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The Inner Line Regulation Commission (ILRC) of the Naga Students' Federation launched its first youth awareness programme on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) on Tuesday at Kohima College.

The drive is to create awareness among youth Nagas about the ILP system, which had its roots in the 1873 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation.

Called by ANCSU President Tenyesinlo Bukh, the programme began with invocation by Dr. Theyiseinuo Keditsu. In his welcome speech, Bukh invited the students to be well-informed stakeholders in the future of regional legal and cultural life. Kohima College Principal also highlighted the importance of ILP in safeguarding indigenous rights.

NSF Vice President Mteisuding introduced the formation of the ILRC and its objectives, and ILRC Chairman Senchumo Nsn Lotha made a minute presentation on ILP provisions and compliance. Lotha emphasized that while Nagaland has the ILP as a regulatory "weapon," its proper use is still weak. "We have the gun but do not know how to fire it, while others such as the Mizos utilize their guns to good effect," he stated.

Explaining NSF's position, Lotha stated that the federation does not object to the entry of outsiders, but insists on respect for the law. He explained that ILP stands for short-term travel clearance and should not be mixed with long-term residence clearance. "On expiry, the bearer needs to vacate the inner line area unless an extension is granted," he explained.

He also clarified how the ILP was a colonial legacy, having been introduced by the British to protect the interest of the Nagas as much as to master their own people from the plains. "Our struggle is not hostile but collaborative. We want to hold on to what we deserve rightfully in association with the government," he informed students, inviting them to come and be part of the movement.

Concluding the session, ILRC Member Secretary Seve R. Vadeo brought to the attention of the gathering that ILP is not just a colonial relic but a viable legal safeguard. "It protects our land, identity, and economic rights. Our youth need to rise to the occasion to defend this rule—our future depends on it," he asserted.

The ILRC plans to conduct such sensitisation sessions elsewhere in Nagaland in the months ahead.

A state government-appointed committee on Sunday held talks with the agitating students of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, but the students remained firm on the removal of the varsity's vice-chancellor.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini formed a four-member committee on Friday to deal with HAU students, who have been demonstrating for the past fortnight against their alleged thrashing by varsity security staff while being put under dharna against changes in scholarship guidelines for post-graduate students.

The committee members include Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, Public Works Minister Ranbir Gangwa, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi, and Nalwa MLA Randhir Panihar.

The committee has negotiated with the protesting students over the last two days, meeting them four times in discussion on their varied demands.

Dhanda, who had met the media in Hisar on Sunday, said that the students' demand for the ouster of Vice-Chancellor B R Kamboj was not included in their main demands but had been suggested just in recent days.

He also blamed the opposition parties for trying to incite the protest of the students.

The opposition parties like the Congress, JJP and INLD have extended their support to the agitating students.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Provides Support To The Students

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, on last Tuesday, provided support to the students and spoke to them via video call.

"There was no demand for the VC's removal when this dharna started. We know where this demand was raised," Dhanda said, talking of the opposition role behind the demand.

"Most of their demands have been accepted, but the students have stuck to the 'immediate removal of the VC' demand," the minister added.

"While negotiating, the students have shown that they are afraid of the VC and are threatened. We do not understand what they have to be afraid of," Dhanda said.

The protesting students have accused the VC of "brutal suppression" and "rights suppression," accusing him of giving lathicharge orders against HAU students.

The students have also warned that if Kamboj was not removed from the office, it would hamper an unbiased investigation.

Replying to a question, Dhanda said, "Our doors are open for the students round-the-clock. They are like our children. We are not talking to them as government representatives, but as their guardians." "We listened to each student with patience," he added.

CBSE recently announced that the 10th class board exam will be conducted twice a year from 2026. The new framework highlights 2 phases of the exam: 1st phase compulsory, 2nd phase optional. They will be conducted in the months of February and May respectively. 

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced this new Indian education framework for the benefit of students. This move has been deemed student-friendly and future oriented will change the way lakhs of students are going to appear in board exams in India.

Once the 2026 academic session starts, CBSE will organize Class 10 board exams in two phases:

• First Exam (Mandatory): Scheduled for February, all students must appear for this session.
• Second Exam (Optional): Held in May, this is for students who wish to improve their scores in up to three subjects like Science, Maths, Social Science, or languages.

The result of the 1st phase board exam will be announced in April whereas the 2nd phase exam of May session will be available in June. Notably, the highest mark of the two will be used during the final mark sheet. 

This major reform aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends reducing the pressure of high-stakes board exams by giving students more than one chance within the same academic year. Being the Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan termed it as a long overdue move toward lessening the stresses of examinations, getting a more flexible schedule, or a more jovial learning experience.  

Key Features of New Reforms

• Flexibility: Students receive a second opportunity in the same year and there is less reason to wait another year to raise the scores.
• Less Pressure: Having two chances, there is less pressure usually imposed by one high stakes exam, which makes it more student centered.
• Chance to Improve: In May there is also the optional examination where students have the chance to improve their grades in up to three subjects.
• Internal Assessment: shall remain to be done once during the year of study and applicable to both phases of examinations.
• Special Provisions: Winter-bound schools can choose which phase to attempt, and special allowances are made for sportspersons and children with special needs.

What Does This Mean For Students? 

This new reform is significant for students because it will decrease the exam pressure by giving a second chance to them. Choosing a stream after 10th board is a vital step that dictates the future of any average student. Thus, giving them a chance to put in efforts for improving their scores will prove beneficial not only to the student but also the nation. 

In addition, the parents will now have the hope that there will be a more balanced effort being put towards the preparation of board exams with the focus shifting from rote learning to true understanding and performance.

What’s Next?

Unofficially CBSE officials have indicated that if this is successful in Class 10th, then a similar framework for Class 12 can be introduced in the future.

The decision to conduct board examinations to Class 10 twice a year starting January 2026 is a great move towards modernization of school examination pattern of India. It represents an international tendency of the flexible assessment being not so stressful to help the students to learn and act in the best way possible.

To millions of Indian families, this is good news and introduces a brighter, less stressful and opportunity rich future to their children. 

Samridhi Dwivedi, research student at Isabella Thoburn College and a pride of Indian science, was a big fish when she received the prestigious Trojan Horse Award 2025 from Swiss Chemical Society and Ärztinnen and Ärzte für Umweltschutz.

Samridhi's thesis on ultra-fine airborne particles, under Professor Alfred Lawrence, Department of Chemistry, presented a grim picture of the fatal new threat they pose now.

They are minute by-products of routine combustion processes, such as efflux from factory smokestacks or automobile engines, but they find their way deep inside us like poisonous chemicals and carcinogens.

The Trojan Horse effect is what this award has come to be known for, employed to describe this deadly process wherein toxic substances end up getting bound onto infinitely tiny particles, evading our defenses and reaching our circulatory system, much like in the mythological fantasy of the wooden horse of Greek mythology.

We realized through this Samridhi news report how these killer beggars impact the life and existence of people and how one has to take the initial step towards eliminating them.

But above all, the honor calls attention to a problem that touches millions of people, particularly in nations such as India with acute air pollution. It is coupled with a citation and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh.

Samridhi's work is a reminder of the strength of local research to go around the world at a time when clean air and climate health conversations have never been more urgent.

Her success places Isabella Thoburn College in the international community of environmental scientists and recognizes Indian young scientists who have eliminated the world's most dangerous environmental and public health hazards.  Such a feat, as observed through the Trojan Horse Award for Samridhi Dwivedi, motivates young scientists and enables us to make the world a healthier place.

The Centre for Indian and Foreign Languages (CIFL), Delhi University, has commenced its admissions for its highly sought-after part-time certificate foreign language courses for the academic year 2025–26.

The short courses, open to students as well as working professionals, provide intensive training in eight key international languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.

Conducted by Open Learning Development Centre (OLDC), CIFL courses are in collaboration with the Germanic and Romance Studies and East Asian Studies Departments of the university. After successful completion, the students will be awarded a certificate issued by the University of Delhi itself.

ADMISSIONS NOW OP

The online application time is June 16 to July 12, 2025, and the whole admissions process will be online at cifl.oldcdu.ac.in. The applicant should have passed Class 12 or equivalent degree. Admissions would be based on merit, computed on marks obtained in the top four subjects (English or Hindi included).

General category applicants have to have scored a minimum of 50 percent aggregate marks and 45 percent in English or Hindi. Reserved category has relaxation, whereby the cutoff is lower, i.e., 45 percent. Graduates and postgraduates are also given bonus weightage—10 percent and 15 percent respectively—which will be added to their merit score.

Every candidate is entitled to one language course, and the application cost is Rs 200 per course. Every supporting document, including a recent passport photo, 10+2 mark sheets, and scanned signature, must be uploaded while registering.

COURSE DURATION AND FEES

The part-time courses will begin in mid-August 2025 and extend to March 2026. There will be on-campus classes in person, and specific schedules will be provided a week prior to starting.

The course fee is Rs 10,000 with a one-time examination fee of Rs 510. The student must pay a one-time university registration fee of Rs 300 also if he or she is not previously enrolled with DU. Fees paid are non-refundable barring the unlikely scenario of cancellation of the course by the university.

MERIT LISTS AND COUNSELLING

Admissions will be conducted in three rounds:

• First Merit List: July 17 (Counselling: July 18,20)
• Second Merit List: 22 Jul (Counselling: 23 Jul,25 Jul)
• Third Merit List: 27 Jul (Counselling: 28 Jul,30 Jul)

Shortlisted candidates have to accept admission and pay fees within three days of their respective counselling. CIFL has stressed strict compliance with guidelines. The applicants will be made to ensure all the information submitted is a copy of their original documents, and once submitted, no modification is permitted. Change of courses after admission is not permitted, and admission is provisional pending receipt of original documents.

Such students shall be provided with a formal DU student ID card but shall not be eligible to utilize central DU facilities like library usage or hostel accommodation.

The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has updated its guidelines for the procedure of Class 11 supplementary exam, bringing with it a significant change for students who are unable to pass Semester 2 papers.

Since the 2024–25 academic session, failing students in the Semester 2 examination have been given a new opportunity to appear for supplementary exams a month after the results are announced.

What was the old system?

Under the previous rules, supplementary exams were available only to those who had failed in any paper in Semester 1. They were held simultaneously with Semester 2 exams in the same year. There was no provision under the previous rules for those who had failed Semester 2—those who failed Semester 2 were asked to repeat the whole year.

What is new now?

Under the new Regulation 8, Semester 2 failing students will now be allowed to write supplementary exams within a month after the Semester 2 exams. This is a new provision for reducing students' academic loss and to help them clear backlogs without repeating the entire year in full.

The new rules will come into force from the 2024–25 academic session and retrospectively for the students who had appeared in the 2025 Semester 2 exams.

The new guidelines have been directed by WBCHSE for all Heads of Institutions (HOIs) to be implemented as a special case with effect from immediately.

But if a student fails in the supplementary exams (either Sem 1 or Sem 2), he/she will have to reappear for both semesters in the following academic session.

The regulation change introduces welcome flexibility to Class 11 students so that they can progress academically without being held up for the entire year due to Semester 2 failures if they clear the supplementary exams within the stipulated time.