New Delhi, Dec 23: The National Testing Agency (NTA) would implement facial biometric authentication during examinations and live photography at the application stage to strengthen exam security across all entrance examinations, beginning with JEE (Mains) in January 2026.

The move is aimed at curbing impersonation and other malpractices by ensuring real-time identity verification of candidates at multiple stages of the examination process, officials said.

“They will be implementing a facial recognition system during the examination and live photography during the filing of the application,” Secretary of Higher Education Vineet Joshi said during a media interaction.

“This will be implemented from January, from JEE (Mains),” he added.

Facial biometric verification confirms a person’s identity by analysing unique facial features, such as the distance between the eyes or the shape of the nose, to create a digital template for comparison with stored data, often using AI for analysis.

Meanwhile, a real-time photo capture via webcam or phone is used during online application or exam processes to prevent impersonation.

Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2026, conducted by NTA, is scheduled from January 21 to 30, 2026.

Established in 2017, NTA conducts major entrance examinations, including the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for engineering; the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for medicine; and the CUET for general Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes in central universities.

These measures are part of the recommendation by the Radhakrishnan Committee, which was constituted following widespread reports of malpractices in the NEET-UG exam, 2024.

The government-appointed committee has proposed a significant overhaul of India’s entrance exam system, with a focus on digitalisation, security, and streamlining processes.

The seven-member panel, led by former ISRO Chief R. Radhakrishnan, outlined a two-phase plan for reform: Immediate/Short-Term, like restructuring of NTA and Multi-level biometric verification (registration, centre, counselling) and Phase 2 (Long-Term), including”Digi-Exam” Platform: Implement biometric-based digital exams, similar to DigiYatra.

To further prevent exam breaches, the committee proposes multi-level biometric verification across registration, test centres, counselling, and admissions. This comprehensive approach aims to create a more secure and tamper-proof testing environment.

Mumbai, Dec 22: India should be prepared to fight short-duration, high-intensity conflicts to deter terrorism, something like Operation Sindoor, and long duration conflict because of the territorial disputes with its neighbours, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said on Monday.

Speaking at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Gen Chauhan said multi-domain operations will no longer be an option but a necessity, where the effects of one domain will be immediately felt on to the other.

“What kind of threats and challenges should India be prepared for? This should be based on two facts. Both our adversaries — one is a nuclear weapon state and one is a nuclear armed state — hence we should not allow that level of deterrence to be breached,” he said without naming Pakistan or China.

He said India has territorial disputes with both its neighbours.

“We should be prepared to fight short duration, high intensity conflicts to deter terrorism, something like Operation Sindoor. We should be prepared for a land centric, long duration conflict because we have land disputes. Yet, we should try and avoid it,” the CDS said.

The country’s top military officer stressed the need to exploit new domains and create asymmetry with a weaker adversary and yet not allow these asymmetries to be exploited by other nations.

Terrorism and grey zone warfare will remain a threat, which requires defensive as well as offensive response, he added.

Chauhan spoke about modern warfare being at a cusp of a third revolution in military affairs which he termed as convergence warfare.

This is happening because a number of technologies are simultaneously affecting the nature and character of warfare, he added.

Earlier a few technologies were influencing how wars are fought. Now it could be a number of technologies. AI, Quantum, edge computing, hypersonic, advanced material, robotics, he added.

He said multi-domain operations will no longer be an option but a necessity where the effects of one domain will be immediately felt on to the other domain.

“This was clearly visible in Operation Sindoor. In a war which lasted only about four days giving India decisive victory, all domains of warfare were used simultaneously with great amount of tempo,” he said.

Multi-domain operations will also require multi-domain capabilities and cross domain command and control, he said.

This will require extensive coordination and control between the Army, Navy and Air Force, but also cyber forces, space forces and forces operating in the cognitive domain, he asserted.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to avenge the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, leading to the deaths of 26 persons. India inflicted heavy damage on the terror infrastructure located in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Pakistan. Both countries agreed on cessation of hostilities on May 10.

New Delhi, Dec 23: Holding saffron flags and shouting slogans against the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh, hundreds of supporters of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal broke barricades and clashed with police near the fortified Bangladesh High Commission on Tuesday.

Protesters forced several barricades down as police struggled to contain the surge.

The high security area witnessed a beefed-up police presence in the morning ahead of the protest announced by the Hindu right against the lynching of a Hindu man in the strife-torn neighbouring nation.

The area had been secured with three layers of barricades and a reinforced presence of police and paramilitary.

An officer said a 15,000-strong police force was deployed ahead of the demonstration.

He said police managed to hold the protesters about 800 metres from the high commission.

DTC buses were parked as an obstacle to thwart the protesters’ bid to reach the high commission.

A sea of banners and placards bobbed in the air, reading denunciatory messages against the Bangladesh government.

A placard read: “Hindu rakt ki ek ek boond ka hisaab chahiye (Each drop of blood of a Hindu must be accounted for).”

On December 18, Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old garment factory worker, was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over blasphemy in Baluka in Mymensingh.

According to the police, Das was first beaten up by a mob outside the factory and then hanged from a tree. The crowd left the body of the deceased by the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway and later set it on fire.

“A Hindu man was brutally assaulted and killed. We request our government to take strict action against those who are behind the killing. We also demand that the Bangladesh police take strict action against those who are behind the killing,” a protester said.

Another said, “We in India consider every community as our brothers and sisters. Every Hindu in every country must be treated in the same way.”