25072026-TTB-01.qxd 7/24/2026 11:50 PM 13 INDIAN SEAFARER KILLED IN BLACK SEA WORLD /thetribunechd Page 1 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 204 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HARYANA saturday | 25 july 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com ~10-cr fine: 47 NTA officials sacked in major NEET 10-yr jail,clears stricter Cabinet paper leak purge; legal action likely anti-paper leak Bill Agency notifies recruitment, to hire four GMs, 16 professionals Willmonitorsteps Aksheev Thakur to curb leaks: SC Tribune News Service Satya Prakash New Delhi, July 24 Amid the ongoing protests following the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has terminated 47 officials and is set to initiate legal and criminal action against some of them. It has also notified fresh recruitment to strengthen the agency. The move comes a day after Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi was shunted out to the Panchayati Raj Ministry. “The NTA is set to undergo an overhaul and more reformative measures will follow. At least 47 officials have been terminated, and legal and criminal action will be initiated against some of them,” a senior official said. Outrage surrounding paper leaks and the CBSE digital evaluation glitches has triggered a series of shunting of top officials. Students’ anger has spilt out in the form of huge protests at Jantar Mantar, besides other places across the country. The NTA, an autonomous body under the Union Education Ministry, has this week issued advertisements for senior professional appointments at the level of general manager and has separately opened the continued on page 6 Edit: paper leak law Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 24 Noting that years of ad hoc measures had led to recurring problems, the Supreme Court on Friday said it would closely monitor reforms undertaken to overhaul the National Testing Agency (NTA) and to curb NEET exami- To hear pleas on police ‘excesses’ on July 27 Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda with Cockroach Janta Party spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka during a meeting to find a solution to ongoing protests over the NEET paper leak, in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Pradhan’s exit non-negotiable, CJP tells govt as another meeting today Manikant Mishra Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 24 The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Friday told the government that its key demands, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, compensation for the families of students who died by suicide following the NEET paper leak and the withdrawal of legal action against protesters, were non-negotiable. THREE DEMANDS ■ Resignation of Education Min- ister Dharmendra Pradhan ■ Compensation for families of students who died by suicide after NEET paper leak ■ Withdrawal of cases against protesting students The stand was conveyed to Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh by CJP representatives Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das during US SLAPS 10% TARIFF ON INDIAN GOODS BUSINESS a nearly two-hour-long meeting between the two sides at the Constitution Club of India. The meeting came hours after activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had extended support to the CJP movement, ended his 26-day hunger strike at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram in the presence of Nadda and Jitendra Singh. After the meeting, Ranka said the Centre had sought time until Saturday afternoon continued on page 6 nation paper leaks even as the Centre asserted it was going “10 extra miles” for students. “We are focusing on institutionalisation. Ad-hocism has troubled us the most throughout these years,” a Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and continued on page 6 Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 24 The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a draft Bill to ensure stricter punishments for paper leaks, including 10-year jail term and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announcement to this effect. The Bill will amend the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. It is likely to be taken up for consideration and passing in Parliament on Monday. While final consultations on the Bill are underway, sources said the proposed legislation provided for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine To amend 2024 Act |Parl to take it up on Monday ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore. It also sought to increase the minimum imprisonment for those convicted in paper leak cases from the current three years to five years. The sources said the existing law was comprehensive and that several paper leak gangs had been apprehended across the country with the help of its provisions. The amendment Bill aimed at further strengthening the Act, they added. Meanwhile, the government is also preparing to set up fast-track courts exclusively to hear criminal continued on page 6 Bittu resigns as minister, to work in poll-bound Punjab Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 24 In a long-anticipated move, Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Ravneet Singh Bittu put in his papers today with President Droupadi Murmu accepting his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers. Bittu’s resignation was evident after the BJP denied him a re-nomination to the Rajya Sabha in the last election held to the Upper House on June 18. continued on page 6 13 killed as landslide buries cab in Lahaul 4 women, infant among victims| Were headed to Pangi Valley BaronBitchatamid security concerns New Delhi, July 24 Bluetooth messaging application Bitchat, being used extensively by protesting students in the ongoing NEET paper leak agitation amid Internet curbs, was on Friday sent a removal notice by the government. This comes a day after The Tribune highlighted how protesters were using the app to coordinate movements. The Home Ministry’s cybercrime continued on page 6 AbhinavVashisht Kullu, July 24 Thirteen persons, including four women and a six-month-old child, were killed when a cab carrying passengers from Kullu to the remote Pangi Valley was buried under a massive landslide near Kaddu Nala on the UdaipurKillar road in Lahaul on Friday. As the passengers were trapped under the debris, smoke was seen billowing from the buried vehicle. According to information, the cab, a Tata Sumo continued on page 6 The vehicle crushed by boulders on the Udaipur-Killar road in Lahaul. PTI With profound grief & sorrow, we inform the sad demise of Sh. Satish Goel, Managing Director of IEC Electric Power Ltd. and Core Metal Krafts Ltd. SH. SATISH GOEL 2 6 t h M a r c h 1 9 5 8 - 1 6 t h J u ly 2 0 2 6 MANAGEMENT & STAFF - KUMAR'S, SECTOR 11, CHANDIGARH 119, Sector-6, Panchkula c m y b +91 9357800071, +91 9357800073
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).
