State News

NEW DELHI : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the CBSE OSM row, saying he had the time to speak about mangoes during his monthly radio address, but not about 18.5 lakh children whose answer sheets were scanned with phones. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said Prime Minister Modi’s silence on the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) issue is no longer indifference, it is “complicity”. In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio broadcast on Sunday morning, Modi referred to the king of fruits, saying there is hardly a home where mangoes are not talked about in the summer season. In a post on X, Gandhi said the CBSE’s May 2025 tender required answer sheets to be scanned with automatic robotic scanners, spines preserved, at a minimum of 300 DPI (dots per inch). “The tender re-issued in August quietly removed all of it. ‘Scanners’ became generic. The resolution dropped to 200 DPI. Now we know what that meant in practice. It has been exposed that COEMPT scanned the answer sheets using mobile phones,” the former Congress chief said. “The blurred copies, the missing pages, the unscanned books — they are not ‘errors’. They are the predictable outcome of a contract written to fit a vendor,” Gandhi said. This is fraud and every child whose marks were wrongly evaluated is a victim of it, he said. “This morning, the Prime Minister had time to speak about mangoes. He has not had time to speak about 18.5 lakh children whose answer sheets were scanned with phones. Dharmendra Pradhan ji still sits in office. Modi ji’s silence is no longer indifference. It is complicity,” Gandhi said. In his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast, Modi noted that every region has its own mango and its own aroma. “Hapus or alphonso of Maharashtra, Kesar of Gujarat – these are the lifeblood of ‘aamras’; Dussehri of Uttar Pradesh and Langra of Kashi. There are mangoes from Bihar, whose aroma can be smelt from far. Chausa, Malda – memories of people are tied to every name,” he said. The prime minister said if someone goes to south India, people will find other varieties like Banganapalli, Totapuri, Neelam, Malgova; there is Himsagar in Bengal; Suvarnarekha of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “In other words, the place changes, and so does the mango’s form, colour, and taste… This journey of the mango is now reaching from villages to the global market,” he said. Gandhi on Sunday targeted the Centre over the CBSE’s OSM row, sharing a video of his interaction with a group of students and describing them as brave young Indians who asked the Modi government simple questions but received “insults instead of answers”. Asserting that the students deserved a bright future, Gandhi said, “We will make sure they get it.” (Source: PTI)      

  NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to rejig his Cabinet next month, his first such exercise since he assumed power for a third consecutive term in May 2024. According to sources, some ministers are likely to be dropped, while the representation of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh is expected to go up in view of the upcoming Assembly elections. Among those likely to be dropped is Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra. He was appointed Delhi BJP president earlier this week. In his place, Lok Sabha member from West Delhi Kamaljeet Sehrawat is likely to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers. Similarly, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary is set to be dropped. He took over as the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief in December 2025. The fate of Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu also hangs in the balance, given that the BJP top brass is said to be unhappy with his poll-management skills in the recently concluded local body elections in Punjab. There is also a question mark over his renomination to the Rajya Sabha. It remains to be seen if the Prime Minister will show the door to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is under fire over the NEET paper leak and the controversy involving the CBSE. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s continuation is said to be doubtful following the Opposition’s tirade against him over the infamous Epstein files. The chances of Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu being inducted into the Union Cabinet are high, as the BJP leadership is keen on increasing Punjab’s share in view of the upcoming polls. The other possibility is that former Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar may be inducted into the Union Cabinet and subsequently nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Along with Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Assembly elections are due in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur in February-March next year. The portfolios of some ministers are also likely to be changed. There is no clarity on the future role of former BJP chief and Union Health Minister JP Nadda in Himachal Pradesh, which, along with Gujarat, goes to polls in December 2027. (Source: Newsdrum)

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to stay hydrated in view of soaring temperatures across the country. In his monthly radio broadcast Mann Ki Baat, he said people should take extra precautions when stepping out in the sun. “With temperatures soaring across much of the country, it is important to take extra care. Stay hydrated. If you need to step out in the sun, do so cautiously and take necessary precautions,” he said. “Keep drinking water. Don’t forget the guidelines issued by various government departments in this regard either,” he said. Prime Minister Modi had on Wednesday last also urged citizens to take maximum precautions as the country is witnessing soaring temperatures, and said staying hydrated is key during such harsh weather. Modi also referred to the king of fruits, saying there is hardly a home where mangoes are not talked about in the summer season. He noted that every region has its own mango and its own aroma. “Hapus or alphonso of Maharashtra, Kesar of Gujarat – these are the lifeblood of ‘aamras’; Dussehri of Uttar Pradesh and Langra of Kashi. There are mangoes from Bihar, whose aroma can be smelt from far. Chausa, Malda – memories of people are tied to every name,” he said. The prime minister said if someone goes to South India, people will find other varieties like Banganapalli, Totapuri, Neelam, Malgova; there is Himsagar in Bengal; Suvarnarekha of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “In other words, the place changes, and so does the mango’s form, colour, and taste…This journey of the mango is now reaching from villages to the global market,” he said. (Source: PTI)