Tuesday, 30 June 2026 #1  ·  Front Page  ·  Investigative/Policy Regulate coaching, make exams less coachable: Draft panel report By Manash Gohain   ·   The Times of India  ·  Page 1 A nine-member Ministry of Education committee set up in June 2025 under higher education secretary Vineet Joshi has concluded that student dependence on coaching cannot be addressed merely through inspections or penalising misleading advertisements. The draft report recommends a national law to regulate the coaching sector, mandatory transparency on faculty credentials and enrolment-vs-success data, capping coaching hours for school students, and redesigning JEE, NEET-UG and CUET-UG so that board-aligned learning — not private coaching — is decisive. The final report is expected to be submitted to the government within a few weeks. The story draws on an unpublished draft committee report and a named source, offering read

BBC News has won three honours at the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards South Asia 2026, taking home two Gold Awards and one Silver for projects produced by Collective Newsroom. The awards recognised the organisation's work across three editorial categories: countering disinformation, data visualisation and audio storytelling. A BBC investigation into the Mahakumbh stampede received the Gold Award for Best in Countering Disinformation. The report examined the tragedy through on-ground reporting and concluded that the number of fatalities was higher than officially reported. Another Gold Award, in the Best Data Visualisation category, went to BBC's interactive report on Delhi's air pollution, which used data and visual storytelling to illustrate the number of days residents are exposed to hazardous air. In the Best Use of Audio category, BBC News Hindi's documentary The Killing Call received the Silver Award. The documentary explores the investigation into the murder o

Nitin Vishwakarma has joined Karamtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd. as senior manager – Brand Marketing & Communications. He previously served as deputy manager – Corporate Communications at Epsilon Carbon Pvt. Ltd. and began his career with internships at Chatur Idea and Orbit Marketplace Inc. With over nine years of experience across manufacturing, renewable energy, infrastructure, EV, aerospace, and industrial sectors, Vishwakarma brings expertise in brand marketing, corporate communications, digital transformation, and employer branding. On his appointment, Vishwakarma said, "I am delighted to begin this new chapter with Karamtara Engineering. Joining the company is an exciting opportunity to contribute to an organisation strengthening global power transmission and renewable energy infrastructure. I look forward to using strategic brand marketing, corporate communications, digital transformation, and employer branding to enhance Karamtara's reputation and glob

Once upon a time, a young tech journalist had a well-trodden pathway to career expansion. You did your time on specialist tech titles, and if you were awesome, chances are you'd get picked up by one of the newspapers or mainstream outlets. Yet, at a time when tech coverage has never been more important in these outlets, that pathway has never looked less travelled. As Influencing reported yesterday, the Fin has filled two vacancies on the tech beat with its own reporters, Zoe Samios and Emma Rapaport. Both have experience writing about tech-related industries and have a proven track record of breaking news and telling terrific yarns. Fin Review editors have good reason to believe they'll be fast starters on the new beat, which now regularly runs front of book and has become one of the most important sectors and topics for the paper over the past 12 months. But it's another example of the major mastheads recruiting internally for tech journalism positions, ra

PM’s bank details breached: EY sacks grads, charges laid EY has sacked two graduate employees seconded to Commonwealth Bank after they allegedly accessed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s account details and another senior EY partner’s information, with the matter now resulting in criminal charges. The incident raises fresh questions about data access controls inside major professional services firms and the security of sensitive information held by banks and contractors. Covered by: Australian Financial Review. Big Build corruption fight escalates as police warn they can’t fix it alone Victoria Police’s Taskforce Hawk says organised crime has infiltrated the state’s Big Build, warning entrenched corruption will require law changes and more witnesses coming forward. The political stakes are rising as Premier Jacinta Allan downplays corruption as a driver of cost blowouts, while the state moves to force contractors to disclose industrial relations “fixers” to curb imp

Ask around the Australian media industry about Vinyl Group's acquisition spree and you tend to get the same response: bafflement. In barely two-and-a-half years the ASX-listed “music technology company” has swallowed Brag Media, Mediaweek, Concrete Playground and Val Morgan Digital. In early June, it announced its acquisition of Pedestrian Group one day, and Time Out Australia the next.   The reaction from media-industry heavy hitters has been scepticism that any of it hangs together. On LinkedIn, Amplify co-founder Tom Maynard asked, "Can someone please explain the rationale behind Vinyl Group's mass amount of acquisitions?", adding that it "makes very little sense to me trying to handle the vast amount of brands in a very hard economy for .com publishers. Worked 15 years ago, but today seems like a weird strategy". Former Private Media CEO Will Hayward replied: "It makes absolutely zero sense". Carsales head of content

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has asked the state government to step in after Zee Malayalam dismissed 12 journalists without prior notice, a move the union has condemned as an unlawful mass layoff that breaches labour law. According to KUWJ, the affected staff had worked across various departments for several years and were let go as part of a cost-cutting exercise, even though the channel had been performing well. The union has urged the Kerala government to intervene if management does not reverse the decision. Speaking to Influencing, KUWJ President Reji K P said, "We received a verbal complaint that 12 journalists have been asked to leave their jobs. Seeking justice for them, we have urged the Kerala government to look into the matter." One of the affected journalists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said employees were told of the decision during an online meeting. "Two days ago, we were called for an online meeting and informed that we had been removed