New Delhi:

The CBI has arrested a man called Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, who is believed to be the kingpin in the NEET paper leak case, sources said Thursday afternoon.

Ranjan has been sent to the agency’s custody for 10 days. This comes as the CBI is also raiding four locations – two near Patna in Bihar and two near Kolkata in West Bengal – in this case.

Over a dozen people, including the principal and vice-principal of a school in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, have been arrested so far, as various state police forces and the CBI investigate a national racket that involves leaking of question papers for competitive exams like NEET.

NDTV Explains | If No Paper Leak, Why Arrests, And Other Big Questions

Last week a student was arrested from Patna.

The CBI has, excluding Rocky, arrested eight people in connection with this case.

Tasked with investigating the nation-wide exam paper racket, the agency has so far filed six FIRs, or first information reports, including five for three separate cases in Bihar.

On Wednesday CBI sources told NDTV the NEET paper leak may have had its origins in the Hazaribagh school. Papers leaked from there also made their way to Bihar, a CBI official said.

READ | NEET-UG Paper Leak Had Genesis In Hazaribagh: CBI Officials

Explaining the sequence of events, the CBI official said nine sets of papers for the exam, which was supposed to be held on May 5, reached a State Bank of India branch two days earlier for safekeeping. From there, two sets were transported to the Oasis School in Hazaribagh, which was a centre for the exam, and the seals on them were broken by the time they reached the school.

Agency sources said Rocky was present when the question papers were unsealed.

He took photos of the questions and shared them with ‘solver gangs’, the name given to an organised racket that provides answers to leaked papers. These were then shared with exam candidates, for prices running into the lakhs, who were trying to cheat. Rocky is also linked to another key figure in this racket, Sanjeev Mukhiya, who has been involved in this scam for two decades and is on the run.

READ | Who is Sanjeev Mukhiya? Alleged Mastermind Of NEET Paper Leak

The arrest of Ranjan, or Rocky, could bust the NEET case wide open even as the courts debate the extent of the leak of question papers. The government and the testing agencies both say the leak has been limited to localised regions and a few students.

CBI sources said that while it is not clear exactly where the papers were leaked from, what the evidence points to is the fact that it was: either from the bank branch, while in transit to the school, or from the school itself.

The NEET-UG exam is taken for admission to undergraduate medical courses.

Controversy – nearly 24 lakh students took the May 5 exam – broke last month after results were declared. The first red flags were the unusually high number of perfect scores; a record 67 students, including six from one coaching centre, scored a maximum 720. Questions were also asked over the award of ‘grace marks’ – not exam protocol, the NTA said – to 1,563 students.

Questions were also asked over the award of ‘grace marks’ to 1,563 students.

A retest for those students was held last week, but hundreds did not appear.

The entire row has made its way to the Supreme Court, which had served a notice to the under-fire NTA, or National Testing Agency, which is the central body that conducts the NEET exam.

The NTA today defended itself against claims the NEET paper had been leaked on popular messaging app Telegram, calling those images a “fake”. In an affidavit filed on Wednesday the NTA said the screenshots shared on Telegram were “fabricated”.

READ | “Manipulated”: Exam Body On “Fake” NEET Paper On Telegram

The NTA also claimed no NEET-UG question paper was found to be missing, and that no locks (of boxes containing the papers) were broken in Bihar.

READ | Why So Many NEET-UG Toppers? Exam Body’s Reply In Court

Further, the NTA also sought to explain why there were an unusually high number of high-scoring results in this year’s exam, saying “differences in new and old editions” of a textbook meant there were two correct options to one question. Removing that, the agency said, the actual number of toppers was only 17, “which is not significantly higher in numbers than previous years”.

The court is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam.

However, on Monday, the court said it was not for such a step.

READ | “Retest Our Last Option, Panel Must Probe Paper Leak”: Supreme Court On NEET

The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said it therefore was loathe to order a re-test for nearly 24 lakh students – many of whom come from poor families and could ill-afford to spend money travelling to exam centres – unless necessary. A re-test is the “last option”, it said.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

New Delhi:

New questions have emerged in the NEET-UG case regarding the over a dozen arrests made by the Bihar Police and the CBI even after the National Testing Agency claimed that the question papers for admissions in medical colleges were not leaked.

Sources said a key question is why would the police in Patna and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrest the people if there was no paper leak?

Investigators suspect that at least 15 students from other states gave the NEET-UG at a particular centre in Gujarat’s Godhra, from where many have been arrested too.

In Bahadurgarh, the principal of the school that served as an exam centre claimed that students got enough time to finish their papers, but the National Testing Agency (NTA) still gave them grace marks.

For the first time in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET undergraduate or UG), the number of students scoring 700 had increased five times. The number of students who got over 710 rose by 900 per cent. The spike is such that 23 students scored 710 out of 720 marks in 2021, 12 in 2022, 48 in 2023, and 500 this year.

Sources said another ostensibly suspicious matter was the NTA’s delayed response to the Bihar government’s request for information about the series of papers set on fire on May 19. The NTA gave the information only on June 21 after much reprimand by the Union Home Secretary.

CBI sources said they have gathered enough evidence to show the paper leak happened just hours before the NEET exam began in Bihar’s Hazaribagh. The NTA, however, maintains no question paper was found missing from storage.

There are also allegations that screenshots of fake question papers were edited to make them seem genuine and circulated among students and others in a bid to sabotage the exam. This indicates some vested interests want to make the NEET exam controversial.

Earlier, it was told that 1,600 students may have benefited from the allegedly leaked NEET-UG papers. Later, it was claimed only 153 students may have benefited, but there is no information about these 153 students, such as where was their exam centre?

Sources said only 11 people in the NTA have been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting offline and online exams of more than 50 lakh students. They collect Rs 250 crore a year from the NEET exam alone, but spend only Rs 90 crore in conducting the exam.

On Wednesday, the Centre told the Supreme Court there was neither any indication of “mass malpractice” nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores in NEET-UG 2024. It said the data analytics of results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and as per the findings given by the experts, the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is seen in any large-scale examination indicating no abnormality.

Representational image of lawyers at the Supreme Court in New Delhi
| Photo Credit: PTI

SC judge Nagarathna says men should share funds to empower their homemaker wives

Justice B.V. Nagarathna of the Supreme Court, in a judgment on Wednesday, said husbands should share their financial resources with their ‘homemaker’ wives who did not have an independent source of income to empower them.

“An Indian married man must become conscious of the fact that he would have to financially empower and provide for his wife, who does not have an independent source of income, by making available financial resources particularly towards her personal needs; in other words, giving access to his financial resources,” Justice Nagarathna observed in a separate opinion upholding a divorced Muslim women’s right to maintenance under a secular Section 125 of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure.

IIT-Madras ruled out ‘mass malpractice’ in NEET-UG exam, Centre tells Supreme Court

The Centre on Wednesday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court referring to a data analytics report submitted by the Indian institute of Technology-Madras ruling out “mass malpractice” or localised set of candidates having been benefited in the NEET-UG 2024 exam leading to abnormal scores.

India has given ‘Buddha’ to the world, not ‘Yuddha’: PM Modi in Austria

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 10 said India has given ‘Buddha’ to the world, not ‘Yuddha’ (war) which means it has always given peace and prosperity, and therefore the country is going to strengthen its role in the 21st century. Addressing the Indian diaspora in Vienna, PM Modi also said that India is working towards being the best, the brightest, achieving the biggest and reaching the highest milestones.

ITBP seizes 108 kg gold biscuits near China border

The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) arrested two men near the China border in Eastern Ladakh on July 9 for allegedly smuggling 108 kg of gold biscuits from China. While smuggling of smaller items was common, it was the first time ever that an alleged gold smuggling racket was exposed in the area with the arrest of two locals. Another person has been detained, an ITBP official said.

Apple issues two fresh Pegasus-like spyware alerts in India

At least two people in India on July 10 reported receiving a Pegasus-like alert from Apple, Inc. on their iPhones. The alerts, sent out on Tuesday night, warn them that they have been targeted by a targeted “mercenary” attack. Apple previously called these attacks “state-backed,” but changed this in April. Such spyware allows attackers to sift through targets’ personal devices, allowing them to view messages, photos, and tap into microphone and camera feeds in real time.

Russia, India agreed to go ahead with trade in national currency: Russian diplomat

India and Russia have decided to establish a system for national currency settlement, Roman Babushkin, Chargé d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy, said on Wednesday. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Russia, Mr. Babushkin described the visit as “historic and game-changing”, and slammed the Western powers for supporting Ukraine.

Mumbai hit-and-run case: Key accused remanded to police custody, father sacked from Sena post

Prime accused in the Mumbai hit-and-run case, Mihir Shah, was remanded to police custody by a court in Mumbai till July 16 on July 10. Mr. Shah was arrested on Tuesday evening after being on the run for over 72 hours.

Bihar’s first transgender sub-inspectors make history

In a first, three transgenders qualified the Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission (BPSSC) exam to become police sub-inspectors. Earlier, following a Patna High Court judgment in 2021, the State government had asked BPSSC to recruit third genders into police services.

India-Sri Lanka to sign MoU on public administration and governance

India and Sri Lanka are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) focused on capacity development and the exchange of expertise in public administration and governance aimed at training around 1,500 Sri Lankan civil servants, a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office of Sri Lanka said.

New textbooks for Class 6 to be made available by July-end, clarifies NCERT

The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) said on Wednesday that new textbooks for Class 6 will be made available by the end of July. In response to a story published by The Hindu on July 9, the NCERT stated that all Grade 6 textbooks would be made available by the NCERT this month and that the two-month timeline referred to in the article was incorrect.

BJP lauds SC verdict on maintenance for divorced Muslim women under secular law

The BJP on July 10 praised the Supreme Court verdict which declared that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Addressing a presser at the BJP’s national headquarters in New Delhi, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the verdict had “ended” a threat to the Constitution by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, passed by a Congress government in the past.

‘Germany well positioned in Navy’s submarine deal’

German submarine manufacturer TKMS (Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems) was initially not inclined to bid for the Indian Navy’s mega deal for six conventional submarines under Project-75I due to the “terms and conditions”, but later entered the fray as the German government backed the project, said the company’s India head Khalil Rahman on Wednesday.

England reaches Euro 2024 final by beating Netherlands 2-1 on Watkins late goal

England reached a second straight European Championship final by beating the Netherlands 2-1 thanks to substitute Ollie Watkins’ stoppage-time winner on Wednesday. Watkins, who came on for captain Harry Kane in a bold call by coach Gareth Southgate, turned and smashed a fierce shot into the bottom corner in the first minute of added-on time.

New Delhi:

The NEET-UG paper leak that has put a question mark over the future of nearly 24 lakh students has its origins in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh and has strong links to officials from one of its most prominent schools, a CBI investigation has revealed. 

Papers leaked from the city also made their way to Bihar, where the agency has made several arrests in the case, a CBI official said, adding that they have also found evidence to indicate the involvement of a solver gang in the leak. 

Explaining the sequence of events, the CBI official said nine sets of papers for the exam, which was supposed to be held on May 5, reached a State Bank of India branch two days earlier for safekeeping. From there, two sets were transported to the Oasis School in Hazaribagh, which was a centre for the exam, and the seals on them were broken by the time they reached the school.

The principal of Oasis School, Ehsanul Haque, who was the coordinator of the medical entrance exam for the entire district, and vice-principal Imtiaz Alam, who had been designated the National Testing Agency’s (NTA’s) observer and coordinator for the school, did not, however, bring the glaring lapse to the notice of the NTA.

While this pointed the needle of suspicion at them, what confirmed their involvement for the Economic Offences Wing of the Bihar Police, which was initially investigating the case, was evidence found at a safe house in Patna where two other accused in the NEET scam had given the question papers to nearly 30 candidates a day before the exam, at a cost of Rs 30-50 lakh each. 

A partially burnt question paper in the safe house bore the same code as the papers that were meant for the Oasis School in Hazaribagh.

Chain Of Custody

CBI sources said that while it is not clear exactly where the papers were leaked from, what the evidence points to is the fact that it was: (i) Either from the SBI branch (ii) While in transit to the school or (iii) From the Oasis School itself. What is clear, however, they said, is the involvement of Mr Haque and Mr Alam, who had a key role in conducting the exam not only in the school but also in the district.

The school principal, vice-principal and a local journalist, Jamaluddin, who allegedly helped them carry out the paper leak, were arrested by the CBI on June 29. 

Evidence, the sources said, also points to the involvement of the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang, who have been involved in paper leaks before. The gang got the NEET paper from the accused and took it to their safe house in Patna, where the burnt document was found. 

Testing Agency Silent?

The CBI official said the agency had alerted the Bihar Police about the possible leak on May 5 itself and that’s what led them to the safe house. 

On May 19, the official claimed, the Economic Offences Unit wrote to the National Testing Agency, which conducts NEET, and asked which centre the code from the burnt paper matched. They got no response and the Oasis School link was conclusively established only on June 21, when, during a meeting held by Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, the NTA officials told him that the code was from the Hazaribagh school. 

Wider Net

On Tuesday, the CBI arrested two more persons in the paper leak case. One of them is a candidate while the other is the father of another candidate. This has taken its total number of arrests in the case to 11. 

The agency is also now probing the involvement of 22 people who allegedly appeared for the exam on behalf of some of the candidates. 

The CBI is investigating six cases related to the NEET-UG exam. The First Information Report from Bihar pertains to a paper leak, while the remaining – from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra –  are related to impersonation and cheating.

India vs South Africa 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final will be held at the Kensington Oval on June 29, 2024

NTA announces new dates for UGC-NET, CSIR UGC-NET, NCET exams

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday night announced the new dates of cancelled and postponed examinations, including the UGC-NET, amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in their conduct. The UGC-NET, which was cancelled a day after being conducted on June 18, will now be held from August 21 to September 4.

Opposition forces disruptions in both Houses of Parliament over alleged NEET irregularities 

The row over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET examination for medical college admissions rocked both Houses of Parliament on Friday, with the Lok Sabha getting adjourned for the day after Speaker Om Birla disallowed adjournment motions on the issue. 

Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren gets bail in alleged money laundering case, walks out of jail

Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in alleged land scam case. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay ’s court granted him regular bail.

Monsoon arrives in Delhi bringing heavy rainfall leaving four death

Four people died and several were injured as the south-west monsoon arrived in the national capital bringing with it 228 mm of rainfall in a span of 24 hours, mostly concentrated between 3 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., on Friday. This is the highest rainfall in a 24-hour period in Delhi in June after 1936, while the average rainfall for June in the last 30 years is 75.2 mm.

India slams ‘deeply biased’ U.S. report on religious freedom

India on Friday slammed the U.S. State Department’s report on International Religious Freedom for 2023 as “deeply biased” and said it reflected “one-sided projection of issues”. During the weekly press briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the report questioned the “integrity” of certain legal judgments of the Indian courts and highlighted the United States’s own record in handling domestic hate crimes.

German Chancellor to visit India in October, ease of doing business and migration top on agenda: envoy

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to visit India in the second half of October for inter-governmental consultations during which ease of doing business, migration, geopolitics and climate change will be high on the agenda, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann said on Friday.

India achieves an ‘outstanding outcome’ in FATF mutual evaluation 2023-24

India has achieved an outstanding outcome in the Mutual Evaluation conducted during 2023-24 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said the government on June 28. The Mutual Evaluation Report of India, which was adopted in the FATF plenary held in Singapore from June 26 and June 28, places India in the “regular follow-up” category, a distinction shared by only four other G-20 countries.

‘Global south’ should reform world governance to make it more effective, balanced: Xi Jinping

Underlining the importance of the “Global South”, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said that the Global South should actively participate in reforming and developing the global governance system and make the global governance architecture more balanced and effective. 

Joe Biden concedes debate fumbles but declares he will defend democracy

President Joe Biden forcefully tried on Friday to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket.

Supreme Court makes it harder to charge Capitol riot defendants with obstruction, charge Trump faces

The Supreme Court on Friday limited a federal obstruction law that has been used to charge hundreds of Capitol riot defendants as well as former President Donald Trump. The justices ruled 6-3 that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding, enacted in 2002 in response to the financial scandal that brought down Enron Corp., must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents. Only some of the people who violently attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, fall into that category.

Coal, electricity buoy core output in May

Output growth in India’s eight core infrastructure sectors eased to 6.3% in May, from April’s 6.7% pace, with a double-digit rise in coal and electricity production offsetting contractions in three sectors, including cement and fertilisers.

RBI raises WMA limits of States/UTs by 28% to ₹60,118 crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday increased the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limits of State governments and Union territories to ₹60,118 crore from ₹47,010 crore. “Based on the recommendations made by the Group constituted by the Reserve Bank and consisting of select state Finance Secretaries and taking into account the expenditure data of the states for the recent years, it has been decided to revise the WMA limits of the State Governments/ UTs, effective from July 1, 2024,” the RBI said in a circular. 

2024 T20 World Cup Final | History and heartbreak beckon as the T20 extravaganza reaches much-awaited climax

India has not won an ICC title since 2013. South Africa has reached the final of a men’s World Cup for the first time, after seven semifinal defeats. Come Saturday, at the grand finale of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval, a jinx will be broken. This is a battle between the two unbeaten teams in the tournament.

T20 World Cup: Rohit, Dravid back Kohli, say ‘there’s a big one coming up’

India head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma have thrown their weight behind the struggling Virat Kohli, saying the stylish batter has shown the intent and is due for a “big one” in the T20 World Cup finals against South Africa.

New Delhi:

The CBI on Friday arrested the principal and vice principal of a school in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said.

Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, was made the city coordinator of Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, they said.

Vice Principal Imtiaz Alam was designated as the NTA’s observer and the centre coordinator at the Oasis School, officials said, adding the CBI is also questioning five more people from the district in connection with the paper leak case.

The federal probe agency arrested Haque and Alam after detailed questioning, they said.

Both the accused came under scanner during a probe by the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) which was investigating the case earlier. The team had found burnt question papers of NEET-UG during a raid at a hideout of the solver gang, officials said.

In a statement, the EOU had claimed the “leaked” NEET-UG question paper was allegedly obtained from the Oasis School in Hazaribagh by the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang.

It had said the investigators had matched a partially burnt question paper found from the Patna safe house with the reference question paper provided by the NTA, confirming the leak’s origin.

However, it could not clearly establish who was behind the alleged paper leak, officials said.

According to them, the probe had also shown that laid down guidelines for opening the question paper boxes were not properly followed by the authorities in Hazaribagh.

In media interviews, Haque has maintained that the box carrying the question papers could not be opened because its digital lock, which was supposed to unlock automatically, had malfunctioned.

Following this, he contacted the NTA, which asked him to use a cutter to open the box, Haque has claimed.

The boxes carrying question papers have two locks — a manual one that must be opened with a key and cutter and a digital lock that opens with a beep sound 45 minutes before the examination.

The CBI has registered six FIRs in the NEET-UG paper leak case which included its own FIR on a reference from the Union Education Ministry and five from the states where it took over investigation. The probe agency has taken over one case each in Bihar and Gujarat and three cases in Rajasthan.

On Thursday, CBI made its first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking two people in custody in Patna while three candidates in Gujarat who had allegedly solicited help to clear the exam recorded their statements with the probe agency.

NEET-UG is conducted by NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. This year’s exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. Over 23 lakh candidates appeared for the test.

The first CBI FIR was registered on Sunday, a day after the ministry announced it would hand over the probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam to the central agency.

The demand for a CBI probe was raised by a section of protesting students.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Parliament Session 2024 LIVE Updates:

Amid student protests over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and other competitive exams, the opposition INDIA bloc is set to raise the issue in both houses of Parliament today. 

The Opposition will try to corner the government, even though the day is dedicated to a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to Parliament.

In case the matter comes up today, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will respond to it, sources said.

In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday, President Droupadi Murmu said the government is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished.

This is the first session of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Here are live updates on the Parliament session:

Parliament Session 2024 LIVE Updates: AAP MP Gives Notice To Discuss NEET Paper Leak Issue

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh has given a notice under Rule 267 to discuss the alleged NEET paper leak issue in the Rajya Sabha.

Parliament Session 2024: Congress MP Gives Suspension Of Business Notice To Discuss Paper Leaks

Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain has given a suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss cases of paper leaks in the conduct of exams, including NEET-UG and UGC-NET.

Parliament Session Live: BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi To Move Motion Of Thanks In Rajya Sabha

In the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi will move the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

As per convention and parliamentary procedures, after the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adopt separate motions thanking the President for the address.

Parliament Session Live: BJP’s Anurag Thakur To Move Motion Of Thanks In Lok Sabha

BJP’s Anurag Thakur will today move in the Lok Sabha Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj will second the motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday.

Parliament Session Live Updates: Opposition To Corner Centre On NEET Paper Leak Issue

Amid an ongoing student protests over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and other competitive exams, the opposition INDIA bloc is set to raise the issue in both houses of Parliament today. 

In case the matter comes up today, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will respond to it, sources said.

The day, however, is dedicated to a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to Parliament.