India news: 'Cockroach' party founder plans protests

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The governments of India and Myanmar have issued a joint statement amid President Min Aung Hlaing's visit to New Delhi, pledging efforts to increase bilateral trade, advance cross-border infrastructure projects and expand a student scholarship exchange scheme, among other steps. 

According to the document, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "underlined that enhanced connectivity would forster mutually beneficial economic linkages and shared prosperity in the region." 

Both sides agreed to work towards progress on the following matters: 

• Working towards the completion of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project (linking Kolkatta and Sittwe Port in Rakhine State, Myanmar) 
• Advancing the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway connecteing Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar
• Expanding India's Mekong Ganga ICCR scholarships program for Myanmar students from 36 places to 100, starting this year
• Facilitating and enhancing bilateral trade including through the Rupee-Kyat settlement mechanism established in 2024
• Support for close trade an investment in areas including agro-processing, petroleum, energy and mining sectors

Myanmar's junta is trying to normalize its international relations since the 2021 takeover that put then-General Hlaing in power, hoping that April's contested elections taking place amid an ongoing low-level civil war convey legitimacy on his leadership. The country still has no single government formally recognized by the UN or ASEAN.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Monday he is returning to India on June 6 to stage a peaceful protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged exam irregularities.

In a video posted on X, Dipke said more than 10 million students had been affected by the failure of the system.

"Someone has to take responsibility for this," he said. "Even after such a big blunder, if the Education Minister doesn't resign, it means that there is no accountability left in this country."

India's nationwide medical entrance test was canceled last month, over allegations of leaked question papers. Around 2.2 million students had already sat the exam.

Dipke asked his supporters to meet him at the airport before heading to Parliament Street Police Station to seek permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Dipke said the protest would follow the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Jawaharlal Nehru, and called on students and supporters to join the demonstration.

"My friends and family are afraid that they will be arrested and sent to jail. But I still hope that our country is a democracy and we will get permission to protest peacefully," he said.

The 'cockroach' movement began last month as a satirical criticism towards the Chief Justice of India who likened some of India's youth to "parasites" and "cockroaches."

CJP currently has more than 22 million followers on Instagram, more than twice as many as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

For less than $2, new vision aids are helping people in India see clearly again. A nonprofit is bringing eye care to underserved regions and opening up opportunities for education, employment and independent living.

 

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the government and the premier national school board examination authority of compromising the evaluation process for Class 12 exams.

The allegations come amid growing scrutiny of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) over technical glitches and reported irregularities in evaluated answer sheets.

Class 12 exams are taken at the end of secondary education, as a path to university, Global equivalents include the High School diploma in the US and A-levels in the UK.

What Gandhi said abvout Class 12 evaluations

Gandhi said a May 2025 tender had required high-resolution robotic scanning of answer sheets, but specifications were later relaxed, allowing contractor COEMPT to allegedly use mobile phones for scanning.

"This is fraud," Gandhi said, claiming blurred scans and missing pages had led to incorrect marking for students.

"Modi ji's silence is no longer indifference. It is complicity," the leader of the opposition wrote.

He also criticized fees charged for re-evaluation and recounting, saying students were being forced to pay to correct errors caused by the system.

"The mistake is CBSE's. The punishment is the child's. The earnings are the government's," he said in a post on X.

CBSE and the government have not publicly responded to the allegations. However, in a post on X, CBSE said that cybersecurity professionals from "various arms of the government" are looking into the matter.

In Madhya Pradesh, Indigenous women are leading a fierce protest against the Ken-Betwa dam project, saying ancestral land is being taken. The government defends it as development.

India on Monday raised prices of commercial Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders used by hotels and restaurants, while leaving household cooking gas rates unchanged, media reports said.

In Delhi, the price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder sold by state-owned companies was increased to 3,113.50 rupees ($33, €28) from 3,071.50 rupees.

The price of commercial LPG cylinder was increased for the third consecutive time early last month by 993 Indian rupees (about €8.90, $10.50). 

Monday's hike is expected to add pressure on restaurants, many of which have already scaled back operations amid the economic fallout from the Iran war.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to adopt voluntary austerity measures to help shield the economy from the impact of the conflict in Middle East.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Myanmar's junta leader-turned-President Min Aung Hlaing on Monday.

The two leaders shook hands outside Hyderabad House in New Delhi before talks, according to the AFP news agency.

The former military officer is on his first foreign trip since assuming a civilian leadership role in April.

Min Aung Hlaing, who arrived in India on Saturday,  also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar earlier and is expected to hold discussions with business leaders during his five-day visit, including in Mumbai.

Bilateral trade between India and Myanmar stood at $1.95 billion (€1.67 billion) in 2025-26, according to New Delhi.

Virat Kohli smashed the winning six as Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained their Indian Premier League title on Sunday, fulfilling a long-held dream for the cricketing superstar.

"I have thought of this moment many times, wanting to hit the winning run," said Kohli, who was named player of the match.

Kohli, 37, hit an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls, sealing victory with his third six of the innings as Bengaluru completed the chase in front of more than 90,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The former Bengaluru captain has been with the franchise since the inaugural 2008 season.

He said back-to-back titles were especially meaningful after the team lost IPL finals in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Kohli finished as Bengaluru's leading scorer this season with 675 runs, taking his IPL career tally to a record 9,336 runs, including 68 fifties and nine hundreds.

"I just take a lot of pride in getting better and trying to figure out areas where I can improve," Kohli said, crediting younger players for pushing him to adapt to the demands of modern T20 cricket.

Hello on this bright Monday! This is Shakeel from DW's Delhi Studio, bringing you the latest updates from across India.

First up, the good news: the Delhi heatwave has eased, and the mornings are pleasant again.

Now to Sunday's biggest story: Royal Challengers Bengaluru have retained their IPL title. Virat Kohli led from the front with an unbeaten knock as RCB defeated the Gujarat Titans.

Meanwhile, the government faced criticism from Rahul Gandhi, who alleged instances of "fraud" in India's premier national school board exams.

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