Latest news with #Devesh
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Canada-based dentist killed in crash was returning after attending family function
Vadodara: Dr Nirali Patel, a Canadian citizen and dentist originally from Ahmedabad, was among the victims of the Air India flight crash on Thursday. Nirali, who practised dentistry in Ontario along with her husband, Dr Devesh Shukla of Lunawada, was the only Canadian national on board. The couple had settled in Ontario and were raising their son there. Nirali had travelled to India alone to attend a social function, while Devesh and their child remained in Canada. She was returning home when tragedy struck. Devesh, son of former Lunawada municipality president Tarlika Shukla, is expected to arrive in India soon along with their son for the final rites. The Shukla family, known for their longstanding association with the BJP, is in deep shock. Several close relatives of the couple are also based abroad. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Scroll.in
10-06-2025
- Health
- Scroll.in
Why the National Testing Agency continues to fail students in India
It was Saipriya S's second time taking the National Eligibility Entrance Test, the entrance exam for undergraduate medical programmes, conducted by the National Testing Agency. She began studying for it while in school, and wrote the exam first in 2024. Then, on May 4, 2025, Saipriya, who is from Chennai, attempted the exam for the second time after taking a gap year to focus on preparing for it, a common strategy among candidates. The venue was a Kendriya Vidyalaya government school in the city. Like most candidates, Saipriya was nervous before the exam – but she was confident about performing well. The paper was handed to her exactly at 2 pm. At first glance, it looked long and difficult, but the first hour went off smoothly, and Saipriya settled in. Then, in the middle of the exam, invigilators began the process of verifying the identities of students, which cut into their precious writing time, Saipriya recounted. The first time she wrote the exam, she said, students were given an optical mark reader, or OMR, sheet, with details such as their names and roll numbers filled in. They had to confirm that the information was accurate. But this time, they were given two such sheets and had to fill in the information themselves in the middle of the exam, as well as register a fingerprint. 'They took so long and it caused a lot of disturbance,' she said. From there, the situation went downhill. A little after an hour, there was a power outage in the exam hall. 'Around the same time, it also became really cloudy and dark outside because of the rains,' Saipriya said. 'I couldn't even read the question paper.' Saipriya tried to read the questions by holding the paper up close to her eyes. 'We have a minute to answer each question,' she said. 'These questions were very long, and because it was so dark, I took longer.' For about 20 minutes in between, Saipriya recounted, the electricity returned – but when she saw the paper more clearly, she realised that she had missed many questions. 'I began to panic and started crying, but I knew I just had to keep pushing until the end,' she said. A similar scene played out in a testing centre in Indore, where Devesh Tripati was writing the same exam. As heavy rains lashed the city, 'Rainwater was coming in through the windows and his paper got wet,' said SS Tripati, Devesh's father. This centre also saw a power outage, for one-and-a-half hours, which hampered Devesh's ability to read questions properly. 'The collector said the next day that the NTA had not prescribed guidelines that advised on what centres have to do if the power goes off,' the father said. 'These are big shortcomings on the part of the administration. How can they not have a generator?' Criticisms, failures Last year, the NTA had faced a storm of criticism over its functioning after several exams, most prominently NEET, saw a range of irregularities, from paper leaks and errors in question papers and answer keys, and apparent discrepancies in final scores. Students and parents from across the country petitioned the Supreme Court over these problems, demanding measures such as retests and investigations into malpractices. The court directed the NTA to formulate reforms to improve its functioning. In June 2024, the ministry of education constituted a seven-member committee which recommended a range of reforms, many of which have been implemented by the NTA. Despite this, a year later, the agency's conduct of exams has fallen short. For instance, after the Joint Entrance Exam Main, for admission to undergraduate engineering programmes, was held in April, factual errors were discovered in some questions, which were then dropped. Meanwhile, some students claimed their answers were recorded incorrectly in their response sheet, which they can access online after the exam, while others reported facing other technical glitches. Takers of the Common University Entrance Test, for admission to various central government universities, also faced hurdles. The exams were initially supposed to begin on May 8, but on May 7, the NTA announced that it was not prepared to conduct them, and that it would do so between May 13 and June 3 instead. Other problems followed. After the CUET exams for accountancy were held in mid-May, the NTA offered retests to students because it had included questions in the paper that were not part of the prescribed syllabus. Retests were also announced for the Tamil and Urdu papers, held later in the month. Further, on May 27, media reported that the first shift of CUET tests was delayed in several centres across the country due to technical glitches in the servers. Many educationists argue the continuing failures of NTA point to larger questions surrounding its very nature and structure – questions that they say the committee set up last year failed to address. Misguided reforms The committee was led by Dr K Radhakrishnan, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, and included academics from the All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi, the University of Hyderabad, and the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi and Kanpur. In October 2024, the committee submitted its recommendations to the ministry of education. Among these were that the NTA conduct only entrance exams and not recruitment exams, such as those for jobs in bodies like the National Highway Authority of India and the Employees Provident Fund Organisation. The committee also recommended that security for exams be improved, that 'mobile testing centres' be created for students in remote areas and that it set up grievance redressal cells. Some of the recommendations made by the committee were to be implemented for the exams conducted in 2025, while others were to be implemented over a longer period. Faculty across the country argued that these recommendations were riddled with problems – while some were misguided, others were insufficient. 'The reforms are more a knee-jerk reaction to the NTA controversies and court case and nothing more,' said Prince Gajendra Babu, an education activist from Tamil Nadu. 'The recommendations seem extremely superficial.' Scroll emailed queries to the NTA about its failures and criticisms of its functioning. This story will be updated if the agency responds. Many criticisms of the NTA, as well as the committee's report, pertained to the very nature of the agency. Among these is that the NTA is not fully a government body, rather a society registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1896. And while other bodies that play a crucial role in education, such as the Central Board of Secondary Education, which formerly conducted the NEET exam, are also societies, educationists noted that these bodies operate with a significantly higher degree of transparency. For instance, after the 2024 leaks, educationists expressed concerns that the NTA had not published its memorandum of association on its website, as the CBSE had. They argued that doing this would be crucial to informing the public about how the agency was established and how it functions. As of this story's publication, the agency had still not published the document on its website. For its part, the expert committee suggested only that the government 'consider continuing NTA as a Society or re-define it as a Statutory Body (under the Union Ministry of Education) in due course'. Maya John, a member of the Delhi University Academic Council and a faculty member of Delhi's Jesus and Mary College, argued that the recommendation needed to be far clearer and more decisive. 'The committee's recommendations call for restructuring the setup of the National Testing Agency,' she said. 'However, in the very first recommendation, it leaves to the government the decision regarding operating the NTA as a society or making it a statutory body.' Babu said that it was particularly worrying that the NTA outsourced some of its work, such as setting up exam centres, managing security and capturing biometric data. 'They are an autonomous body that continues to outsource all their work,' he said. 'So there is no way that the NTA is an academic body. I don't see the report delving into the question of why a non-academic body has been given the responsibility of conducting such large-scale exams.' Earlier, students had more access to personnel in charge of conducting the examinations, explained Dr Amalorpavanathan, a retired surgeon from the Madras Medical College. 'In Tamil Nadu, you could just go to the office and get assistance,' he said. Now, however, the work had been centralised and they 'have to rely on some nameless office in Delhi', he added. Question papers Another crucial aspect that experts argued the NTA had faltered on, and which the committee had not sufficiently addressed, was the setting of question papers. In numerous exams in 2024, such as JEE and NEET-UG, question papers were found to contain a variety of errors or flaws – for instance, some papers contained questions outside the designated syllabus. In one prominent instance, a paper had two correct answers, resulting in confusion among students. 'In the 2024 NEET-UG exam, students suffered because one of the physics questions had two different answers,' Babu explained. One of these was listed in an old textbook and another in a newer one. After students and academics pointed out that both answers were technically accurate, the NTA announced that students would be granted marks if they provided either answer. But K Ravi Kumar, a physics professor from Tamil Nadu, explained that many students lost time in the confusion, and that many left the question unanswered because of it. When the Supreme Court demanded that the NTA explain how this situation had arisen, Kumar said that the agency merely blamed the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which had published different versions of a textbook that contained the question, with both answers. 'The NTA is an independent body, it has no connection to NCERT, so if there is a mistake that was made, the NTA must hold itself accountable for it,' Kumar said. 'Are they just copy-pasting the questions? If they have a team that is given the responsibility of setting these questions on their own, why are they reliant on a textbook?' Critics explained that they had hoped that the committee would frame recommendations that would address this problem, and prevent it from recurring. Instead, the committee's recommendations were superficial, they argued. 'The committee recommends that NTA must have a 'secure and trusted question bank',' said Kumar. Such a recommendation was too vague to serve any purpose, he noted. 'Firstly, I'm not sure what having a question bank means. And second, did they not have a secure and trusted source for their questions before? That's extremely concerning.' Babu explained that the report also had a vaguely phrased recommendation about the kind of resources that should be used to set question papers, which was likely to cause immense stress to students. Specifically, the report states that the 'NTA should create an extensive resource library catering to each subject area covering the textbooks and reference books by different authors.' Further, it noted that while these resources could include prescribed school and university textbooks, 'they are not limited to these alone'. Such an approach would be entirely unsuitable to young people who have just completed school and have limited exposure to subjects and resources, he argued. 'The method that the report recommends for preparing question papers may be best suited for post PhD appointments or civil service exams, but definitely not applicable for higher secondary students,' he said. He added that 'evaluation can be only to assess the knowledge gained from the prescribed syllabus. One cannot go beyond the prescribed syllabus and expect the candidate to know the full depth of the subject at the higher secondary level.' Experts said they were also worried by the committee's apparent inclination towards a greater centralisation of the tests. In its report, the committee stated that the agency should draw insights specific to India from some large-scale examinations, such as those for admission to the IITs and IIMs. But as Maya John pointed out, while these intensely competitive exams are based on their own syllabus and have their own formats, the NTA in fact needed to be more cognisant of a wider range of students who write some of its exams. For instance, the CUET exams determine admissions for a range of universities – John argued that for such an exam, the agency should ensure that paper-setters take into account 'the differences in secondary education boards across the country' so as not to exclude any students. Further, N Sukumar, a professor from Delhi University, said he was apprehensive of a suggestion by the committee that test administrators print question papers at the test centres, as a way to prevent papers from leaking. 'It seems unlikely that all the test centres will have printing machines,' he said. 'And how do we know it's safe to print at these centres?' Governance and functioning Some recommendations that the committee made were implemented by the NTA. For instance, the committee noted that since its inception in 2018, the NTA had conducted 244 exams, including those for jobs in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools and the National Horticulture Board. It stated that the agency was 'overstretched', a concern that many academics echoed. 'NTA should primarily conduct entrance examinations,' the report said. 'Enhancing its scope for other examinations may be considered after the capacity of NTA is augmented.' Following through with the recommendations, the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced in December 2024 that the NTA would only conduct entrance examinations. But other recommendations remain unfulfilled, educationists noted, including those pertaining to the agency's governance. For instance, the report recommended that the NTA appoint two additional director generals to oversee key functions – however, as of publication, the NTA website only names the chairperson and the director general, while others in the governing body are merely referred to as members. The report also recommended that the NTA work in tandem with other agencies, such as the UGC, as 'knowledge partners'. But they specify that the NTA and the other agency 'should clearly define their roles and responsibilities through an MoU and set up an Advisory Body'. No documentation pertaining to such arrangements is available on the website. Legal challenges This year as well, the NTA faces a slew of legal challenges over the conduct of the NEET exam. In Chennai, Saipriya and Akhtar, along with 11 other students, approached the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the NEET results. On May 18, the court directed the NTA to temporarily hold back the results. Students in Madhya Pradesh also approached the high court seeking a stay on their results after many exam centres faced power cuts. Here too, the court put a temporary stay on the results of students from 11 centres in the state. On June 6, however, the Madras High Court dismissed the petitions, in effect allowing the agency to proceed with the release of the results. In Madhya Pradesh, the high court ordered on June 9 that results for 75 petitioning students be held back – as of publication, it was unclear whether the court would order that a retest be held for the candidates. Parents, meanwhile, fear their children will face lifelong consequences as a result of the agency's inefficiencies. 'Even the chief minister has several ministers under him because he cannot take on all the jobs. Then why does the NTA think that they can conduct every exam?' said A Yousaf Ali, a parent, whose son wrote the NEET exam at the same centre as Saipriya did. 'Why is the government giving the NTA responsibility for all the exams? That's why they are unable to conduct any of them properly.'
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
JEE rankers choose MIT over IIT for research, global options
Mumbai: Devesh Bhaiya, All India Rank 8 this year in the fiercely contested JEE Advanced, has decided to turn his back on India's elite engineering institutions and head for MIT instead. He won't be alone. Ved Lahoti, last year's Rank 1 and the candidate who has scored the highest in the entrance exam (352/360) in recent history, is also wrapping up his Powai chapter in exchange for a fully funded scholarship at MIT. There's a murmur of a trend here. In 2020, it was Chirag Falor who chose MIT over IIT. Before that, it was Chitraang Murdia, who spent a year at IIT Bombay before transferring to MIT. He now holds a PhD from Berkeley. "It seems like MIT trusts the rigour of JEE Advanced and the promise of our Olympiad stars," said Prof Vijay Singh, once at IIT Kanpur, who later superannuated from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Jalgaon's Devesh has a record that goes far beyond the JEE rank: three gold medals, two from International Junior Science Olympiads in 2021 and 2022, and one from the International Chemistry Olympiad in 2024. In 2020, he was awarded the Bal Shakti Puraskar. At 12, when most children were still tracing constellations in the sky, Devesh was mapping their vanishing — authoring a paper on light pollution. He received admission to MIT in March but sat for JEE Advanced anyway — a "back-up," he calls it. Devesh is not alone. But the others chose to stay for a year, to feel the pulse on Indian campuses, before going overseas. They too were accepted by American universities, whose doors — as Professor Vijay Singh notes — open wide for those with Olympiad medals and high JEE scores. The students' reasons for the switch are apparent. "I'm fully satisfied with IIT Bombay. But it lags in research. Globally, it's not even in the top 100. So, I applied to MIT — and when it came through, I took it. A lot of students have taken transfer to MIT and when I asked them, they said the transfer was truly worth it," said Lahoti. Nishank Abhangi, who spent 2019–2020 immersed in IIT Bombay's rigour before packing for MIT, and Mahit Gadhewala, All India Rank 9 in 2022, who also left after a year at IITB, are the other examples. Prof Singh said the first such student to do so was Raghu Mahajan, who spent a year at IIT Delhi, then took off to MIT, completed his PhD at Stanford, and is currently spending a year at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru. "He was very committed to coming back to India," recalled Prof Singh. Lahoti too shares the same feelings. "I have no plans to settle in the USA."
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delhi techie's 8x salary jump from ₹5.5 LPA to ₹45 LPA in just a year sparks mixed reactions
A recent social media post by a young software engineer from Delhi has grabbed attention across the tech world, especially among job seekers and professionals. It wasn't about a new role, promotion, or relocation– but about a massive salary jump. Just one year after starting his career with a package of ₹5.5 lakh per annum, he landed an offer worth ₹45 lakh per annum from a leading tech company. This update, shared by software developer Devesh on X (formerly Twitter), quickly stirred up conversations online– drawing a mix of support, admiration, skepticism, and surprise. Devesh started his career at IBM in 2023, straight out of college, with an annual salary of ₹5.5 lakh. In his now-viral post, he revealed, 'I started my full-time career last year at IBM with just a CTC of Rs 5.5 LPA, and now have an offer of over Rs 45 LPA CTC in hand within a year.' The significant jump in salary stood out not just for its size, but because it came so early in Devesh's career– a time when most are still finding their footing and figuring out their path. For Devesh, the achievement carried deep emotional value. Coming from a modest background, the leap wasn't just about money– it was a personal milestone. 'For a middle-class guy like me, it's still a dream,' he added, a moment that resonated with many, especially those who understand the long journey and constant push for upward mobility in India's highly competitive tech industry. Responding to the buzz around his post, Devesh shared a message for freshers and early-career professionals. He encouraged them to focus on building skills and gaining hands-on experience, rather than running after high salaries straight out of college. 'In starting of your career, prioritise job over money. If you are not getting a good package, just enter with low and work so hard that you take a massive jump,' he wrote in a follow-up post. Many were curious how someone earning ₹5.5 LPA could receive an offer more than eight times higher. Devesh clarified that top-tier tech companies usually follow structured salary bands, where offers are based more on skills and role requirements than on a candidate's previous salary. 'Those people who have a doubt, like how it is possible to directly jump from CTC like Rs 5–6 LPA to Rs 45 LPA– the MAANG or FAANG companies have their base pay and CTC preset. So it's similar for everyone. They won't judge you on your previous pay,' he clarified. Devesh's journey sparked mixed reactions online. While many applauded his success and asked for advice on career growth, others reacted with skepticism and raised questions about how such a leap was possible. '45 LPA offer within a year? That's incredible. Can you share some tips?' one user commented. Another wrote, 'How do you negotiate? Any recruiter looking at your current Rs 5.5 LPA would say, 'We can give you an increment of 25% max'. How did you convince them?' T here were also outright doubts about the authenticity of such a jump. 'What did you do to get such a hike? Seems unreal,' read one of the more critical responses. While Devesh's case is not the norm, it highlights a growing trend among top tech companies– valuing talent and skills over past salary. Although he hasn't named the company, the details of his offer and his explanation have added perspective to the ongoing discussion. For many early-career professionals, his story serves as both inspiration and a reality check, showing that while such leaps are rare, they're possible with the right skills and opportunities.
India.com
28-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Meet Devesh Kumar, whose once decision took his salary from Rs 5.5 LPA to 45 lakh due to..., he works as....
For corporate employees, the months of April, May, and June are especially crucial. Many are busy filling out their KRAs (Key Result Areas) and eagerly awaiting promotions, designation changes, or a 30-40% salary hike. On the other hand, another common route to a significant salary increase is switching companies, where it's not uncommon to see a 60-70% raise, or even 100% in lucky cases. But what if we tell you where one Job switch has caused a 700% hike. Don't believe us! Read the story below.. A young tech professional from Delhi set social media abuzz after sharing his incredible journey: from starting out at Rs 5.5 lakh per annum with IBM just a year ago to now landing a Rs 45 lakh package. Sharing a post on X(previously Twitter), the man wrote, 'Never mentioned it but tbh, I still sometimes think I am still in a dream, bcoz I started my full time career last year at IBM with just a CTC of 5.5 LPA, and now having an offer of over 45 LPA CTC in hand within an year, for a middle class guy like me, it's still a dream❤️.' The user, identified as Devesh through his social media handle, described this remarkable achievement as 'still a dream.' The viral post has left the netizens in shock and amazement. The post was posted on May 27, 2025. Devesh's comment section is now flooded with congratulatory messages, a million questions, and words of admiration from people eager to know more about his journey. A user wrote, 'in an span of 1 year how does that feel ?' Devesh replied, 'Proud of myself.' Later in the post, Devesh emphasized that early-career professionals should prioritize gaining experience over chasing high salaries. 'In starting of your career, prioritize job over money. If you are not getting good package, just enter with low and work so hard that you take a massive jump,' he wrote. Never mentioned it but tbh, I still sometimes think I am still in a dream, bcoz I started my full time career last year at IBM with just a CTC of 5.5 LPA, and now having an offer of over 45 LPA CTC in hand within an year, for a middle class guy like me, it's still a dream❤️. — Devesh (@theywayshhh) May 26, 2025 Devesh also responded to skepticism about the scale of his salary jump. He wrote, 'Those people who have a doubt like how is it possible to directly jump from CTC like Rs 5–6 LPA to Rs 45 LPA the MAANG or FAANG companies have their base pay and CTC preset. So it's similar for everyone. They won't judge you on your previous pays.' According to his LinkedIn profile, Devesh Kumar studied at Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE). He worked at IBM as an application developer in March 2024.
