Today’s Latest News Transcript at 10:30 AM on 19 June 2024
In top national news: Under fire over its conduct of the NEET examinations, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is learnt to have conveyed to the Education Ministry that examinees from Patna and Godhra, under scrutiny for benefitting from alleged irregularities, do not appear to have had any unusual advantage as per an analysis of their marks. Of the 13 candidates from Patna, who are under Bihar Police scanner in their investigation into allegations of a paper leak, eight have scored less than 500 marks out of 720, The Indian Express has learnt. Almost 98% of students who appeared from two exam centres in Godhra, which are being probed for manipulation of OMR sheets, have also scored less than 500 marks.
Eleven demolished homes, and 16 that are yet untouched, paint a picture of contrast at a neighbourhood in Bhainswahi village, in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district. The homes were razed by authorities on June 15 after police, in an operation targeting cattle smuggling, said they had found beef inside fridges, animal hides in sacks, and bones in pickup trucks there. While authorities maintain the 11 structures were built on government land, 16 homes in the same neighbourhood — which authorities acknowledge are also illegal but where beef was not recovered — are still standing. All the homes belong to members of the Qureshi community. One person has been arrested, while 10 are absconding.
In other news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to celebrate International Day of Yoga on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar on Friday. A multi-layer security blanket has been planned for Srinagar during the PM’s visit. The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday declared Srinagar a ‘temporary red zone’, banning any operation of drones and quadcopters in the city. Sources said the 10th International Day of Yoga will be celebrated at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake on Friday morning. The PM will arrive in Srinagar on Thursday evening, the sources said. According to officials, a large gathering of yoga enthusiasts and sportspersons is expected to attend the function.
Days after the Lok Sabha defeat in seats along the proposed route and amid protests from farmers, Maharashtra government is said to have put on hold work on the 802-km greenfield highway project connecting Nagpur to Goa until the Assembly elections later this year. The project is estimated to cost the state exchequer Rs 80,000 crore. “We have received reports that farmers and individuals affected by the project are protesting in every district… It has been conveyed to the administration to not acquire land for at least the next 3-4 months. After the Assembly elections (in October), the new government will decide on the fate of this project,” a senior government functionary related to the project told The Indian Express.
In top international news: Hundreds of visitors have died during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca amid scorching heat, according to press reports and foreign ministries. At least 550 people have died on haj, diplomats told French outlet Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday. Three hundred and twenty-three of the dead were Egyptians, most of whom perished due to heat-related illness, AFP reported, citing two Arab diplomats. Reuters was not able to immediately verify those numbers. Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths during haj to Saudi Arabia in the past 30 years. The pilgrimage began on Friday.
Colombia will give legal status to up to 540,000 Venezuelan migrants who are guardians to minors residing in the country, Colombia’s country’s migration agency said on Tuesday. Colombia has been a destination of choice for millions of Venezuelans seeking to escape the political and economic turmoil of their homeland, while others have used the Andean country as a stepping stone onward to other nations. More than 2.8 million Venezuelan migrants currently live in Colombia, according to official statistics, and the measure will benefit adults taking care of some 270,000 minors who have permission to reside in Colombia.
In other news: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to develop their nations’ relations, which have emerged as a strategic fortress, during a meeting on the first day of Putin’s visit to Pyongyang on Wednesday, North Korean state media reported. Kim greeted Putin at dawn at Pyongyang airport, shaking hands, embracing and talking beside the Russian leader’s plane. The pair then rode in the same limousine and walked together into Putin’s hotel. Putin made his first visit to North Korea in 24 years vowing to deepen trade and security ties with the reclusive nuclear-armed state and to support it against the United States.
Lastly: A top executive at the United Nations’ migration agency on Tuesday warned of catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the spiralling numbers of Haitians forced to flee their homes due to violence fueled by a conflict with armed gangs. “The figures we see today are a direct consequence of years of spiralling violence,” said Philippe Branchat, who heads the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Haiti arm, “and its catastrophic humanitarian impact.” Almost 580,000 people in Haiti are internally displaced – around 5% of Caribbean country’s entire population – according to the IOM’s latest country-wide assessment, a 60% increase on 360,000 just three months earlier.
