New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday on the first leg of his five-nation tour and received a ceremonial escort from UAE F-16 fighter jets as his plane entered Emirati airspace.Upon arrival in Abu Dhabi, Modi was given a guard of honor before beginning the high-level event with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.The two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation in areas including energy, trade, investment and regional development. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, issues of mutual international interest will also be included in the discussion.Modi’s UAE visit is part of a broader five-nation tour from May 15 to May 20, which will include the UAE, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. The visit aims to strengthen India’s partnership in trade, technology, clean energy, innovation and green development.Ahead of the visit, the Federation of Indian Export Organizations described the visit as coming at a “crucial juncture” for India’s strategic and economic relations with Europe and the Gulf region.FIEO President SC Ralhan said, “The Prime Minister’s high-level engagement with the leadership of the UAE and key European countries underlines India’s growing stature as a reliable economic partner and key driver of global growth. The visit is expected to create ample opportunities for Indian exporters in various sectors including engineering, clean energy, technology, pharmaceuticals, food processing, textiles, logistics and digital trade.”“The exporters’ body also said that the UAE remains one of India’s most important trade and investment partners and continues to act as a gateway for Indian exports to West Asia and Africa.Ahead of Modi’s arrival, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimi described the prime minister as a “true treasure” for the leadership and people of the emirate.Speaking to ANI, Al Hashimi said India-UAE relations are set to touch “new heights” in trade and technology and said Modi’s visit will continue the momentum created by recent high-level exchanges between the two countries.After concluding the UAE leg of the visit, Modi will visit the Netherlands from May 15 to 17, where he is scheduled to meet Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetton and hold talks with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. There are expected to be discussions on semiconductors, green hydrogen, innovation, defense and water management.

Dharmendra Pradhan (PTI file photo)

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Friday that NEET UG exams will be computer-based from next year, while clarifying on alleged irregularities in the exam, saying the government has “zero tolerance towards malpractices.“His announcement came days after the huge uproar following the NEET UG 2026 exam paper leak.Dharmendra Pradhan said, “The root cause of this was OMR and hence, from next year the exam will be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode.”Pradhan said National Testing Agency A complaint was received soon after the exam and an investigation was immediately initiated.He said, “The new dates for re-examination have been announced as June 21… The exam was held on May 3 and on May 7, NTA received a complaint that the guess paper contained some questions which were present in the question paper this time. The Higher Education Department immediately initiated an investigation and handed it over to the government agency… They contacted the state agencies and by May 12, we had confirmation that, under the guise of a guess paper, the actual exam questions had indeed been leaked…”Explaining the logic behind the decision, he said, “We did not want any deserving student to be deprived of his or her rights due to conspiracies by fake candidates or conspiracies of the education mafia… This decision has given rise to two different opinions across the country – especially within the student community. We accept and respect both these viewpoints. We consider it our responsibility to find a solution to this situation.”..”Pradhan said, “We have zero tolerance towards malpractices and this is a long battle against the exam mafia… Various social media handles are trying to spread misinformation, the system is being challenged and in view of this, the investigation has been handed over to the CBI, which has initiated immediate action. It will go to the depth of the violations…”

He said, “We will not allow any malpractice this time… We are very sad and concerned about all the candidates, but in the national interest we had to take this difficult decision…”Meanwhile, NTA announced earlier in the day that the NEET UG re-exam will now be held on Sunday, June 21. The decision comes amid widespread criticism and backlash over alleged flaws in the conduct of the exam and handling of the complaint process.

New Delhi: National Testing Agency announced re-examination on Friday NEET (UG) 2026 will be held on Sunday, June 21.The decision comes days after the agency canceled NEET-UG The exam was held on May 3 following allegations of irregularities, impacting lakhs of medical aspirants across the country.Earlier, the government had also ordered a comprehensive Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in the examination.By canceling the exam before NTA Said that the decision was taken “in the interest of students” and to protect public confidence in the national examination system.“Based on the information examined by NTA in coordination with central agencies and investigation findings shared by law enforcement agencies, with the approval of the Government of India, the National Testing Agency has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination held on 3 May 2026 and re-conduct the examination on dates to be notified separately,” the agency posted on Twitter.It said, “The inputs received by the NTA, coupled with the findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, have established that the current examination process cannot be allowed to persist. The dates of the re-conducted examinations, along with the re-released admit-card schedule, will be communicated through the official channels of the agency in the coming days.”

Why was NEET-UG 2026 cancelled?

The move comes days after investigators uncovered evidence that a question set described by officials as a “guess paper” was circulated among candidates weeks before the exam and reportedly contained a large number of questions that closely resembled the actual NEET paper.According to investigators, a document containing approximately 410 questions was circulating among students between 15 days to a month before the exam. Officials said around 120 questions from the Chemistry section reportedly exactly matched the actual exam paper.Officials also claimed that the material was shared through WhatsApp groups around 42 hours before the exam. The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police, which is leading the preliminary investigation, began the probe after reports emerged that the material circulated showed “striking similarities” with the questions asked in the exam.SOG additional director general Vishal Bansal said investigators were probing whether the material was merely a test series or part of a larger organized fraud racket. “Our investigation is currently focused on determining whether any fraudulent or criminal activity has taken place based on this estimate letter,” Bansal said, as reported by ANI.“We are actively investigating this matter and are currently engaged in the investigative process. No, as of now, we have not made any arrests of any kind.”Bansal said investigators found a set of more than 400 questions circulated a few days before the exam, in which more than 100 biology and chemistry questions showed “striking similarities” with questions asked in NEET.Bansal described it as a “guess paper” or test series, but sources said a deep nexus has not been ruled out, citing searches and interrogations in several cities of Rajasthan and Dehradun.Similar videos and copies of test-series question papers were also shared on social media from a coaching academy in Latur, Maharashtra.

New Delhi/Mumbai: The CBI has significantly expanded its NEET-UG-2026 paper leak probe, with investigators now focused on a possible “insider role”, even as another suspect was arrested from Pune and a retired chemistry professor detained in Latur.As the total arrests rose to seven, sources said investigators were trying to find out whether there was a breach from within the main chain of high security, custody and access ahead of the medical entrance exams being canceled on May 3 due to the leak.CBI officials are seeking information from NTA, which conducts NEET, about every stakeholder who had access to the question paper before it was sealed. It includes details of the entire process of question preparation including information about the people who set the questions and the subject experts, professors and teachers included in the question preparation panel. Separately, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a high-level meeting at his Delhi residence late on Thursday night with top officials on the new NEET exam, the dates of which will be announced later.In Pune, the CBI on Thursday identified the suspect arrested as beauty parlor owner Manisha Waghmare, who was picked up from Sukhsagar Nagar area of ​​the city.Waghmare had allegedly acted as an intermediary for Dhananjay, a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) passout who ran a consultancy in Pune and was one of the six people arrested on Wednesday – three from Jaipur and one each from Gurgaon, and Maharashtra’s Nashik and Ahilya Nagar. Waghmare allegedly received money from around two dozen bank accounts before the trial.The CBI said it conducted searches at 14 locations on Thursday, the action came after those arrested were produced in court and sent on seven-day remand for questioning. An officer said, “Several other suspects are being interrogated. More arrests will be made in the coming days. The CBI is following all the leads.”The retired chemistry teacher detained for questioning by the CBI in Latur was from Dayanand Sagar College, officials said. Sources said the person had access to the entire NEET question paper as part of the translation panel responsible for presenting the paper in Marathi. NEET is conducted in 13 languages, requiring multiple parallel translation workflows under strict confidentiality protocols.Officials declined to disclose the professor’s identity or specify his exact role, citing the sensitivity of the investigation. Latur, long considered a coaching center that attracts students from across Maharashtra, has emerged as a focal point in the investigation. The complaint filed by a parent at the SP office two days ago alleged that 42 questions in the mock test conducted by a private coaching institute in the city matched the NEET paper.In Rajasthan, investigators suspect Dinesh Biwal, one of the three arrested from the state, of scanning the hard copy of the leaked NEET paper and sharing it digitally. He allegedly obtained the paper for his son from Yash Yadav, another arrested suspect from Gurgaon, and later gave or sold it to other students known to him in Sikar district.In Delhi, where some of the suspects were remanded by a local court, the CBI alleged a “larger conspiracy” behind the nationwide leaks. The agency told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary to nab other culprits, recover digital devices and electronic evidence, unearth financial clues and “identify possible officials of NTA” involved in the crime.(Inputs from Dishank Purohit in Jaipur and Kaushiki Saha in Delhi)