Seven-term parliamentarian and BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab was on Thursday appointed pro-tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha, bucking the largely followed convention of appointing the senior most member to the post, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition Congress.

The pro-tem Speaker will administer the oath/affirmation to the newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha and preside over the Lower House till the election of the Speaker.

Question paper leak of UGC-NET is an "institutional failure" of National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government will set up a high-level committee to look into its functioning and recommend reforms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Thursday amid a raging row over medical entrance exam NEET and cancellation of UGC-NET.

"The cancellation of UGC-NET was not a knee-jerk reaction. We got proofs that the paper had leaked on darknet and was circulating on Telegram and decided to cancel the exam," Pradhan said at a press conference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed at least a dozen deals with his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday and offered to supply fossil fuels, including natural gas, to Vietnam during a state visit that comes as Moscow is seeking to bolster ties in Asia to offset its growing international isolation over its war in Ukraine.

Putin and President To Lam agreed to further cooperate in education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and clean energy.

Karnataka BJP on Thursday held "Cycle Jatha" here, as part of its state-wide protest against the Congress government's decision to hike petrol and diesel prices.

BJP workers and leaders led by its state President B Y Vijayendra sought to mark their protest by riding bicycles from the party's state office 'Jagannath Bhavan' to 'Vidhana Soudha'.

Shares of fertiliser companies continued their northward movement for the second straight day, zooming up to 20 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade backed by heavy volumes on expectations of a healthy outlook. In the past two trading days, fertiliser stocks have skyrocketed by up to 27 per cent. Most of the stocks were trading at their multi-year highs.

The Union Cabinet, in its second meeting under the Narendra Modi government’s third term, on Wednesday approved the Rs 76,220 crore Vadhavan Port project in Maharashtra after months of deliberations.

This will be one of the largest port projects in India and is expected to serve as a gateway port for the upcoming India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) and International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC).

A senior leader of the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said his party should get to contest at least 100 of the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena is part of the Mahayuti coalition which also includes the BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

The death toll in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district of people who had consumed illicit liquor has risen to 29, officials said on Thursday.

"Twenty nine are confirmed dead," Kallkurichi District Collector, MS Prashanth said today.

The Ministry of Education on Wednesday cancelled the UGC-NET examination 2024, just a day after it was conducted, after getting inputs of irregularities from the cybercrime coordination centre. The matter will now be handed over to the central bureau of investigation (CBI).

It comes amid the raging row surrounding the NEET fiasco, which has now reached the doors of the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden is again joining forces with former President Bill Clinton to rake in campaign cash, with a joint fundraiser with the two men Tuesday set to raise $8 million part of a roughly $40 million total that Biden's reelection campaign has pulled in the last five days.

The vast majority of the $40 million sum, confirmed by a Biden campaign official, comes from Saturday's glitzy, star-studded fundraiser with Biden and former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles that raised more than $30 million.

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