Politics
Monsoon likely to arrive in Kerala three days behind schedule around Jun 4: IMD
The monsoon is likely to arrive in Kerala around June 4, three days behind schedule, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. On May 15, the IMD forecast that the monsoon was likely to set in over Kerala on May 26, with a model error of ± four days.
The monsoon advances northwards from Kerala, usually in surges, covering the entire country around July 15. It marks the transition from scorching temperatures. According to the agriculture ministry, 51% of India’s farmed area, accounting for 40% of production, is rain-fed, making the monsoon critical. With 47% of the country’s population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, a bountiful monsoon is related to a healthy rural economy.
Conditions are favourable for further advance of south-west monsoon into some more parts of south-west and south-east Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep Islands, some parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, some more parts of south-west, west-central, east-central, and north-east Bay of Bengal, and remaining parts of south-east Bay of Bengal around June 4, the IMD said on Tuesday.
The IMD said isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) is very likely in Kerala over the next six to seven days. Isolated heavy rainfall was expected in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the same period. Moderate to severe thunderstorm activity with squally wind speeds of up to 40-50 kmph is likely in parts of north-west, central, east India, and south Peninsular India during the week.
The IMD’s extended range forecast shows largely dry conditions over Kerala between May 28 and June 4. A very marginal improvement was expected from June 4 to June 11.
A typhoon developing over the West Pacific, seen pulling significant moisture away from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, and a cyclonic circulation over the Lakshadweep region, were the likely factors delaying or causing a weak monsoon onset in Kerala.
Last week, the IMD revised its seasonal rainfall forecast downward— from 92% of the long-period average (LPA) issued in ril to 90% — and attached a 60% probability to a deficient season, meaning there is a better-than-even chance that total rainfall falling below the threshold that even qualifies as below-normal.
The LPA for the June-to-September season, calculated over the 1971-2020 period, is 87cm. If the prediction bears out, this would mark the lowest monsoon season rainfall in 11 years.
Fuelled by unusually warm ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, El Niño conditions are developing and are set to influence global temperature and rainfall patterns, increasing the risk of extreme weather over the coming months, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.
A new WMO El Niño/La Niña Update indicates an 80% likelihood of an El Niño event during June–August 2026. There is a 90% probability that it will continue until November. Most forecast models suggest it will be at least moderate and possibly strong. In India, an El Niño is associated with a harsher summer and a weaker monsoon.
Politics
Celebration, shock and scepticism follow Colombias presidential election
Less than two hours after polling stations closed on Sunday, it was clear that Colombia’s presidential race would be settled in a run-off between two finalists: hard-right political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella and leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda.
Though the overall result surprised few, de la Espriella’s strong showing upended pollsters’ predictions.
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Cepeda, President Gustavo Petro’schosen successor, had been expected to win the most votes, based on public opinion surveys.
But instead, de la Espriella came in first place, winning 43.74 percent of the vote. Cepeda trailed with 40.90 percent.
Supporters of de la Espriella, a criminal defence lawyer, held rturous celebrations in the coastal city of Barranquilla, where the candidate has an office.
Colombia won, and with more than 10 million votes, democracy won, said Elsa Suarez, a de la Espriella voter living in Bogota.
The far-right candidate has modelled himself after politicians like Donald Trump in the United States and Javier Milei in Argentina, flamboyant media personalities who won the presidency despite having little to no political experience.
Like them, de la Espriella has pledged a return to law and order, as well as a pared-back national government and policies to support traditional family values.
Notably, he promises to use an iron fist to stamp out crime and build megrisons to jail criminals, mimicking the policies of Salvadoran strongman Nayib Bukele.
Analysts say de la Espriella’s populist messaging resonated with voters in Colombia’s interior, where urban crime is a growing concern.
Electoral ms show de la Espriella besting Cepeda in 16 of the country’s 32 departments, primarily in the heart of Colombia and along the border with Venezuela.
In more central areas and closer to the citals, people prioritise security, explained Laura Bonilla, the deputy director at the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation (PARES), a Bogota-based research nonprofit.
By contrast, de la Espriella’s security messaging failed to sway voters along the coast and in border areas afflicted by rebel violence.
Bonilla argues that people in these regions instead place greater value on the socioeconomic issues that Cepeda represents, as the continuity candidate for Petro’s Historic Pact party.
Over the past four years, they have received constant attention from the government, said Bonilla, citing state development projects under the Petro administration.
A blow to the conservative establishment
De la Espriella’s success also highlights growing anti-establishment sentiment in Colombia, according to experts.
The lawyer, who has never run for public office before, comfortably beat his main rival on the right, Senator Paloma Valencia, who was backed by former President Alvaro Uribe, the figurehead of Colombian conservatism.
Initially, Sunday’s election was predicted to be a close race between Valencia and de la Espriella, both of whom lagged behind Cepeda in the polls.
But as Sunday’s ballots were tallied, Valencia flopped with less than 7 percent of the vote.
Miguel Silva, a Colombian political consultant, credited some of de la Espriella’s success to his campaign messaging.
De la Espriella, he explained, used his campaign to draw a distinction between the haves and the have-nots, those who have benefitted from the government and those who feel ignored.
He [succeeded] by portraying himself and the people he represents as ‘Los Nunca’ and by portraying Paloma and her followers as ‘Los Siempre’, Silva said, using the Spanish words for The Nevers and The Always.
Pollsters predicted the right would be divided in the first round, paving the way for Cepeda to win the most votes, but de la Espriella ctured millions of votes from traditional conservatives, marking a shift in Colombia’s political landsce.
In Bogota, the only province in the country’s interior to vote for Cepeda, the left-wing candidate’s supporters were shocked by Sunday’s results.
Everyone is a little surprised, said Juan Camilo Rodriguez, who voted for Cepeda. These results don’t match the polls.
Petro himself had hammered his base to flood the polls, warning that the left’s chances of success could be hampered by electoral fraud.
The outgoing president rejected last night’s results, which were based on the pre-conteo, or preliminary count, a non-legally binding process.
Instead, Petro called on the public to wait for the official, scrutinised count, which will be released in the coming days.
Cepeda echoed the president’s scepticism in a speech on Sunday night. Only once the vote-counting committees have fully, clearly, and thoroughly clarified this matter, will we comment on tonight’s results, he told supporters.
But the candidate peared to mellow his stance this morning, acknowledging that there was no evidence of irregularities in the vote. He trailed de la Espriella by more than 670,000 votes.
Experts warn that Cepeda is losing precious time by focusing on fraud allegations and should instead concentrate on swaying moderate voters.
By crying fraud so early, it’s hard to bring more voters to the table, said Silva.
A second round of voting, between Cepeda and de la Espriella, is scheduled for June 21.
Up for grabs are more than a million votes for centrist candidate Sergio Fajardo and 1.6 million for Paloma Valencia. While Valencia endorsed de la Espriella, her running mate, moderate politician Juan Daniel Oviedo, did not.
Miguel Jaramillo Lujan, a Colombian political strategist, said the final two candidates must tread carefully in the next three weeks to prevail.
As the saying goes, whoever makes fewer mistakes will be the winner.
Politics
CBSE misses June 1 deadline to relaunch Class 12 verification and re-evaluation portal
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday failed to make its Class 12 verification and re-evaluation portal operational, despite announcing earlier that the service would reopen that day. The delay left thousands of students awaiting an opportunity to challenge their marks and ply for the re-evaluation of answer scripts. Track live updates
The hold-up comes even after a four-member expert team from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras was tasked with auditing and strengthening the board’s post-result services platform following technical glitches and complaints from students.
While CBSE in a X post at 2 PM on Monday said the portal would go live “soon”, officials associated with the exercise maintained that the launch would take place before midnight on June 1. The website was not launched till the filing of the story on June 2.
ALSO READ: CBSE’s own ‘corrigendum’ means it can’t blacklist company linked to OSM mess. Here’s how that unfolded in tender process
Students voice frustration
“I had plied for obtaining answer copies on May 29 and I am yet to receive my Chemistry answer copy. It is frustrating that they are not able to provide copies on time and not able to start the re-evaluation portal where we can raise objections and get our marks verified,” said Manisha Singh, a Class 12 student from Jabalpur.
Another student Anuj Kumar from Delhi said the portal continued to display a maintenance message throughout the day. “I have been checking the portal since morning but it is showing that website is under maintenance. I want to raise objections in all subjects as my copies are not checked properly and my marks will increase after checking. I am angry over CBSE’s behaviour,” Kumar said.
Officials speak on CBSE delay
Earlier, responding to queries on why the portal had not become operational till 7 pm, a senior IIT Kanpur official, requesting anonymity, said there was still time left before the announced deadline expired.
“Well, there is still time till midnight. We are constantly working on fixing the website and constantly supervising the CBSE and it will be live,” the official said.
“It is unfortunate that students are not able to access it. If we could avoid it, we could have done. We want to make sure that the platform is robust, but there is no way anybody can guarantee 100% robustness. We are trying to maximise robustness, and that’s the effort that our teams have been putting in for the last several days. Now we are reaching a point where we think we can launch it. So it has taken time, unfortunately. The portal will be launched before midnight,” the official added.
CBSE did not respond to HT’s queries.
Asked about the reason behind the continued delay, a senior CBSE official told HT that final checks were still underway. “We are doing final security audits and hopefully it will be done soon and we will make the website live,” the official said.
ALSO READ: CBSE may penalise vendor over OSM flaws, blacklisting unlikely
Why the portal matters
The portal was originally scheduled to reopen on May 29 for students who had already obtained scanned copies of their evaluated answer books. However, the Board postponed the launch to June 1, saying additional time was needed to ensure a “transparent and glitch-free” process.
Students had been allowed to ply for scanned copies of answer scripts between May 19 and May 25. The portal has remained unavailable since May 26. Under the revised schedule, students who have received their answer books will be able to raise question-wise objections wherever they believe marks were not awarded correctly. Those objections will then be reviewed by subject experts through the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, according to an education ministry official.
Government steps in
The delay prompted intervention from the Union government. On May 29, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan directed IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras to examine technical issues reported in CBSE’s post-result services and assist the Board in ensuring a glitch-free process.
A four-member team comprising two experts each from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras was subsequently deputed to conduct a comprehensive technical audit of the portal, examine workflows and help resolve glitches.
Rising scrutiny of evaluation process
The scrutiny comes amid heightened concerns over the Board’s evaluation and post-result processes. CBSE has acknowledged around 20 cases of answer-sheet mix-ups after declaration of results. At the same time, nearly one in four of the roughly 1.8 million students who peared for the Class 12 examination plied for scanned copies of their answer books — a 208% increase over last year, according to officials.
This year also marked the first full-scale implementation of CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system. Under the digital evaluation exercise, about 9.86 million answer books were assessed electronically, while 13,583 answer scripts had to be evaluated manually after repeated scanning failures.
Background
The developments follow the declaration of Class 12 results on May 13, when the overall pass percentage fell to 85.20%, down from 88.39% last year and the lowest since 2019. The result season was accompanied by complaints from several students and parents who questioned marks awarded in some subjects and sought greater scrutiny of answer-sheet evaluation under the OSM system.
While CBSE is accepting plications through its own portal, the actual re-evaluation of answer scripts by teachers will be carried out on Coempt’s OnMark platform — the same system that was used for the initial on-screen evaluation of answer books.
Politics
Mandelson files: What you need to know
Politics
First debate on NHS single patient record after data concerns
He said: “GPs have protected patients’ confidential records since the inception of the NHS in 1948, a legal duty that they take incredibly seriously. However, we need clarity that this important GP oversight will not be taken away, otherwise it will raise serious questions about who is safeguarding patients’ data.”
Politics
How the world failed Ryan and Yaman
I woke up beneath the rubble, surrounded by darkness, dust, collsed concrete and the screams of my six-year-old son Nasser crying hysterically above the ruins, trying to reach my buried fingers.
In those moments, I believed I was dying.
What I did not yet know was that a part of me had already died.
When I emerged, I discovered that my 51-day-old baby Ryan had been recovered lifeless after spending more than an hour trped under the debris. He was a child born during a temporary ceasefire in the war. Life had briefly granted him permission to see the world before taking him away almost immediately.
His body was so small that I wrped him in part of my own clothing, afraid he would feel cold.
I was told Yaman, my seven-year-old, had suffered only minor injuries and had been taken to the hospital. The truth, however, was that my little boy had died before reaching it. They brought him back to me lifeless, only moments after I had bid farewell to Ryan.
On that winter day in January 2024 on the outskirts of Gaza City, my whole world was shattered.
Like countless mothers in Gaza, I had feared hunger for my children. I had feared displacement, terror and interrupted education. But despite everything, I never dared to think of death.
Ryan never had the chance to grow up and enjoy his childhood. He was denied the chance to run, play and laugh with his brothers.
Yaman, on the other hand, had shown us his amazing potential.
We called him the little philosopher because of the way he spoke formal Arabic with astonishing fluency and spent hours watching documentaries about space, wildlife, oceans and plants. He loved books deeply, memorised stories of the prophets and joined a Quran memorisation centre shortly before the war. Even during bombardment and displacement, we continued reciting verses together.
He was a very sensitive child. He refused to eat meat because he loved animals so much and could not understand why they were harmed and killed.
After our home was partially destroyed early in the war, I remember feeling devastated. Yaman came to comfort me with the confidence only children possess and said, Mama, don’t be sad. After the war, I’ll build you a bigger and more beautiful house.
In Gaza, the genocide is not just the mass killing of children. It is erasing human potential, destroying bright futures. It is taking away the scientist who could have discovered a cure for a deadly disease, the writer who could have written an award-winning book, the engineer who could have devised a new invention to help humanity, the son who could have built his mother a big, beautiful house.
And perhs what is even crueller than death itself is how ordinary loss has become in Gaza. For the rest of the world, Ryan and Yaman were just two entries added to the statistic of 21,000 Palestinian children massacred. Nameless and faceless for the world, they were everything for us.
This war does not leave only corpses beneath the rubble. It leaves survivors buried beneath psychological ruins that crush their souls day by day.
Today is International Children’s Day, a day dedicated to children’s rights and wellbeing. For me, it is a day to reflect on how the world failed to protect my children.
This is a world that has three other children’s days: World Children’s Day, the International Day of the Boy Child and the International Day of the Girl Child. It has a Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has national and international laws protecting children. It has a special United Nations agency dedicated to children, UNICEF. It has countless organisations dedicated to protecting children, feeding them, educating them, providing healthcare for them, etc.
Why have all of these special days, organisations and laws when they do nothing to stop the massacres of children?
Ryan and Yaman were taken away from me in January 2024. Thousands of other Palestinian mothers have had to bury their children since then. There is a ceasefire now, and children are still being killed on an almost daily basis in Gaza.
Why have images of children wrped in white shrouds become so easily normalised? Why has the world witnessed this scale of slaughter and not collsed morally under its weight?
Perhs because the world has grown accustomed to seeing Palestinian children as numbers, not as human beings. Perhs because decades of dehumanisation have finally borne fruit.
But behind every number, there is a mother’s eternal love.
Behind every number, there is a mother who still remembers the sound of her child’s voice, the foods he refused to eat, the dreams he spoke about and the tiny details life never allowed him enough time to enjoy.
There is me: the mother who still remembers the soft cry of her baby boy Ryan and the soft-spoken voice of seven-year-old Yaman.
Ryan and Yaman are not numbers. They are my children whom the world failed to protect.
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