📷 Image Credits: The Indian Express
The National Testing Agency has announced new dates for the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) 2024 June session exam. The NCET 2024 exam will be held on July 10. While the Joint CSIR UGC NET will be conducted from July 25 to 27, the UGC NET June 2024 Cycle will be held between August 21 and September 4. Additionally, the All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) 2024 will proceed as planned on July 6 as earlier scheduled. The June shift exam of UGC-NET 2024, which took place on June 18, was abruptly cancelled on June 19 due to concerns over a potential leak. The cancellation was prompted by information from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, indicating a possible leak of the exam paper that was being circulated over the darknet and encrypted social media channels. The Ministry of Education swiftly took action to cancel the exam upon confirming the authenticity of the leaked question paper. The sudden cancellation affected over 9 lakh candidates who had appeared for the exam in over 317 cities across the country. The Education Ministry, following a CBI investigation, discovered that the question paper had been leaked on June 16, just two days before the scheduled exam date, leading to the decision to suspend the exam to maintain the integrity of the testing process. Subsequently, the CSIR UGC NET exam, originally set for June 25 to 27, was also postponed as a precautionary measure to prevent any potential question paper leaks over the dark web. The UGC NET exam is a crucial assessment conducted biannually in June and December to determine eligibility for assistant professor roles, grants Junior Research Fellowship, and enables enrollment in PhD programs at Indian universities. This year, the National Testing Agency administered the UGC NET in a pen-paper format on behalf of UGC. The abrupt cancellation of the UGC-NET exam highlights the importance of maintaining the integrity and security of national-level competitive exams to ensure a fair and transparent evaluation process for all candidates.
