and the United Doctors Front, had questioned why no effort to identify options to hold the examination in a single shift was made despite the registration process for NEET-PG 2025 beginning in March this year. NBEMS had claimed that two-shift system was introduced to rule out possibility of malpractices by unscrupulous elements as the online examination required secured centres. The board further stated that it was bound by the top court's order to follow the academic calendar and cannot delay holding the examination. However, the bench permitted the board to approach the court for seeking extension of time. The bench said, 'Having two shifts creates arbitrariness and does not allow students to take examination at the same level. It is unfair to have two shifts. Any two examination papers has to have variation.'
News18
a day ago
- General
- News18
NEET PG 2025 Postponed Following SC Order To Hold Exam In One Shift
Last Updated: NEET PG 2025: The exam was slated to held on June 15 but now stands deferred. The revised date will be notified shortly, the NBE has stated. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2025 has been postponed after the Supreme Court has directed the National Board of Examination to hold the exam in a single shift. The decision has been made to ensure complete transparency in the exam. Many candidates had earlier raised concerns about the continued use of the two-shift exam format in NEET PG. They were calling for a return to the traditional single-shift model, citing worries about uneven question paper difficulty and the fairness of the score normalisation process. A plea was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the conduct of the NEET-PG exam in two shifts, argues that it could lead to unfairness due to varying difficulty levels between shifts. It sought a directive for the NBE to hold the exam in a single shift to ensure a 'just, fair, reasonable, and equitable" competition for all candidates. The exam was slated to held on June 15 but now stands deferred. The revised date will be notified shortly, the NBE has stated. The board has added it would arrange more test centres and required infrastructure to conduct the exam smoothly. The exam city slip was slated to out today, June 2 and the admit cards were scheduled to be released on June 11, but that too stands postponed. The revised dates are expected to be announced soon. The NEET PG exam will be conducted in a computer-based test mode (CBT) in English only. It will consist of 200 multiple-choice questions, totaling 800 marks. The exam is divided into five sections, each containing 40 questions. Candidates will have a total of 3 hours and 30 minutes (210 minutes) to complete the exam. Each section is timed, and once a section is completed, students must proceed to the next section and cannot return to the previous one. The NEET PG will cover questions from 19 MBBS subjects, which are categorized into pre-clinical, para-clinical, and clinical subjects. First Published: June 02, 2025, 18:59 IST
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Keep your mind democratic, TVK leader Vijay gives school toppers NEET advice
CHENNAI: Showing the youth a neat path to their future, actor-turned Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay urged them to keep their mind democratic. 'Only with democracy can every field flourish. If democracy functions properly, everyone can access opportunities equally,' the actor said while encouraging the students to vote wisely. 'Elect those who are clean, not those who've been tainted by corruption. Don't support the culture of buying votes,' he said. Referring to the 2026 Assembly election, Vijay said, 'Next year, you will see them (politicians) coming in droves to lure you. But you know what's right.' Honouring a group of students from 88 constituencies across 16 districts in TN and Puducherry who excelled in class 10 and 12 board examinations with certificates and cash prizes at Mamallapuram, Vijay also touched upon the contentious issue of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). 'Yes, academics do matter. There's no need to overstress about one thing over and over,' he said. Cautioning against the narrow focus on NEET, Vijay asked, 'Is NEET the whole world? The world is much bigger than NEET.' The actor also appealed to parents not to pressurise their wards (on NEET), and instead allow them the freedom to pursue their interests.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
SC directs single shift test for NEET-PG
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for postgraduate medical courses (NEET-PG) to be held in a single shift, observing the decision of the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to conduct the examination in two shifts 'creates arbitrariness'. The decision of the court came on multiple petitions filed by candidates appearing for NEET-PG 2025 who sought the examination, scheduled for June 15, be conducted in a single shift. The candidates claimed that in the two-shift model the question papers are set with different difficulty levels which is 'discriminatory to some of the candidates'. A bench headed by justice Vikram Nath said, 'We direct the authorities to hold the examination in one shift and also ensure complete transparency is maintained and secured centres are identified.' The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Kumar and NV Anjaria, pulled up NBEMS for not identifying enough centres to hold the examination in one shift, saying, 'Holding examination in two shifts is unacceptable.' Senior advocate Maninder Acharya, appearing for the NBEMS, opposed the petitions, saying that holding the exam in a single shift will jeopardise the candidates who have registered for the examination as there is little time left to identify new centres. This year 242,678 candidates have registered for NEET-PG, and finding 'secured' centres with the requisite infrastructure and security arrangements to accommodate these candidates will be a huge challenge, Acharya said. Addressing the concerns expressed by NBEMS, the court said, 'The exam is to be held all over the country. We are not ready to accept that in the entire country, considering the technological advancement we have achieved, the examination body cannot find enough examination centres.' The court ordered NBEMS to identify new examination centres to hold the exam in one shift. 'There are still two weeks for identifying examination centres and holding the exam in one shift. Burn the midnight oil and find the centres,' it said. NBEMS said that the decision to have two shifts was to curb 'malpractices by unscrupulous elements'. The exam is conducted on a computer-based platform and there are no physical answer sheets and question papers for the candidates. NBEMS, however, said there was a possibility of malpractices as the test only contains multiple choice questions (MCQs). The bench, in response said, 'Having two shifts creates arbitrariness and does not allow students to take examination at the same level. It is unfair to have two shifts. Any two examination papers has to have variation.' Acharya informed the court that NBEMS is bound by the top court's orders to hold the examination by June 15, as she sought permission of the court to seek an extension. The bench did not pass any order extending the date. However, it said, 'It would be open for the respondent to seek an extension of time.' The candidates, represented by senior advocate Shikhil Suri and advocate Charu Mathur, told the court that the two-shift examination created a lot of problems for candidates as last year, the paper for the second shift was comparatively easy. Keeping this in mind, last year, the method of normalisation was applied. The petitioners argued that the process for conducting NEET-PG 2025 began from March and despite time being available, authorities have not made any effort to conduct the examination in a single shift. Acharya defended NBEMS's decision, stating that other competitive examinations such as Common Admission Test (CAT) for postgraduate management programs and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to undergraduate engineering courses are held in multiple shifts. The bench, however, noted that these exams feature over a million candidates, and cannot be compared with NEET-PG which has less than 250,000 applicants. The respondent also said that the petitions are proceeding on a misconception that the question papers for each shift will have a vast difference in difficulty levels. 'Even if the two sets have different difficulty levels, we have a process of normalisation,' Acharya said, adding that any direction passed by the court will impact other entrance examinations conducted on a pattern of multiple shifts. The bench said, 'Normalisation may be applied in exceptional cases, but, not as a matter of routine year after didn't you think of this before? This process started in March.' NBEMS told the court that except for a few candidates, who are before the court, the majority of candidates appearing for the examination do not have any grievance with the two-shift process. The court said, 'Even if we find one candidate raising a legitimate grievance, that is enough for us to step in.' The number of NEET-PG registrants this year has increased 45% from 2020 (167,102 candidates). 'The safety and security of conduct of examinations on a computer-based-platform has its own challenges and examination conducting bodies are required to take all possible measures to prevent use of any unfair means by unscrupulous elements to adopt any kind of malpractices,' NBEMS said in an affidavit filed before the top court. Keeping this in mind, the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Union ministry of health & family welfare, had decided to conduct NEET PG 2025 examination at limited test centres, similar to the exercise last year, where security and sanctity of examination can be better ensured, it said.
Hans India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Supreme Court orders NBE to conduct NEET-PG 2025 in single shift
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday deprecated the National Board of Examinations (NBE) practice to conduct the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-PG 2025 examination in two shifts. A bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath opined that holding the examination in two shifts leads to arbitrariness and cannot give a level playing field to the candidates. 'The question papers in two shifts can never be of the same difficulty level. Last year, it (NEET-PG 2024) may have been held in two shifts in the facts and circumstances of that stage. But the examining body ought to have considered making arrangements for holding the examination in one shift,' remarked the Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and The apex court was dealing with a clutch of petitions challenging the lack of transparency in the conduct of the NEET-PG examination. In their plea filed before the apex court, NEET-PG aspirants claimed that the introduction of two shifts, normalisation method, and change in the tie-breaker criterion affected medical students adversely. The petitioners contended that the NEET-PG information bulletin could be amended at the whim and fancy of the authorities, and no rules or regulations existed governing the conduct of examinations. Further, they challenged the NBE decision not to disclose question papers, answer keys, or response sheets of candidates. The plea said that NEET-PG had never been held in two shifts before and had always remained a single-shift and single-day examination to ensure a uniform examination standard and fairness of the national test. One of the petitions, filed through advocate Parul Shukla, highlighted that, unlike previous years where the candidate used to receive their total score along with the number of correctly attempted questions and the number of incorrectly attempted questions, the NEET-PG 2024 results did not provide their total score. Recently, the top court issued notices to the Centre, NBE and NMC (National Medical Commission) on a plea filed by the United Doctors Front (UDF) challenging the conduct of the NEET-PG 2025 examination in two shifts. The plea sought the top court's intervention to conduct NEET-PG 2025 in a single and uniform session, apart from seeking an interim stay on the examination scheduled for June 15.
