Morning Digest: India refuses to endorse Ukraine meet statement; NTA officials to face action if found involved in NEET irregularities, says Education Minister, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on June 17, 2024

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to hold pre-budget consultations with industry chambers on June 20, sources said. The Union Budget for FY2024-25 is likely to be presented in Parliament in the second half of July. Industry sources said the pre-budget consultation with Ms. Sitharaman would be preceded by a meeting with Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on June 18.

The Central government would take the strictest of actions against functionaries of the National Testing Agency if they were found to be involved in irregularities in the conduct of the NEET, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister, said. “Additional wrongdoings have also come to the fore on two accounts. I assure both students and parents that the government had taken the issue very seriously. We will take it to a logical end,” he said.

Only proposals acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine can lead to peace, said India as New Delhi decided to disassociate itself from the final document issued at the conclusion of a Peace Summit in Switzerland. India was among at least seven countries that refused to endorse the “Joint Communique on a Peace Framework” released in Burgenstock, the venue of the two-day summit.

he announcement of the date for the election of a new Speaker for the Lok Sabha has set off speculation over who could occupy that role come June 26, with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners likely to meet around June 22 or June 23 to decide the alliance’s candidate. While the Janata Dal-United (JD (U)) has stated that a BJP claim on the post would be respected by them, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is speaking of a consensus “NDA candidate”.

Jiribam will not be allowed to go the same way as the rest of Manipur, officials in the security establishment asserted as an uneasy calm prevailed in the western district after the violence over the last two weeks. Outsiders from both the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities — who have been engaged in an ethnic conflict in the State for more than a year — are entering Jiribam district in large numbers, which can potentially lead to a flare-up in the violence, according to officials on the ground. 

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar inaugurated the ‘Prerna Sthal’ on the Parliament House premises, where 15 statues of freedom fighters and icons of Indian history, including statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, previously established in different parts of the Parliament campus, have been relocated to a single location, amid protests by the Opposition.

A day after the State government hiked petrol and diesel prices by about ₹3 each, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the hike and blamed the Centre for forcing the State to cut sales tax during the earlier years, while it continued to increase the Central excise duty on petroleum products. In a note, he said that while under the “double engine BJP government” Karnataka was forced to reduce the tax, the Union government continued to collect higher Central excise duty from the State, and diverted the resources to other States.