Education
The minority community’s Marti organisation has no director yet; work has come to a standstill – complaint by MLA Rais Sheikh
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Mumbai, January 21: The Minority Research and Training Institute (MARTI), established for the social, economic and educational upliftment of the minority community, has not yet got a director even after six months. The process of creation of the post is pending due to the absence of a high-level committee meeting, and the institute’s fund of Rs 6.25 crore has been lying unused for the last five months.
Samajwadi Party MLA Raees Sheikh has written a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Minority Minister Dattatreya Bharane on January 20, demanding immediate intervention in the matter.
Establishment and status of MARTI Institute
Marti Institute was established in August 2024 with the aim of studying the backwardness of the minority community and providing free training to students for examinations like UPSC, MPSC, JEE and NEET. 10 posts were created for this institute, established on the lines of institutions like BARTI, Amrit, Mahajyoti and Sarathi.
However, the sanctioned fund of Rs 6.25 crore has not been utilised yet as the director of the institute has not been appointed. It was proposed to give the charge of director to the District Collector of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, but the Chief Secretary rejected the proposal citing elections.
MLA Raees Sheikh’s displeasure
Expressing displeasure over this, MLA Raees Sheikh said, “It has been six months since the establishment of the institute, but its functioning is completely stalled. Other autonomous bodies have started their training programs for exams like UPSC, MPSC, JEE and NEET, but the Marti Institute is still inactive.”
Students are suffering losses
MLA Shaikh said that most of the students from the minority community come from ordinary families and cannot afford expensive private coaching classes. In such a situation, due to the stalling of the institute’s functioning, the students are suffering academic and career related losses.
Immediate demands raised
MLA Raees Sheikh has made the following demands in his letter:
- The functioning of the Marti Institute should be given immediate administrative impetus.
- The creation of the sanctioned 10 posts should be approved and the process should be completed.
- An IAS officer should be immediately appointed to the post of director of the institute.
- Additional funds of at least Rs 15 crore should be sanctioned for the training programs of students.
MLA Sheikh warned that if the process of the institute is not improved soon, there could be massive loss of students.
Education
20-Year-Old Indian Student Wins Global Memory Championship 2025, Recalls 80 Numbers In 13.5 Seconds
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New York: Vishvaa Rajakumar, a 20-year-old Indian student, has won the Memory League World Championship 2025 by memorising the order of 80 random numbers in 13.50 seconds and 30 images in 8.40 seconds.
Memory League World Championship is an intense online competition.
According to the Memory League website, Rajakumar is ranked No 1 with a score of 5,000.
Rajakumar memorised 80 numbers in 13.50 seconds and 30 images in 8.40 seconds during the championship held recently.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Rajakumar is a student of Puducherry-based ManakulaVinayagar Institute of Technology.
Speaking to The New York Times on his technique and strategies of memorisation, Rajakumar said,”Hydration is very important because it helps your brain. When you memorise things, you usually subvocalise, and it helps to have a clear throat.”
“Let’s say you’re reading a book. You’re not reading it out loud, but you are vocalising within yourself. If you don’t drink a lot of water, your speed will be a bit low. If you drink a lot of water, it will be more and more clear and you can read it faster,” he said.
Rajakumar said he was crying when he achieved the feat.
“They give you 80 random numbers that they display on a screen. You have to memorize all of those numbers as fast as possible, then click a button and a recall sheet appears. I wrote down all of the 80 digits — and I got them all right. My fastest time to memorize 80 random digits in this World Championship was 13.5 seconds, so almost six digits per second,” he to the newspaper.
He said after the completion of college, he would try to be a memory trainer and create a memory institution in India to teach other people these techniques.
“My goal is to make it big,” he said.
Crime
Jharkhand’s 10th board science paper leaked, exam to be cancelled
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Ranchi, Feb 20: The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) admitted that the Class 10 science board exam paper was leaked before the examination held on Thursday morning.
JAC President Natwa Hansda announced that the exam will be cancelled now in the entire state.
Following the leak, state Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari convened a high-level meeting on Thursday afternoon. The government has ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
Reports suggest that the science question paper had been circulating widely on Wednesday and was available for sale. Student leader Devendra Nath Mahato met JAC officials on Wednesday with a copy of the leaked paper.
When the exam began at 9.45 a.m. on Thursday, the questions matched exactly with the leaked version. The matter was immediately reported to the state government, prompting swift administrative action to cancel the paper.
Hansda stated that a high-level committee would be formed to probe the leak.
This is not the first time that a paper has been leaked in Jharkhand before the examination. Earlier, there were strong rumours about the Hindi exam paper being leaked.
Mahato had also submitted a memorandum regarding this to the JAC Secretary.
At that time, the council dismissed the claims, issuing a general notice urging students to ignore rumours. The notice emphasised JAC’s commitment to conducting fair and confidential examinations and warned against anti-social elements spreading misinformation to exploit students and parents financially.
The Class 10 board exams in Jharkhand commenced on February 11, with 1,297 examination centres set up across the state for 4,33,890 students.
Earlier the examination was to end on March 3, but according to the changed schedule, the exams will be conducted till March 4. However, now due to the cancellation of the Science exam paper, it will be further extended.
Crime
KIIT Student Suicide: Shocking Abusive Audio Clip Of Nepal BTech Student’s Ex-BF Surfaces
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Nepal: The case of alleged suicide of Prakriti Lamsal, the 20-year-old Nepali student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar is increasingly yielding fresh details. An audio clip, purportedly containing abuses hurled by Advik Srivastava (21), a fellow student of Prakriti, is being shared on various social media platforms. The clip records the verbal assault Srivastava subjected Prakriti to. In the clip, Advik can be heard making derogatory comments about Prakriti and her mother. He then even coerced a scared Prakriti to accept his demeaning accusations.
Prakriti Lamsal committed suicide on Sunday (February 16). It has been revealed that she was approaching KIIT officials for months and requesting them to action series of incidents that unfolded after that has raised questions on KIIT’s handling of the situation.
It has been alleged that as Nepali students protested against Lamsal’s death, they were forced by the institute to leave the hostels. KIIT officials reportedly assaulted the Nepali students. They were then put on a bus and taken to Cuttack railway station which is 20 kms away from the institute. Student, without a roof over their heads, had to take shelter on railway platforms.
The sequence of events has found mention even in Nepali media which has strongly demanded justice for Pakriti Lamsal and other Nepali students.
As the issue got raised in Nepali parliament, the Embassy of Nepal in India has also demanded proper investigation into Prakriti’s death. The embassy said on Monday that it had spoken with the institute and requested housing the Nepali students on the campus itself.
“The university authorities informed the embassy that they would operate the classes and house the students in the campus as per the embassy’s request,” the embassy said in a statement.
“The university has expressed its strong commitment to take the issue seriously,” it said further.
In India, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to X (formerly Twitter) to demand action against the institute.
Advik Srivastava meanwhile, has been arrested. Media reports say that he was arrested while trying to flee the state.
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