News updates: PM Modi reaches Presidential Palace for private meeting and dinner with Prez Putin

From SC hearing on NEET-UG exam to Mumbai rains, and from PM Modi's Russia visit to RBI's data on employment, catch all the latest news from across the globe here

4:16 PM

Employment provisionally grew at 6% in FY24 vs 3.2% in FY23, RBI data

India provisionally created 46.7 million jobs in 2023-24, taking the country's total employment to 643.3 million, a Reserve Bank of India report showed on Monday. The country's employment growth rate stood at 6 per cent in fiscal 2024 versus 3.2 per cent in the previous fiscal year, the RBI's report on measuring productivity at the industry level showed.

4:08 PM

SC directs CBI to submit report on status of NEET-UG question paper leak investigation

The Supreme Court, on Monday, directed the National Testing Agency to inform it when leak of question paper took place for first time. It also ordered the CBI to submit a report stating the status of probe into NEET-UG irregularities.

3:58 PM

Incessant rain paralyses daily life in parts of Uttarakhand; Char Dham Yatra resumes

Heavy rainfall continued to lash several parts of Uttarakhand on Monday, flooding rivers in the Kumaon region, blocking hundreds of rural motorable roads and leaving several villages in Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar districts heavily waterlogged. However, the Char Dham Yatra resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for a day in view of the Met office's prediction of heavy rain following an improvement in the weather in the Garhwal region, Additional Commissioner (Garhwal) Narendra Singh Quiriyal said.

3:51 PM

BMW crash: Mumbai police form six teams to nab 24-yr-old son of Shiv Sena leader

Police have formed six teams to nab the 24-year-old son of a ruling Shiv Sena leader after a BMW car the youth was driving crashed into a scooter, killing a woman and injuring her husband, an official said. A Look Out Circular (LOC) has also been put out against Mihir Shah, son of Rajesh Shah, a Shiv Sena leader from neighbouring Palghar district, the official said on Monday. Mihir was allegedly driving the BMW car which fatally knocked down Kaveri Nakhwa (45) and injured her husband Pradeep while the couple was on their two-wheeler in Mumbai's Worli area Sunday morning, police said. The car dragged the woman for more than 2 km, the official told PTI.

3:50 PM

Delhi HC refuses to refer to medical board man's case for allowing passive euthanasia

The Delhi High Court has refused to refer to a medical board the case of a 30-year-old man, who suffered head injuries in 2013 and is lying in a vegetative state, for allowing to undergo passive euthanasia. The high court said the facts of the case indicate the man is not being kept alive mechanically and he is able to sustain himself without any extra external aid. “The petitioner is not on any life support system and the petitioner is surviving without any external aid. While the court sympathises with the parents, as the petitioner is not terminally ill, this court cannot intervene and allow consideration of a prayer that is legally untenable,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said.

3:36 PM

Assuming we won't cancel exams, how are beneficiaries of fraud going to be identified: CJI on NEET-UG exam

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the government's cousel,"Are we still in the process of identifying students who were beneficiaries? Assuming that we are not going to cancel the exam, what are we going today to identify the beneficiaries of the fraud?' To this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, "In Gujarat's Godhra, students who have been identified, their results have been withheld. Show cause notices have been issued."

3:28 PM

Results of how many wrongdoers withheld, what action taken against them: SC on NEET-UG 2024

Hearing the petitions seeking the cancellation of NEET-UG exams held on May 5, the Supreme Court bench said, "Results of how many wrongdoers have been withheld, want to know geographical distribution of such beneficiaries. We want to know number of beneficiaries of question paper leak, what action has been taken against them." SC also asked about involving cyber forensic unit, and using AI to ascertain number of wrongdoers. 

3:24 PM

Paper leak an admitted fact; the question is how widespread is the reach: SC

Supreme Court observes that it is an admitted fact that there is a leak and the nature of leak is something that we are determining. You don't cancel a whole exam only because 2 students engaged in malpractice. Therefore, we must be careful about the nature of leak. Before we order a re-test we must be conscious of extent of leak as we are dealing with 23 lakh students. 

3:18 PM

SC says 67 candidates scoring 720/720 is red flag; in previous years, proportion was very low

After hearing the arguement of the petitioners, CJI-led SC bench observed,"If leak has been propagated through social media... If sanctity of exam is lost... then re-test has to be ordered." The bench added, "It is clear that leak of question paper has taken place.. If paper leak is taking place through Telegram, WhatsApp and electronic means, then it spreads like wildfire."

3:03 PM

NEET-UG hearing in SC: Paper leak, OMR sheet manipulation & impersonation cited as reasons to cancel exam

Counsel representing petitioners told the court that question paper was circulated on Telegram app before the NEET-UG exam on May 5. He also quoted Bihar Police to point out that the NTA didn't follow SOPs. "As many as 67 candidates scored full marks. This never happened before. In previous years, only 1-3 candidates would get full marks." The petitioners are seeking the cancellation of the exam on grounds such as paper leak, OMR sheet manipulation, impersonation and cheating.

2:48 PM

Govt reopens application window for PLI scheme for ACs, LED lights for 90 days

The commerce and industry ministry on Monday said it will reopen the application window for the PLI scheme for white goods, including ACs and LED lights, for 90 days from July 15. The industry has an appetite to invest more under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, it said. The application window shall remain open from July 15 to October 12. No application shall be accepted after the closure of the application window. In order to avoid any discrimination, both new applicants as well as existing beneficiaries of the scheme who propose to invest more by way of switching over to higher target segment, would be eligible to apply. So far, 66 applicants with committed investment of Rs 6,962 crore have been selected as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme.

2:46 PM

Cronyism is Modi govt's primary economic policy: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

Accusing the Modi government of practising "cronyism", the Congress on Monday said companies must expand but at the same time, the government has a responsibility to ensure oligopolies or monopolies do not emerge and that undue advantage arising out of access to political power is not exercised. Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh alleged that market concentration continues to grown under Prime Minister Modi's watch, and has reached a new high in key industries such as telecom, airlines, cement, steel, and tyres.

2:32 PM

Rahul Gandhi reaches Imphal after visiting relief camps, leaves for Churachandpur

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached Imphal airport from Silchar airport after visiting relief camps in Jiribam district. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha then left for Churachandpur by road. He will visit relief camps in Churachandpur where people displaced by the ethnic violence are staying. Gandhi was accompanied by state Congress president Keisham Meghachandra and CLP leader O Ibobi Singh.

2:26 PM

Mumbai rains: Maharashtra CM reviews situation, visits BMC disaster management control room

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday took stock of the heavy rain situation in Mumbai by chairing a meeting at Mantralaya and visiting the control room of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Some areas in Mumbai received more than 300 mm of rainfall in just six hours ending at 7 am, causing inundation of roads and low-lying areas. Services of local trains on Central Railway routes were severely affected due to the accumulation of water on tracks, while out-station trains are running behind schedule.

2:22 PM

Was sabotaged by my own party: Congress leader Udit Raj on losing North-West Delhi LS constituency

On his loss from the North-West Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Udit Raj said, "In the end, AAP MLAs developed an understanding that once people vote for Congress, they might not vote for AAP in the upcoming Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections... Internally, regularly for 2 months, a conspiracy was being rooted against me in North-west Delhi. Congress party workers ran an anti-Brahmin and anti-Jaat campaign on social media and said that I was an outsider. BJP did nothing wrong... There exist many Congress in Delhi, one that runs at the local level and one that runs at the national level... BJP did not oppose at any level but our own party workers played cards against me. The same people are rising through the ranks in the party. People responsible for the loss of the party are being promoted... BJP's internal survey said I would win. I was sabotaged internally by my own party..."