Latest news with #UnionEducationMinistry
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
A yellow line campaign to keep tobacco away from the vicinity of educational institutions
Using a thick yellow line, all educational institutions should demarcate a 100 yard or 300 feet tobacco-free zone around the institution and ensure no sale of tobacco products. This should be completed within 30 days from May 31, which is observed as World No Tobacco Day, in all districts. This comes in line with the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 that prohibits the selling of tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution. This year, World No Tobacco Day is being observed on the theme of 'Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products'. In line with this, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, in its communication to District Health Officers, said as per the Revised Tobacco Free Educational Institutions (ToFEI) guidelines issued by Union Health Ministry and ToFEI implementation manual issued by the Union Education Ministry, all heads of educational institutions (schools / colleges / other educational institutions) should mark 100 yard or 300 feet area around the institution by a thick yellow line by involving local body authorities and Parents Teachers Association (concerned educational institutions). They should ensure that there is no tobacco sale within the yellow line. An enforcement team comprising health / police / local authorities will be formed and a block-level intensified enforcement drive will be conducted on May 30, June 3 and June 6 under COTPA with Information Education and Communication initiatives. The enforcement team will remove all direct / indirect advertisement of tobacco products if found during the drive.
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- The Hindu
NEET-UG held at over 5,400 centres under strict security, no reports of untoward incidents
Medical entrance exam NEET-UG was held at more than 5,400 centres around the country amid strict monitoring and security measures on Sunday (May 4, 2025), officials said. More than 22.7 lakh candidates had registered for the test. The official attendance data will be available in a few hours. Mock drills were held at all National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) centres on Saturday (May 3, 2025) to ensure smooth conduct of the nationwide exam. Most of the centres were located in government and government-aided schools, colleges, universities and institutions. While no untoward incidents have been reported so far, members of the Brahmin community held a protest outside an exam centre in Karnataka's Kalaburagi, demanding accountability after some students from the community were asked to remove their 'janivara (sacred thread)' before entering the exam hall. Three men were detained by the Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police for allegedly trying to dupe a candidate of ₹40 lakh by promising him the question paper. In Bhubaneshwar, police arrested four members of an interstate gang for allegedly taking money from aspirants for admission in a medical college. 'There were three layers of monitoring today — at the district, state, and central levels. To ensure smooth and secure conduct of the exam, mock drills were conducted at all centres. These drills helped in testing readiness in terms of functionality of mobile signal jammers, availability of adequate manpower for frisking, and biometric authentication procedures,' an official said. Transporting question papers under police escort, monitoring coaching centres to identify organised cheating rackets, multi-layered frisking by district police in addition to designated security personnel at the exam centres were among the steps taken by the National Testing Agency (NTA), led by the Union Education Ministry. The strict measures came a year after alleged irregularities, including paper leaks, were flagged in NEET-UG that put the exam's integrity under scanner. In a crackdown on fake claims about NEET-UG, the NTA identified 106 Telegram and 16 Instagram channels involved in spreading false information. The NTA's dedicated portal for receiving such concerns has flagged more than 1,500 claims of paper leaks for the exam. In a decisive move to protect the exam process' integrity, the agency had earlier this week initiated action against certain Telegram and Instagram channels that claimed to have access to the question paper. The NTA requested Telegram and Instagram to immediately take down the channels to prevent the spread of falsehood and unnecessary panic among the aspirants. The Union Education Ministry had held a series of meetings with district magistrates and superintendents of police from all states and Union territories to ensure there were no lapses in the conduct of the exam. Under scrutiny over last year's irregularities in NEET-UG and the PhD entrance exam, the Centre set up a panel to ensure 'transparent, smooth and fair' conduct of exams by the NTA. The University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was cancelled last year after the Ministry received input that its integrity was compromised. Both matters are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Two other exams — CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG — were cancelled at the last moment as a preemptive step.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
NEP changed country's education system: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (April 29, 2025) said that since the launch of the New Education Policy, the country's education system witnessed significant changes. He said steps such as the National Curriculum Framework, learning-teaching materials and new textbooks for classes 1 to 7 have already been prepared. He was addressing the Uniting Academia, Industry and Innovators for Viksit Bharat (YUGM) conclave organised jointly by the Union Education Ministry and Wadhwani Foundation in New Delhi. 'Under PM e-Vidya and the DIKSHA platform, a 'One Nation, One Digital Education Infrastructure' has been created. This infrastructure is AI-based and scalable. It is being used to prepare textbooks in over 30 Indian languages and seven foreign languages,' Mr. Modi said. The Prime Minister added that through the National Credit Framework, it has become easier for students to study multiple subjects simultaneously; students now have access to modern education; and new career pathways are opening up for them. He added that in the last decade, significant progress has been made in improving the research ecosystem and necessary resources have been enhanced. 'In 2013–14, the gross expenditure on research and development was only ₹60,000 crore. We have more than doubled it to over ₹ 1.25 lakh crore. Several state-of-the-art research parks have been established across the country. Research and Development Cells have been set up in about 6,000 higher education institutions. Because of these efforts, a culture of innovation is growing rapidly in the country,' Mr. Modi said. He said the number of patents in the country increased from around 40,000 in 2014 to over 80,000 now. 'This shows how much support the country's youth are getting from our intellectual property ecosystem. To further promote research culture, the National Research Foundation has been established with a budget of ₹50,000 crore. The 'One Nation, One Subscription' initiative has reassured young people that the government understands their needs. This scheme has made access to world-class research journals easier for students pursuing higher education,' he said. The Prime Minister's Research Fellowship has been introduced to ensure that talented individuals face no barrier in advancing their careers, he added.
