Morning Digest: NEET-UG retest to be held today amid tight security; U.S. and Iran set to hold talks in Switzerland, and more

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Staff of a Government High School making arrangements and displaying room-wise seating plans ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, at a designated examination centre in Vijayawada on June 20, 2026. | Photo Credit: G.N. Rao Amid unprecedented security, over 22 lakh aspirants are scheduled to take the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination on Sunday (June 21, 2026) across 5,440 centres in 551 cities in India and 14 centres abroad. The NTA has put in place comprehensive arrangements to ensure a fair, secure and candidate-friendly examination on Sunday, it stated in an official release on Saturday (June 20, 2026). U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue on Saturday (June 20, 2026) for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday (June 20, 2026) evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran’s negotiators arriving there. They are led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen. Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke returned to the Capital after demonstrations in six cities and held a second protest at Jantar Mantar, which police moved to evacuate after the permitted 5 p.m. deadline. Mr. Dipke vowed to continue the agitation until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, the key demand of the CJP, which gained over two crore social media followers in a matter of days last month. Iran’s military said it had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing “violations” of the first clause of a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the U.S., as Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued. The Iranian military command said the closure of the strait “is the first step of response to the enemy’s breach of trust”. If Israel continued the attacks on Lebanon, “further measures will be planned and taken,” it added. Stating that certain drug cocktails lack therapeutic justification and could pose risks to patients, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned 16 fixed dose combination medications in public interest. The prohibited drugs include certain dermatological preparations, analgesic and antispasmodic medicines, and antibiotic-based formulations that have been deemed irrational or unsafe. Ladakh-based civil society umbrella groups, Ladakh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), called for a shutdown on June 23 against the Centre’s “backtracking on May 22 decisions” and “delay in releasing the agreed upon minutes of the meeting”. “We have called for a complete shutdown on June 23 in Ladakh. All shops and business centres will remain closed. Only transport will be allowed because of the ongoing tourist season,” said LAB chairman Tsering Dorjey Lakrook, in a joint press conference with members of the KDA. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has claimed that he faced a security threat on the premises of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Friday (June 19, 2026) night. Top Trinamool leadership condemned the incident. Senior Trinamool leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien asked if this was an attempt to murder Mr. Banerjee. MP Sagarika Ghose asked the police to take immediate action against the accused and questioned the workings of the new BJP government in the State. In a rare moment, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi found themselves walking the same unpaved path on Saturday (June 20, 2026), far removed from the corridors of power in New Delhi, in a remote tribal village of Odisha. Assuming the roles of host and guide, President Murmu personally briefed the Prime Minister about Pahadpur, her in-laws’ village, its tribal way of life and the significance of Jahera, the sacred Santhal worship site. The Bihar go

Morning Digest: NEET-UG retest to be held today amid tight security; U.S. and Iran set to hold talks in Switzerland, and more

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Morning Digest: NEET-UG retest to be held today amid tight security; U.S. and Iran set to hold talks in Switzerland, and more

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