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New Delhi, May 12 (BNP): The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) — NEET-UG 2026 — conducted on May 3, 2026, has been officially cancelled by the National Testing Agency (NTA) following serious allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities in the examination process.

In continuation of its press release dated 10 May 2026, the National Testing Agency wishes to inform candidates, parents, and members of the public of the following decisions taken in respect of NEET (UG) 2026. NTA had, on 8 May 2026, referred the matters then under consideration…

— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) May 12, 2026

The decision was announced by the NTA on Tuesday after investigative findings and inputs shared by central and state law enforcement agencies, including the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), which is currently probing the alleged paper leak case.

In an official press release, the NTA stated that the examination has been cancelled with the approval of the Government of India in order to maintain transparency, fairness, and the integrity of the national-level medical entrance examination system.

“On the basis of the inputs subsequently examined by NTA in coordination with the central agencies, and the investigative findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, the National Testing Agency, with the approval of the Government of India, has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination conducted on May 3, 2026, and to re-conduct the examination on dates that will be notified separately,” the agency said.

The NTA further informed that revised dates and detailed guidelines regarding the re-examination will be announced separately through official notifications. Candidates have been advised to stay updated through the official NTA and NEET websites.

The cancellation has sparked strong reactions across the country, with lakhs of medical aspirants facing renewed uncertainty over the admission process. However, many students and education experts have welcomed the move as a necessary step to uphold the credibility of one of India’s most competitive entrance examinations.

London — May 12, 2026 — Global Citizen Solutions (“GCS”), a leading residency and citizenship planning advisory firm, has published From Destination to Departure: America’s New Migration Story, a new briefing from its research arm, the Global Intelligence Unit (GIU), examining the long-term rise in American emigration. The shift has been decades in the making and is now measurable through citizenship renunciation records, overseas residency registrations, and survey data tracking Americans’ interest in moving abroad.

The scale of the outbound movement is visible across every continent. According to Pew Research Center, an estimated 2.2 million people left the US in 2025, of whom 180,000 were US citizens. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimates 5.5 million Americans were living abroad as of October 2024, up from 5.4 million the prior year. In nearly all 27 EU member states, the number of Americans arriving to live and work is at a record high. 

The GIU notes long-term economic, political, and lifestyle concerns are contributing to rising interest in emigration among Americans. Gallup’s longitudinal tracking shows the baseline has shifted dramatically: the desire to emigrate ran at 10% to 11% under Bush and Obama, rose to 16% to 20% during the first Trump presidency, and by November 2025 stood at one in five Americans overall, with women aged 15–44 reaching 40% — up from 10% in 2014.

Renunciation statistics — the most precisely documented indicator of emigration intent — tell a complementary story of acceleration. Before 2009, fewer than 400 Americans renounced their citizenship annually. By 2024, that figure had reached 4,820, a 48% increase from 2023 and the third-highest annual total ever recorded. In the first quarter of 2025, 1,285 Americans expatriated — a 102% jump on the prior quarter. The global queue for renunciation appointments now exceeds 30,000 people.

A significant further catalyst arrived on April 13, 2026, when the US State Department reduced the renunciation fee from $2,350 to $450, restoring it to pre-2015 levels following sustained legal pressure — a change widely expected to accelerate the trend.

The pool of Americans who could act on this interest is larger than is widely understood. An estimated 7 to 10 million Americans already hold dual citizenship, while up to 30 million may qualify for ancestry-based European passports through countries including Italy, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Hungary — options that have existed for years but which many Americans are only now discovering.

The trend is also registering in passport demand. GCS’s Global Passport Index (GPI)— which tracks the travel freedom, lifestyle, and investment value of passports across more than 199 countries — shows the US falling from 1st place in 2021 to 14th in 2025, a decline that reflects both reduced immigration into the country and the growing appeal of alternative citizenships among Americans seeking broader global mobility.

“What the Global Passport Index captures that conventional economic data cannot is the gap between aggregate wealth and lived experience,” said Laura Madrid, Lead Researcher at the Global Citizen Solutions’ GIU. “The United States remains a high-income country by every traditional measure. But the structural pressures bearing down on ordinary Americans — rising poverty, persistent inflation in housing and healthcare, deepening political polarization, and a public safety crisis unlike anything seen in peer nations — are registering in people’s decisions about where to build their lives.”

GIU research identifies several compounding pressures. The US Supplemental Poverty Measure reached 12.9% in 2023, its second consecutive annual increase, while CPI-U inflation ran at 3.0% year-on-year into early 2025. In 2023 alone, the country recorded weather and climate disasters totaling at least $92.9 billion in damages. On public safety, gun violence continues to set the US apart from every comparable high-income nation.

“This is not the profile of people fleeing crisis,” Madrid added. “These are informed, often financially stable individuals and families making a deliberate calculation — that their money, their safety, and their quality of life will go further elsewhere.”

Where Americans Are Going

Europe remains the most sought-after destination, with more than 1.5 million Americans now living across the continent. As of December 2023, the top EU and EFTA destinations for US nationals on residence permits were Germany (81,509), Spain (44,804), France (38,181), Italy (36,549), the Netherlands (33,107), Switzerland (19,579), and Portugal (13,948) — the vast majority on permits of one year or more, indicating long-term relocation rather than short stays.

Portugal ranks first in GCS’s Global Retirement Index and Spain leads its Global Digital Nomad Index. Greece, Italy, and Malta are drawing significant numbers across income and lifestyle profiles. Italy’s ancestry citizenship route, historically one of the most sought-after by Americans, was restricted by Law 74/2025 to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens — a change upheld by Italy’s Constitutional Court in March 2026 that blocks an estimated 80 million people previously eligible through earlier generations. The restriction has prompted some Americans to apply before additional policy changes take effect. Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programs continue to attract those seeking faster routes to a second passport and greater global mobility.

To read the full briefing, visit: From Destination to Departure: America’s New Migration Story

Amid a surge in demand for practical guidance, GCS has updated its guide for Americans, on the 23 Best Countries to move to in 2026, covering digital nomad and passive income visas, Golden Visa investment routes, moving costs and living expenses.

May 12: MioPods.Space, an innovative Indian startup building on-demand privacy workspaces for people on the move, has officially launched at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, introducing a new category of travel experience designed around focus, privacy and productivity.

Announced at boarding gates 9 and 10, the first deployment includes four MioPods that allow travelers to instantly reserve and access a one-person workspace through a seamless QR-based system scan, pay and step into a distraction-free environment within seconds. The launch marks the arrival of India’s first indigenously designed, acoustically engineered and access-controlled privacy workspace created specifically for airports and transit ecosystems. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. has officially announced the launch of MioPods at Hyderabad Airport, making it one of the first airports in India to introduce a dedicated productivity-focused experience for travelers.

Built around the idea of converting wait time into productive time, MioPods identified a growing opportunity within India’s aviation ecosystem where nearly 400,000 people travel daily through the country’s top 10 airports. Founded by Vikas Sethia, the startup was envisioned to create a more focused and seamless travel experience for modern professionals who often juggle meetings, calls, presentations and travel schedules right until boarding. By transforming the 45–60 minutes before a flight into a sprint calendar of calls and meetings, MioPods enables travelers to finish priority tasks, take important decisions, or simply experience transit with greater focus, thinking and outcomes.

Manufactured in Chennai, each MioPods unit has been thoughtfully designed with acoustic calibration, intelligent ventilation, ambient lighting, integrated charging ports, ergonomic seating and evolving IoT-enabled systems to support uninterrupted work and conversations in high-traffic environments like airports. Accessible through instant bookings and advance reservations up to seven days ahead, MioPods is currently priced at ₹299 (inclusive of GST) for 30 minutes access.

Speaking on the launch, Vikas Sethia says, “MioPods was never built as just another hardware product. We see it as a new possibility within modern travel, where time spent in transit can become meaningful, productive and intentional. As travelers, we have accepted waiting as passive time for far too long. We wanted to create an experience where people can focus, take important meetings, make personal conversations or simply pause in privacy before boarding.”

He added saying, “For the first time in India, we have designed and built an acoustically engineered, access-controlled privacy workspace with a strong focus on product attributes, technology innovation and user experience. Building a globally scalable product from India came with its own challenges, but our belief in creating a world-class ‘design + make in India’ solution kept us moving forward. MioPods is a performance brand built around how people experience time, focus and productivity while traveling. Hyderabad Airport marks the beginning of this journey for us, and we are excited to see how travelers are already embracing this new transit upgrade.”

Early traction at Hyderabad Airport has already demonstrated strong interest, with over 2000 travelers scanning QRs during initial trials. The company is currently targeting 64 bookings per day at Hyderabad as adoption grows and travelers consciously start pre-scheduling tasks before boarding flights.

MioPods is currently in discussions with more airports in India including Delhi and Mumbai for expansion, while also planning to deploy the first 100 Mio Spaces during the financial year, further strengthening its vision of making on-demand privacy workspaces a seamless part of the modern travel experience.

Hyderabad, May 12: Heritage Foods Limited, a leading dairy company offering milk and value-added dairy products, announced its financial results for the quarter and financial year ended March 31, 2026, reporting resilient revenue growth despite a challenging operating environment marked by milk shortages, elevated procurement costs, and weak flush season conditions.

The company reported revenue of ₹11,576 million in Q4 FY26, registering a 10% year-on-year growth, while full-year FY26 revenue grew 9% YoY to ₹45,260 million.

Brahmani Nara said the company remained focused on strengthening procurement infrastructure, expanding its distribution network, and scaling high-growth categories. She noted that continued investments in premiumisation, capacity expansion, and value-added products position the company for sustainable long-term growth as industry conditions gradually stabilize.

The company’s consumer business maintained strong momentum during FY26, led by growth across value-added products (VAP), premium categories, and emerging channels. Categories including curd, paneer, consumer fats, and ice creams recorded strong traction during the year.

Value-added products revenue grew 18% YoY to ₹3,957 million in Q4 FY26 and 13% YoY to ₹14,678 million for FY26. VAP contribution improved to 35.5% in Q4 FY26 compared to 32.5% in the corresponding quarter last year, while annual contribution increased to 35.3% from 32.0% in FY25. Including consumer-pack fats, VAP contribution stood at 41.9% in Q4 FY26 and 39.7% for the full year.

The company reported robust growth across key product categories, with paneer volumes increasing 32% YoY in Q4 and 27% YoY during FY26. Ice cream volumes rose 26% YoY in Q4 and 15% YoY for the year, while curd volumes grew 11% YoY in Q4 and 7% YoY in FY26.

Heritage Foods also highlighted strong traction for new product launches, including Livo Yogurts, premium Sampurna A2 Curd, Nourish+ High Protein Paneer, and the Alpenvie Ice Cream range.

However, industry-wide milk shortages and weak flush season conditions led to higher procurement costs. Average landed milk cost increased 8% YoY to ₹46.7 per litre in Q4 FY26, impacting profitability. EBITDA margins contracted by 311 basis points to 4.5%, while EBITDA declined 35% YoY to ₹522 million. Profit after tax for the quarter stood at ₹239 million, down 37% YoY.

Despite supply-side challenges, the company maintained procurement network expansion, though procurement volumes declined 7% YoY to 16.38 LLPD during the quarter. Timely pricing actions and a stronger product mix partially offset inflationary pressures, supporting blended realization growth across milk and value-added products.

The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Heritage Nutrivet Limited, recorded strong performance during FY26, with revenue rising 33% YoY to ₹2,454 million and profit before tax increasing to ₹206 million.

Emerging channels continued to witness rapid growth, with e-commerce and quick commerce revenues rising 56% YoY, while Fresh Distribution and other emerging channels grew 49% YoY, strengthening urban market penetration.

Heritage Foods also intensified brand-building efforts during the year through strategic campaigns, integration with BIGG BOSS Kannada, and the launch of Certified Organic Cow Milk in Bengaluru to enhance consumer engagement and visibility across key markets.

New Delhi, May 12 (BNP): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is expected to announce the Class 12 Board Examination Results 2026 today, creating huge anticipation among lakhs of students and parents across the country. Although the board has not officially confirmed the exact date and time, a recent post by DigiLocker indicating “CBSE Class XII Results 2026 Coming Soon on DigiLocker” has strengthened speculation about today’s declaration.

As per reports, CBSE will not hold any press conference for the result announcement this year. Instead, students will be able to access their results online through multiple official platforms including cbse.gov.in, results.cbse.nic.in, cbseresults.nic.in, DigiLocker, UMANG app, and SMS services.

The CBSE Class 12 examinations were conducted from February 17 to April 10, 2026, in a single shift from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM across India and at overseas examination centres.

Students are advised to keep their admit cards ready to avoid last-minute inconvenience while checking scores. Candidates can log in using their roll number, school number, admit card ID, and date of birth.

Students who have not yet activated their DigiLocker accounts can do so by visiting the DigiLocker portal, selecting “Get Started,” entering the access code provided by their respective schools, and verifying their mobile number through OTP authentication.

With no official result tab activated yet on cbseresults.nic.in, students continue to refresh official websites eagerly as the expected announcement window approaches.

Chennai, May 11 (BNP): A day after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, C. Joseph Vijay met former Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin at Stalin’s residence in Chennai on Monday.

The meeting, described as a courtesy call, marked the first interaction between the leaders after the recently concluded Assembly elections and Vijay’s swearing-in ceremony. Visuals from the meeting showed the leaders exchanging warm greetings and holding discussions on the state’s political developments.

According to reports, Stalin congratulated Vijay on assuming office and extended his best wishes for the new government. The meeting is being seen as a significant political gesture amid the changing political landscape in Tamil Nadu.

Bunia, May 11 (BNP): At least 69 people were killed in a fresh wave of militia violence in the conflict-hit Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local authorities and security sources.

The deadly attacks were reportedly carried out by armed fighters linked to the Codeco militia, which claims to represent the Lendu community, in several villages in late April. The violence comes amid escalating tensions between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups, who have been engaged in a long-running conflict in the gold-rich province bordering Uganda and South Sudan.

Officials said the attacks followed earlier clashes involving the Convention for the Popular Revolution (CRP), an armed group associated with the Hema community, and the Congolese Army near the locality of Pimbo. Security sources stated that the violence claimed the lives of civilians, militia members, and soldiers.

Local civil society leaders described the killings as a “massacre,” with reports of bodies lying unattended for days due to continued militia presence in the affected areas. Humanitarian agencies also reported widespread panic, displacement of civilians, and destruction of property across several villages.

The United Nations mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) strongly condemned the attacks and reiterated its concern over the deteriorating security situation in eastern Congo. Earlier, the UN mission had rescued nearly 200 civilians caught in crossfire during clashes between armed groups and government forces.

Eastern DRC has remained unstable for decades due to the activities of multiple armed groups competing for control over the region’s vast mineral resources, including gold, cobalt, copper, and diamonds. The violence has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis in Ituri province, where nearly one million people are currently displaced, according to UN agencies.

Authorities and humanitarian organisations have appealed for restraint and urged communities to avoid retaliatory violence as efforts continue to restore peace and stability in the region.

New Delhi, May 11 (BNP): Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to prepare a comprehensive and time-bound roadmap for transforming Dwarka, Rohini, and Narela into major investment and decentralised economic hubs of the national capital.

According to officials, Dwarka sub-city is being planned as a major destination for domestic and international investments in Information Technology (IT), IT-enabled Services (ITeS), digital infrastructure, and other non-polluting industries. Similar development initiatives are also being proposed for Rohini and Narela under the broader vision of balanced and sustainable urban growth.

During a recent high-level meeting with senior DDA officials, the Lieutenant Governor discussed various developmental initiatives aimed at bringing transformative changes to these sub-cities. He instructed officials to consult all stakeholders and submit a concrete action plan at the earliest.

Sandhu emphasised the need to explore opportunities for attracting IT companies, global capability centres, healthcare institutions, digital infrastructure industries, data centres, semiconductor plants, and warehousing facilities in these areas, in line with the provisions of the Delhi Master Plan.

Officials stated that the improved connectivity through the Urban Extension Road, expanding Metro network, transit-oriented development policy, upcoming educational hubs, and rapid residential growth have made Dwarka, Rohini, and Narela ideal locations for decentralised business and commercial development.

The Lieutenant Governor noted that the proposed transformation would not only attract large-scale investments but also create employment opportunities, boost revenue generation, reduce pressure on central Delhi, and promote sustainable urban development across the capital.

New Delhi, May 11 (BNP): The Central Government has officially notified the Viksit Bharat-GRAM G Act, 2025, aimed at strengthening rural livelihoods by guaranteeing 125 days of employment annually to rural households across the country.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made the announcement on Sunday, stating that the new Act will come into effect from July 1, 2026. The initiative is expected to provide enhanced employment opportunities, economic stability, and social security to millions of rural families.

Addressing the media, Chouhan said the Viksit Bharat-GRAM G Act has been introduced as part of the government’s broader vision for inclusive rural development and empowerment. He stated that the scheme would help improve income generation, reduce migration from villages, and create sustainable livelihood opportunities in rural areas.

The Minister further emphasised that the Act reflects the government’s commitment towards strengthening village economies, improving living standards, and ensuring greater participation of rural communities in the country’s development journey.

Officials said detailed implementation guidelines and operational mechanisms for the scheme will be rolled out ahead of its launch on July 1.