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Wednesday, February 18, 2026

NEWS TODAY 18.02.2026

Live stream to wall climbs: Bihar board exams open in chaos

18.02.2026

Patna : Phones went live. Gates and walls were scaled. Rules were tested before the first bell. The Class X finals of Bihar School Examination Board opened under a cloud on Tuesday after a Facebook Live broadcast allegedly from inside an exam centre in Siwan district minutes before papers were to be handed out. Streamed from the handle of an official linked to Gorakh Prasad Private ITI, the footage showed students seated inside the hall at the exam centre in Daraunda block of Maharajganj subdivision. The clip spread quickly on social media, triggering questions over enforcement of a strict ban on mobile phones inside exam halls. The video was later deleted.

TOI couldn’t independently verify its authenticity. Daraunda police station SHO Vikas Kumar said ITI principal Pankaj Kumar was arrested after a complaint. “His mobile has also been seized. The viral video was shot on his mobile by ITI director Prince Singh, who’s on the run,” he said.

In Patna, a late student at Devipad Choudhary Shaheed Smarak Miller High School tried to scale a 10-foot boundary wall. Security stopped him. At Gardanibagh Girls Higher Secondary School, also in Patna, a girl climbed the gate bars to get inside. In Buxar district, a student scaled a boundary wall and entered. In Begusarai, three students climbed walls to gain access. At VM Inter College in Gopalganj, at least six girls allegedly entered by scaling the boundary wall.

NEET to be mandatory for physiotherapy courses?

Ahmedabad : 18.02.2026

A wave of uncertainty has hit thousands of Class 12 science students in Gujarat as the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) weigh a major shift in admission criteria.

Starting this academic year, bachelor of physiotherapy (BPT) and bachelor of occupational therapy (BOT) courses may be brought under the umbrella of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). While NEET is already mandatory for MBBS, dental, ayurveda, and homeopathy, BPT and BOT admissions in Gujarat have traditionally been granted based on Class 12 merit.

The proposed change would make it compulsory for aspirants to qualify for the entrance test regardless of their board results. Critics argue that Gujarat already struggles with a high number of vacant seats in allied health sciences each year. A final decision from the NTA and the Union health ministry is expected within the next week. Until then, the state’s admission committees remain on standby to see if the merit-based system will be scrapped in favor of the national standard. TNN

Now, learn driving using AI from IITM

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 18.02.2026

Chennai : IIT Madras’ Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) has introduced ‘ThinnAI’, an AI-enabled personalised driver training platform that assesses cognitive, behavioural and physical readiness of aspiring drivers. It uses multi-level, video game-like tests to strengthen pre-licensing education and reduce road fatalities.

Launched at the AI for Road Safety session during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi, the platform is designed for first-time drivers even before they obtain their Learner’s Licence. Moving beyond rote memorisation, ThinnAI evaluates knowledge of traffic signs, road rules and motor vehicles while building risk perception, situational awareness, judgement and etiquette.

By combining behavioural science, adaptive learning and artificial intelligence, the platform seeks to address gaps in India’s driver licensing systems, amid an estimated 1.7 lakh annual road fatalities. Highlighting its approach, Prof Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, CoERS, IIT Madras, said, “Behavioural disciple forms with habit. When a habit is formed by controlled learning, then outcomes are better. Driving has to be learned, and the process of driving should become a habit.”

He added, “Driving requires higher-order cognitive abilities such as risk perception, situational awareness, sound judgement and etiquette to be safe drivers on the shared asset called road. This is the essence of the 1st Gate of knowledge in the 3 Gate Licensing model that we advocate. This adaptive learning platform helps build not just licensed drivers, but responsible road users.” Pankaj Agarwal, Chief Engineer, MoRTH, said, “Driving and road safety as a life skill should be part of school and college curriculum.

The developed application ThinnAI will be a great enabler for all stakeholders to have prepared young minds on the road.”

HC: Administrative delay cannot defeat employee rights

Sureshkumar.K@timesofindia.com 18.02.2026

Chennai : Madras high court made it clear that administrative delay by a municipal corporation or govt cannot defeat employee rights and, similarly, subsequent GOs cannot nullify earlier accrued rights. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy made the observation while allowing a plea moved by 35 employees of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) who were recruited on a temporary basis as malaria assistants, tax assistants, office assistants, junior assistants, storm water drain workers, and road workers.

In 1999, the govt brought in a scheme through a GO dated May 27, under which employees who were working as of May 4, 1999, were declared eligible for regularization. As per the scheme, they were appointed in entry-level regular posts and paid a consolidated salary of ₹2,000 per month for one year. They would be brought under a regular time scale of pay after one year and regularised after completion of that one-year period. Thus, as per the scheme, the employees were eligible for regularization by May 27, 2000. However, the scheme was not implemented immediately; instead, the govt issued a GO dated Feb 23, 2006, regularising the employees only from 2006. Aggrieved, the employees moved the court.

Opposing the plea, the govt contended that an employee appointed temporarily cannot claim regularization from an earlier date as a matter of right. Refusing to concur, the court held that, through the 1999 GO, the govt granted entitlement to regularisation after one year. Through the GO, employees in service as of May 4, 1999, acquired the right to regularization, the court said.

The court made the findings based on the orders passed by a full bench of the court in S Dhanasekaran Vs Govt of Tamil Nadu. Since the order was under appeal before the Supreme Court, the judge directed the GCC to absorb the employees with effect from 2000, subject to the final outcome of the appeal pending before the SC.