New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education will on May 4 next year conduct the All India pre-medical/pre-dental entrance test (AIPMT) for admission to 15 percent seats in government colleges for the 2014-2015 session, said an official statement yesterday. “Subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court, the CBSE will conduct an AIPMT for admission to MBBS and BDS courses for the academic session 2014 to 2015, on May 4, to fill the 15 percent seats in government colleges,” said the statement. The exams will be conducted all over India except in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir which hold their own state-level entrance test. The entrance test will consist of one paper with 180 objective type questions from subjects physics, chemistry, botany and zoology with 45 questions from each subject, added the statement.
Badrinath pilgrimage to restart on Oct 5
Dehradun/Lucknow: Almost four months after flash floods and heavy rains led to the halt of the annual “Char Dham Yatra” in Uttarakhand, the religious trip to Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines is scheduled to open for people on October 5, officials said. While small vehicles have been allowed right up to the Badrinath shrine, as earlier, vehicles will be stopped at Soneprayag on the Kedarnath route and pilgrims will have to trek 24km to reach the Kedarnath temple.
Congress expels Soumya Patnaik
Bhubaneswar: The Congress yesterday expelled senior Odisha leader and former Lok Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik for six years for anti-party activities. The All India Congress Committee took the decision on the basis of a recommendation made by the state disciplinary committee, a party leader said. Patnaik, 61, an AICC member allegedly addressed several rallies across the state in the past months despite warning by the state Congress leadership. “If this is the reward for serving the party for 25 long years, I have nothing to say. I do not think I have done anything to deserve this,” Patnaik said. Patnaik is also the son-in-law of Assam governor and former Odisha chief minister J B Patnaik and brother of former state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik.
Ranjan Mathai is new envoy to UK
New Delhi: Former Indian foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai has been appointed as the next high commissioner to Britain, it was announced yesterday. Mathai, who retired as foreign secretary on July 31, will succeed Jaimini Bhagwati. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. IANS
