When sunbeams cut through the drifting mist, tea-stained fingers had already gained their working rhythm. Glimpses were snatched from the group of strangers who had walked into hills whose brows were furrowed with lush green estates, hidden within rich hues of Nilgiris blue.

The visiting students from Madras Christian College for the field visit were greeted with curious glances from the villagers, all of them except one young woman in the village. Her questioning eyes, which beckoned the team to sit beside her, were rewarded with a fresh spark of hope that surpassed the horizon of her small village. The chemistry class students and their motivational stories of education in a faraway world were etched in M Seetha's memory.

For the 120 Kurumba families living in the Katachanakolli village, higher education is a far-off fantasy since they can hardly afford to purchase a square meal a day. The majority of the residents were tea plantation laborers, and a majority of the children discontinued their studies after primary or secondary school because of poverty, as well as inadequate infrastructure. But Seetha, a resident of the Adivasi hamlet village, would not put her dreams to sleep.

She was 23 when she became the village's first postgraduate. Having completed her Master's in Social Work from the Madras Christian College this year, more than a personal achievement — it was a milestone for her people of Katachanakolli. Seetha says the village is vulnerable to human-wildlife conflict, and the nearest government higher secondary school (GHSS) is 12 km away at Devarshola.

"For primary level, we have a panchayat school, but from Class 8 onwards, we have to attend the GHSS in Devarshola. I was able to pursue my studies as an NGO had given me free accommodation, in a hostel they were operating," said Seetha.

It wasn't easy. My mother, a daily wage labourer in a tea garden, is the only breadwinner for the family of six. My father suffers from TB. At times, we even didn't have food to eat. While I was on holidays, whenever I returned home, I used to work as a labourer in the tea gardens to help my family," Seetha said.

After Class 12, she enrolled herself into a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) course in Government Arts and Science College, Gudalur.

"By the time I was able to convince my parents to permit me to go to college, the admissions for most of the courses had already closed down, except for BSW," she mentioned. It was at the time of her graduation that the student community from Madras Christian College came to the village to conduct their field study and thus opened a window for her to learn about MCC.

"Persuading my parents to let me pursue a master's in Chennai was an uphill task as it was exhausting both of them financially and emotionally," Seetha revealed. But her resolve not to quit overpowered the fears of her family. Once in Chennai, she threw herself into studying and working to sustain herself.

"Having come to know about Seetha, we gave her full support to finish the course. We have a tribal and differently abled cell to motivate them to study higher education in our college," MCC principal Paul Wilson said. Seetha is a living example of Paulo Coelho's lines — "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

Having returned to her village, Seetha is keen to give back as she currently works with village children and challenges parents to place value in education. "With my project, I am creating an awareness among my people of the importance of education. I want to make them realize that one can dream big, even for children of a small village like ours," she said. A master's degree, an entry into the world, was the start of more hope for her village for this twenty-three-year-old.

In an ambitious decision, the government of Karnataka has placed plans for raising engineering seats from two big private colleges — BMS College of Engineering and New Horizon College of Engineering — both under scrutiny for their suspected role in a seat blocking scandal for high-end seats in the 2024-25 academic year.

Even after being approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to raise their intake by a combined 1,020 engineering seats in the 2025-26 academic session, the colleges have run into a roadblock. The state government has not provided the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC), and thus the expansion is, as good as, being kept on the backburner.

The outrage is over a complaint made by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), which led to the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) against BMS College, New Horizon College, and Akash College of Engineering. The complainant is about allegations of "seat blocking" — an act that thwarts rightful admissions by reserving seats without any intention of filling them up. Investigation has now fast-tracked, with the police having filed a charge sheet in court.

Other grievances of the colleges are the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on all three campuses in the current investigation. The raids brought to the fore more about the supposed rigging of engineering course admissions.

In all this upheaval, BMS College had applied for the addition of 120 seats in Computer Science, while New Horizon College had applied for sanctioning 240 seats in Artificial Intelligence and 660 additional seats in Computer Science. While AICTE approved it based on online applications and documents, the final clearance is with the state — now stuck due to legal issues.

Technical Education department officials made it clear that proposals based on infrastructure and institutional compliance are considered by AICTE and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU). "AICTE and VTU are not concerned with criminal cases and legal matters of scams. But the state government has to scrutinize all this before giving an NOC," clarified a senior officer.

Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, speaking to The Hindu, stated that the state is carefully examining the police charge sheet. "We are looking into the facts and will seek legal advice before deciding seat enhancement applications made by these colleges," he said.

The minister also expressed general apprehensions about unregulated growth in Computer Science and associated courses, particularly urban areas. "Private colleges are concentrated on expanding CS seats, and it's causing saturation of engineering colleges in tier-1 cities. This trend can lead to a higher percentage of unemployment of graduates," he cautioned.

To rectify the imbalance, the government plans to enact fresh legislation imbued with Telangana's regulatory mindset. "We are drafting a law to check indiscriminate expansion of seats and attain more balanced growth in technical training," Dr. Sudhakar said.

What was otherwise a celebratory celebration of Fête de la Musique—France's national World Music Day—turned sinister on Saturday night as a minimum of 145 victims, including teen girls, reported having been pricked by syringes at packed events throughout the nation.

Law enforcement officials were caught off guard as millions flooded city squares, parks, and streets to attend the national music festival. The Paris officials referred to the attendance as attracting "unprecedented crowds," France 24 stated. But festivities turned to pandemonium as reports of needle stabbings and attacks spread, many of which seemed to target women specifically.

On Sunday, the French Interior Ministry confirmed the alarming figure, noting 13 of the cases took place in Paris. Although toxicology results are still pending, the ministry stated that several victims were taken to hospitals for testing to ascertain if they were injected with incapacitating substances such as GHB or Rohypnol that lead to drug-facilitated sexual assault.

Social media was flooded with threats and warnings ahead of the event, some suggesting coordinated spiking attacks on women. The spike in reports has sparked new concerns about public safety at crowded events and the vulnerability of participants, most especially young women.

Paris prosecutors opened three individual investigations, after complaints were made by a 15-year-old girl, an 18-year-old man, and a third person—all of whom became ill after being pricked in various locations around the capital.

At the same time, 12 individuals have been detained across the country over the incidents. In the south-west city of Angoulême, four suspects were held who were suspected of spiking up to 50 victims in one of the most clustered spiking cases reported.

A total of more than 400 individuals were arrested for several offences under the cover of the night, while almost 90 were arrested in Paris itself. The authorities confirmed that 14 individuals were left seriously injured, with a 17-year-old being stabbed in the abdomen and sent to hospital in an immediate response.

The inquiries continue, with authorities calling on anyone who was affected to report. The events have placed a cloud over one of France's most venerated cultural festivals, and there are demands for improved crowd monitoring and public security.

In the South Garo Hills' heart of Meghalaya, Mindikgre children still have not been given classrooms — months since a fierce storm destroyed their school buildings. No reconstruction in sight nor visible master plan from the state, yet the Garo Students' Union (GSU), Mindikgre Regional Unit, has taken matters into its own hands by asking for accountability and immediate intervention on the government's part.

The GSU has officially made a petition to the Meghalaya state government to restore the badly damaged school buildings of recently in a recent storm. The destruction of their school buildings effectively shut down learning for students in these outlying villages.

“It’s heartbreaking to see classrooms reduced to rubble while children sit at home, losing valuable months of education,” said a GSU representative. “We’re not just talking about buildings — we’re talking about their future.”

Even with fresh assurances by the local authorities, nothing has actually been accomplished yet. The razed schools are still unrepaired, with damaged roofs, smashed walls, and rubble scattered where students once sat and studied. In the majority of the places, students are forced to crouch under makeshift awnings or even open skies, subjecting themselves to sunshine and rain in the quest for knowledge.

The GSU has cautioned that if action is not taken soon, the education climate already under pressure in the region would be irreparably damaged. "This is not an isolated crisis," the GSU further stated. "It is a symptom of a broader problem — of systemic neglect of tribal and rural education.".

The Union has demanded a comprehensive probe into the delay in the reconstruction, and urged the government to stop making just verbal declarations and take tangible steps on the ground.

While the storm-damaged buildings serve as reminders of unfulfilled promises, the GSU appeal is increasingly finding support among residents and teachers. It is a simple appeal of theirs: education must not be pushed back, nor the government's tempo. Promises offered in the guise of progress must be fulfilled by the people for whom they were intended.

509 govt school students in Punjab crack NEET, CM Mann says education key to ending poverty. Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced that the state government is putting into practice "out-of-the-box ideas" to advance the education system, which he described as a way to end poverty and social ills.

Addressing a gathering after felicitating students who cleared the NEET test, Mann said that the education sector had seen a paradigm change in the past three years with path-breaking decisions being taken by the state government.

Mann said, "This is the red letter day as 509 students from government schools have cracked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admissions into medical colleges," according to an official release.

He stated that education, healthcare, infrastructure, industry, sports, employment and the fight against drugs are the priorities of the government. 

Freebie or concession cards cannot eliminate poverty and other social menaces from the state but it is education alone that can open the key which can lift people out of this cycle by enhancing their level of living, he further said.

The chief minister informed that his government is laboring day and night to improve the standard of education to empower masses.

For the first time in the state, a mass campaign in the shape of "Yudh Nashesyan Virudh" has been started under which offenders of drugs are being arrested and action is being intensified, he informed.

Mann further averred that since assuming the charge of office his government is working towards "clearing the mess made by their predecessors for the last 70 years".

"Few of our youngsters received overage for government jobs due to the lackadaisical approach of previous governments," he said, adding that now in the last three years under the A government 54,000 youngsters have secured jobs strictly on merit basis.

Mann claimed that it is a "good omen" for the state where "reverse migration is taking place in Punjab as youths are leaving foreign land to return and join state government jobs." It is because the recruitment process is completely transparent.

Due to his government's initiative the faith of the youths in working with the state government have increased, abandoning the idea of going abroad, he further added.

But the chief minister also said that most of the brain drain had happened due to the "laid-back attitude of past regimes due to which large numbers of youths had earlier migrated from the state".

Mann further said that since the A government has made a course correction, a vast majority of students are joining the socio-economic development of the state by entering government services.

He further added that the initiatives taken by the state government to empower women in the state have paid off in such a way that girls are excelling in all the streams today and even outnumbering the boys.

Mann also pointed out that his government has been appointing seven women officers as deputy commissioners and eight women as senior superintendents of police.

In a move that can alter the education and governance dynamics in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah invited President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday and sought her nod on seven important state bills moved by the Karnataka assembly. The sitting at Rashtrapati Bhavan is the state government's mirror of wanting quick changes for which they require the center's nod so that they could be enacted into legislations.

The day begins with The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2025 in the priority list. The bill, which seeks to overhaul the state RTE policy, has the potential to transform the regulation of private schools, reservation rules, and bulk admissions—issues that had been at the center of public outrage over the past three years.

Also awaiting approval is the Karnataka (Mineral Rights and Mineral Bearing Land) Tax Bill 2024, which focuses on imposing a tougher tax on mining of minerals. The bill has been interpreted as Karnataka's attempt to reclaim lost revenue from mining, particularly in mineral zones like Ballari and Chitradurga.

In order to advance enhanced governance and fiscal prudence, the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (Amendment) Act 2025 will enhance stricter regulation of government spending, supplementing nationwide anti-corruption policy. Two others—The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bills 2024 and 2025 and The Notaries (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2025—are intended to cut red-tape, streamline procedure, and possibly enable faster citizen services.

Incidentally, the package also includes the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment (Amendment) Bill 2024, a possibly contentious reform with the potential to reverse temple income revenues and trusts in the state.

All seven bills fall under legislative areas of interest since they are subject to central concurrence, either because they cut across Union List matters or have national import potential. President Murmu's assent is thus automatic before they can be enacted into law.

The session follows the Siddaramaiah government's attempt to push profound structural reforms in education, taxations, and the government. Two years before Assembly elections, this legislative step can shape the legacy of the Chief Minister for a state renowned to sustain growth and accountability.

The government has begun preparations for a fresh socio-educational survey with chief minister Siddaramaiah shortlisting four new members to the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.

"Four new members have been appointed to the commission — former IGP K Arkesh of Channapatna, lawyer Shivanna Gowda of Mysuru, assistant professor B Sumana of Mangaluru, and CM Kundagol, retired principal of Dharwad.". With these appointments, the panel is complete now under the chairmanship of Madhusudhan R Naik, a retired advocate-general who was named chairman in January," stated a senior government official close to the development. It was informed to the commission on Sunday.

"The commission will meet shortly and recommend to the government what to do on the proposed enumeration of the population," the official added.

The official added that the suggestions have been conveyed to the commission but the official orders are still awaited.

Though the commission can be assigned the task, the officials have spoken of the possibility of constituting a new committee for the purpose. Siddaramaiah has also requested his ministers to present their suggestions before deciding modalities.

Unlike the 2015 exercise that had a heavy dependence on schoolteachers and was delayed, the upcoming survey is likely to call on digital platforms to hasten data gathering, the official statement above stated.

Now that schools are in session, the government is weighing the possibility of using teachers after school hours and compensating them for their time, according to another official.

But the renewed drive for socio-educational survey has once again sparked opposition from dominant groups, such as Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats, who earlier criticized the Kantharaju report as biased and complained that it had underestimated their numbers.

On Sunday, the Samajika Nyaya Jagruthi Vedike cautioned the state against hastening into another survey. During a roundtable in Bengaluru, members raised questions about the necessity of a state-specific count when the Union government has already undertaken a commitment to a caste-based enumeration in the decadal census coming up.

Karnataka government has already lost 10 years in the guise of caste census. It was decided in the meeting to request the government not to waste the people's tax money and time on conducting another caste census," said Vishnukant Chatapalli, the representative of the forum.

He also added, "The caste census will be taken along with the population census by the central government. The caste census will incorporate social and educational details along with cultural information. The Centre will incur an expenditure of ₹13,000 crore for the same."

Contending that data collected by the Union alone would have constitutional validity, the forum called on the state to make the Kantharaju report public and desist from launching a parallel process. "If the state government does not stop conducting separate censuses of castes, legal recourse should be sought," Chatapalli said.

Blaming the government, BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar criticized the chief minister's changing stance on adopting the Hegde report.

Whatever pressure is exerted, we will not accept Jayaprakash Hegde's report. Chief minister Siddaramaiah has time and again stated that we will follow the recommendations of that report. But why did he back out after going to Delhi and coming back?" he questioned. "Whether or not the government accepts or puts into action the report is secondary. First, it should be made public for awareness.

Responding to these criticisms, Congress MLA Yathindra, Siddaramaiah’s son, blamed the previous governments for the delay in caste enumeration. “Had those administrations responded appropriately and moved forward with the earlier report, we wouldn’t be in a position where another survey is necessary,” he said, referring to the BJP and JD(S) governments’ inaction on the 2015 report.

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