ICAI Rules: No Maximum Age for Passing Accounting Exams

Noletu Ndude, speaking on the program Crossing The Line, discussed the critical importance of maintaining an open dialogue between parents and their children. Her own experience growing up in the 1980s shaped her views on this subject.

In childhood, Noletu's father was imprisoned for opposing apartheid, while her mother was an activist and leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), often absent due to meetings or the need to hide or be incarcerated. Consequently, a whole community raised her five children.

After moving from Gugulethu to the suburbs, Ndude noticed a sharp difference in communication approaches. While in her home neighborhoods, parents avoided conversations about sex life or dating, in the suburbs, neighbors openly discussed things like the need to buy sanitary pads, which was unacceptable in her former area.

This observation prompted her to establish the WeMattah foundation. The foundation aims to promote open dialogue between parents and children, as well as assist in understanding the physical changes that occur in a person's body at different developmental stages—from infancy to adulthood.

Ndude noted that conversations about developmental stages are necessary for young Black and Coloured children in such communities, and that this dialogue must happen with parents.

She acknowledges the complexities of family life when parents may be absent from early morning until late evening, leaving children without valuable time for serious conversations. In such cases, she believes schools, churches, or the government should take the initiative to conduct these discussions. She needs more programs and improved life skills education in schools to help parents communicate with their children.

Ndude also stressed that raising children today is very different from the 1970s or 1980s. Today, children are largely shaped by social media and television. If parents do not have these conversations, a stranger via social media, WhatsApp, or Facebook might converse with the child, exposing them to unwanted information.

Ndude's foundation collaborates with schools and community organizations to encourage more active interaction between parents and children.

Over 31,000 people, including several Members of Parliament, have signed a petition calling on the UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to conduct a public investigation into alleged media persecution of the late academic Jason Arday, organizers reported on Sunday.

The petition was initiated by the activist group Good Law Project after Arday, who became the youngest Black professor at Cambridge University three years ago, was found dead on Friday.

This project supported Arday since his departure from the university and King's College at the beginning of this month, as both institutions began investigations into allegations of plagiarism and fabrication or exaggeration of his biography.

Good Law Project stated on its website: 'There is no doubt that Dr. Arday's tragic death was a direct, predictable, and expected result of media persecution.' The group added that 'a significant element of this persecution was his skin color,' emphasizing that 'there is no doubt that racism was at the heart of this story.'

Allegations against the 41-year-old Arday attracted widespread coverage in the British press after another scholar—self-proclaimed 'race realist' Nathan Coffnas, who was dismissed from Cambridge in 2024—claimed in July numerous instances of plagiarism in the professor's work. British media and right-wing commentators seized on this dispute, claiming that Arday, who disputed these accusations, was unfairly benefiting from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

In a letter published upon his departure on August 5, Arday noted that this step was 'the only way' to conclude a 'difficult period,' but it should not 'be mistakenly taken as an agreement with the narratives surrounding me.'

Following the shocking news of Arday's death on Friday, which the police do not consider suspicious, his family and friends condemned the 'campaign of constant harassment' that began with his appointment in 2023. Other friends noted that he was vulnerable, given that Arday wrote extensively about being diagnosed with autism in childhood and not speaking until age 11.

Good Law Project reported that many signatories privately warned various media outlets that their relentless pursuit of Dr. Arday could lead to his suicide. Furthermore, fundraising to support his family has already raised nearly £89,000 (nearly 2 million Rands).

Lesego Masisi, co-founder and former member of the National Executive Committee of the Palestine Anti-Apartheid Movement and a member of the South African Youth Communist League, opined that Arday's death should not be a surprise, especially considering that he was marginalized and alienated from the community that initially supported him and secured him the academic rank of professor at age 37, becoming the youngest Black professor globally at the world's leading university, Cambridge.

Masisi stated that it is necessary to understand racism and disproportionate social power relations as systems that adapt to changing external conditions while maintaining their objective, albeit with a greater emphasis on secrecy and mystery. He suggested that a Black man with a unique experience of neurodivergence seemed like an ideal candidate for investing academic resources and leadership until his scholarly work began critically examining institutional policy at Cambridge. 'It was then that the talented young man began to become a threat not only to a specific institution but to the entire high-ranking academic environment in the UK, simply because his ideas were too weighty for him to continue without damaging his reputation.'

Masisi concluded that the plagiarism allegations against Arday 'are nothing more than a fabricated career attack by the white racist and colonialist British academic establishment.'

The Minister of the Government of Jharkhand, Deepika Pandey, announced a significant success for the students protesting in Ranchi. After two rounds of negotiations with the students, an agreement was reached on several issues, including the cancellation of the 14th JPSC exam, which satisfies the legitimate demands of the students.

Deepika Pandey made this statement in Ranchi after meetings with candidates of JPSC and JSSC who were holding protests. In addition to canceling the 14th JPSC exam, it was decided to instruct the state agency CID to investigate all exams organized by TDPL, as well as the JSSC-CGL exam. Furthermore, if an investigation by the central agency is required, the government will write a letter to the ED.

Regarding the students' concerns about JSSC-CGL, the minister noted that the results were announced and employment contracts were distributed following the directives of the Supreme Court. Since this matter falls under the court's jurisdiction, the students were offered that the CID investigation would be under the full supervision of the judicial committee. These investigations are planned to be completed within 90 days and the case will be transferred to fast-track court to ensure justice for the students.

Emphasizing the importance of reforms, the minister stated that this is not only a problem for Jharkhand but also a necessity for the entire country—to change the system in accordance with changing circumstances so that problems like leakage of examination materials do not occur again. She recalled that the Jharkhand government had already passed a bill in 2023 providing for severe punishment for material leakage at the legislative assembly level. The minister accused the BJP of obstructing this in the state, but later a similar law was introduced in parliament to meet the needs of the students.