NEWS TODAY 14.01.2026

 

NEET PG cut-off slashed to 7th percentile for general category

NEET PG cut-off slashed to 7th percentile for general category 

IN GUJARAT, 642 SEATS VACANT 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  14.01.2026

Ahmedabad : After prolonged deliberations and mounting pressure from states, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) officially announced a significant reduction in the NEET-PG percentile criteria for admission to postgraduate medical courses, including MD and MS. The decision came after the completion of two rounds of counselling, with a large number of seats remaining vacant across the country.

Candidates from the general and EWS categories in the 7th percentile too will now be considered eligible for PG medical admission, equivalent to 103 marks in NEET-PG. For candidates in the GeneralPwD category, the qualifying percentile reduced to 5 percentile (around 90 marks). Notably, candidates belonging to SC, ST, and OBC categories will now be eligible at 0 percentile, which corresponds to minus 40 marks.

The earlier eligibility criteria —50th percentile (general), 45th percentile (PwD), and 40th percentile (reserved categories) — were applied for the first two rounds of counselling. However, despite this, over 20,000 PG medical seats remain vacant nationwide. In Gujarat alone, around 642 seats are currently vacant due to non-reporting by candidates, unconfirmed admissions, newly approved seats, and non-converted seats. 

Following the revised percentile announcement, authorities confirmed that fresh registration was mandatory for candidates wishing to participate in the upcoming counselling rounds under the lowered eligibility criteria. There have also been demands that candidates who did not secure their preferred courses in the first two rounds be allowed to participate in the fresh round. Registration for local seats in Gujarat is expected to begin on Thursday, with the detailed admission schedule to be announced shortly thereafter.

NEET-PG cut-off slashed to fill 9,000 vacant seats amid doctor shortage

NEET-PG cut-off slashed to fill 9,000 vacant seats amid doctor shortage

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesofindia.com 14.01.2026

New Delhi : The govt on Tuesday lowered the qualifying cut-off for NEET-PG 2025, paving the way to fill more than 9,000 vacant postgraduate medical seats across the country, amid concerns that a large chunk of training capacity was being wasted at a time of acute doctor shortages. The decision was notified by National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which revised qualifying percentiles across categories to expand eligibility for counselling and admissions. Officials said around 2.42 lakh candidates appeared for NEET-PG this year, but a high cut-off had left thousands of seats unfilled. 

Under the revised criteria, the qualifying percentile for general and EWS candidates has been reduced from the 50 th to the 7 th percentile, and for general persons with benchmark disability (PwBD) from the 45 th to the 5 th percentile. For SC, ST and OBC candidates, including PwBD, the percentile has been reduced from 40 to zero, with the corresponding cut-off score fixed at –40 out of 800 (due to negative marking). 

Officials said India has around 65,000–70,000 PG medical seats, and allowing nearly one in seven seats to remain vacant would weaken teaching hospitals and strain healthcare delivery, particularly in govt institutions that rely heavily on resident doctors. The relaxation followed a representation by Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had written to Union health minister J P Nadda on Jan 12, seeking a rational revision of cut-offs to prevent large-scale vacancies.

Karur stampede: Vijay in Delhi to appear before CBI; key points the agency will question

Karur stampede: Vijay in Delhi to appear before CBI; key points the agency will question

CBI to question actor-TVK chief on crowd control lapses, rally planning and safety failures in the September 2025 Karur tragedy that killed 41 people

TVK chief Vijay boards a chartered flight to Delhi to appear before CBI in the Karur stampede case, in Chennai, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. PTI

TNIE online desk

Updated on:

12 Jan 2026, 11:47 am

Nearly four months after a deadly stampede at a Tamil Nadu political rally claimed 41 lives, actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay is set to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Delhi on Monday, as authorities probe alleged lapses in crowd management and safety arrangements.

Vijay arrived in the national capital on a chartered flight from Chennai and is scheduled to appear at the CBI headquarters, where investigators will seek detailed explanations regarding the planning and execution of the September 27, 2025 rally in Karur’s Veluswamypuram. Officials said the questioning will focus on decisions taken before and during the event, including Vijay’s movement plan, delays in his arrival, and whether these contributed to the overwhelming crowd pressure.

The agency has also requested documents related to permissions, volunteer deployment, emergency preparedness, and coordination with district authorities and police. Financial records connected to infrastructure, transport, food and water arrangements for attendees have been sought as part of efforts to reconstruct the sequence of events.

🔴 KEY AREAS OF QUESTIONING :

Vijay’s personal role in approving or planning the rally

Whether he was aware of expected crowd numbers and safety conditions laid down by authorities

Who was responsible for crowd management — TVK volunteers or hired private agencies

Whether he reviewed venue preparedness, including barricading, entry-exit points and buffer zones

Whether he received warnings of overcrowding before his arrival

The reason for his delay in reaching the rally, and whether he was informed that the delay was agitating the crowd

Whether he was advised to cancel, postpone, or shift to a virtual event due to safety concerns

Sources said the CBI is examining whether organisational failures, including insufficient drinking water and inadequate safety measures, played a role in one of Tamil Nadu’s deadliest political rally tragedies in recent years. The questioning follows prior interviews with TVK office bearers, after the case was transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court in October 2025, directing a central probe for fair and impartial investigation.

A Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) team has already examined Vijay’s campaign van and held an inquiry with its driver, a move aimed at understanding logistical factors that may have contributed to the stampede. The SC had also set up a monitoring committee, headed by former judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, with two IPS officers from outside Tamil Nadu, to oversee the investigation.

TVK sources said security arrangements have been requested to ensure Vijay’s safety during the appearance, citing the high-profile nature of the case.

The CBI is believed to be at a crucial stage of the investigation, with Vijay’s responses likely to play a key role in determining responsibility for the stampede and the eventual filing of a charge sheet.

Karur stampede case: TVK chief Vijay questioned by CBI for six hours, to be summoned again

Karur stampede case: TVK chief Vijay questioned by CBI for six hours, to be summoned again

The CBI has also questioned several TVK office bearers in the case.

In this image from Sep. 27, 2025, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief and actor Vijay addresses a gathering before a stampede during a public event, in Karur.

File photo | ANI

PTI

Updated on:

12 Jan 2026, 9:08 pm

NEW DELHI: TVK chief and actor Vijay was questioned for nearly six hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here on Monday in connection with the Karur stampede case, officials said.

The Tamil superstar will be called again for questioning as some queries need to be clarified further, they said.

The CBI wanted him to come on Tuesday for questioning but the actor asked for another date citing Pongal. The agency has agreed to his request and will give him a fresh date, the officials said.

Vijay reached the heavily barricaded CBI headquarters here at 11. 29 am in a black Range Rover.

After completion of the necessary formalities, he was taken to a team in the anti-corruption unit of the agency that is investigating the September 27, 2025, stampede, which claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 injured in Tamil Nadu's Karur.

He left the CBI headquarters at around 6.15 pm after nearly six hours of questioning by a team of officials where he was asked various questions related to the rally in which the tragic incident took place, the officials said.

The CBI also questioned Tamil Nadu's former ADG (law and order) S Davidson Devasirvatham in the case.

Anticipating a huge turnout of the actor-politician's supporters, multiple units of Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces were deployed around the CBI office building to prevent any protests.

A small group of fans managed to slip in among the mediapersons gathered outside the CBI office to get a glimpse of the actor.

"We are around 40 fans who have come here to get a glimpse of the actor. We are all based in Delhi," Aiyanar, one of the fans who works as an operations manager with a Noida-based MNC, told PTI.

Vijay arrived in Delhi on a chartered flight from Chennai with some of his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) colleagues, including Aadhav Arjuna, party sources said.

The CBI has also questioned several TVK office bearers in the case.

The federal agency took over the case from an SIT following a Supreme Court order and has been gathering evidence related to the stampede.

In October last year, the apex court asked the CBI director to appoint a senior officer to take over the investigation. The court also set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi to monitor the CBI probe.

A bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and N V Anjaria had said the stampede has left an imprint in the minds of citizens throughout the country.

It has wide ramifications with respect to the life of citizens and enforcing the fundamental rights of the families who lost their kin is of utmost importance, the court had said.

Noting the political undertones of the case, the court said top police officers have made comments before the media "without having regard for the gravity of the incident", which may create a doubt in the minds of the citizenry regarding an impartial and fair investigation.

"The faith and trust of the general public in the process of investigation must be restored in the criminal justice system, and one way to instil such trust is by ensuring that the investigation in the present case is completely impartial, independent and unbiased," the bench said.

NEWS TODAY 13.01.2026

 

TAPS takes effect from Jan 1, 2026

TAPS takes effect from Jan 1, 2026 

As per the G.O., TAPS will become operational after the notification of rules and completion of statutory norms and accounting procedures.

File Photo | Express Express News Service Updated on: 11 Jan 2026, 8:06 am 

CHENNAI: Giving effect to the announcement made by Chief Minister MK Stalin last week about the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS), the state government on Saturday issued an order to implement the scheme from January 1, 2026.

As per the G.O., TAPS will become operational after the notification of rules and completion of statutory norms and accounting procedures. The order, however, does not specify when these procedures will be completed.

Importantly, the government has sought to extend TAPS to employees recruited under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). Employees who joined service under CPS and retired on or after January 1, 2026, will be covered under TAPS, subject to rules to be notified. Those who were in service before January 1, 2026, will be given an option during retirement to choose between TAPS or CPS-equivalent benefits.

Pensioners under TAPS eligible for DA hikes

Such employees will also be allowed to commute a portion of their pension, subject to conditions to be laid down. Further, employees who retired under CPS prior to the rollout of TAPS will be granted a special compassionate pension, proportionate to their length of service. The scheme also assures a minimum pension, the quantum of which will be prescribed later, and permits commutation of a portion of pension under specified conditions.

As promised by the CM, the scheme promises an assured monthly pension equal to 50% of the last-drawn salary, calculated on basic pay plus dearness allowance (DA). The employees will contribute 10% of their monthly salary, while the additional financial commitment required to ensure the assured pension will be fully borne by the state. Pensioners and family pensioners under TAPS will also be eligible for DA revisions on a par with serving government employees, addressing one of the key criticisms of CPS. In the event of a pensioner’s death, the family pension at 60% of the last pension drawn will be paid to eligible dependents. The scheme also provides for gratuity proportional to qualifying service, subject to a maximum ceiling of `25 lakh, upon retirement or death while in service.

The order further states that all employees covered under TAPS, including those who initially joined service under CPS but are subsequently brought under TAPS and opt for its benefits at retirement, will be entitled to a minimum pension, the quantum of which will be prescribed separately. TAPS has been devised after a detailed study by a high-level panel chaired by senior IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi, which examined the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), CPS and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) notified by the union government in 2025. The committee submitted its report on December 30, 2025. The state said the move balances employee welfare with the need for long-term fiscal sustainability, ensuring uninterrupted payment of salaries and pensions in upcoming years.