THE HEADLINES::

 

• Centre forms high-level committee to study demographic change caused by infiltration and other reasons.

 

• Supreme Court to deliver its verdict today on petitions challenging Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

 

• CBSE rejects claims circulating on social media about breach of its On-Screen Marking system, saying it was only testing site and not actual platform.

 

• IMD issues red alert for severe heatwave conditions in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha today.

 

• Nasa releases details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it aims to send to Moon as part of its plan to build lunar base.

 

• In IPL Cricket, Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm into final beating Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier one at Dharamshala.

 

 

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The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to address the challenges of demographic change caused by infiltration and other reasons. In a social media post, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the committee will be chaired by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar. Census Commissioner along with former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and economist Dr. Shamika Ravi have been appointed as members of the committee. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I) in Home Ministry will serve as the Member Secretary in the committee.

 

Mr Shah said, infiltration and other reasons are causing unnatural demographic change which poses a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation. He said, demographic change is a serious issue linked not only to the sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, profound changes in social structure and the preservation of tribal society.

 

“The High Level Committee will conduct a comprehensive assessment of demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes. It will also analyze patterns of abnormal population shifts at the levels of religious and social communities and will present a planned and time-bound solution for the same. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech from Red Fort last year had announced about the High-Level Committee on Demographic Change.

 

The Committee will submit its report within one year. If necessary, the tenure of the Committee may be extended by up to six months. With Anupam Mishra, THIS IS Vishnu P S, Akashvani News, Delhi.”

 

 

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The Supreme Court will today pronounce its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the legality of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls done by the Election Commission of India. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi is scheduled to pronounce its verdict today after reserving judgment in the matter earlier this year, following extensive hearings. The petitions challenge the legality of the SIR exercise undertaken by the poll body, contending that the revision process exceeds the powers conferred upon the ECI under Article 326 of the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the rules framed thereunder.

 

Over the course of the proceedings, the Supreme Court issued interim directions designed to promote transparency and mitigate hardship among voters impacted by the SIR exercise across various states and union territories.

The poll body had initially identified 11 documents for verification purposes. However, the apex court later directed the inclusion of Aadhaar as an additional document for the SIR process.

 

Most of the petitions were filed in June last year after the ECI decided to conduct an SIR in Bihar. The exercise was subsequently extended to multiple states and UTs, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The poll body defended the exercise before the apex court, contending that the revision was aimed at ensuring the purity of electoral rolls and preventing duplication or inclusion of ineligible voters. After hearing the parties, the CJI Surya Kant-led Bench reserved its verdict on January 29.

 

 

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Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has clarified that there has been no security breach in its actual On Screen Marking system used for evaluation of answer books. The Board said that the URL <<http://cbse.onmarks.co.in>> is the testing site only with sample data for internal testing and review purposes.

 

“The Central Board of Secondary Education stated that the URL circulating on social media is different from the portal used for the evaluation of answer books. It noted that the system has been implemented for enhanced transparency in assessments with strong grievance redressal mechanisms. Refuting claims of any security breach on its actual On Screen Marking system, CBSE reassured all concerned that safeguards are in place to ensure the integrity and security of the evaluation platform. Priya Mondal, Akashvani News, Delhi.”

 

 

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President Droupadi Murmu will visit Nathula Pass in Sikkim this morning on the second day of her visit to the state. The President will interact with soldiers stationed at Nathula, where senior Army officers will brief her on various activities in the area. She will also visit the Baba Harbhajan shrine.

Later in the day, President Murmu will award degrees and medals to students during convocation ceremony of Sikkim University at Manan Kendra in Gangtok. Nearly 14 thousand degrees across 33 departments will be awarded along with 285 Gold and Silver medals to meritorious students which include 199 women.

 

 

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India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert predicting heatwave to severe heatwave conditions over Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha today. The weather agency has also forecast heatwave conditions over Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana and Uttarakhand for the next two days.

 

 

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Onset of Monsoon in Keralam, which was earlier predicted for yesterday, may be delayed for one or two days.

 

“The arrival of the South West Monsoon in Keralam, which was earlier predicted for May 26, may be further delayed by one or two days. As of 7 a.m. this morning, 5 mm of rain has been recorded in some areas in the southern part of Keralam, while no rain has been experienced in most places in Keralam and Lakshadweep today. The onset of the monsoon in Keralam will officially be declared if 2.5 mm of rain is recorded for two consecutive days in at least 60 percent of the monitoring stations in Keralam and Lakshadweep. As of now, there is no heavy rain warning for Keralam for the next four days. Smithy M palluruthy, Akashvani News, Thiruvananthapuram.”

 

 

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A special court in Kolkata has remanded 15 more individuals to National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody till 5th June in connection with the attack on judicial officers in Mothabari, Malda. The accused were arrested during a series of raids conducted by the central agency in Mothabari and its adjoining areas late Monday night.
During the court proceedings, the NIA submitted two case diaries regarding the matter. According to NIA sources, the suspects were identified by analyzing CCTV footage from the day of the incident alongside various video clips that went viral on social media.

 

 

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External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar co-chaired the 17th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in New Delhi last evening. Dr Jaishankar said that they exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific, the situation in West Asia, and other regional, global and multilateral issues. They also reviewed the steady progress of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations. Dr Jaishankar added that cooperation is expanding in energy sector including uranium supplies to generate nuclear energy.

 

 

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Nasa has released details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it aims to send to the Moon as part of US plans to build a lunar base. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin is one of several companies picked to build the machines. The US wants to land Americans back on the Moon before President Donald Trump leaves office in 2028. But Nasa is competing with China to return humans to the lunar surface, meaning the space agency is under pressure to appear to be winning the new space race. China is forging ahead with its own plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030. Yesterday, it launched its Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, sending a crew of astronauts to the country’s Tiangong space station.

 

 

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed into the final of the IPL 2026 beating Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier one match at Dharamshala last night. Chasing a mammoth target of 255 runs set by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans were all out for 162 with three balls to spare. Rahul Tewatia was the top scorer with 68 runs. For Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Jacob Duffy scalped 3 wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar and Krunal Pandya took two wickets each.

Earlier, Gujarat Titans won the toss and elected to field. Put into bat, Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted a massive 254 runs for the loss of five wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Rajat Patidar top scored with an unbeaten 93 runs off 33 balls. Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya added 43 runs each. For Gujarat Titans, Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder took two wickets each. Rajat Patidar was adjudged The Player of the Match.

Today, Sunrisers Hyderabad will face Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator in New Chandigarh, Mohali at 7:30 PM.

 

 

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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS,

 

• Quad announces energy initiative, Fiji port project headlines The Hindustan times, while The Tribune headlines “committed to free and open indo-pacific : Quad unveils energy security initiative, while The Asian Age headlines “Quad unveils four key initiatives”, expands energy, maritime ties.
• Another major story covered in most newspapers is the US self defence strikes casting shadow on Iran peace talks. The Asian Age headlines “talks under strain as US strikes Iran;Tehran to retaliate” while The Tribune headlines “Deal to end war may take a few days, says Rubio as US strikes Iran again.”
• The government forming panel on demographic changes caused due to infiltration is also a major story covered on the front page of most newspapers. The Times of India headlines “Government panel to examine demographic changes” and The Hindu says “panel set up to study demographic change.”
• The Indian Express headlines “HDFC Bank camouflaged crores as marketing spend to pay higher interest to state firm” the paper adds that violating RBI and bank norms, 45 crore extra interest was paid to Maharashtra state road development corp as sponsorship for road safety drive.
• The Indian Express in it’s editorial titled “India first can converge with America first” writes that against the backdrop of an an uneasy phase in India-US relations over the past year or so, US secretary Marco Rubio’s visit to India signalled reassurance to New Delhi that Washington remains committed to a long term strategic partnership. During his joint press conference with Rubio, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar acknowledged that the Trump administration has been forthright about pursuing an America first policy and said that Delhi too is guided by an India first approach. Convergence of interests may sustain cooperation, but India’s standing in a fractured world order will ultimately rest on the strength it builds at home, the paper concludes.
• And finally, The Statesman says that Delhi witnessed the warmest night in 14 years on monday with the mercury logging 32.4 degrees.

 

 

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN,

 

• Centre forms high-level committee to study demographic change caused by infiltration and other reasons.

 

• Supreme Court to deliver its verdict today on petitions challenging Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

 

• CBSE rejects claims circulating on social media about breach of its On-Screen Marking system, saying it was only testing site and not actual platform.

 

• IMD issues red alert for severe heatwave conditions in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha today.

 

• Nasa releases details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it aims to send to Moon as part of its plan to build lunar base.

 

• In IPL Cricket, Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm into final beating Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier one at Dharamshala.

 

 

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