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With schools re-opening in Telangana, transport authorities have intensified checks on school buses to ensure the safety of children. Nearly 60 school buses operating in the Greater Hyderabad region were seized on Thursday for various violations. Of these, 25 were seized within the limits of Hyderabad city alone.

Hyderabad currently has 1,257 school buses, Joint Transport Commissioner C Ramesh told us. Besides, there are 6,149 buses on Rangareddy district's roads and 6,095 on Medchal district's roads.

The inspection teams started early on Thursday morning with school buses. Transport officials found several violations, such as documents missing, absence of fitness certificates, and non-compliance with safety standards.

The department knows that almost 15% of the Hyderabad school buses have not procured mandatory fitness certificates. But almost 90% of the educational institution buses in Rangareddy and Medchal district procured it.

The inspections ensured that buses have compulsory equipment for safety: each student should have his own seat; the buses should have fire extinguishers and first-aid kits; and the vehicles should get regular maintenance. Also, each school bus should be accompanied by an attendant to serve students' safety.

It is also required that a bus driver hold a valid heavy vehicle licence and be below the age of 60 years. School buses must change their fitness certificates annually, on a test performed by the RTA. These certificates and registration records, the driver's licence and other documents, have to be carried on board on a permanent basis.

School bus seized in Nizamabad for not having fitness certificate

Rahul Kumar, DTO In-charge, Nizamabad, told that one of the school buses running without a fitness certificate was impounded when they went on inspections on Thursday. He added that 790 school buses are present in the district and 680 of them have been inspected to date and found to have valid fitness certificates and licensed drivers.

There are 170 pending buses to inspect. All of them are nearing 15 years of service, and some of them are still on the road for one reason or another. "If any unfit buses are operating on the roads, they will be seized and fined under the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act," DTO stated. He also mentioned that the regular inspections will go on in the district with a special emphasis on safeguarding students and preventing road accidents.

Kannur district has shut down all schools, professional colleges, anganwadis, and tuitions since there has been continuous rain in Kerala. It is to be shut down on June 14 and 15 as a heavy rain warning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts the state to encounter rains within five days because of westerly winds and cyclonic circulation over north Karnataka.

IMD has put out the alert in various parts of Kerala. Ten districts received an orange warning on June 14, and four districts received a yellow alert. Two districts have been put on a red alert on Saturday, nine districts have been put on an orange alert, and two districts have been put on a yellow alert. The alert measures the possibility of bad weather.

The IMD has put out a warning for fishing along the Kerala-Karnataka-Lakshadweep coast from Friday to June 17 due to anticipated strong winds and inclement weather. The IMD issues a red alert for excessive rain of more than 20 cm in 24 hours. Extremely heavy rain between 11 cm and 20 cm is furnished on orange alert, whereas heavy rain between 6 cm and 11 cm is furnished on yellow alert. Pre-monsoon season in Kerala was brought to a close by an all-time record start of monsoons on May 24, causing havoc to government and private property. Low-lying fields and public roads were inundated with rain and wind, felling trees and toppling power poles. The monsoon rains pounded various regions of the state mercilessly until around May 31 before it died down.

The IMD forecast that rains were set to increase in the next few days. The continuous rain has already brought mass scale disruption to the state. While masses are getting ready for more rain, officials have appealed for caution and preparedness so that no more damage is inflicted.

A team of young enthusiasts of physics has just created history by securing the 6 th position at the PLANCKS 2025, organized by the Royal Spanish Society of Physics student group and IAPS,  that is the World Physics Challenge which was held recently in Barcelona. And guess what? It is the best ranking any Indian team has ever reached in this prestigious foreign tournament!

The ‘Denormalisation Group', as they call themselves, are four undergrad physics students at IISc: Simar Narula, Ritabrata Ghosh, Susmit Roy, and Avik Das. What could be cooler? Three of them are sophomores, and one is a freshman only! They qualified by finishing on top of the Indian Young Physicist League (IYPL) which is essentially the most difficult physics qualifier in India.

The Indian Young Physicist League (IYPL) is an annual online theoretical physics competition at the national level in which teams of theoretically inclined physics enthusiasts all over India participate and solve difficult physics problems. It is the official national qualifying round to PLANCKS and the winning team gets the privilege of representing India at this esteemed international event.

In case you have been wondering what is so special about PLANCKS; well, here is the low down, it is a ridiculously hard, four-hour theoretical physics test, which challenges your knowledge on mind boggling concepts such as dark matter, universe creation and complicated field equations. The problems are not of the ordinary textbook type, they involve intense thinking, imagination and the nerves of steel.

It is through the lively academic environment and rigorous  training in their institute that the IISc team managed to work so hard. It was worth their preparation!

However, PLANCKS 2025 was not all about the exam. It was a conference full of thrilling moments, a keynote address by a Nobel Laureate Anne L’Huillier , talks on gravitational waves, photonics among others. The students also visited spectacular research facilities such as the ALBA Synchrotron and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO). And they had a chance to talk to founders of deep-tech startups, where science and innovation are mixed.

And how can one miss attending to the culture of Barcelona on a visit to this beautiful city? The IISc group visited famous landmarks such as the Cathedral of Barcelona, the Montjuc hill, and even the mythical FC Barcelona stadium. It turned out to be the best combination of studying and recreation.

It is a big deal in Indian physics education. The team has succeeded with the support of the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at IISc, which has motivated students across the nation. It demonstrates that passions and hard work can make Indian students competitive on the global scale and make them victors.

Cheers then, to the IISc ‘Denormalisation Group’ - the young Indians who have placed India on the world physics map! Their success story is a testimony of what commitment and the right learning environment can accomplish. To all the future physicists, this is your hint to think big and reach high.

More such inspiring tales of the education front in India are on the way!

The fate of thousands of Bachelor in Education (BEd) hopefuls of the state hangs in the balance after the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) cancelled the recognition of 295 BEd colleges of the state. It is part of a national inspection of teacher training institutes. It may result in cutting down over 16,000 seats in Maharashtra and seriously affecting admissions for the year 2025–26.

The NCTE had begun a process of scrutiny last month amid complaints about the functioning and quality of BEd colleges in the country. Numerous institutions allegedly did not file the mandatory evaluation reports within the deadline of May 31. Consequently, they have lost recognition and cannot admit students from the next academic year.

The Higher and Technical Education Department had raised an eyebrow over how this would affect students, who are currently confused because the admission season is coming up as there will be a rush for fewer seats in the remaining colleges.

The head of a city BEd college said, "This year, lots of changes are being proposed in the BEd education, which causes confusion among colleges and students.". Early this year, the NCTE also revised the design of teacher education programs. It had initially declared that the current four-year integrated BA/BSc-BEd course would be phased out from the 2025–26 academic year and introduced a new four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in its place. After this announcement, the State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell halted registration for the current integrated course on March 9.

After receiving protests from different stakeholders, the NCTE changed its decision and suspended the discontinuation of the integrated BEd courses to 2026–27. The Higher and Technical Education Department then directed the CET Cell to reopen the admission process for the 2025–26 academic year.

As per the new directive, the registration window of the CET Cell for the integrated course was reopened on June 2. Applications are allowed until June 15, and the entrance exam will be conducted on July 20.

"Though the resumption of the integrated course admission process provides temporary relief, the bigger problem of cancelled college recognitions still hangs over the future of B.Ed aspirants of the state," said another principal. Officials in the Higher and Technical Education Department said the government will step in and talk to NCTE officials within two days.

A team of undergraduate students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, ranked sixth place in the 12th edition of Physics League Across Numerous Countries for Kick-ass Students (PLANCKS) 2025. This marks the highest ranking ever achieved by an Indian team.

The 4-hour closed-book test, which took place at Barcelona, Spain, last month, is the most difficult theoretical physics competition for undergraduate students. Hosted by the Royal Spanish Society of Physics and co-organized with the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS), PLANCKS 2025 assessed participants' problem-solving ability, creativity, and profundity in different areas of physics.

One of the problems was the question regarding the birth time of the universe.

"Initially they provided the field equations, matter densities, dark matter information, cosmological constant (and so forth) and then they posed lots of questions such as when did the universe begin," stated Simar Narula one of this year's awardees, along with Ritabrata Ghosh, Susmit Roy, and Avik Das.

"Those questions were not questions that you would typically expect from a competitive exam, in general. Those were concept-building questions," Ghosh said. "The aptitude that one acquires in IISc, and the kind of exposure one gets in undergraduate programs to a certain extent, developed us in such a way that we were able to solve those problems pretty fairly."

Last year also, a group of IISc students traveled to PLANCKS and bagged the seventh position. Ghosh and his team were motivated by their senior batch, and decided to appear for the national prelims.

The top three prizes were declared immediately after the competition on 5 May, and the rest of the prizes on 6 May.

The group, which was earlier doubtful about their performance, waited with bated breath, eyes glued to the screen of the Discord app. The moment the result was declared, they celebrated the triumph with their classmates and teachers. "They were all proud of this and they asked us to do more such things," Narula said.

Not just an exam

To qualify for the main event, IISc's undergraduate team of four—the Denormalisation Group—won first position in the Indian Young Physicist's League, the country-level qualifying round for the event. 

Since 2014, after the inaugural edition held in Utrecht, PLANCKS has been an event for physics students to compete, network, and, above all, to share their love for physics. This year, the event was attended by around 200 students from 29 countries, with the United Kingdom team securing first place. More than an academic contest, PLANKCS 2025 was also a physics, innovation, and international cooperation celebration. The event kicked off this year with a talk by the 2023 Nobel Laureate in Physics Anne L' L'Huillier.

Outside of these lectures, entrepreneurial advice and institute tours in Barcelona, PLANCKS is also a chance to experience another culture.

During the event, the organizers took us on a brief tour (of the city) and (they) allowed us to visit historic sites such as the Cathedral of Barcelona. Post the event, we also explored on our own to visit Montjuïc hill," Narula said, particularly excited to have visited the FC Barcelona's current home stadium.

The Denormalisation Group's success at PLANCKS 2025 is also heartening for enthusiastic students of physics all over India. As Ghosh awaits PLANCKS 2026, he remains conscious of the uncertainty in questions. "You have to think it (questions) out from scratch, and it's more about experience and (how) you keep your calm at that moment to work that out within those 4 hours," he said.

The journey of the team to PLANCKS 2025 was sponsored by the Office of Development and Alumni. Affairs (ODAA), based on IISc news.

When people hear about occupational therapy (OT), they only visualise therapists who work in a hospital or clinic and help people in recovering following an injury or illness. But the boundaries of OT have continued to broaden exponentially to present practitioners with thrilling and meaningful opportunities well outside the confines of classic clinics. To OTs and future OTs seeking to expand their boundaries, these atypical environments may just lead them to imperfectly perfect Occupational Therapy careers that incorporate elements of clinical practice, with innovation, community service, and technology.

These are half a dozen unexpected locations where occupational therapists are currently having an impact - supported by research and real world trends.

1. Educational Programs and Schools

Over 60 percent of occupational therapists are employed in schools or educational institution and this trend has been justified by research which indicates that OT is effective in developing motor, cognitive and psychosocial abilities of children that are relevant to academic performance. OTs work in close collaboration with teachers and families to assist children with disabilities or developmental delays in overcoming such difficulties as handwriting, sensory integration, and daily living skills.

It has been found that direct intervention as well as consultative models in schools have shown significant progress in OT goals and educational outcomes of children in schools and teachers have expressed high levels of satisfaction with OT services. Schools present a dynamic setting with the added advantage of an academic calendar to those OTs who are eager to work in the area of child development and education.

2. Home Health Care

One of the fastest-growing OT areas is home health care; it is facilitated by an aging population and preference of personalization of care. OTs assessment and intervention take place in the individual homes and assist individuals to relearn how to be independent in their daily tasks, i.e. cooking safely after suffering a stroke or adjusting living environment to accommodate mobility issues.

3. Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU)

NICU occupational therapists deal with premature and medically fragile infants and address feeding, sensory, and comfort needs. This professional position does not only promote the growth of infants but also informs and strengthens families at a decisive period.

The evidence provided by the systematic reviews of OT intervention in NICUs points to the positive influence on the motor, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes in neonates, which support the idea of the early therapeutic support. The NICU can be a rewarding career to OTs who are attracted to working with babies and family-centered practice.

4. Community Health Programs

In community health, OTs participate in promotion of wellness and injury prevention as well as supporting underserved groups, such as seniors and those with mental health issues. These functions frequently include outreach, education, and partnership with public health efforts, contributing to the creation of inclusive and healthier societies.

OTs interested in public health and social impact will find a variety of opportunities in this sector, which is focused on issues other than direct clinical care.

5. Corporate and Workplace Wellness

Occupational therapists use their skills in corporate settings to help enhance workplace ergonomics, prevent employee injuries and deal with work stress. They create ergonomic work stations, educate about body mechanics and create wellness programs that enhance productivity and the well being of the employees.

In this new era, creative problem solvers who are interested in occupational health will find this new field OTs to be a good fit as they have an opportunity to shape the lives of working adults, millions at a time.

6. Rehabilitation Technology and Consulting: Combining Therapy and Innovation

Technological innovations have dubbed new thrilling opportunities to OTs in the field of rehabilitation technology such as the design of adaptive equipment, product development consultation, and teaching clients on the use of assistive technologies. This combination of clinical expertise and technological creativity enables OTs to overcome complicated problems and increase access to care.

This is an excellent career move for OTs who are tech-savvy and want to be on the cutting edge of healthcare technology and innovation.

Why Are These Roles Important?

The occupational therapy profession is expanding very fast and the growth is projected to continue at an elevated rate of 11 percent in the next one decade, which is approximately three times more than the average growth rate of all jobs. The factor behind this growth includes an aging population, a growing chronic health condition, and a rising demand of personalized and functional care.

Going beyond the conventional clinic, OTs have a special opportunity to enhance the quality of life in a variety of environments: classrooms and homes, workplaces and high-tech laboratories. All these diverse roles do not only contribute to professional satisfaction but also increase the magnitude of occupational therapy in society.

To Aspiring and Current OTs:venturing into the unknown

Whether you are an occupational therapy practitioner or a student who is interested in trying out these unusual career options, to get some experience in these areas of increasing demand, you can seek travel OT assignments or pursue specialty certifications. Through agencies such as AMN Healthcare, OTs are linked with a variety of opportunities across the country so that you can shape your career around your interests and help address areas of great need throughout the nation.

With a career characterized by imaginativeness, flexibility, and client-focused service, the opportunities available to occupational therapists outside the office are as enormous as they are influential. You can be supporting a child to succeed at school, allowing a senior to stay at home independently, or developing the assistive technology of tomorrow; whatever you do, occupational therapy is a hands-on profession with tangible outcomes and a rewarding career.