Foreign News
Hacking claims, mismatched answer-sheets: Controversies rock school exam in India
What began as one student’s viral complaint about a mismatch between the physical and digital copies of his Grade 12 physics answer sheet has snowballed into a major controversy around one of India’s biggest and most important school-leaving exams.
Days after the government-run Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced its Grade 12 – equivalent to UK’s A level – results, dozens of students complained about errors in their marks allegedly linked to a newly-launched digital evaluation system used in the exam.
Called On-Screen Marking (OSM), the system works by scanning physical copies of answer-sheets and uploading them on an online portal for teachers to evaluate.
A software then calculates total marks in each exam. According to the education board, the system was introduced to reduce human error and effort and to increase transparency and efficiency.
While students often reported errors in manual evaluation, they say the new system has caused new problems instead of fixing old ones. Some say the scanned copies of answer sheets were blurry, which may have affected marks. Others say pages were missing, answers were marked wrongly, or the digital copies did not match the original paper answer sheets.
CBSE has responded to the allegations by saying that it remained committed to a “fair and transparent evaluation process”.
“All genuine concerns related to scanned answer books or evaluation will be reviewed by subject experts through the prescribed mechanism,” it said.
On Thursday, federal Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that it was the first time that the CBSE was using OSM, which he described as a “student-centric” and “globally accepted” system. He also acknowledged that “some discrepancies [in the results] had come to light”.
“I take responsibility for this and assure you that a solution will be found. We are working on it. We will not leave any student’s query unaddressed,” he said.
The students’ complaints have sparked national outrage and brought the education board’s digital evaluation system under the scanner.
Parents and educationists have questioned whether teachers received enough training and proper technology to run the new marking system effectively.
For millions of Indian students, CBSE exams are not just tests – they are gateways to college admissions, careers and social mobility.
CBSE is also one of the country’s largest education boards, with about two million students taking the Grade 12 exam this year. India also has state-run, private and international school boards.
Another reason why this issue has made national headlines is because it comes on the back of a controversy surrounding another crucial exam – the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate), known as NEET-UG – which is the gateway to studying medicine in India.
Allegations to a paper leak in May led to the exam being cancelled, impacting nearly 2.28 million candidates who wrote the test, and leading to a spate of all alleged suicides.
[BBC]
A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Fenech, 44, was acquitted on Wednesday at the end of a jury trial. He had been tried on charges of complicity to murder and for the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.
If found guilty, Fenech could have faced life in prison.
Caruana Galizia’s family were seen weeping in the packed courtroom in Valletta after the businessman was cleared of both counts by an 8-1 margin following eight hours of deliberation by the jury.
“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the slain reporter’s family said in a statement.
“Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne’s life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.”
Fenech’s family members were seen celebrating the jury’s decision.
The killing of Caruana Galizia in October 2017 shocked Europe’s journalist community and set off a political firestorm in Malta, focusing international attention on its police and judiciary.
Dubbed a “one-woman WikiLeaks”, Caruana Galizia had exposed corruption at the highest level in the Mediterranean island country, shining a spotlight on links between Malta’s business and political elites. She was 53 when she was killed.
Prosecutors argued that Fenech had wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she was about to reveal information about him.
Fenech has denied the accusations. His defence instead pointed fingers at his one-time friend Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs.
Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination.
Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect. He has denied any role in the murder.
An independent inquiry in 2021 found that officials in Malta had failed to protect Caruana Galizia from threats to her life before her death.
[Aljazeera]
A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border
Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away
Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say
In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –
[BBC]
A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.
The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
[Aljazeera]
Sun directly overhead Nittambuwa, Algama, Malwana, Aranayake, Meegahakiula and Panamkadu about 12.09 noon today (04)
Showers expected in the Uva, Central and Eastern provinces and in Polonnaruwa and Mullaittivu districts after 2.00 p.m
Norochcholai digs into dwindling coal stocks, two units slash generation
22A: BASL decides against making written submissions after SC refuses to grant it right of reply
CPSL condemns pursuit of military cooperation with NATO
Police probe cops promoting drug business of “Kudu Avishka” operating from Dubai
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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