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  • Home Ministry confirms ITBP chiefs face-off claim with Chinese troops and says that it happens when the Chinese diverge from established patrolling patterns
  • Voting took place on Friday for 28 Legislative Council seats across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra, covering graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies. Counting is scheduled for October 27, with the contests attracting attention ahead of the next round of state-level political battles
  • Delhi Police detained student activists and civil-society members during a march towards the Election Commission headquarters against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal
  • The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition by All India Students’ Association president Neha Bora challenging a police notice requiring her to furnish a ₹10,000 personal bond and a surety to maintain peace. The court also directed that the material relied upon by the authorities be furnished to her
  • Kolkata Police arrested two more people, including the treasurer of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee, in connection with the stampede that killed 19 people on October 17, taking the total number of arrests to nine. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said human error was primarily responsible for the Chorbagan stampede, while stressing that the retired judge leading the inquiry would determine the circumstances and findings
  • Haryana’s three-day electricity employees’ strike ended on Friday after Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini assured union representatives that the government would oppose parallel power-distribution licences for Gurugram and Nuh. Energy Minister Anil Vij said the state would invoke Section 108 of the Electricity Act and seek a review of the regulator’s decision, which had triggered the strike and disrupted power supplie
  • The India Meteorological Department warned that a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal could intensify into a cyclone by October 26 and move towards the north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coast. The forecast indicated the possibility of thunderstorms and heavy rain in parts of southern West Bengal from October 28, although the system’s eventual intensity and track remained uncertain
  • The Union government proposed changes to its Periodic Labour Force Survey to improve measurement of digital-platform workers and unpaid activities, including caregiving, household production and volunteer work
  • India’s private-sector business activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October, according to the preliminary HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index compiled by S&P Global. The composite index rose to 56.7 from September’s 55.9, driven by stronger services activity, but employment was unchanged, ending a nine-month run of hiring growth
  • The ₹30,213-crore initial public offering of Jio Platforms closed on Friday with an overall subscription of 22.19 times, attracting bids worth approximately ₹4.90 lakh crore. Institutional investors subscribed to their reserved portion 70.55 times, while the issue received more than 13.8 million applications, setting a record for an Indian public offering
  • A dispute over the India–UK trade agreement emerged after a trade association representing major liquor companies asked the Indian commerce minister to clarify whether bulk Scotch whisky imports qualified for the reduced 75% tariff agreed under the pact
  • Indian equity markets fell for a fourth consecutive trading session on Friday, with the Nifty 50 closing at 22,600, down 0.39%, and the Sensex at 73,123.83, down 0.17%. Both benchmarks recorded weekly losses as Brent crude approached $114 a barrel, intensifying concerns about inflation, corporate earnings and imported energy costs
  • Asian Para Games: India collected nine gold medals on the penultimate day to take its medal tally to 114, including 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze, the highest in these games. India remained fourth on the table
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets in the first women’s ODI in Vadodara, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Pratika Rawal scored an unbeaten 100, while Shree Charani claimed career-best figures of 4/23 as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 197 and India reached the target in 27.1 overs
  • Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the second T20 international against New Zealand after sustaining a low-grade strain in his right adductor muscle during the opening match. The BCCI said its medical team was monitoring his recovery but did not specify when he might return
Indo_-Tibetan Border Police chief Shatrujit Kapur says there have been ,utliple face-offs with Chinese troops across the Line of Actual Control
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NEET Again: A System That Learns Nothing

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2026-05-13 11:55:31

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 is a national embarrassment that should have been, and could have been, prevented. The paper leaked. The state failed. And the 22.7 lakh students who sat for the examination on May 3 now have nothing to show for years of preparation except an indefinite wait for a re-exam date.

The facts are not in dispute. A guess paper carrying 150 questions, matching a reported 600 of 720 marks in the actual examination, was circulating on WhatsApp 42 hours before the exam. A PG hostel owner noticed the resemblance, took it to the police, and was turned away. He then went to the NTA. The IB and the SOG were activated. Eventually, 13 suspects were detained across Dehradun, Sikar, and Jhunjhunu, with the SOG finding that close to 120 Biology and Chemistry questions in the actual paper matched those in the circulating document.

The police's initial refusal to act on the whistleblower's complaint is the detail that must not be allowed to pass without consequence. This was not bureaucratic delay. This was a dereliction of duty at a moment when timely action could have saved the examination. Someone, somewhere, made the decision to send that man away. That person must answer for it.

Into this climate of institutional failure stepped Madan Dilawar, Rajasthan's Education Minister, to declare that the cancellation of NEET was not a matter of great concern. One can only wonder which planet's students Mr. Dilawar has in mind, because for the 22.7 lakh young Indians on this one — and for the families who bankrolled years of coaching, sacrificed and scrimp and saved for that one shot at a medical seat — it is the only thing that matters. A minister who oversees education in the state at the very centre of this scandal, and whose police turned away the whistleblower, calling this "not a big deal" is not just tone-deaf. It is a measure of how completely the political class has decoupled itself from the consequences it inflicts on ordinary citizens.

As for the NTA, it received whistleblower information on May 7, four days after the exam, and still took five more days to act. The CBI has now been handed the investigation, which is precisely what was done in 2024 after an identical scandal. The 2024 probe did not prevent 2026. There is no reason to believe the 2026 probe will prevent 2028, unless the government does something it has conspicuously avoided doing: structural reform of how national examinations are designed, secured, and administered.

India cannot build a world-class healthcare system on a broken meritocracy. NEET is the gate. If the gate is for sale, everything behind it is compromised. The government must stop treating each leak as an isolated incident and start treating NTA's systemic vulnerability for what it is, a crisis of institutional integrity. Mr. Dilawar's casual dismissal of that crisis tells us exactly why it keeps recurring.

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