Cyclone Dana: Flight Operations At Bhubaneswar Airport To Resume  At 8 AM Today  

The top court is slated to hear the NEET PG 2024 result transparency plea on Friday even as the counselling schedule is awaited by aspirants who are miffed over the last-minute changes in the examination pattern and other irregularities.

With the NEET PG counselling schedule yet to be announced due to a pending case in the top court, candidates have been left hanging and are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the dates for the crucial counselling sessions.

The NEET PG Counselling Schedule 2024 will be released by the Medical Counselling Committee only after the Supreme Court's decision.

Meanwhile, in a related development, on October 21 the Supreme Court granted two weeks’ additional time to the High-Level Committee of Experts constituted by the Centre in the wake of the NEET-UG examination controversy for submission of its report.

A Bench headed by CJI Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra allowed the application for extension of time after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the second-highest law officer of the Centre, submitted that the report of the expert panel is almost ready but requires a little more time for final submission.

On June 26, the Union Ministry of Education established a seven-member High-Level Committee of Experts — headed by Dr K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman ISRO and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur -- to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth and fair examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The High-Level Committee of Experts was formed after the SC asked the Centre to detail the steps taken to ensure the sanctity of the NEET in the future.

Declining to order a re-test, the Supreme Court, in its detailed judgement pronounced on August 2, directed the expert panel to formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding the timeline for registration, change of exam centres, sealing of OMR sheets and other processes related to the conduct of exams.

“The report of the committee shall be submitted to the Union Ministry of Education by September 30. The Ministry of Education shall take a decision on the recommendations made by the committee within a period of one month from receiving the report,” it had ordered.

--IANS

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 The flight services at the airport were suspended from Thursday 5PM till 9AM today in view of the Cyclone Dana.

The severe cyclonic storm Dana, which made landfall near Habalikhati in Bhitarkanika area off Odisha coast in the wee hours of Friday, moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday morning.

The cyclonic storm was centred over north coastal Odisha at 5.30 AM today. It was about 20 km north-northwest of Dhamara and 40 km north-northwest of Habalikhati Nature Camp (Bhitarkanika).

The landfall process continues, and the rear sector of the cyclone is entering into land. The landfall process will continue for the next 1-2 hours, the IMD said.

It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by the forenoon of today, it added.

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The cyclonic storm was centred over north coastal Odisha at 5.30 AM today. It was about 20 km north-northwest of Dhamara and 40 km north-northwest of Habalikhati Nature Camp (Bhitarkanika).

The landfall process continues, and the rear sector of the cyclone is entering into land. The landfall process will continue for the next 1-2 hours, the IMD said.

It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by the forenoon of today, it added.

Under the impact of ‘Dana’, heavy rainfalls and high tides in the sea are seen near the landfall region and it brought down many big trees, electric poles and thatched houses. Many roads have been blocked due to the falling down of big trees.

However, there was no report of any major damage or casualty so far even as the landfall process started more than an hour ago, an official said.

The actual damages caused by ‘Dana’ can only be assessed after the landfall process is over and weakening of the severe cyclonic storm.

More than 6 lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in the State and moved to cyclone shelters where cooked food is being provided, officials said.

Earlier, CM Majhi had claimed that the State government aims to ensure Zero casualties in the cyclone.

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