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In order to open up avenues for students to get higher education, the Kerala government has resolved that all the undergraduate courses in arts and science colleges of the state shall be free of cost. Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, who made this revelation during the budget presentation, termed it as a bold move in the state's free education policy.

The government has explained this measure as a logical extension to its free education policy up to Class 12, thus defining higher education as a right and not a special privilege. Besides putting less financial pressure on the students of middle, and lower, income families, it will also boost the popularity of public colleges.

In order to supply the higher education ecosystem with sufficient resources, the budget has set aside 259.09 crore for the smooth operation of universities under the Higher Education Department. Moreover, 851.46 crore has been allocated to the implementation of the Higher Education Council's recommendation and the introduction of four year undergraduate degree courses as per the national academic reforms.

The education centred budget also gives utmost importance to student welfare. Scholarships for Higher Secondary students belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families have been declared, and a fund of 7.9 crore has been set aside to facilitate uninterrupted schooling of economically deprived students.

150.34 crore has been earmarked for the free uniform scheme of the state, out of which 70 crore has been allocated to Handlooms Directorate for provision of two sets of uniforms to students of government and aided Lower Primary (LP) and Upper Primary (UP) schools. Besides, this move will help the handloom sector of Kerala's tradition.

Moreover, the budget offers 55 crore to Samagra Shiksha Kerala and around 23 crore more to the various education projects coming under the scheme. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has been given 21.25 crore for educational purposes among which are the creation of textbooks for sports schools and the production of digital textbooks.

The strict focus of the budget on free education and institutional assistance thereby strengthens Kerala's standing as one of the most education, forward states in India.

Breaking news about UGC NEW RULES! The Supreme Court has put a PAUSE on UGC's controversial 2026 regulations. The court found the rules unclear and risky, and ordered that the 2012 rules of UGC remain in force until the next hearing on 19 March 2026.

Why Court Stopped UGC's New Education Rules

Chief Justice Suryakant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi were not happy. They said that many rules are not clear and could be misused. Chief Justice Suryakant asked a provocative question, "Are we moving towards a casteless society, or going backward?"

What Will Change After this Ruling? 

• Existing UGC rules still apply (no new UGC rules in force) 2012 UGC rules.
• Next hearing: 19 March 2026
• Centre & UGC should respond with facts.
• Transparency + social balance to be maintained.

How Did This Happen?

The essence of the matter was brought out by petitioner Vineet Jindal. Section 3C is concerned with caste discrimination and does not take the general category students into consideration. Jindal claimed that this erroneously implies that it is only the general category students that are discriminated against SC/ST/OBC. The court felt that this had to be rectified.

Section 18 also drew a lot of criticism because its Equity Committee that it establishes lacks the representation of any general category. Chief Justice Suryakant remarked that it could be solved only through a really inclusive committee.

What Made this Case Get to the Supreme Court?

These rules, which are known as ‘Promotion of Equity,’ were published on 23rd January 2026 by UGC. Students, professors and groups all around India were protesting within days, calling the rules discriminatory, arbitrary and unconstitutional. Mrityunjay Tiwari, Vineet Jindal and Rahul Diwan were the key petitioners.

This eventually led to the court firing notices at the Central Government and UGC demanding detailed answers. They even hinted at forming an expert panel with educationists, sociologists, and social workers to rewrite the confusing language.

What This Means Right Now

Colleges can breathe easy after this hearing. There's no need to scramble to put confusing new rules into place. The halt on UGC new rules by the Supreme Court protects the status quo and demands clarity from UGC

All eyes are on 19 March, when India's top court will settle this explosive education policy battle once and for all.

After the announcement of the UGC Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026 on 13 January 2026, there was a big outcry online The Ministry of Education has since issued a statement clarifying a few points of these regulations. The regulations which are binding on all higher education institutions, aim at elimination of caste and other types of discrimination in colleges and universities.

At a time when the government wants to ensure that the public has correct and comprehensive knowledge of the new laws, officials have indicated that the main factor behind the public backlash is the lie and misunderstanding, particularly on social networks. The ministry has also stated that the regulations should not be the subject of exaggeration and that the fears propagated online are without any foundation.

The most noticeable feature of the new regulations is that they extend the scope of discrimination far beyond that based on caste only, to include such elements as religion, gender, place of birth, and disability. They furthermore require that OBC students be part of the institution's equality and anti, discrimination committees, which, according to the government, is a measure intended to enhance student representation as well as harmony in the campus environment.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has emphasized that any kind of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, against SC, ST, and OBC students will be regarded as a criminal offence for which strict disciplinary measures will be taken as per the regulations. These rules supersede the 2012 guidelines and aim at establishing bias, free, exclusion, free, and inequality, free university environments.

Nevertheless, the regulations have stirred up heated discussions on the Internet. The hashtag #RollbackUGC has gone viral on social media where critics have called for the withdrawal of the rules. Some factions have dubbed the regulations as "UGC's black law" and have raised issues that children from the general category may be unfairly targeted or viewed with suspicion.

Officials from the Ministry, in response to criticism, said that the guidelines are meant to establish fairness among different groups and not to single out any group for wrongdoing. Hence, the government will soon provide detailed clarifications to deny the misinformation and give confidence to the stakeholders.

However, the issue is still being discussed and the extent these rules affect relationships on campus and the way institutions are governed will likely be a topic of intense national debate.

Although initially considered a suspicious death, subsequent inquiries revealed that the death was due to an accident and resulted in the absconding of the suspect.

Ayurvedic Institute in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, a first year college student, was found dead after having mysterious circumstances. His family members, who were grieving, staged a protest.

According to a complaint by Vishal's family to the police, this incident was covered up as a tragic death and they were demanding a CBI probe into the death and supplying the police with all the facts regarding this incident, the news agency PTI reported. Ragging issues were also raised in the complaint by the family, which according to them, the authorities have not taken care of.

Received call about accident, later found Vishal dead

It was a Sunday night when the family received a call from a man named Monu. He told them that Vishal had met with an accident and that the injuries were minor, only to be surprised that the family was informed that Vishal had passed away and that his body was kept at the mortuary on their arrival in Saharanpur.

According to Arun, who is Vishal's brother, the dispute between Vishal and a few senior students of the college was due to a minor scuffle over a girl. He further claimed that they had intentions to hurt him.

In the FIR, Vishal's father stated that Vishal was riding a motorcycle along with two other students of the 2024 batch when the incident occurred. The incident, which was told as an accident, led to the death of Vishal, but the other two students received only minor injuries, his father reportedly said.

Raising suspicions about the claims of the college authorities, the family said that Vishal's phone was accessed before his death, allegedly to tamper with his call records and messages. Among the father and the most up front, he has named a few women students and a female teacher of the conspiracy of killing his son and also of trying that.

He said, in addition to sending the body for the post mortem, the investigation is also underway, " Akshay Sharma, Station House Officer, reportedly said.

At the same time, the management of the college has declined to comment on the matter until now. The family and relatives of the girl, who is suspected of having an affair with a teacher, went to the college campus on Monday and held a protest by blocking the road.

However, as a precaution, the authorities had deployed a heavy police force in and around the college campus, the report said.

Republic Day is meant to teach children dignity, equality, and pride in the Constitution. But in Madhya Pradesh's Maihar district, that lesson was delivered on torn notebook pages. A disturbing video from Bhatgawan village has gone viral, which shows government schoolchildren being served their special Republic Day mid, day meal not on plates but on scraps of paper pages torn from old notebooks and books.

On January 26, it was a day of puri and halwa special mid, day meal as per government instructions. Children had to sit on the ground, but instead of plates or even leaf platters, they were given dirty, ink, stained paper sheets that were spread out in front of them and food was served on these sheets directly. Children were forced to eat hot food from pages meant for writing and pages that once carried ink, dust, and grime.

What makes the incident more serious is that funds had already been released for purchasing plates according to student strength. Yet, on Republic Day, not a single plate was seen.

Specialists caution that it is very unsafe to serve food on printed or written paper. The printing ink carries lead and other harmful chemicals that can end up in your food if it is hot, especially in the case of halwa, which is a dessert. This exposure, among other things, could lead children to develop severe health problems.

Following the release of the video, parents and residents showed their frustration and shame and asked how such a situation could be allowed by the education wing.

Senior executive Vishnu Tripathi said that he was informed about the viral clip and further he instructed the Block Resource Coordinator (BRC) to undertake a school visit and a formal investigation. He assured that a strong decision would be taken against the offenders after the investigation report is submitted.

Part of what makes the whole matter at Maihar even more upsetting is the glaring discrepancy in the official figures themselves. According to the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) programme, it is mandatory for schools all over the country to submit daily mid, day meal data. The PM POSHAN data of January 26 shows that out of 88, 281 schools in Madhya Pradesh, only 66, 315 schools, approximately 75.12%, filed their data.\

It is quite surprising to learn that as many as 21, 966 schools did not submit any data whatsoever.

The data that was submitted claims that 36,28,061 meals were served across the state that day. But the most alarming detail lies elsewhere. Despite Madhya Pradesh now having 55 districts, PM POSHAN data continues to reflect figures from only 52 districts. Maihar district does not even feature in the official records.

In other words, on the very day children in Maihar were eating food off torn notebook pages, the system did not even acknowledge the district's existence in its data. 

The absence raises uncomfortable questions not just about monitoring failures, but about how many such violations go unreported simply because they never enter the data at all.

Last year, a strikingly similar lapse was reported from Hullpur village in the Vijaypur block of Sheopur district, exposing deep cracks in the implementation of the government's mid-day meal scheme.

A viral video from Hullpur showed young children eating mid-day meal on torn pieces of old notebook paper, spread directly on the ground. Visuals showed rows of children sitting on the ground with legs crossed, holding rotis in their hands while food was being poured on scraps of paper. These children looked very poor and unfortunate. Moreover, teachers standing nearby as silent witnesses, who should have been the ones to ensure dignity and hygiene, were also being blamed.

The ruling BJP had promised to raise the quality of mid, day meals in its 2023 Assembly election manifesto. Departments like Panchayat, Women and Child Development, and School Education had even been talking about providing balanced meals and tetra, packed milk along with the meals.

However, the photos from Hullpur and now Maihar completely contradict those promises and show that the children are living in a very harsh reality, even the dignity of a clean plate is still a far cry for them.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has put out a notice which indicates the likely number of seats for postgraduate (PG) medical courses in medical colleges and institutions all over India for the academic year 202526. According to the notice, the seat scenario is grounded on the information available as of 22 January 2026.

The NMC has instructed the medical colleges and institutions to cross, check and confirm the number of seats mentioned in the announcement. Besides, the institutions have been given the instruction to notify the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the NMC immediately with any discrepancies for the rectification process. The primary focus of the effort is to maintain transparency and accuracy in the admission process prior to counseling.

The release reflects the division of the postgraduate seats by state and college along with the number of seats for the academic line 202425, the seats newly allowed for 202526, and the final approved seat count. Candidates who wish to get admission in MD, MS, and diploma courses may refer to the detailed seat matrix on the official NMC website.

The Board has announced the tentative PG seats release while the examination authorities are on to the preparations of next national, level entrance tests. On the other hand, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has revealed the tentative dating for NEET PG 2026 and NEET MDS 2026.

According to the official notification, both the tests shall be held in computer, based test (CBT) mode at centres across the country. NEET MDS 2026 is slated for May 2, 2026 (Saturday), and the internship completion deadline for MDS candidates has been laid down as May 31, 2026. The NEET PG 2026 exam date is tentatively August 30, 2026.

NEET PG and NEET MDS are yearly examinations that enable students to get admission in postgraduate medical and dental courses at different colleges of the country. The tentative release of the seat data is expected to be a very handy tool for the candidates in planning their preparation and counseling journey most effectively.