SATURDAY CBSE STARTS WORK TO HOLD BOARD EXAMS TWICE A YEAR FROM 2025 27 The Ministry of Education has asked the CBSE to work out logistics for conducting board exams twice a year from the 2025-26 academic session APRIL, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard EGYPTIAN TEAM IN ISRAEL TO REIGNITE TALKS A delegation from Gaza war mediator arrived in Israel to reignite stalled ceasefire PAGE 11 THERE WILL BE NO SEMESTER SYSTEM A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI J8.00 However, no semester system will be introduced, officials said. The education ministry and the CBSE will hold consultations with school principals next month for conducting board exams twice a year. CBSE will have to restructure its academic calendar to accommodate another set of board exams without impacting the undergraduate admission schedule P9 PAGES 14 EVMs get vote of Over 65% voter turnout in 2nd phase of polls confidence from Supreme Court POLLING COMPLETE IN 13 STATES/UNION TERRITORIES RAHUL’S ELECTORAL FATE SEALED IN WAYANAD P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Petitions seeking 100% cross-verification of votes rejected; bench issues two directives S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y An EVM comprises three units — ballot unit, control unit and the VVPAT. All three are THE Supreme Court on Friday embedded with microcontrolrejected all petitions seeking lers, which have a burnt memo100% cross-verification of votes ry from the manufacturer. cast on electronic voting maThe request to verify the michines (EVMs) with a Voter Ver- crocontrollers can be made by ifiable Paper Audit Trail candidates who stand second or (VVPAT), saying suspicions of third in the elections. A written tampering were unfounded. It request has to be made within also turned down pleas to revive seven days after the results are paper ballots. announced. Those A bench of juswho make the retices Sanjiv Khanquest would foot na and Dipankar the verification Dutta delivered two bill. But if an EVM separate but conis found tampered, curring verdicts. the money would “While maintainbe refunded. Besides, the ing a balanced perReturn to ballot bench suggested spective is crucial paper unsound that the ECI examin evaluating sys“We must reject as ine the possibility tems or institutions, blindly dis- foible and unsound the of machine counttrusting any aspect submission to return to ing of the VVPAT the ballot paper paper slips and see of the system can system. The weakness if it could add a bar breed unwarranted of the ballot paper code for each party scepticism,” the system is well known along with the party court said, adding and documented,” the symbol in the slips. democracy is all Justice Dipankar about striving to bench said in its verdict Datta in his sepabuild harmony and rate judgment said there seems trust between all institutions. Justice Khanna in his verdict to be a concerted effort to disissued two directions. One, seal- credit, diminish and weaken Ining and storing the Symbol dia’s progress on every possible Loading Unit after completing frontier and any such attempt the symbol loading process for has to be “nipped in the bud”. at least 45 days. And two, check- He added that EVMs have stood ing the burnt memory in the mi- the test of time and the incrocontrollers of 5% of EVMs creased voting percentage was for tampering per assembly con- sufficient reason to hold that stituency by a team of engineers the voters have reposed faith in the current system. P9 after the results are out. @ New Delhi Young voters after casting their votes at Purameri, Kozhikode | E GOKUL BRISK POLLING IN TRIPURA, LOW TURNOUT IN U.P. STATE Tripura Manipur Chhattisgarh West Bengal VOTING 79.46% 77.32% 73.05% 71.84% J&K 71.21% Assam 71.11% Kerala 70.35% Karnataka 68.30% Rajasthan 62.46% Maharasthra 58.57% Madhya Pradesh 55.77% Bihar 55.08% Uttar Pradesh 54.83% (Source: ECI) IN a relatively improved showing, the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections recorded over 65% voter turnout covering 88 seats across 13 states. According to election officials, the highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura at 78.53% while the lowest polling was in Uttar Pradesh at 54.85%. In the second phase, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan accounted for more than half seats. While elections to 14 seats were held in Karnataka, 13 seats in the desert state of Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, CHINA NOT AFRAID OF COMPETITION: XI President Xi Jinping told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China is not afraid of competition as the latter raised concerns about Beijing’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war | P11 THE CPM received a jolt on the polling day on Friday with all the discussions zeroing in on LDF convener E P Jayarajan’s meeting with BJP Kerala incharge Prakash Javadekar. CM Pinarayi Vijayayan did not hide his displeasure over the embarrassing turn of events. Speaking to reporters after casting vote, Pinarayi said there was lack of vigil on the part of Jayarajan. “Everyone knows the nature of Jayarajan who does not exercise discretion while establishing friendship. If Lord Shiva joins a sinner, Shiva also will become a sinner,” he said, quoting an adage. Indirectly referring to con- N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow WITH the second phase of the general elections done and dusted — where Rahul Gandhi was a candidate in Wayanad — all eyes are on Saturday’s Congress Election Committee meeting, which is expected to take its call on Rae Bareli and Amethi, the two bastions of Gandhi family in Uttar Pradesh. The meeting comes amid intense speculation on the party fielding Rahul from Amethi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli. Highly-placed sources said both Priyanka and Rahul are likely to visit Ayodhya for a darshan of Ram Lalla before heading to Amethi and Rae Bareli. troversial power broker Nandakumar, Pinarayi said, “There are certain persons who start pondering from the moment they get up from the bed everyday as to whom they should victimise that day We should keep . a distance from such people. Our experience is that Jayarajan usually does not show vigil in these things.” Pinarayi said a person, who is in the shadow of suspicion in Kerala, got a chance to be a witness (to the meeting between Jayarajan and Javadekar). “There are people who would stoop to any level to make money Such persons will not hesi. tate to present arguments according to their needs. There should not have been close ties Daughter of TN beedi worker beats the odds to clear civil services exam T H I N A K A R A N R A J A M A N I @ Tenkasi IN an inspiring tale of perseverance and triumph over adversity, the daughter of a single mother, who works as a beedi roller, has cleared the prestigious Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The success story of S Inba, who got 851st rank in the allIndia exam considered to be among the toughest, is also a stellar example of how meaningful government interventions at the grassroots levels can produce exceptional outcomes. The public library at Shengottai became Inba’s second home for two years and the free books and internet facility offered at the library helped her come up trumps. “My mother S Stella is a bee- di worker. She also strings flowers at a nearby shop for additional money to run the family The motivation given by my . mother and her unwavering faith in me made me clear the exam though I failed in the preliminary examination twice,” said the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme beneficiary Inba stud. ied in Nadar Community Higher Secondary School, Vasudevanallur, in English medium till SSLC and pursued her higher secondary at MKVK Matriculation School, Tenkasi. In 2020, she completed her engineering degree in Computer Science at Coimbatore Institute of Technology . “ After my graduation, I joined Shankar IAS Academy in Chennai for civil services coaching. However, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, I had to move to online classes,” she said. In Kerala, eight persons died of possible heat stroke or other heat-related issues, amidst polling, in various constituencies, including Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram. There is no official confirmation on the cause of these deaths and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. All eyes are on the high stakes battle in Kerala, where the BJP has been aggressively working to open its account. The fight in Wayanad, where Rahul Gandhi is contesting, and Thiruvananthapuram where Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is pitted against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, are keenly watched. Other top guns in the fray included actor-turned-politician Arun Govil in Meerut, Karnataka deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh in Bangalore Rural, and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy (JDS) in Mandya. Meanwhile BJP’s Hema Malini, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat are seeking a hat-trick of wins from UP’s Mathura, Rajasthan’s Kota and Jodhpur, respectively . The second phase is crucial for the BJP-led NDA as it is seeking a third time under Narendra Modi’s leadership. The party’s performance in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar will greatly influence its plan to increase its tally from the 303 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 Gandhi buzz in Amethi, Rae Bareli The buzz around Rahul’s candidature from Amethi picked up momentum from the fact that besides the renovation of the Congress office there, the guest house on the premises was also white washed. The process of filing nomination papers for both Amethi and Rae Bareli began on Friday and will continue till May 3. Sources claim that after the formal announcement of his candidature, Rahul may file his nomination papers from Amethi on May 1 or 2. However, there is no official word on it. A senior Congress leader hinted at the possibility of backto-back filing of nomination papers by both Rahul and Priyanka during the narrow window between May 1 and May 3. However, the possibility of Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband, getting the Amethi ticket cannot be ruled out. Vadra had earlier gone vocal, claiming that the people of Amethi wanted him to represent them in Lok Sabha this time. Rahul was defeated by BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi in 2019. Rae Bareli has been a Congress stronghold since decades. His mother Sonia represented it since 2004. LDF convenor loses vigil, CPM left jolted E X P R ESS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Kozhikode 8 die of heat stroke S Inba with her mom S Stella | EXPRESS I would attend online classes from the Shengottai public library from 8am to 8pm by accessing free WiFi. The library staff also arranged journals and books S Inba, CSE passout with such people,” he said. CPM state secretary M V Govindan dubbed the entire episode as “conspiracy against the Communist government”. He told reporters that there were many attempts against the CPM, the government and the chief minister. “Such controversies will last only till the elections are over,” he said. Jayarajan said Javadekar had visited him at his son’s flat in Thiruvananthapuram. “Javadekar came to the flat unexpectedly When asked he said it . was only a casual visit. I left the scene saying I have a meeting when he started speaking politics,” Jayarajan said, adding he did not know whether the BJP leader had any other intentions. Jayarajan admitted that Nandakumar came along with him. Jayarajan has been keeping a distance from the party after Govindan was made the state secretary after the death of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. He has indirectly expressed his uneasiness over being sidelined in the party many times. P5 Abhik Arya returned from Germany after 18 months on Friday morning to cast his vote in Noida. His sisters Abhisha and Ankita also voted | PTI | P6 EVM glitches in peaceful polls in Noida, Ghaziabad A S H I S H S R I V A S TA V A & A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi DESPITE the Opposition flagging malfunctioning of EVMs in certain pockets, voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh on Friday was more or less peaceful. Malfunctioning in one of the EVMs at a polling station in Noida Sector 66 briefly affected the poll process. In Greater Noida polling booths, too, a few complaints of malfunction were reported but were addressed. At Mamura, an EVM reportedly broke down. In Ghaziabad, Congress candidate Dolly Sharma tagged the Election Commission on ‘X’ and claimed that the EVMs at booth number 335 had been shut for two hours. She also alleged that people of the areas dominated by the minority communities were “being threatened.” The Samajwadi Party also tagged the EC on ‘X’ and claimed that it had received information about EVM malfunction at booth number 282 of Ghaziabad. Around 2:30 pm, Sharma again complained about an EVM malfunction in Vijay Nagar’s Sardar Patel School in Ghaziabad. She alleged about “fake voting” at the booth. In terms of voter turnout, Gautam Budh Nagar fared better than Ghaziabad. While it registered 52.46% voting, Ghaziabad recorded an all-time low voting with only 49.8%, as per the EC. In Ghaziabad, residents admitted fleeing to holiday destinations due to the long weekend and the absence of outreach by the candidates as reasons behind the lack of enthusiasm. Polling stations at high-rise buildings witnessed an impressive footfall of voters. The administration had reportedly set up 100 polling booths at over 60 high-rise societies in Noida and Greater Noida. Modi factor in play in ‘mini-India’ Malkajgiri SW ET H AV I M A L A M & M A N DA R A V I N D E R R E D D Y @ Hyderabad THE three-cornered contest in Telangana’s Malkajgiri constituency which elected the state’s , cur rent Chief Minister Revanth Reddy as a Congress MP in 2019, may be a foregone conclusion. The Congress has fielded a recent entrant from BRS, Patnam Suneetha Mahender Reddy, while the BRS candidate is a turncoat from the Congress, Ragidi Laxma Reddy The BJP . candidate Eatala Rajender was a minister in the KCR government and switched over from the BRS in 2021. Who is the front-runner? A 45-year-old businessman from Kukatpally Mahesh, who iden, tified himself as a member of the Congress, did not hesitate for a moment when asked who he would support this time. “It’s Modi at the Centre. I believe in Modi and would vote for the BJP he said. ,” Mahesh is not alone in rooting for the saffron party. Several voters from Malkajgiri constituency said they would vote for the BJP . Dhanalakota Shravan Kumar, a traditional artiste from Quthbullapur — one of the seven suburban Assembly segments making up the Malkajgiri LS seat — reasoned: “If I vote for Congress, my vote would be wasted as the party might not come to power at the Centre. As for the BRS, they have lost power in Telangana.” Most of Shravan’s neighbours shared similar views. Though all seven se gments of the Malkajgiri constituency voted for the BRS in the November 2023 Assembly elections, it appears that the saf fron party has an edge in the LS polls. Eatala Rajender claims people are with PM Narendra Modi, whose 1.3-km roadshow in Malkajgiri on March 15 saw a massive re- ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR sponse. Rajendar, who quit BRS after an acrimonious fallout with for mer CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, told this paper recently during Hyderabad Dialogues that the party can win 12 out of the 17 seats in the state, including Malkajgiri. The constituency established , in 2009 following delimitation, has 37.47 lakh voters, with over 90% belonging to urban and suburban areas. With a sizable population of migrant settlers from other states including Tamil Nadu due to the presence of Central government institutions, Malkajgiri is deemed ‘Mini India’. Since the seat came into being in 2009, the Cong ress has won twice and the TDP once — in 2014, when it was in alliance with CONTINUED ON P5 the BJP .
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.