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Anita Rodrigues (name altered) broke down, a couple of years back, after going to the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) regional centre at Porvorim and discovering that her several postgraduate degrees obtained through 'correspondence' and 'external' modes by paying thousands of rupees were not valid. There are several such requests from the police every year for Ignou to check certificates, which prove to be always forged.

The diplomas are sometimes sold at a fee by scammers to students who are entirely aware it is a forgery, but, in most of the cases, the forged diplomas are dispensed by 'agents' who present themselves as authorized centers to provide 'correspondence' or 'external' degrees.

"Students ought to be aware that the terms 'correspondence' and 'external' are old-fashioned. There is no such thing anymore.". There are a few who claim to be centres and offer students a roster of universities from where they can award a degree. Students need to be suspicious if someone, for example, claims to be able to award a degree of Sikkim or Jammu university. If Goa University is not able to give a degree to a student who is sitting in Sikkim or Jammu, then how can it be done the reverse way," Ignou centre regional director G Shrinivas expressed.

Only a university like Goa University set up by an Act in the assembly and Ignou set up by an Act in the Parliament are able to give degrees, he stated.

Unless they send you to that university to respond to an exam in Sikkim or Jammu, for instance, they cannot award a degree to you. Most come here to complete their masters degree and when we teach them that their graduation degree is a bogus one, they are flabbergasted. 'Agents' also tell students that they can respond to all three years' exams for degree program at one time.". This idea of allowing answering of exams for all years at one go was halted by University Grants Commission in 1989," said Shrinivas.

Rodrigues lost years of answering doing her postgraduate programme again through Ignou, impacting her career development. She found out how she was cheated only after visiting Ignou to do her doctorate.

Now, it is not correspondence or external, there remains only open and distance education in operation. Most of the universities such as Shivaji, Annamalai, etc used to be providing programmes in correspondence and external mode in other states previously. But during the 2000s, the UGC halted this and mentioned that universities have no control outside their states.".

Meanwhile, Rodrigues has managed to finish here postgraduate and doctorate courses through Ignou.

Still, 'agents' have been found openly scamming students running offices all over Goa, assuring 'external' degrees.

"Some of them provide the admission to Ignou programmes through our website itself. Then they extort the student Rs 25,000 for a graduate course available at Rs 5,000 fee at Ignou.". They incur fee for each assignment, project or dissertation submission, which is free of cost. 'Agent' then submits the assignment free of cost to Ignou centres. Students tend to realise after they lose thousands of rupees and lots of valuable years," Shrinivas added.

CUET 2025: Cut-off Trends, College Options, Results & Counselling Guide

Interim CUET-UG answer key, response sheets, have been made available by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the third week of June and are inviting objections. Final answer key and official results will be published in the last week of July 2025, likely between July 28 to July 30, and can be accessed at cuet.nta.nic.in.

Out of 13 to 14 lakh aspirants, the test used a uniform marking scheme (+5/-1) and applied normalization between shifts.

CUET Cut-Offs: Expectations

Cut-offs differ university-wise, course-wise, and category-wise. General-category candidates for brand central universities such as DU, BHU, and JNU typically need about 90–98 percentile.

DU B.Com (Hons.): about 97–99 percentile (about 200–220 out of 250)

DU BBA/BMS: about 96–98 percentile (about 190–210 out of 250)

DU BA/B.Sc courses: about 95–98 percentile

Cut-offs in different categories (OBC, SC, ST) would be lower and in the range of 70–85 percentile.

CUET scores offer admission to over 45 central universities, state universities, and deemed universities like DU (about 79,000 seats), BHU, JMI, JNU, Aligarh Muslim University, the University of Hyderabad, etc.

DU colleges like Hindu, Hansraj, and SRCC have very high cut-offs (e.g., Hindu BA Honours English has a cut-off of roughly 770 out of 800). The selection of test combinations (stream, languages, general) has a significant influence on the possibility of getting admitted. 

CUET-UG counselling starts from the date of declaration of results, which is usually in the first week of August 2025.

It is a decentralized process where each university performs registration, choice filling, and seat allotment separately.

General Process:

Registration on respective university portals.

Document verification and category verification.

Filling of preferences for colleges and courses.

Seat allotment happens in several rounds depending on the preference and merit.

Payment of fee and submission of documents to complete admission. There could be upgrades or spot rounds in subsequent rounds for remaining seats.

Centralized via the CSAS portal in the support of a helpline. The initial round starts after the results, with upgrades in future rounds.  BHU and JNU also conduct online counseling, often with mop-up rounds for left-over seats.

Final Checklist

Late July: Collect the scorecard

Early August: Counseling registration

Mid-August: Fill choice selection, document verification, and fee payment

From September: College reporting preparation and new academic term

The Konyak Students' Union (KSU), the renowned student body of the Konyak Naga community, formally asked the Nagaland government to review its existing job reservation policy, seeking quotas to be recalculated based on the population of each tribe. KSU wants representations in the state workforce to be just and asks for overhauling of reservation on the strength of tribal population.

In a letter to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the KSU argued that the current reservation system is not a demography-based system and has led to unequal representation of various tribes in government positions. The union argues that population-based will lead to equity and be more beneficial to communities that are underrepresented in government positions.

"This is not about privilege — it's about proportional justice," said a KSU spokesperson. "The Konyak community, despite being one of the largest of the Nagaland tribes, is still marginalized in state-level recruitments. We are asking for a policy that reflects ground reality."

The Konyaks, living mostly in the Mon district of east Nagaland, have long been complaining of imbalances in development, education, and employment. The fresh plea for a reorganisation in the quota is being made against the national debate backdrop in India on reservation justice, equitable representation, and tribal empowerment.

Reports from the Chief Minister's Office indicated that the representation has been received by the government and is likely to be debated in the next cabinet meeting. Officials still maintained, however, that any tweaking of reservation policies should be carried out after intensive consultations with all of the tribal organizations to foster social harmony.

Civil society organizations in Nagaland are watching the development closely because it has the potential to lead to such demands from the other tribes for proportional representation.

As Nagaland continues socially and politically, the Konyak Students' Union's call for population-based reservations can turn out to be a turning point — not just for tribal justice, but for the way affirmative action is framed in India's northeast.

Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR), by Ministry of Education is a life-long, 12 digit unique identification system meant for all students in India. It is meant to monitor a student's academic records during their period of education, making transitions between institutions and schools easier and efficient.

APAAR ID: Fundamental Features Of APAAR

Comprehensive Academic Records: APAAR has comprehensive academic records such as courses pursued, grades, certifications, and achievements. It is connected with Digi Locker for secure storage and management of the same.

Monitoring And Evaluation: It assists in monitoring and evaluating the outcome of educational outcome, scholarships and benefit schemes through its integration with Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK).

Data Security and Privacy: APAAR ensures strong security for students' data, keeping their academic records available only via their account.

Transparency and Accountability: APAAR assists students in maintaining and accessing their academic records anywhere at any time, making inter-transits easier for educational institutions, skilling, while applying for employment or higher studies.

APAAR ID: How To Apply For APAAR?

School Visit by Parents: Parents first have to visit the concerned students' school in order to learn in detail about APAAR ID.

Submission of Consent Form: Subsequently, parents have to submit the consent form to sanction for making APAAR id.

ID Generation: Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) system generates the APAAR id of the student and publishes the same in the Digi Locker account, from where they can download and view it.

APAAR ID Creation: Information Required For APPAR ID Creation

UDISE+ Unique Student Identifier (PEN),

Student Name,

Date of Birth (DOB),

Gender, Mobile Number,

Mother's Name,

Father's Name,

Name as per Aadhaar, 

Aadhaar Number

Following the tragic Air India Flight AI-171 plane crash near the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, which hit a hostel that accommodates medical students, B.J. Medical College (BJMC) has decided to cancel all existing and future internal tests for MBBS students.

The college has also canceled the summer break for all the medical faculty and doctors and requested them to help in the treatment of the injured.

The move will impact more than 500 students, mainly the first and second year students, who were residing in the building that was struck by the Boeing Dreamliner.

Over 200 students, including MBBS residents, have left their hostels and gone back home in trauma and fear.

Sources in the college said at least 40 students who were on the spot when the accident happened are still in a state of shock and trauma.

The exams will be postponed after students recover from the psychological trauma, officials added.

"In view of the present psychological and emotional condition of our students, and the logistical inconvenience brought about by the destruction of the mess-cum-hostel building, all in-house theory and practical exams are put off until further notice," a BJMC senior official confirmed.

The mess building, where students' hostel as well as the dining area were located, was hit squarely by the aircraft wing when it crashed.

With the chaos located on the second and first floors, residents and interns have been left without the availability of regular meals and basic facilities.

In a similar development, the college has also canceled the summer break for all medical staff and physicians.

The second half of the summer recess was to commence from June 13, but all medical personnel have now been ordered to join duty from June 14.

It has been done in consideration of the emergency medical requirements following the aircraft crash and the treatment of injured victims at Civil Hospital where BJMC doctors are on night shifts.

While Vijay Rupani's son Rishabh Rupani had come to Gandhinagar from the United States on Saturday, his wife Anjali Rupani arrived from London on Friday on a special chartered flight.

Other senior BJP leaders like Health Minister Rushikesh Patel, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala, and some party members and relatives have also been reaching the Gandhinagar residence of the family to pay their condolences.

The party sources have said that the late leader will be given the last rites in his hometown, Rajkot

With schools re-opening in Telangana, transport authorities have intensified checks on school buses to ensure the safety of children. Nearly 60 school buses operating in the Greater Hyderabad region were seized on Thursday for various violations. Of these, 25 were seized within the limits of Hyderabad city alone.

Hyderabad currently has 1,257 school buses, Joint Transport Commissioner C Ramesh told us. Besides, there are 6,149 buses on Rangareddy district's roads and 6,095 on Medchal district's roads.

The inspection teams started early on Thursday morning with school buses. Transport officials found several violations, such as documents missing, absence of fitness certificates, and non-compliance with safety standards.

The department knows that almost 15% of the Hyderabad school buses have not procured mandatory fitness certificates. But almost 90% of the educational institution buses in Rangareddy and Medchal district procured it.

The inspections ensured that buses have compulsory equipment for safety: each student should have his own seat; the buses should have fire extinguishers and first-aid kits; and the vehicles should get regular maintenance. Also, each school bus should be accompanied by an attendant to serve students' safety.

It is also required that a bus driver hold a valid heavy vehicle licence and be below the age of 60 years. School buses must change their fitness certificates annually, on a test performed by the RTA. These certificates and registration records, the driver's licence and other documents, have to be carried on board on a permanent basis.

School bus seized in Nizamabad for not having fitness certificate

Rahul Kumar, DTO In-charge, Nizamabad, told that one of the school buses running without a fitness certificate was impounded when they went on inspections on Thursday. He added that 790 school buses are present in the district and 680 of them have been inspected to date and found to have valid fitness certificates and licensed drivers.

There are 170 pending buses to inspect. All of them are nearing 15 years of service, and some of them are still on the road for one reason or another. "If any unfit buses are operating on the roads, they will be seized and fined under the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act," DTO stated. He also mentioned that the regular inspections will go on in the district with a special emphasis on safeguarding students and preventing road accidents.