Latest news with #Sardesai
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Opposition slams govt after Shirgao stampede
Margao: Opposition leaders across party lines launched a scathing attack on state govt on Saturday, holding it responsible for the stampede at the Shree Lairai Devi Jatra in Shirgao that claimed six lives and left several injured. The incident sparked intense criticism of the administration's alleged failure in managing the religious gathering. The opposition has also demanded a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the stampede. State Congress president Amit Patkar, who visited the site, termed the tragedy 'entirely preventable'. After meeting temple committee members and govt officials, Patkar said, 'Lack of crowd control, power failures and zero public safety measures point to a complete collapse of administration. BJP govt cannot escape responsibility.' AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge accused state govt of evading responsibility. 'Govt's failure to provide basic facilities and maintain law and order led to this catastrophe,' he said. Leader of the opposition Yuri Alemao expressed deep sorrow over the incident while extending support to the bereaved families. GFP president Vijai Sardesai questioned the effectiveness of the security arrangements, pointing to the govt's earlier claims of deploying 1,000 police personnel and drone surveillance. 'Now that this incident occurred, where were those 1,000 police personnel?' Sardesai said. He said a compensation of Rs 1 crore should be given to each victim's family. Sardesai blamed the incident on 'complete administrative collapse' at the jatra, terming it 'a failure of law and order and health and emergency response'. AAP's Arvind Kejriwal also expressed grief over the tragedy. He said his 'thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones'.
Hindustan Times
01-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
CET cell admits to lapses in Maths exam
Mumbai: The state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell has admitted to a major lapse in the MHT CET exam after students complained that 21 out of 50 questions for Mathematics in the exam held on April 27 were erroneous. The errors occurred as the questions were translated from Marathi to English and the answer options got jumbled in the process, CET cell commissioner Dilip Sardesai told Hindustan Times. A re-exam will be held on May 5 for all 24,744 students who opted to write the exam in English to ensure fairness. 'We found a technical error during translation,' said Sardesai. 'The original paper was in Marathi and while translating it to English, the answer options for 21 questions got mixed up. This caused confusion for students and should not have happened.' A detailed inquiry is underway to determine how the error occurred and who was responsible, Sardesai mentioned. 'Strict action will be taken, and we will not engage the services of those involved in future,' he said. The MHT CET exam is held every year, for admissions to engineering, agriculture, and pharmacy courses across Maharashtra. The exam is held for two streams, PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) and PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), and students are given the option to write exams in English, Marathi or Urdu. Accordingly, the PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Maths) exam was held on April 27, the last day of the exam schedule, in three languages. The question paper was originally set in Marathi and later translated into English and Urdu, said sources in the CET cell. Though the Marathi and Urdu versions had no glitches, the answer keys to 21 out of 50 questions for Mathematics in the English version were erroneous. A total of 24,744 students had opted to write the exam in English and a full re-exam covering all 150 questions (across Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics) will be conducted for these students, the CET cell confirmed. The students will receive fresh admit cards and details about exam centres via SMS and email. As for the 2,875 and 218 students who wrote the exam in Marathi and Urdu, respectively, no decision has been made yet regarding a re-exam. The lapse has raised questions about quality checks in paper translation, and the CET cell has promised to enforce corrective measures to avoid such lapses in future.
Indian Express
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
21 errors flagged in MHT-CET question paper; Maharashtra to hold retest
The state government has decided to hold a re-examination for students who appeared for the second session of the Maharashtra Health and Technical Common Entrance Test (MHT-CET), which had 21 erroneous questions, held on April 27. The test that decides the admissions to various undergraduate engineering, agriculture, and pharmacy courses is likely to be held again between May 6 and 11, the Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell said on Wednesday. Several students from across the state who attended the PCM (Physics-Chemistry-Mathematics) paper on Sunday complained of errors in questions. Candidates pointed out that more than 20 questions in the Mathematics section did not have a correct answer from the given four options. Admitting errors in the question paper, Maharashtra CET Cell Commissioner Dilip Sardesai said that errors were found in 21 questions out of the total 50 questions in the Mathematics section of the English version of the question paper. 'The glitch is due to errors in the translation of questions from Marathi to English. Apart from errors in translation, the options of the questions were jumbled up, which led to no correct answer in the given four options for these questions. Taking cognizance of this, it is decided to hold a re-exam for all the affected candidates,' Sardesai said. Among the students who appeared for this session of the MHT-CET (PCM) examination on Sunday, 27,306 students were registered for English medium, along with 3,473 and 241 students for Marathi and Urdu medium, respectively. 'After verification, it has been noted that the errors were only in the English medium paper where questions required translation. So there will be a re-exam for 24,744 students who were present that day to appear for MHT-CET (PCM) in English medium. There was no issue with questions for students who appeared in the other two mediums. Thus, we are still contemplating whether they should require a re-exam or not,' said Sardesai, adding that all affected students will be notified about the development via email and SMS. Many English-medium students who appeared for the exam on Sunday took to social media to complain about the errors. Initially, the Maharashtra CET Cell had responded that students complaining of errors will have to raise objections, a procedure followed if students want to challenge any question for the exam. Students and parents had called it unjustified as raising objections will cost Rs 1,000 per question. Parents demanded that CET Cell to review the questions and make a blanket decision for all those who are affected. 'Multiple emails were sent to the Maharashtra CET Cell by candidates and their parents following which the questions were reviewed by the CET Cell and it was decided to hold a re-examination for the affected candidates,' said Sardesai.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- General
- Time of India
Maharashtra LLB CET 2025 rescheduled to May 2–3 due to NEET-UG centre clash
LLB entrance exam in Maharashtra advanced by a day as NTA takes over centres MUMBAI: The three-year LLB CET in Maharashtra, which was earlier scheduled to be held on May 3 and 4, will now be conducted on May 2 and 3. This change comes after nearly 30 govt exam centres were taken by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for the conduct of NEET-UG on May 4. While the two slots scheduled on May 3 will remain unchanged, three slots, which were to be held on May 4 for around 57,000 students, will now be conducted on May 2. All LLB three-year programme aspirants have been asked to follow the schedule mentioned on their admit cards, which were released on Monday. The admit cards have been issued with the revised schedule, said the state's CET cell commissioner, Dileep Sardesai. Students have been informed about the revised schedule through WhatsApp, text messages, and emails, and the same has also been uploaded as a public notice on the CET cell portal, he said. The NEET-UG exam is scheduled for May 4 across the country. In the state, at least 28 govt centres that were to be used by the CET cell for the law entrance test were taken by NTA, said the official. Around 9,000 law aspirants were scheduled to take the exam from these 28 centres. However, NTA decided to use only govt buildings for the NEET-UG exam following a central directive. The CET cell could not postpone the LLB entrance test as centres were not available, and other dates would have clashed with the state's universities' exams. Further delay would have also affected the results and the law admission process in the state, said Sardesai. For real-time updates, follow our AP SSC 10th Result 2025 Live Blog.
Indian Express
28-04-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Change in Maharashtra CET dates: exams for 3-year LLB admission to be held on May 2, 3
With just a few days remaining for the Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to the LLB (3-year) course in Maharashtra, the state CET Cell announced Monday that the examination dates are being advanced to May 2 and 3, 2025, instead of May 3 and 4 as declared earlier. The change was due to the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) which is scheduled to be held on May 4. In a statement, the Cell said some CET centres were booked by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for NEET so they 'cannot be utilised for CET examination.' Around 95,000 students have registered for CET. Addressing the media on Monday, Dilip Sardesai, Commissioner, Maharashtra CET Cell, said, 'To avoid any confusion among candidates, the admit cards were not issued until now. Now that the dates are finalised, admit cards are live on the website for students to download. Candidates will have the right date and exam centre detail on their admit card.' Explaining the reason behind the changes, Sardesai said, 'After the NTA took over a few CET centres, we were falling short of close to 9,000 seats on May 4. We explored the opportunity to postpone, but students are likely to get busy with university exams. Thus, it was decided to shift the sessions scheduled on May 4 to May 2.'
